I just came from a meeting where I was subject to a few “WOW” moments.  There are a few times in my business where I get to see some cool technologies that revolutionize the way we communicate, or listen, or perhaps the way we drink our coffee.  All of it is related to entrepreneurs that are taking their ideas and making them work.

The same should be for businesses that are already established.  We have been told the quote “innovate or die.”  We heard it as recent as the opening keynote at CES.  That is a mantra that all businesses should be paying attention to in the future.  Innovation is key to keeping your product or service fresh.  People will want to continue to buy if it changes and is better or changes their lives for the better.  I think Ford is doing that with its own innovations in vehicles.

I hope that in the coming weeks, we will be creating some “wow” moments for our clients and business partners.  We can use the “Wow” we are seeing as innovations and implement them into our daily routines to help clients and others change and make their own “wow” or awesome sauce or whatever buzz phrase you choose.

Stay tuned for some magical moments here at One By One Media, as we start on a mission of creating “Wow” and innovating our services.  I challenge all of you to have your own mission of creating “Wow!!”

photo via puliarf

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From all of us at One By One Media to all of you, Happy New Year! 

We sincerely hope that 2010 is your best year yet!

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I have been preaching about blogging for a long time.  I have been an evangelist and telling companies that they had to blog more they had to have a place for people to "join the conversation" and making it possible for them to connect with their customers.  Like some of the preachers of the past, I am my own worst sinner apparently.  I was reminded by people in my company that I am the worst person in the world to tell companies that they are not blogging enough or that they are not doing it right.

I am preaching from the pulpit so to speak and I am preaching to the choir perhaps, but I need to update more often here.  I am trying to get more and more content on here and those that are slinging arrows at me the most may be asked to also contribute now and then to what we are doing at One By One Media and Bloggers For Hire.  I am also on Twitter quite a bit, and I am trying out Posterous, and I am about to start Social Mediasphere TV again.  Of course, you can always come and hear what we are doing at our new radio show at Blog World Expo Radio.

Now that BlogWorld & New Media Expo is over for 2009 I have a few minutes I can breathe, and I will be using that time to try to be more involved here rather than out on the road or on the phone trying to convert the latest in small medium or large business to jumping into the social media pool.  I guess I am like that life guard that actually never swims!

Photo via LeMonde1

Tags: One By One Media, Bloggers For Hire, Twitter, Posterous, Social Mediasphere TV, Blog World Expo Radio, Blog World Expo, Business Blogging, Evangelism

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I just read the news about Facebook acquiring FriendFeed.  Many are already shouting "game changer", but not really.  Facebook already has the huge networking, but it does make some ground on the folks at Twitter as a microblogging or communication tool.  I talked a while back about FriendFeed’s new look and feel making it seem much like the already popular Twitter. 

Now it has a war chest behind it to become bigger better and more usable I hope.  We are already hearing about the demise of blogs for Life Streaming, and this moves into that game as well.  I hope to get a better feel for the implications behind this.  Good luck to Facebook and congrats to the guys at FriendFeed.

We will see if this becomes a game changer, but for now I think that it strengthens rather than changes things.  To be sure, Facebook is becoming a player that now Google needs to be careful of in the long run.  Twitter needs to catch up if they want to keep up.

The press release from Facebook will be looked at quite a bit.

Tags: FriendFeed, Facebook, Social Networking, Social Media

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An old friend of mine is stepping down from b5media and he went public with it today.  I have known for a little while about his plans as we are actually working on a few projects together.  It is nice to see change happen but it can also be a little difficult to adjust.  I have always known Jeremy was a visionary back when I first heard of the fact that he was auctioning himself off as a blog consultant. 

I wanted to take am moment to congratulate Jeremy and the folks at b5media and also welcome their newest CEO Elaine Kunda.  The funny thing is I was not sure this was going public until I had actually read it on one of my own client’s blogs.  Strange how you found out about news.

Jeremy, as always you have been someone that has led the way in the blog world, in the social media world and now we are looking towards some big things from you in the near future with netmobs.

Tags: Jeremy Wright, netmobs, b5media

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I am not sure that anyone in the tech world has written about Twitter more than the popular news site TechCrunch.  You may have a hard time picking out the single most popular Twitter post since after 38 pages of search results on the subject I lost count of the number of articles.  The most popular recently was the scandal involving ill-gotten documents from the folks at Twitter which Tech Crunch promptly published. But more on that in a minute.

