Misc
My 100th Blog Post!
It seemed like it’s taken forever to reach the century mark on my Blog, maybe it’s because writing is labor to me. I love to write but I didn’t master the English language like so many others that have gone before me here on the Internet. I set a goal this month to write an article or post everyday, so how am I doing? Let’s see, it’s October 21st so that means I should have 21 posts this month right? This post would make #20 for the month of October so I should say something deep and important so that it matters. 🙂
I will say this, if you haven’t started a Blog or are thinking about it, talk to a few veteran Blogger’s who have been doing it for awhile before embarking. I don’t mean that in a negative way, I didn’t ask and just jumped in, so I’ve made a ton of mistakes. The good news is, I overcame the blunders for the most part and things seem to be moving in the right direction.
The #1 best thing I did was to adopt Social Media Networks, all my reader’s have come from Twitter, FriendFeed, FaceBook & Google. Now I haven’t paid for traffic in any way, it’s all organic in nature, so I’m not lighting it up.
The secret to Social Media is service, help people, provide good information and resources and you will build credibility and trust over time. I’m still in the infancy stages of my Blog, afterall, 100 Blog posts isn’t much in the grand scheme of things. In the end you must keep your word and care for each and every person you come into contact with, do whatever it takes to keep those relationships healthy. In the end, that’s all that matters…the relationship.
A couple great books on this topic belong to two people I would consider Mentor’s, Chris Brogan & Julien Smith’s TRUST AGENTS and Gary Vaynerchuk’s CRUSH IT! (Amazon links) They are as solid as you get on building relationship’s online and working insane hours on your passion.
So, THANK YOU all who have clicked the RSS button my Blog, those who keep coming back to see what I’m yakking about now and especially those who follow me on all the Social Media Networks on the Internet, without you I would have no reason to write and be here. Thank you and Many Blessings to you from every part of my heart!
Always ask yourself this question when you wake up everyday:
How Many People Are Better Off Because You Lived?
Things You Couldn't Find On The Internet in October 1995
I was sharing on Twitter today about a Newsletter I used to write & produce back in 1995 and Rob Cairn’s said he would like to see it. I thought I would reproduce the content and post it here for you to chuckle over.
Back in 1995 I produced a Newsletter called, ” MARKETING TODAY “, it was an informational piece that was distributed electronically, and the local book store was gracious enough to put it on the magazine rack back in the day. So for a walk down memory lane here is a list of things you couldn’t find on the Internet in October 1995. I even had advertisers in this little beauty!
1.) Material on any subject more than a few years old.
2.) Information about small privately held companies.
3.) Information about most companies not USA Headquartered.
4.) Information about Subsidiaries of major companies.
5.) Specialized Dictionaries or handbooks on business subjects.
6.) Directories of companies by industry and location.
7.) Information on business and trade associations.
8.) Information from small commercial databases.
9.) Franchising companies information
10.) Court reports from state and local jurisdictions.
11.) Telephone, fax and TELEX Directories.
12. Business information in languages other than English.
My closing comments on that article were:
I started this section by saying that the information which isn’t on the net now, soon will be. The Internet allows all of the originators of the information to present themselves, the traditional “middle man” data gathering groups are no longer needed.
Just for fun, I also recommended Seth Godin’s book called, ” E-Marketing”.
Also, the topic of the day was whether or not you should upgrade to Windows 95, OS2 was still very popular back then too.
Of course much of the above if not all is now available and has been for many years, I hope you enjoyed the walk down memory lane.
Scoble's Web 2010 – Owen's Web 2012
I truly enjoy Robert’s perspective on Technology and Social Media, not too mention he is fun to follow on FriendFeed & Twitter too. Robert is very helpful if you approach him the right way, I find him to be respectful, approachable, a solid resource and entertaining. 🙂 In May of this year (2009) Robert Scoble posted an article on his Blog called Exploring The 2010 Web, he covers a number of points on what the 2010 Web is and or is going to be.
Here are the Attributes he listed for us,
Web 2010
1.) It’s Real-Time
2.) It’s Mobile
3.) It’s decentralized
4.) Pages now built out of pre-made blocks.
5.) It’s Social
6.) It’s Smart
7.) Hybrid Infrastructure
I linked to his article above so you can read his definitions in more detail.
Now I agree with Robert’s list for the most part with some additions, I know he knows what I’m adding is coming and he probably will be one of the first (early adopter’s) to play with the new toys. This is not an exhaustive list but you’ll get the picture of our where we are headed.
Here are my additions and I like to call,
Web 2012
1.) In 2012 you will be able to buy off the shelf a computer (device) that can compute faster than the human brain.
