Archive for the 'Life' Category

The Best Social Media Works Offline

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 3, 2008
in Life, Web 2.0 and social media
. Comments

If you stumbled over the title of this post, maybe it’s time to jack out of the matrix, Neo.

I know that most people wouldn’t put “social media” and “offline” in the same sentence, but maybe that’s because only the best of the best social media efforts make it there.

It’s funny because you hear people all the time getting all excited because O.M.G. the web is SOCIAL now! I can talk to you, and you can talk to me, and I can write reviews that get read in Istanbul, and you can friend up the entire offensive line of (undefeated!) Penn State’s football team.

This is, undeniably, a big deal. But we need to remember that there was a place that people were being social before the internet came along.

It’s called the real world. It’s where your mother is right now, and your dog, and your girlfriend (well, maybe not your girlfriend) too.

And the best social media plans understand this. They serve as enablers, facilitators, catalysts, and precursors for real life interaction. Look at the Makers Mark Ambassadors program or the Fiskateers. How about the Manic Mommies and their Escapes, events like Blogger Social, the Plaid Tour, and the booming popularity of Tweetups.

Think about (and I know he gets talked about all the time, but it’s because he’s that good) Gary Vaynerchuck. He blows peoples minds with his energy and passion about wine on WLTV and then goes out there and connects with everyone on every social network you can think of. Then he follows up on every single email he gets. But the best part is what happens offline. That guy that gets his question answered about what wine to serve with the meal he’s going to propose to his girlfriend is going to tell his friends. Maybe online, but more likely at the office, at a party, at the wedding reception. And it’s going to go something like this.

“Oh man I was so nervous, you know me. I had no idea about the meal and then I had to figure out the wine too. There’s this guy online, Gary Vay-ner-chuck, who is, like, a total wine guru, and he answered my email about which wine to get. It was awesome. You should check out his stuff, he’s at winelibrary.tv.”

Winner.

Age of Conversation 2 Will Blow Your Mind

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 29, 2008
in Life, New Marketing and Reading
. Comments


Guaranteed. All you have to do is grab a copy (and you support a great charity while you’re at it). So make sure you do that, starting Wednesday October 28th at 8am.

Buy AOC2 Here.

For the full story on AOC2, you can check out the site at The Age Of Conversation. Also, make sure you click randomly on some of my fellow authors below.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Why You Should Hire My Mom

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 20, 2008
in ANM and Life
. Comments

Today is Barbara McDonald’s birthday. And for her birthday this year, I’m going to do something different. I’m going to tell you why you should hire her to do your PR.

Although she has a degree in Special Education from Rowan University and had worked as a teacher for several years, her skill set goes far beyond education, branching into community building/leadership, online public relations, and event organization.

In the early days of America Online (I’m talking the 2.0 days, if you can remember them) my Mom knew that this whole “internet” thing was going to be something big. She got a job with AOL as a Community Leader and played a key roll in developing the (at the time) thriving AOL community, and also moderated live-chat events with many big name guests (even Bill Nye the Science Guy!).

AOL eventually phased out many in their community leader program, and my Mom, still on the front edge, began a career in the fledgling field of internet PR. She was brought aboard an alternative health company named J2S2 which was later renamed Healant. With J2S2/Healant she was in charge of organizing many of their online efforts including the early days of online press releases, developing key contacts within other major sites, growing the online alternative health community with her company as a major player, and even helping to organize major events online such as the Great American Smoke-Out.

Eventually she left J2S2/Healant to pursue her career as a signer/songwriter (which she had put on hold due to my brother and myself) and has put out one great album with another coming. Check out her music here on SoundClick.com

Professional experience aside, my mother is one of the best communicators out there. She’s extremely intelligent, diligent, ambitious, innovative, and if you think I’m outgoing, you should spend some time with her! I’m sure that she would be an asset to any PR team.

Recently she attended PodCamp Philly 2008, where I was speaking, and expressed her interest to get back into Online PR and I figured who better to throw it out to than my fantastic readers!

I know my Mom could be an asset to your PR team. She’s available to work remotely or in the Philadelphia area. If you’d like to talk with her, feel free to email her at BarbaraMcDonald@aol.com or you could email me and I could pass it along.

Thanks Mom! Happy Birthday!

Some Things You Can Get Better At

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 11, 2008
in Life and etc.
. Comments

I’m sure you’ve noticed, but there’s a whole lot out there besides social media and marketing. So in the interest of really improving and adding to your skill set, take a look at the awesome people below and get better at something. Right now.

Get better at being ahead of the curve with Cool Hunting
The team at Cool Hunting puts together frequent posts of all the new, interesting stuff that crosses their screen. It’s a great resource for trendhunters, enthusiasts or anyone else who just loves new stuff.

Get better at rocking out with Walt Ribeiro
Walt, simply (and aptly) put, rocks. Head on over to his site if you’re in the mood for some great music (mostly guitar) lessons. And while you’re there, don’t forget to check out his orchestra compositions.