Twitter launched today their Twitter 101 pages and of note was their "Key Resources" page which is contained under the domain related to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/.  I quickly glanced at the people that were listed on the page, and noticed right away that TechCrunch had been snubbed.  Not a single time was TechCrunch mentioned.  You would think with 38 pages of info on the company and some of the best Twitter evangelists on the planet, they could have worked a link back to TechCrunch somewhere.  Some of the best Twitter information contained anywhere is contained on the TechCrunch site.

Now this could just be a matter of numbers or it could be that they could not find a good snapshot overview of their service or it could be some other political reason that Twitter was quick to leave TechCrunch off the list as I mentioned above and wrote about in the TechCrunch and the Twitter Documents post.

This is not going to be too unlike the "Suggested Users" list and I am sure there will be plenty of folks that will be screaming about why they were not one of the featured resources that are listed.  Congrats to Chris Brogan for getting on this page with his 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business.  Okay, their might only be 10 in there but 50 was a good number.

Sorry TechCrunch I can assure you that the folks at Twitter are not going to cut you much slack from here forward, but keep up the good reporting and evangelizing!

[Hat Tip to Laughing Squid Links for beginning the inspiration for this post through the photo above.]

Tags: TechCrunch, Twitter, Twitter For Business, Twitter Business 101, Chris Brogan

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I am wondering how this will play out but I just had an opportunity to read through a TechCrunch article by Robin Wauters where it was uncovered that Twitter, Inc. may begin reaching out to people that are using Tweet in their applications or in their businesses and asking that they refrain from the practice.  This seems to me to be a day late and a billion dollars short.  I can’t understand how they are just now thinking of trademarking in as little time as May of 2009 the word Tweet.  What other words have they asked be trademarked?  What law firm sold them on this idea?  Surely if you began to get some steam as you did back in as early as 2007 you would have thought that some of these names associated with your brand would have been at that more valuable?  To begin this process now seems like an oops to me.  I actually like the email sent as it seems to give the impression that they have no weight behind the statement:

Hi,

Twitter, Inc is uncomfortable with the use of the word Tweet (our trademark) and the similarity in your UI and our own. How can we go about having you change your UI to better differentiate your offering from our own?

They feel "uncomfortable?"  Perhaps if they really thought this was a battle worth winning they would actually be more than just "uncomfortable."  I fully expect after the update to the blog post added after the fact wherein Twitter provides a response, that we will get yet another update that says something to the effect that, "We realize this seems crazy but we forgot to actually think of this before."  The next thing you know they will be printing up business cards and hiring a receptionist. 

This all seems to be the way this company is operating behind the scenes.  They fell into a great thing without realizing its potential or what it would turn into.  They then found that it was cool and might be worth some money to someone, then they found out that they should have some idea as to how to make money with it, and now they are realizing that they should be protecting it from everyone.  I just shake my head at the way this company is shaping up.  It must just be one comedy show after another behind he scenes there.  The great thing is, it is still loved by millions.

Tags: Twitter, Trademark, Technology, Legal Issues, Business, Social Media Tools

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The one where I get you to decide what I will do in Hawaii and then hopefully you too can go along…virtually.

I am hoping to live stream the events on my site at Social Mediasphere TV! I will record as much as possible the events that unfold. You choose where and what I go do it and bring you the experience through the live blog account, the recordings and Twitter stream!

The first island is up. KAUA’I
Currently scheduled to arrive Thursday morning, May 28; depart Saturday morning, May 30.

Mountain Tubing Adventure
Kaua‘i Backcountry Zipline Adventure Tour
Kaua‘i Plantation Railway
Kipu Falls Zipline Trek
K?loa Heritage Trail
L?wa‘i International Center
Steelgrass Farm – Chocolate Farm Tour
Waimea Canyon

If you know of something fun to do on this island that you don’t see here, suggest it in the comments and I will make it a vote that counts! My only suggestion is make it lawful. My wife’s suggestion, make it safe enough I won’t get killed. (I wont tell if you don’t tell.)

