Category

life

Ted Murphy
In charity

Pledge to End Hunger

Can 5,000 Feed 560,000?

I am meeting some awesome people at SWSX in Austin this week. On Friday I ran into Scott Henderson, a great guy behind a great cause. Scott is the the campaign manager for Pledge to End Hunger. In just one week, 2,500 people have signed the pledge and committed to do something to help end childhood hunger in America. The effort has already delivered more than 89,000 lbs of food (courtesy of Tyson Foods), which is enough to feed over 350,000 children in need.

I want your help!  If a total of 5,000 people sign The Pledge by Tuesday at 1 PM ET, Tyson will donate another truck load of food and make it possible for us to feed a total of 560,000 children in need. We’re already halfway there and can make this goal with your help.

You are already on the interwebs. Go now and sign the pledge, it is easy and free.

Pledge to End Hunger

Ted Murphy
In life

Brothers Don’t Shake Hands

I went on an incredible camping / ATV trip with two of my brothers this weekend. For the past few years we have made a point to get together for a man trip at least once a year (something I highly recommend if you have siblings). This was our 3rd such trip and by far the best. I am working on a video of the whole experience, but I had to share this little nugget tonight. Yet another reason I love my camera on a stick.


Brothers Don’t Shake Hands from Ted Murphy on Vimeo.

Ted Murphy
In life

My Family Is Crazy

I am going on a camping trip with two of my brothers this weekend. We have been organizing the trip through email and this morning I had an ephinany…my family is just as deranged as I am. From our emails:

Ted
I can’t seem to find any long underwear down here. Will you guys pick me up a few pairs?

Craig
Found some at Walmart. Would you rather have 34 or 38 waist? Top is 34-36, 38-40 or 42-44. Let me know and I’ll pick them up.

Ted
34-36 would be awesome. If they come in crotchless or t-back that would be a bonus.

Craig
I already bit a hole in them so now they’re crotchless.

Ted Murphy
In

Sponsored Conversations

Forrester Research : “Why You Should Pay Bloggers To Talk About Your Brand”

This morning Forrester Research released a new brief about “Sponsored Conversations” written by analyst Sean Corcoran with support from Josh Bernoff, Jeremiah K. Owyang, Thomas Cummings and Jennifer Wise. The briefing suggests that Advertisers should “Add Sponsored Conversations to Your Toolbox”, something that I strongly agree with as CEO of IZEA, the company that pioneered the space.

While compensating bloggers was considered taboo a few years ago there has been a paradigm shift in thinking over the past 12 months and this briefing underscores that change. Many major blogs participate in some form of sponsored conversation or sponsored blogging, and the economy is driving bloggers and advertisers to explore this option more everyday. Both advertisers and bloggers have come to the same conclusion – display ads don’t work in social media.

Sponsored Conversations

The team at Forrester did an excellent job on this briefing. A few takeaways that I agree with include:

  • Mandate disclosure
  • Ensure freedom of authenticity
  • Partner with relevant blogs
  • Don’t talk and then walk away

The last bullet point is probably the biggest hurdle for major corporations. Sponsored conversation can get conversations started, but it is up to the company to continue the conversation and develop relationships with their customers.

Sponsored Conversation Industry Born

Forrester says “A New Industry Is Born” and I agree… though I would say IZEA gave birth to it in 2006. Radical ideas take time to gain acceptance, something all of you entrepreneurs out there need to understand. The biggest ideas are often met with the loudest opposition.

My prediction : The sponsored conversation space will reach $1B within 5 years… The question is, how to measure it.

You should check out this related post by Jeremiah. There is also a post by Steve Rubel.

You can download a the Sponsored Conversations report from Forrester for free.

Ted Murphy
In

Tweet Your Way to 250,000 AMEX Points

Over the past few years I have racked up quite a few American Express Reward Points. Each point is roughly equivalent to one dollar spent… you do the math.  I have been saving these reward points for a rainy day and with the economy where it is I am sure it’s raining for a few of you.

