I landed a job at a web-hosting company.  It wasn’t just any job — it turned out to be one of the best things in my life thus far.  I work with a small group of extremely talented people whose combined knowledge could overload a supercomputer.  I have superiors but they do not make me feel inferior.  I not only get to come up with ideas but implement them.  I spend most of my time dealing with server related issues but my input in many areas of the company is respected.

I have the joy of getting paid to “play” with computers, help customers avoid certain web disaster, become a Linux guru and, with the help of my co-workers, learn the skills it takes to be a damn fine system engineer.

I hope anyone who reads this has the opportunity, at least once in their life, to truly enjoy their career.  There is nothing better in life than enjoying what you do for a living.

If you know nothing about him or how Google came into fruition you might find this story well worth the read. 

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I am in the process of starting a new business and it is keeping me extremely busy. I have been meeting with clients and drumming up business. I have some of the best people I could find working along side of me (some readers will be familiar with them – I will give them their due props soon). I went from zero clients to six in a matter of 7 days so I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment. That’s good of course, just a little nerve wracking when you haven’t so much as set up your office. I don’t even have the site for the business complete. It will all fall into place soon.

I am in the process of finishing the site reviews I owe the people that were runners-up in the iPod giveaway. Next week I post the first review. I have lots of good, half-finished posts waiting in the queue so plenty of (quality) content is coming.

Hugh is a busy guy. Not only is he constantly scribbling out new drawings for his collection he is also a marketing strategist for Stormhoek, a small South African vineyard, whose sales have increased five-fold over a 2 year period thanks to blogging and a Web 2.0 approach to marketing. I would happily comment on their quality, but I don’t drink. (anymore) Sorry Hugh.

My interview with Hugh is an excellent example of quality over quantity. The interview, thought still 5 questions, is short, sweet and to the point. Hugh has a way of saying a lot in very few words.

#1

jemmille.com: I love your quote, “Question how much freedom your path affords you. Be utter ruthless about it. It’s your freedom that will get you where you want to go.” How have you used this in your life? What paths have you followed to allow yourself as much freedom as possible?

Hugh MacLeod: I suppose the biggest tip is, I learned how to live frugally. Not having monthly car payments on a brand new Mercedes gave me a lot more options.

#2

jemmille.com: Your “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards” have gained quite a reputation. Hundreds (thousands?) of sites display your images via your Widget or direct link. I even use one of your images on the back of my business card. When/How/Why did you start doing this?

Hugh Macleod: Basically, I found the format very liberating. A. They were cheap. B. They were easy to carry around [unlike huge canvases or whatever] C. Becasue they were only wee doodles on the back of business cards, it didn’t matter if they were good or not. That was very liberating.

#3

jemmille.com: Recently you said, “Five years of blogging later, I have learned this to be true: Traffic doesn’t matter. Being linked to by A-Listers matters even less. What matters most is building one’s network, one person at a time. As Adriana says, “The Network is mightier than The Node”.” You seem to have made friends with many people throughout the industry. As I try to build my network by engaging people like you in conversation, what tips can you give others to build their network?

Hugh Macleod: Two tips: Be patient. It took me six years to build my “network” up. Secondly, try to meet up with as many people in real life as you can. People are much more wiling to help each other out, once there’s been offline meetings. Blogging confabs and conferences are great for this. So are geek dinners.

#4

jemmille.com: From what I have gathered, you are a strong beleiver in the “Humanifcation of Business”. I couldn’t agree with you more. Business that pay more attention to the customer and not how fast they can sell you a product are hard to find in this day-and-age. Could you expand on this idea for the jemmille.com audience?

Hugh Macleod: The basic thing is, for 250 years we’ve been doing mass-produced. Anything that can be commodified, has been. Where companies can grow is in the human dimension. Apple is a good example of this. They just sell laptops etc. But people feel like they’re so much more than that. Why?

#5

jemmille.com: What’s next for Hugh MacLeod? Any upcoming speaking engagements?

Hugh Macleod: I get asked to speak all the time, but most of my time is spent on my day job[s], selling suits, wine and software.

1. “Our projections are conservative.”
2. “(Big name research firm) says our market will be $50 billion in 2010.”
3. “(Big name company) is going to sign our purchase order next week.”
4. “Key employees are set to join us as soon as we get funded.”
5. “No one is doing what we’re doing.” / “No one can do what we’re doing.”
6. “Hurry because several other venture capital firms are interested.”
7. “Oracle is too big/dumb/slow to be a threat.”
8. “We have a proven management team.”
9. “Patents make our product defensible.”
10. “All we have to do is get 1% of the market.”

For Guy’s insightful and funny commentary on each of these statements, read his original post here.