Today at 4pm EST I will be announcing the winners of two different contests on TedTube.tv. Tune in to find out if you won my contest for Intel swag or if you won the IZEA contest for $500 Kmart gift certificates. Who knows… today could be your lucky day.
I want to thank everyone who participate in both of these programs, escpecially the trailblazing group of Kmart bloggers. Chris Brogan, Loren Feldman, Jeremy Schoemaker, Wendy Piersall, Michelle Madhok and Julia Roy you guys rock.
My buddy Owen from u-g-h.com suprised me today with a special Twitter mug customized just for me. The mug features many of my Twitter friends and I LOVE IT. Thanks so much for the mug Owen! You can follow Owen on twitter, he is probably one of the only people you will follow from the Isle of Man.
I am a writer. I am a photographer. I am a videographer. I am a creator. I am a cold beer on a hot summer day.
I am a blogger. If you are a blogger you probably aren’t a journalist either. You are just some schmo like me sharing your ideas. You don’t adhere to the same standards as a journalist and you shouldn’t have to. It’s your blog. Your voice. I choose to read it. If I wanted to read content that was perfectly edited, unbiased and factual I wouldn’t be reading your blog. I don’t read TechCrunch because they are good journalists, I read TC because it is a good blog filled with drama, hype, politics, bs and plenty of human error.
There is a group of traditional journalists turned bloggers that believe all bloggers are journalists. They get uppity when bloggers don’t play by the rules they have set for themselves. Guess what? Those are your rules as a journalist. As a blogger I don’t have to play by them, nor do I want to.
I am much like a talk radio host. I make wild statements, jump from random subject to subject, and do whatever I want to do. Through it all I am open, honest and transparent with my readers. I don’t claim to be impartial and I disclose my relationships the best I can.
I don’t want to be Walt Mossberg. I want to be the Michael Jordan of blogging. Hook me up with sponsorships. Fly me out to the big movie premiere. Compensate me for my voice and following, just like Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh or Neal Boortz. As long as I can be transparent, open, and disclose; I am cool and my followers are too. You don’t have to be a journalist to be credible, you just can’t be dishonest.
My following is my currency. It’s what determines the value of this blog to advertisers. If I betray the trust of my readers by choosing the wrong advertiser or failure to disclose, I lose my currency (and the next deal). It is in my best interest to be forthright with my readers and acknowledge I am not a journalist.
I will do mine. I am happy you chose to be a journalist. You should be happy I chose to be a rockstar. We play by different rules in the same medium, let’s leave it at that.
Update:
I am compiling a list of other non-journalists for a future blog post. If you would like to be included leave it in your comments below or tweet out #notajournalist.
If you like this post please feel free to follow me on twitter.
This is a sponsored post for Sears via my relationship with IZEA. The opinions are my own.
I am a huge fan of tools, some people might even say I have a bit of an addiction. When I found out that Sears was giving me a $500 gift card to grant a wish for anyone I like, one word came to mind… CRAFTSMAN. 
When I started to remodel my house I bought a ton of Craftsman tools and a Craftsman workbench (which is built like a tank). My sisters and I recently bought my father a really nice Craftsman toolbox for his birthday; we share the same addiction.
Five hundred dollars can buy a lot of tools. I was totally fired up. I started researching Sears and their current Don’t Just Give a Gift, Grant a Wish campaign further and I came across a video from Ty Pennington, star of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Ty told a short story about a hammer he received as a gift from his father. There are a bunch of other stories from people like Trisha Yearwood, LL Cool J and Vanessa Hudgens on Youtube.
Ty’s video got me thinking about all the great things he has done for those in need. He inspires me to be a better person; to give back. I decided to take the $500 gift card to grant a wish not for myself or a loved one, but for a charity.
I am a supporter of the Orlando area Habitat for Humanity and I am so happy to be able to keep contributing. They are a fantastic organization that helps people in our local community get the affordable housing they so desperately need. Habitat doesn’t do handouts. Each family is required to invest hundreds of hours in both classroom education and sweat equity in order to understand, appreciate and promote long-term home ownership.
I love shopping for tools, but it feels even better when you are doing it for a cause you believe in. I had an absolute blast at Sears; I was like a kid in a candy store.
I considered buying everything from a 12″ sliding compound miter saw, to a 15in Drill Press (both items I personally want), but in the end I decided to be more practical. I bought an assortment of smaller Craftsman tools, along with a mac daddy 19.2 volt 6 piece cordless combo kit. This thing has a drill, trim saw, reciprocating saw, jig saw, RA drill and a fluorescent light. The trim saw even has a laser guide. [Drooooooolll.] I went about $70 over my a gift card, but I was happy to chip in the extra money.
