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life

Ted Murphy
In gear,

My Social Media Costume

A few weeks ago I was packing for my trip to SXSW. As I gathered my clothes Tara asked me if I was going to bring my “social media costume”. I laughed…she had totallySocial Media Costumecaught on to me. Over the past few months I have been making a point of wearing the exact same outfit to any event where I would be seeing a lot of social media types.

My hat, Twitter shirt and crazy red running shoes have all become part of my personal brand. I wear this outfit to events because it enables people to easily recognize and remember me. It also creates a consist image when people take photos of me and post them on the interwebs.

I have a red and blue version of the “costume”, allowing me to switch things up if the event is multiple days. The red version is my primary pick because it matches the colors of this blog.

If you want to build a personal brand you need to constantly reinforce it, whatever it is. Are you the guy who always dresses in black? Hawaiian shirts? Has crazy hair? Wears sunglasses inside? Define your visual image and make a conscious effort to embrace it, particularly at social events.

Ted Murphy
In life

Where in the World is Ted Murphy

This morning I was thinking of building a photo gallery that included pictures of me with all the readers of this blog. I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few of you, I thought it would be cool to share those images with my community. I started to build the gallery, but then it occurred to me that it wouldn’t really be an accurate representation of everyone who visits. It seemed a little unfair to the rest of my readers; some of you just don’t have the time, money or interest in attending the events I go to but still contribute here.

Then I had an aha moment. What if you could download me wherever you are? We could take a picture together anywhere in the world! Awesome.

Click on the image for a printable size

Click on the image for a printable size

Let’s take a picture together

Download the image above, print it out and cut my face out. Take it with you somewhere fun and snap a picture…. be sure to stick your tongue out! Let me know about the picture by leaving a comment or writing a blog post that links back here (you’ll get a trackback). Be sure to let me know who you are, tara_tedwhere you took the picture and where you would like me to link back to. I love to go to parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs and fancy restaurants. I will also accept photos from companies, it could be a cheap way to earn yourself some traffic.

I am going to take all the photos and make a permanent photo gallery just for them in a new section of this blog. I can’t wait to see where I wind up. I have always wanted to go to Asia!

Ted Murphy
In

Getting Into Website Sponsorships

Our society has become saturated with traditional display advertising. Consumers have learned to tune out, or even pay to omit ads altogether.

The most glaring example of this can be seen in television. If you have seen an episode of NBC’s “The Office” lately, you might have noticed product placement for Sandals Resorts, Apple, Gateway, Chili’s, Cisco and many others. In the episode “The Merger,” the character Kevin uses a Staples-branded shredding machine to shred a Staples branded CD-R and other non-paper dwight the officeitems.

Product placement and sponsorship are appearing more than ever in radio, television and motion pictures. Each day the products and entertainment we love are becoming more entangled in each other’s success. Naturally, the same advertising shift is taking place online.

A Familiar Problem

Advertisers have long understood the benefit of sponsored content — soap operas got their epithet because they were sponsored by soap manufacturers such as Procter and Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Lever Brothers. But content creators and networks moved away from this form of advertising because it limited inventory.

A show sponsorship can only be sold once, but distinctly separating content with commercials allows the ad inventory to be sold hundreds of times to different advertisers. Essentially, the networks got rid of custom sponsorship then created standard ad units and sold them all to the highest bidder. Initially, it worked. But the number of television and radio stations multiplied, niche content networks were created, and soon advertisers had thousands of options to promote themselves. Every network was selling the exact same thing, creating a commodity out of television and radio ad inventory.

Pretty good teaser huh? Read my whole article at Website Magazine.

Ted Murphy
In

My Second WordPress Site

Today IZEA launched its new website and I am really excited. Why? Because the redesign was way overdue. The old site was built in a few days and had no content management system… not to mention that it wasn’t the prettiest thing IZEA has ever put out. I am also excited because I designed the site myself. It was the second WordPress site that I personally created all design elements for and I am very happy with the outcome (ted.me was the 1st). Adam did a kick ass job coding it and the team helped me fill in the content holes. What do you think?

izea.com

Be sure to stop by the Ted Murphy page and leave me some love.

Ted Murphy
In life

Exclusive SeaWorld Manta Update

A month or so ago I organized a trip with IZEA and SeaWorld to do a hard hat tour of Manta, the new experience coming to SeaWorld May 22nd. Last weekend they invited Alex and I to come back and check their progress and things have sure come a long way. The trains are now installed, there is water around the base of the building and the aquarium is almost built out. Alex and I were able to see way more on this trip and I am more excited than ever to ride Manta.

SeaWorld Manta Construction Tour from Ted Murphy on Vimeo.

Ted Murphy
In life

What is Your Mini OCD?

While only 1 in 50 adults in the United States has full on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) many more have small obsessions and compulsions they deal with each day. I call these smaller compulsions Mini OCDs and they range from the annoying to the downright hilarious.

Courtesy of the8rgrl

Courtesy of the8rgrl

I have a close friend who meticulously organizes his socks in perfect rows from light to dark, he does the same with the clothes in his closet. It is so perfect it looks like a movie set. When I go to his house I like to go in his room, move a few things out of place then watch him freak out when I call him in. It’s good clean fun : )

I have my own Mini OCD. When I brush my teeth I have to have the faucet running. Sometimes I will have it on, realize I am wasting water and turn it off, only to turn it back on a second later. I don’t know why I do it, I just do. It feels wrong to brush my teeth without the water running.

How about you? Share your Mini OCD with me. You know you have one.

Ted Murphy
In life

Doggy Destruction

BonzoI love my dog Bonzo, she makes me laugh and smile just by being near her. When I am not traveling I am lucky enough to be able to bring her to work at IZEA. The team at IZEA takes great care of her, I often find her curled up in someones lap or on her back getting her belly rubbed.

She brings joy to everyone around her…. but all that love and attention does have a downside. Bonzo no longer likes being home alone and she is making a point to Tara and I. Since Bonzo can’t speak (English anyway) she communicates through doggy destruction. A few of her latest works:

iPhone Charger

iPhone Charger

Ink Bed

Ink Bed

Thank goodness Bonzo is small, she is farely limited in the amount of destruction she can cause. I know I am not alone, I am sure many of you have bigger dogs and crazier experiences. Drop me a lashing and share your doggy destruction story, if you have pictures please be sure to include them.

Ted Murphy
In life, travel

Carolina Adventure World

A few weeks ago my brothers and I took a trip to Carolina Adventure World in South Carolina. I took nearly 40GB of photos and videos during our trip, so it took me awhile to distill it all down into a video other people might actually enjoy watching. If you ever get a chance to visit Carolina Adventure World I highly recommend it. It the perfect place for a man weekend (no offence ladies), my brothers and I will be returning in the fall.


Carolina Adventure World from Ted Murphy on Vimeo.