Next Up we go to the island of MAUI
Currently scheduled to arrive Saturday morning, May 30; depart Monday morning, June 1.

Hawai‘i Ocean Rafting
Hula Girl Pacific Rim Dinner Cruise
Kahoma Ranch Tours
Lahaina K?‘anapali Railroad – Sugar Cane Train
Maui Cave Adventures
Maui Horseback Tours
Nightly Hula Show at K?‘anapali Beach Hotel
Proflyght Paragliding
Tour of the Stars
Volcano Maui Air Tours

Next up we have HAWAI’I ISLAND
Currently scheduled to arrive Monday morning, June 1; depart Tuesday evening, June 2.

Dolphin Quest
Firenesia
Hawai‘i Pack and Paddle
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hilo Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens
K?lauea
Kona Coffee Tour
Lava Tube Cave Adventure: K?lauea Caverns of Fire
Native Guide Hawai‘i
Stargazing:
*Arnotts Lodge
*Bigti
*Hawai‘i Forest & Trail
*Mauna Kea Summit Adventures

Windward Coast and Waterfalls Tour

Next up we have the Island of O’AHU
Currently scheduled to arrive Tuesday evening, June 2; depart Weds/Thurs evening, June 3/4.

Battleship Missouri Memorial 10th Anniversary Celebration
Bike Hawai‘i
The Contemporary Museum
Dunebuggy Adventures
Ghost Tours of Old Honolulu
Hans Hedemann Surf School
Hawai‘i’s Plantation Village
Honolulu Soaring
North Shore
North Shore Surf Girls Surf School
O‘ahu Ghost Tours
Paddle Core Fitness
Waimea Valley Park
Wildside Specialty Tours

That is the four islands that we are visiting. I will have another post up about what I’ll be doing and when and where and how. I want to have you experience with me this social media trip! ALOHA!

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As a social media consultant, I don’t actually rely on ad revenue from my blog, i.e. Google Adsense or the like to pay my bills.  If I did, I would have gone back to working in the law as I was before.  I am helping out the folks at Qumana, the blog editor I am testing, with a revival of an old feature.  I used to be back in the day when I was first introduced into Qumana that we had ads that were served using the blog editor and that no longer became viable. For a little bit I am going to feature some ads here in the posts, not because I want to make the big dollars and show you my six figure check the likes of a Darren Rowse at Problogger.net or like Shoemoney.  I am doing it to help out a company that will help out bloggers.  We are always here to help bloggers become better bloggers.  That in turn helps companies that want to hire a blogger or bloggers that go on to get real jobs as bloggers.  I will let you know more as they are ready to launch these things again and will let you know my review of their service and offering.

Tags: Employment, Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Monetizing Blogs

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I am trying to wrap my had around the idea that Google may possibly be the next owner of our beloved golden child in the world of social media, Twitter.  Are we ready yet to turn the keys to the Twitter kingdom over to the folks at Google?  I have been a serious watchdog lately it seems talking about Twitter ethics and the gaming of Twitter and the eroding of all things pure about the application.

How about if we turn it over to Google and make it a part of that empire?  I know Techcrunch talked about it in terms of Twitter search and that it is becoming the real time search engine.  It makes sense actually and since they turned down the money offered by Facebook due to valuation issues and Facebook’s stock, I think it could be said Google has the bank account for it.  Google and the leadership at Twitter have had dealings in the past with Blogger so in fact there may already be that relationship.  We will see how this unfolds.  I am hoping to get some further analysis from some of the people in our industry to help me grasp the idea but for now I will just try to fathom a life of Twoogle.

Update:  You can read more about it at Techrunch and the rest of the folks on Techememe.

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I have recently launched Social Mediasphere TV and added it to my list of blogs including this one and including Bloggers For Hire in the long list of blogs I contribute to and provide.  Social Mediasphere TV is an extension of the radio I was doing on Blog Talk Radio.  You can still go over and take a look at my archives at that location and I may still continue my on location live radio using that service as it seems to be a very simple solution to the technical issues related to live radio.

I will be doing my show continuing here forward on Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. PST and 8:00 p.m. EST.  We will be discussing all things Social Media and as always we will have special guests, commentary and even you as listener can call in and ask questions make your own comments or just be a guest yourself.  I am still working through all of the issues with using the applications of the trade, but I have been given some good advice and help from many friends that are cheering me on to make this new project a success.  See you all on Tuesdays!

