I am not yet an expert, but I am trying to learn to be an expert in my area. This is why I read experts. I pay attention to what they are doing and I learn from them. If I listen and store away what they are providing me I garner wisdom. I read people from all walks of life, I read from the marketer, the advertiser, the public relations person and yes, the baker and candlestick maker. All of the people I read and learn from provide me a path to the knowledge about how I can help other businesses.
If I comment on blogs and if I leave a question or provide another perspective on a post, it is because I have read the bit of wisdom and have participated. It is not much different from sitting in a classroom and hearing a lecture and then participating in that lecture by commenting, asking questions or debating an issue. This is my classroom and how I am hoping to earn my thousands of hours to get to be an expert in what I do (I think I only have 5 years or 10,000 more hours of study).
I tend to read a large number of blog posts. In fact, I have more than one feed reader and they are broken down themselves into business reader and personal reader, and even that has some cross over between them so I even read some blogs twice just in case. I try to absorb as much as possible from those around me I do consider an expert to help me get to the next level. Comments foster learning just like it did in grade school when you wanted to know why clouds produced rain or why the sky was blue and all those things of wonder that come to your mind during class. Ask questions, get involved, leave a comment.
Photo via Vito
Tags: Social Media Experts, Social Media, Blog Comments, Blogging, New Media
I have been doing an inordinate amount of reading and testing and looking and feeling and all the other things I try to do to get a handle on the state of the economy and how social media fits in with marketing, advertising, public relations and all of it, and I had in my mind what I would call an epiphany. It may not be that much of a game changer to some, but to me it boiled a large amount of fertilizer into what I would refer to as the heart of the matter. People like 
I am wondering how this will play out but I just had an opportunity to read through a 
I have been traveling quite a bit lately and that has caused me to get seriously behind on a large amount of work that I need to accomplish. I have finally caught up with my email inbox which usually hovers around 60 unread messages at any given time, which usually equates to the amount of Twitter bios I need to read to approve or discard. I began digging into the RSS feed readers (yes plural) that I have disregarded that have been so overwhelmed that many of the search feeds I have for the likes of “business blogging” and “social media consulting” are defaulting to the most it will store. In other words, I have much work and little time to get it done. I know I play this off with the idea that I am also the stay at home dad of 4 kids at the ages of 9, 8, 4, and 3, and that has some merit but for the most part I have times when they are sleeping or are not in the picture that I spend catching up but I still think I can be more efficient. I know I need to explain the title of this post. One of the things I need to catch up on that I have not been doing much of lately is finding what my mentors and friends and colleagues are talking about. One of the people I admire and one that I think has his finger on the pulse of my industry is 
For a long time I have been touting that we all live in a Google world. We cannot seem to leave our house without first checking directions on Google, or order Chinese food without getting the local menu and number from Google, etc. Many companies have come to us and asked, "How do we get on page one of Google’s search results?" That has been the mainstay of my presentations about why companies need to get into blogging and other forms of social media. I have yet to figure into the mix, 
Reading the article today that Wired put out about the 
I also think there is another small player that might be making things interesting and that of course is the social media darling of the bunch, Twitter. They can help perform the function of both search and of the social network. All of it actually has to do with data. As we begin to see the emergence of what I call 2009 The Year of Listening, more and more companies are concentrating on brand monitoring and reputation monitoring and how they can get into community and infiltrate them with their brand, their message and their mission. Yes, it is all about the business after all and that is the company that will win. Which one will provide the best of all worlds? Right now we are still living in the Google world, but there are some other players in the Internet solar system. 
He took us out across the channel to our destination which was called "The Aquarium". Once I jumped into the crystal clear water I knew exactly why it was called that. I could see everything, and the coral structure and the brilliant fish colors were awesome. We swam and looked at puffer fish and many other varieties and then as I got out of the boat and said "WOW", I was handed a cool passion orange juice and was also given some breakfast. This is the life of the Captain, seeing the look on the face of those as I they exit the water after seeing Hawaii from underwater, and handing them some fresh fruit and breakfast. I would say that is a good salary there, but it doesn’t pay all the bills. I reflected that in my tip as I headed off and away from this Captain for what will probably be forever. Thanks Captain Tim and enjoy your job as only you can!
One of the things that most of the local people here discuss is its diversity. Many of the differernt cultures all come together be it tahitian, polynesian, portugese, japanese, chinese or other ethnic backgrounds, they all have their own language, philosophy and look. The same goes for resorts, hotels and other places we have been staying at here in the Hawaiian Islands. 
As bloggers we have a different approach to our experience. We are not just here to relax and have a good time but weare also here to create and produce some qaulity content. I for one have been trying to live stream my experience and have my viewers go along for the ride, but that has proven nearly impossible since I have not been able to stay connected to the Internet for more than about 10 minutes at a time. I actually received a nasty note from the
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