Who should I follow on Twitter?

In my last class on of the things we were required to do was setup accounts on all the various social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Google+). Many of my classmates were just getting started on these platforms so I made this video to help them with Twitter.

I felt Twitter needed something like this because for people new to the platform the biggest challenge is who to follow. This videos helps explain the best way to find new people to follow. While it is aimed at journalism students you can use this information with any industry.

Being faithful with what you have

My wife and I have been taking a class a financial class through our church. This class goes into biblical principles regarding money. Last week I came across this verse:

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities" Luke 16:10 (NLT)

Immediately after reading it I realized something, I have not been faithful with what I have been given. Let me explain.

I have an abundance of tools at my disposal.

1. Macbook Pro (2)
2. Canon EOS 7D (w/collection of lenses)
3. Sony HXR-MC50U with shotgun mic
4. Flip Ultra (Standard Def)
5. Induro AP0 tripod
6. Sony VCT-R640 tripod
7. 2 Flashpoint Florescent Softboxes
8. Alien Bees B400 flash
9. Sennheiser e835
10. Blue Yeti
11. Shure SE420 earbuds
12. Adobe CS 5.5 Master Collection
13. Lightroom 3
14. Telestream Screenflow
15. and the list goes on

Just like the stack of writing books in the picture above, if you don't apply what's in the books and actually write something none of it matters.

I've bought into the belief that I need something else and then I'll be able to a create an info product, or a blog, or marketable service. I need to buy a better camera, or lens, or an iPad, or the newest Lightroom, or Photoshop CS6, or any of the thousands of other things out there. It's all a lie.

What I need to do is stop visiting Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. I need to stop reading news and blogs and watching videos. I need to create something. I need to make videos, photos, and blog posts. I only need to go to my networks after I have created something to share.

I'm making it a point to from now on to publish daily. Some days it is going to suck, some days I'll be good, once in a while it will be epic but I need to produce daily.

See ya tomorrow.

*Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links

The Future of Social Media: Being Everywhere (a Steve Rubel Interview) | Social Media Examiner

The Future of Social Media: Being Everywhere (a Steve Rubel Interview)

By Michael Stelzner
Published January 13, 2010

In this video I interview Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President at Edelman Digital. Steve advises some of the biggest names in the world, such as Dannon, Hewlett Packard, Pepsi and Microsoft, on social media.

Watch this video to pick up some of the nuggets of social media advice he gives his clients. One valuable tip Steve gives is about “shared mutual gain” and what it means.  Steve also explains why he quit blogging.

You will also learn why Steve believes digital is mandatory and not optional.  And here are a few other takeaways:

• Why you need to have a presence on all social networks where your customers are spending time.
• How to use mixed messages to tailor your stories to different venues.
• How to measure social media metrics.
• Why the different vectors of reach, engagement and reputation lead to trust.
• Why it’s important to understand people & understand business.

And Steve also shares some insights about why he stopped blogging on Micro Persuasion and started lifestreaming on Posterous.

What are your takeaways? Do you agree that blogging is old? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Tags: digerati, digital, edelman digital, engagement, evernote, hub and spoke, instapaper, interview, lifestreaming, measuring social media, micro persuasion, posterous, reach, reputation, shared mutual gain, social media, social media channels, social media metrics, social networks, steve rubel, trust, ubiquitous, video, youth

via socialmediaexaminer.com

I have been thinking about how to use this Posterous site and this video made it clear to me.

Posted via email from christopherjohnston's posterous

Wedding Photography Fail

Check out this video on YouTube:

Posted via email from christopherjohnston's posterous

Stop Waiting For Things To Be Perfect

Today I read a guest post at ProBlogger titled Blogging, Steel-Toes, And Kicking Perfections A$$. This was something I needed to see today.

You see for about the last two years I have been trying to launch an online business and I've always had an excuse for why I couldn't do it. I was focused on my other business (which never made much money), I didn't have the right equipment, I didn't have the right software, I didn't have the knowledge, blah, blah, blah.