I can’t wait to drop all of this stuff off at Habitat for Humanity later this week. It will be a second dose of feel good. You can see more pics here.
In addition to the $500 gift card Sears gave me for my wish I have another $500 to spend on wishes for my readers. This whole Don’t Just Give a Gift, Grant a Wish concept is very cool. I have put together three wish packages below:
Tool Addict
Includes the same 6 piece cordless combo I bought in the picture above plus a 260 pc. Mechanics Tool Set with 3 Drawer Chest. If you win this I will be totally jealous and may ask to come over and build something.
Technerdia
Garmin Nuvi 250w and an orange 16GB Apple iPod Nano. I have both of these products and love them. You can fight me on the orange color if you win.
Shapeshifter
Ready to loose that chunky butt? How about winning this Schwinn SR23 Recumbent Bike. Set it up in front of your television and you can drop the pounds while watching Dr. Phil.
There are three ways to enter. You can leave a comment, make a blog post or Tweet it out. You can enter up to three times to win by using each of these methods (official rules here). The Contest begins at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (“EST”) on December 15, 2008 and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on December 23, 2008.
1. Comment
Simply leave a comment on this blog with the name of the package you would like to win (Tool Addict, Technerdia or Shapeshifter). If you don’t like any of my packages you can go to Sears.com and pick out whatever you want, up to $500 in value. If you win you will get what you pick out, please be sure to provide the Sears item number from their website. If you go this route I would suggest you start here. They have a very cool selector based on personality types.
2. Tweet
Simply tweet out the following “RT @tedmurphy please grant my wish to win a (package name from above) – tweet to make your own #sears wish http://urlbrief.com/fd8059”
3. Blog Post
Write a post about this promotion and link back to this blog post. Be sure to let me know what package you would like if you win.
The preceeding was a sponsored post by Sears. If you would like to learn more about Sears Gift Cards click here.
My buddy Chris Brogan was the victim of an unwarranted Twitter attack this weekend and handled it like a rock star. I am by no means a stranger to controversy or personal attacks, it takes a special type of person to stay cool in that situation. Chris caught my attention when he tweeted “Remember: anyone can criticize. I cater to those who can teach.” When I clicked through in twitter search I had an epiphany. Holy crap… Chris Borgan is the Chuck Norris of social media…. he even looks like Chuck Norris.
Seriously!?! They could be twins.
Chris Brogan - All American Bad Ass
If you are not following Chris Borgan on Twitter do it now. Read his blog. Become one with the Chris Brogan.
Earlier this week Joe and I went to Pancheros to grab a burrito. I had not been in several months, I love the food but Pancheros is a ten minute walk from IZEA and normally isn’t top of mind. When I returned to the office I tweeted about my burrito and was amazed when somebody at Pancheros quickly responded to me.
Obviously Joel at Pancheros understands the power of Twitter. He is probably using Twitter search to identify people speaking about their company then responding in real time. I loved that he reached out to me and followed me, so much so that I have returned to Pancheros two more times this week, spending $20 in additional food and beverage. I want to praise Joel and Pancheros for their use of Twitter, but challenge them to think bigger.
Imagine this. It’s January 1, 2009. Joel just tapped me on the shoulder to consult with Pancheros on a social media strategy (which I don’t do). My first order of business… Twitterize everything.
Get Employees On Board
I told both the cashier and the owner of my local Pancheros that I tweeted about Pancheros and they both had no idea what the heck I was talking about. Pancheros should encourage these people to participate in Twitter and enlist them to help spread the word while at the restaurant.
Spread the Word
It’s great that Pancheros is on Twitter, but I would have never known it. I just so happen to tweet about them and be followed back. If they are going to be on Twitter they should make a commitment to promoting it now, while Twitter is still relatively young. Don’t let McDonalds or Burger King “eat your lunch”. Connect with the early adopters and they will create a snowball of followers. Make it clear you are on Twitter, don’t make your fans seek you out or stumble upon you.
Encourage Conversation
Pancheros has big screen monitors broadcasting irrelevant cable television programming to their customer base. Why not turn those into Twitter search feeds, showing everyone the conversation around the Pancheros brand and the food they love so much. Seeing the conversation will encourage people to participate and drive free brand exposure on a massive scale.