Get better at looking awesome with Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist)
What started as a way for Scott to share photos of people thought looked good, turned into a full-blown fashion phenomenon. With a lively community of commenters, a full page in GQ every month, and even his own Gap ad, The Sartorialist is a great resource for anyone trying to look a little better.

Get better at understanding design with Whitney Hess
If you’ve every been “out there” on the internet, you know there’s a lot of really bad user experiences to be had. Sometimes its a simple “Now, where’s the button to…” and sometimes it might be better if they scrapped the whole thing and started over. Check out Whitney’s Pleasure and Pain and learn how to avoid those situations yourself.

Get better at mastering the Jersey shore with Jen A. Miller
I’ve been going to the Jersey shore since I was 2 years old and I still don’t think I know 1/10 of what Jen Miller does. Shes got a great book covering all things Jersey shore and an accompanying blog that goes even more in-depth.

Get better at gourmet meals with Jaden’s Steam Kitchen
I’m not going to lie to you friends, I like cooking. Especially Asain food. Not sure why or how, but I think it’s the most fun. And I get a lot of recipes and ideas from Jaden. She puts a great sense of humor and personality into a place you don’t usually find it. Check out her site and blow your wife/husband/great uncle’s mind tonight at dinner.

Get better at maximizing your gym time with Strong Lifts
I love the gym, it’s sort of like my Zen place. Apparently for Mehdi at Strong Lifts it’s his place to kick ass and take names. Check out his site for easier ways to get stronger, lose weight, and just be healthier over all. Almost 28,000 rss subscribers can’t be wrong.

Get better at incredible customer attention with Frank Eliason (@Comcastcares)
Frank is one of the brightest spots in customer service today. Personally, he’s helped me 3 separate times. And I’m sure if you just start asking people on Twitter, you’ll really see how big his impact is. If you’re a brand, sit back and take notes.

Get better at picking the best wine with Gary Vaynerchuck
If you’re reading this blog, you probably know about Gary V. If not check out the interview I did with him and then go spend some time at Wine Library TV. Simple.

My Life 2.0

Published
by
Matt
on Aug 24, 2008
in Life and etc.
. Comments

It’s been quite a wild time lately.

If you’ve been following my tweets, then you already got the news that I got laid off last week. If not… well, then you just got the news that I got laid off last week.

Either way, it means that there are some big changes ahead.

The first of which is my location. In a few weeks I’ll be packing up the car and moving down to Charleston, South Carolina. I love Philadelphia, but I’m ready for a change and Charleston looks like just the place for me.

When it comes to this whole “working” thing, ideally I’d like to do social media projects full time and am really intrigued by the idea of doing freelance consulting. With that being said, if any of you (client or agency side) have any projects that could benefit from my skill set, let me know. You can reach me here via twitter or send me an email.

These are exciting times, and I’m looking forward to see what’s coming around the bend.

5 Slump Busters

Published
by
Matt
on Jun 23, 2008
in Life and etc.
. Comments

Phillies 2nd Baseman Chase Utley is slumping hard. The perennial all-star was in the middle of a great season, and then all of a sudden, things weren’t going his way.

I’m sure you know the feeling.

Maybe not belting home runs in a major league ballpark, but going into a slump, having the wheels come off, or just generally falling apart. Also like Utley, you probably also realize that it’s not the end of the world. Just like anything else, there’s going to be ups and downs, good times and well..not so good times. And the truth is, whether you’re cooking, blogging, negotiating, brewing, or brainstorming, you’ll eventually come around.

And how is that you might ask? We’ll here’s a few things that might get you back on track.

Back to basics
The penultimate Slump-Busting technique. Stop trying to add that top-spin, sell that warranty, or get tons of link-love with one post. Just settle down and go back to what worked for you in the first place. Focus on connecting with people and creating value, it doesn’t matter if that value is from a home run post, or an actual home run. Check your foundation, and everything else will follow.

Breathe, Grasshopper
This one might be the easiest. Just slow down and take a breath. Nothing good ever came from panic, fear or anxiety. I’m not advocating full out lotus-position meditation here (although it’s a great idea), just taking a moment to slow down and focus yourself. You’d be surprised how effective this can be sometimes.

Elvis has left the building
Adios. Spater. So long. Farewell. Just get up and goooooo. When you reach the point that you’re thinking “Wow, no more good can come from this”, it’s probably time to take a break. Sometimes this, in conjunction with “Breathe, Grasshopper” is a great quick fix. No matter how focused you are, there’s going to be some drop off after staring at Excel sheets for 14 hours.

Grind it out
A tougher solution, but sometimes the only one. With this approach you just have to keep plugging away and rely on the law of averages bringing you back on par. It can be tough to weather the storm and keep going through the bad times, but have faith that once things come around, it’ll be your hard work that caused it.

…And now for something completely different
If you’ve been doing X your whole life, maybe it’s time for some Y, or maybe even (gasp!) Z. If it seems like nothing else is working then hey, what the hell, right? Turn that foot in, add that paprika, ditch those pivot tables or knock-knock jokes. It won’t necessarily be a better way, but it’ll be a different way, and that might be all you need.

So there you have it. That’s my checklist for getting it going. How about you? (I shared mine, it’s only fair!)