Let me tell you what I have now and you see if I have any reason to complain:

#the5 – Top 5 Post From My Morning Reading

I'm a big fan of Christopher Penn who blogs at Christopher S. Penn's Awaken Your Superhero and co-host the awesome Marketing Over Coffee podcast. A while back he started something called #the5 and I'm going to copy it here. Every morning I'm going to tweet #the5 best things I find in my Google Reader. They will most likely be marketing related tweets because I'm a marketing geek and because I follow many of the same blogs Chris does because I used the Marketing Over Coffee OPML file.

Doing this causes me to do a couple of things.

Remembering Shea Penland

As I sit watching the oil spill coverage I'm remembering Dr. Shea Penland. Ph.d at the University of New Orleans. When I was a student there, and in my geology phase, I went on a field trip with Dr. Penland to the barrier islands. He was so passionate about protecting Louisiana's wetlands. He had some brilliant ideas about how to rebuild them but there was no money or the political will to make it happen.

The iPad Will Change Television

Image via Wikipedia

At the Disrupt conference this morning John Doerr of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers told Charlie Rose that he takes his iPad to concerts and uses it in church. This is huge statement. If a nerd said this like Mark Zuckerburg or Chris Pirillo I wouldn't give it a 2nd thought. Thesee guys probably took laptops to concerts and church. When regular people start doing it you have a monumental shift going on.

I sit in front of the television with a laptop but I know that is not normal. The average American does not have a 2nd(laptop) or 3rd(smartphone) screen in front of them while watching TV. Television programs have been trying to get viewers to this for a few years now by asking you to text a message to a short code to get show updates or play along with some aspect of the show(Fox's 24 and American Idol voting come to mind). The iPad now opens up options for true interactivity during a show.

Think of all the possibilities:

Tired of Political Spin

I have been seriously considering what I want to do after graduation from Full Sail University. One of the things I have been considering is going into political consulting. I'm not necessarily qualified to be a political consultant but I am more than qualified to run the social media aspects of a political campaign. This brings me to my point today.

I'm tired of people relying on the ignorance of the public at large to spread rumor, spin the truth, and outright lie. I saw the tweet below and then went to watch the video it referenced.

Choosing A Different Path

The Miller family in Stuttgart, Germany

Over the Mardi Gras holiday I had the great fortune to meet the Miller family. Jennifer is a gifted writer and has an article that recently went up that explains why they chose to live nomadically. When reading this it reminded me why I chose to pursue a degree at an online university and in Internet Marketing.

I think it all started when I discovered Tim Ferris and his smash hit The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. Later I read X Marks the Spot (1st edition) and I knew that this was something I needed to do.

Waiting To Be Called

As I sit here at the DMV waiting for my number to be called I think about Abraham being called by God in Genesis 12:1.

Now the LORD had said to Abram:
      “Get out of your country,
      From your family
      And from your father’s house,
      To a land that I will show you.”

30 Days of No Foursquare

I decided for the month of March to not use Foursquare and only use Whrrl. Partly it is because I've attained most of the badges I can get in New Orleans and partly it is because I like this little underdog app. It is only Day 4 and I must admit that the urge to check-in to Foursquare this morning has been strong. I wanted to maintain my mayorships and status on the weekly leaderboard.

Pick your battles because you can't win them all....

Pick your battles because you can't win them all and some you may never win.

My wife and I went together to drop our daughter off at school. Let me first preface this by saying our daughter is in first grade and we rarely ever go together to drop her off.

Preparing for the Google slap

Well I finally got around to going to GoDaddy and having it forward and mask my DNS so you actually see TechChris.com up in the address bar. I mean I've only taken 5 years to do it, right. The problem is now Google sees http://christopherjohnston.blogpsot.com and http://techchris.com with duplicate content and didn't see a setting in GoDaddy for a permanent 301 redirect to prevent that. I guess the 1445 backlinks I've developed over time might be able to counteract the effects.

Christopher Johnston

Where I've been lately

Image via Wikipedia

Ok, so I have been a bad blogger and had really sparse inconsistent content. Well I blame Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Buzz, and all the other microblogging platforms.

My blogging was really consistent until those services came along. I also started and closed a few other blogs on a variety of interest.