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Perhaps that is not as much of a migration as it is a business trip for me.  I am headed to Miami tomorrow to speak at Wordcamp Miami and attend BarCamp Miami and Future of Web Apps ‘09.

I will be speaking at Wordcamp Miami as I did in Las Vegas on "Blogging for A Living", it is a presentation that I have given a number of times and therefore I wont have to prepare more than my usual, but more importantly, and perhaps more fun I will be doing a live radio show from BarCamp Miami courtesy of my client i-Lighter. 

You can follow along and be a part of things as well.  My show Social Mediasphere via Blog Talk Radio will have the live coverage of the event.  This is my first try at doing a live radio show, although I have been on Blog Talk Radio live while I was at Blog World Expo last year.

I’ll be interviewing attendees, speakers and whoever might happen by the table.  I have been sent some podcasting equipment and I will be hopefully not embarrassing myself with my non-technical skills.  You can join in on the fun.  I want to have as many people participate as possible.

After the fun on Sunday at Barcamp Miami, I’ll be attending the fun at FOWA ‘09 or the Future of Web Apps.  This event has some real dynamite personalities that are speaking at the event and hopefully I will get a few of them to stop by and be a part of the live radio show as well.  This show will be done on Blog World Expo Radio via the Blog Talk application as well so I would really enjoy it if you participated.  I will be live blogging the event as I can via the Blog World Expo Blog so stay tuned.

Tags: Barcamp Miami, Wordcamp Miami, FOWA ‘09, Future of Web Apps, i-Lighter, Blog Talk Radio, Blog World Expo, Blogging, Social Mediasphere, Blog World Expo Radio

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I have contributed to a really cool project that is being led to help the Susan G. Komen Foundation called the Project 100.  This is a book that is being written by 100 great social media minds and people that understand social media marketing.  The name of the book is going to be: Connect!  Marketing in the Social Media Era

I am embedding a Slideshare presentation as a teaser as what is to come.  I wanted to thank Jeff Caswell for the opportuynity for helping a great cause. You can get more information on the book and what is being done at The Project 100 site.

Tags: Project 100, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Jeff Caswell

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I have been thinking about that title for a while and how i could turn that into a million dollar money maker as a bumper stickers for the new social media generation. I was actually thinking of making a blog post about how we crowd sourced the people in Twitter, Facebook, Friend Feed–well you get the idea, no need to belabor that longer, in getting a new logo header image on the blog here, and me a new looking brand for 2009.

I mentioned on Twitter that I was having some difficulties with photoshop and some other things I needed done, and the help we received from that “crowd” was tremendous. I had ideas of changing my company name and brand, and looking to do some different marketing, advertising and public relations for myself and mentioned that too. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the whole experience. Many people from all over wanted to help me. It was a good old fashion barn raising, or in this case i guess a blog raising. I have been hearing the crowd sourcing phenomena for some time and now i know why it is so popular.

My entrepreneurial spirit being what it is, I’m thinking a t-shirt of the title or a bumper sticker. What do you think?

[Photo via Allison J]

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I’ll be headed to Vegas this week to talk to people at CES and will be also headed to Affiliate Summit the first part of next week. Sandwiched between and/or during those events, I am lucky enough to attend and speak to attendees of WordCamp Las Vegas.

My discussion is one i have had before on Blogging For A Living. I will be providing the information to people on Sunday at the end of the event, and to say the least there is an all-star lineup of talent all weekend that will be presenting ahead of me and I cannot wait to see some of the great stuff that will be talked about while there. This is the event’s first year and I’m impressed with how much they have accomplished. John Hawkins should be commended for his hard work and the way he has leveraged the Consumer Electronic Show and the Affiliate Summit to help him with the attendance.

If you are going to be in Vegas for either of those events, take some time out to see some of the people speaking, and to hang out with the Wordpress people that are attending. Save your $20.00 at the tables and spend it on this event instead. Register before the event as there will not be a way to get in the event at the door. In addition if your company is looking for a way to get some inexpensive exposure, i know that this is a great way to help promote yourself and they are still taking last minute sponsorships.

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