I’m going to do my best to brighten your rainy day. How about up to 250,000 AMEX points for you to spend how you see fit!!?!? You don’t need an American Express card, I will spend the points and send the winner the merchandise. What will 250,000 Amex points buy? Here are a few examples:

rewards

A $500 Home Depot Gift Card is 50,000 points. That’s $2,500 to put towards your home if you went that route. There are literally thousands of products to choose from including travel, entertainment, home goods and electronics.

Want to win up to 250,000 AMEX points?

Here’s how to enter:

1) Follow @tedmurphy on Twitter.

2) Tell  your friends about the contest by tweeting “Just entered to win 250,000 Amex points. To enter follow @tedmurphy and RT http://urlbrief.com/00abc6 “

The contest begins today and ends on April 1, 2009 at noon EST. For each one person that follows me the possible award will grow by 5x – up to 250,000 points. I am starting with 6,400 or so followers, so as of today the prize is already at 32,000 points (a domestic coach airplane ticket is 30,000 points).

One lucky person who is following me on Twitter will be chosen live at random on April 1st. It’s pretty simple. The more followers I get the more I give away.

Rules and Other Information

Amex points are not transferabble, the winner will be able to pick items from the Amex site and I will have them sent to the winner. This contest is open to anyone in the world 18+ so long as it is legal in their state and country. Please read the official rules for more information. Void where prohibited by law. This contest is not associated with American Express or any other company.

Ted Murphy
In

Update Your About Page

top-content-google-analytics-1This morning I took a look at my Google Analytics stats to determine what content people were interested in on my blog. I was surprised to see how many people were visiting my about page. I guess that has something to do with my 70% new visitor rate, mostly from the promotions I have been running with IZEA and our partners.

Do you see the same type of pattern on your blog? If so when was the last time you updated your about page? Your about page is extremely important, especially if you are trying to sell advertising or land speaking gigs. I hadn’t updated mine since I launched this blog so I decided to give it a little makeover. Let me know what you think.

Ted Murphy
In

Twitter 2012

This week I spent some time thinking about what a fully Twitterized world may look like. My mind raced in many directions, so much so that I can’t seem to stop. I am bursting at the seems with ideas and want to share them with you. These thoughts keep me up at night:

Tweet Loops

ticket

nbc

OBAMA DAILY BRIEFING

parking_meter1

youvegottweets

tweet_bar

I had so much fun working on these that I invited my friends at IZEA and MindComet to contribute. My tweeps Marty, Chris and Patrick came up with some great concepts. Check them out:

football

tattoo

twitair2

tweet-emt

jpmorgantwitter

Marty did the football player, the tattoo and the airplane. Chris did the JP Morgan sign. Patrick did the EMT.

I would love to have more people contribute.

I am going to make this an ongoing series of posts that will feature my ideas along with other tweeps. To submit your idea for consideration please send an email to ted@izea.com with the subject “Twitter 2012”. My only rule is the submission must be a quality manipulation of a real photo that makes me think without a need for a description.

Ted Murphy
In business, life

Nanerpuss

Joe showed me the commercial for Denny’s Nanerpuss this morning and I instantly fell in love with it. I have been known to play with my food and could see myself doing something like this. I want a Nanerpuss t-shirt. The original commercial was good, but the Nanerpuss remix was even better.

Ted Murphy
In

Dolphin Bubbles

For the past few months I have had the pleasure of working with SeaWorld on a variety of social media initiatives. In December IZEA took a field trip to the park, a few weeks later I took a group of bloggers on a hard hat tour of Manta, and this past week I worked with them on a new blog called Dolphin Bubbles.

I had no idea that dolphins blew bubbles, let alone played with them. The bottle nose dolphins at SeaWorld Orlando blow bubble rings into a vortex of water filled with air then spin, push and bite them. Below is a video from the blog:

Be sure to check out the photos of dolphins blowing bubbles as well.

Dolphin Bubbles