Drive Demand Through Special Offers
Pancheros should use Twitter to tweet out special offer codes for Panchero followers. I would suggest doing these tweets a couple times a week, around lunch and dinner. If they tweeted out “come to @pancheros in the next hour and mention promo code TACONOW to get 20% off a taco” I would be there… a lot.
Embrace The Twitter Community
How about holding a Tweetup with free or discounted product at Pancheros in each city they have locations. Perhaps people could get a free taco by Tweeting out a phrase like “@pancheros hooked me up with a free chicken taco at the Orlando tweetup”. Utilize the network effect of Twitter to spread the word at low cost.
Pancheros and other businesses with a physical location have an incredible opportunity to integrate Twitter in everything they do. Those that move first and build an army of followers now will have a distinct advantage over their counterparts that arrive late to the game. Joel is heading down the right path, I hope he can get senior management to see the bigger picture and be the first fast food chain to embrace Twitter in this way
If you like this post feel free to follow me on Twitter.
In mid October I decided I was going to make some changes to my lifestyle. I was fat, unhealthy and not taking care of myself. One of the things I decided to give up was caffeine. I am not a big soda drinker, but I found myself addicted to Starbucks, Venti iced vanilla latte to be exact. I was pounding down at least one (normally 2) a day, sometimes 3 or 4 if I was on the road. Whooooaaaa chunky butt, check out the nutritional information for one of these drinks:
1,200 calories in a day from coffee? 900mg of Caffeine? I am surprised I am not dead.
Not only do I feel better (once I got past the headaches), but my wallet is fatter… a lot fatter. On average I was spending $8 a day on coffee. Over the past two months I have saved $480, that is $2,880 over the course of a year. I never really thought about it, but I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on something that I didn’t really need (though they do taste damn good…. mmmmmm starbucks… bad ted bad).
How about you? Is there a vice you can cut out of your life that will make you healthier and save you money at the same time? Fast food, cigarettes, alcohol and candy come to mind….
I am nominated for a Shorty Award. The Shorty Awards honor the world’s top Twitterers. You can nominate as many people for as many categories as you’d like until midnight December 31st. I would really appreciate your vote for @tedmurphy. I am trying to win the #advertising category, but feel free to nominate me for #sexiestmanalive.
Now that I have gotten rid of cable I get most of my television through Hulu and AppleTV. I love both of these options because they introduce me to new shows that I wouldn’t have found based on my old television viewing habits. I don’t watch a lot of TV, but when I find a good show I get hooked.
My latest addiction is was The Riches. It is about a family of travelers (a.k.a. gypsies) that steals the identify of a rich couple and starts living their life in their house. They con, lie, cheat and steal their way into fulfilling “the American dream”. Following the family is like watching a train wreck, you know it is wrong but you can’t turn away. The acting is fantastic, Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver are outstanding in their roles. Who would have thought Minnie Driver could play a convincing gypsy?
I highly recommend checking it out on Hulu. The only thing that sucks is FX canceled the show, you will be bummed with the last episode.
Like many of you I am a fan of Intel. I am running Intel processors in my laptop and desktop and I love the Intel brand. I may not have a Intel processor mini-museum in my basement like my buddy Shoemoney, but I do proudly sport the Intel logo on shirts and stickers as a smaller symbol of nerdism. When my friend Brito (who works at Intel) told me he was coming to visit I asked him to drop by the Intel company store and pick me up some swag. He totally hooked me up, so much so that I have decided to share some of this hard to get Intel gear with my readers.
Computer nerds of the world unite! I am giving away an awesome OGIO laptop bag, a basic notepad, a really nice leather notepad and an oversized pen…. all branded with the Intel logo. This is some high quality gear and would make a cool gift for the computer nerd in your family. As far as I know you can only get this stuff from the company store in Silicon Valley.
You can enter up to three ways. Each type of entry gets you a certain amount of chances to win.
1. POST (10 entries) : Show me your Intel! Write a post on your blog linking back to this post with a picture of you and your Intel powered computer. I want your nerdom to be glowing.
2. COMMENT (2 entries) : Leave a comment on this blog with the type of Intel chip(s) you are running and what type of computer.
3. TWEET it out (1 entry) : Tweet the phrase “RT @tedmurphy is giving away awesome swag from #Intel on his blog http://urlbrief.com/93c309”
You can have up to 13 entries per person if you do all three. The winner will be chosen at random. Contest cIoses at midnight EST December 17th, 2008. Iam going to announce the winner on December 18th and will ship it to you in time for Christmas as long as you get back to me with your address by the 19th. This is a personal contest, not sponsored by any company.