2.) Virtual Reality is where we will spend our leisure time
3.) We will not use keyboards, voice recognition will be our method of instructing our device’s what to do
4.) Tower’s will cease production
5.) Laptop production will be vastly reduced
6.) Wireless devices will be integrated into eye care (Glasses and Contact Lenses)
7.) iPHONE’S & BlackBerry type devices will also be greatly reduced in size
When it’s all said and done, you merge these two lists and you have considerable change ahead of us. We are entering an era where Nanotechnology and Virtual Reality will make exponential strides in development and growth, unlike anything we have ever seen. How we communicate will continue to change, communities will continue to grow as we the people take back big business.
I wonder what else might take place in the next 2 – 5 years?
Social Media won't be called Social in the near Future
I was unable to attend BlogWorld EXPO 2009 in Las Vegas this week but it was streamed on a site called Mycontent.com, the service worked very well yesterday but day two was not smooth at all, but the audio was rock solid. So I watched from a far, the real stuff happens after and in between the sessions and of course all the after parties. The meetings after the meeting so to speak. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at many but technology hasn’t made it possible to be in two or three places at once just yet.
This event was chalked full of amazing people sharing and encouraging all of us, but also to help one another, to work together, and build each other up rather than put down and tear down. Chris Brogan as usual brings it with such authority and conviction, he works hard to relate all that he has learned, not from books, from his experiences. Chris doesn’t just preach, he has done or has walked through the experience of what he shares, either himself or a client he was helping. One of my favorite quotes from Chris’s Keynote was, ” Equip the people you want to do business with and they will want to do business with you “. Most people are always thinking about what they can get out of a given relationship or interaction, what I take from Chris is the opposite, help without getting first, then in time you will be rewarded at some level. This does not mean you will get money every time you get something back, it may be in the form of recognition, praise and or being referred to as a trust agent.
I struggle with these major events because there are so many of them and I can’t afford to attend all of them, not always because of cost but because of location and time. I also recognize that you don’t get as much out of the speakers and sessions unless you are actually attending, watching on the Internet doesn’t do any of these events justice in my humble opinion.
An announcement made today on the first panel of day two; State of the Blogosphere Address: Richard Jalichandra & Opening Keynote Address: The Death and Rebirth of Journalism, The announcement was this, Everytime you tweet #beatcancer in the next 24 hours a donation is made by BWE09 (Blogworld EXPO 2009), Tweet’s like this one are choking the Twitter fire-hose:
@scottmonty The organizers of #bwe09 are trying for a world record. RT #beatcancer to raise $ to beat cancer.
There is another shift taking place and it’s the new name of Social Media, it won’t be called Social in the near future or from this event forward, the new name will be….The New Media! This name will represent all types of media, not just the online world but traditional media as well. We’ll see how it takes. Until next time.
Social Media Random Acts of Kindness
You frequently hear of people doing the most generous things in your community, and you can’t help wondering why it doesn’t happen more often. I think it does but we don’t hear about most of them, we hear about the high profile stuff, the things that glorify individuals or an organization. In general people think you have to be a Christian or a Missionary to do acts of kindness, you couldn’t be more wrong! I can say this because I am a Christian, but I wasn’t one for 34 years and I can tell you I have seen many great people and not so great people do things that wow you.
You’ve heard on the news of people saving lives, street people jumping into rivers to save people, those heroic people. What about, well, you and me? Just everyday folks who get up in the morning, go to work and then come home and rest up to do it all over again. These individuals are caring loving people to, they may show it in many various ways but it’s in each one of us.
Our church, or should I say some everyday people held an Oil Change for Single Mother’s behind the 7-11 store at our Church location and we had some wonderful stories come from that experience. You don’t need to be part of an organization to pull these things off, even our own neighborhood holds a BBQ in the cul-de-sac around the corner from my house each summer. We get together, get to know one another and help each other when in need.It’s about people, it’s about building relationships, it’s about making a difference in the lives around you. You’ve seen it here and you’ve seen me post in Twitter and other various Social Media Networks. How Many People Are Better Off Because You Lived?
There are many of us who are trying to translate our offline activities and bringing them here to Social Media circles, raising money for various events and organizations, building one another up and help each other. It appears it’s easier to do it online than in real life, why? Why don’t have to get up off the chair, it’s easier, less work and effort. Does that means it’s any less valuable? Less effective? Is it shallow? Does it say, I really don’t care enough to go be with you?
So I leave you with a question and I hope you will share your thoughts here with us and those who read this Blog.
Does doing Random Acts of Kindness hold the same weight and importance in Social Media Networks?