Ways your phone can help you become an influencer–and even a Web celebrity
Being a person of influence, a taste-maker or even a Web celebrity has never been as easy as it is today. The technology you have available to you right now–just in your pocket–is all you need.
Here’s a quick, two-step plan for spreading your influence and creating a personal brand–right from your smartphone.
A lot of apps lay claim to being the #1 Twitter client in the world. But while I have nothing against Tweetdeck or Tweetie, I think HootSuite has outstrided both in usability, features, and most importantly, professional appeal.
HootSuite allows you to share add, edit, and share social network accounts, helping you manage your brand, or just helping you broadcast what you had for breakfast that day. If anything, unlike other aggregators, HootSuite is far more overwhelming than underwhelming.
In case someone wants to start using HootSuite, but can’t figure it out… or someone wants to ensure they’re using it to its full capabilities, a comprehensive guide was needed. Because I love HootSuite, and use it, I figured I’d step up to create one.*
The debate over the value of education as it applies to success in the entrepreneurial world is as varied as it is passionate. Some say that classroom learning is an integral part of real-world application. Others say that you learn nothing studying theory, and that the only education worth acquiring is from the school of hard knocks.
New opportunities, however, may make the debate obsolete. With the advent of free online courses from some of the country’s top universities available online, you can quench your thirst for greater knowledge, without committing to full time schooling or lifetime debt.
Can’t get an MBA from MIT or Stanford? Don’t worry — you don’t really need one of those anyway. Now you can study the same great content from big-time biz schools on your own schedule, and stay focused on building the world’s next great tech company.
Get access to nearly every class taught at America’s best math institution, not to mention one of the nation’s top MBA programs. Tests, readings, and lecture notes are available for classes like Managerial Psychology and Law for Entrepreneurs.
I just got back to the States after a great trip to Cabarete, Dominican Republic. Before I jump right back on a plane to The Summit Series in Washington DC, I thought I’d write a bit about all that happened.
Just the Highlights
I set a new kiteboarding world record. I raised the funds I needed for the record through a (successful) test of the crowdfunding model. And I had a motorbike adventure involving, no joke, a guy affectionately known as “Crackhead Danny.”
Blackberry, the enterprise device, can do more for your business than just receive e-mails and make phone calls. The increasingly robust list of BlackBerry apps can significantly improve how small businesses operate, simultaneously boosting productivity and the bottom-line.
The trick isn’t so much finding BlackBerry apps for small businesses, but rather finding the best ones. Here are 10 of the best.
Please continue to read the full article on Mashable.com at the following URL:
Last month on a kiteboarding trip to Cabarete, Dominican Republic, I got a chance to visit the Batey Caraballo neighborhood, which houses a bulk of the country’s Haitian immigrants and refugees. My visit came just over a month after the catastrophic earthquake struck mainland Haiti.
My visit was made possible by the Dominican Republic Education And Mentoring (DREAM) Project, an awesome non-profit organization providing quality education for children born into poverty in rural areas and small communities of the Dominican Republic. I took a HD digital video camera with me (along with school supplies stuffed in my backpack), and made two short videos from the content.
I was struck by how much the village residents were smiling and laughing, despite the extremely challenging circumstances all around them. I was also struck by the Hong Kong Express right outside the town next door (!), and the experience of being blessed by a Voodoo priest (see below). The whole trip was really an enjoyable, inspiring and uplifting experience.
There’s a lot to say about the trip, and I’ll get to some of the highlights below. But first, I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who supported me and helped out along the way. The comments, encouragement, and support I received was overwhelming.
Honestly, I didn’t know really how large, active, or supportive my community was. You guys are truly awesome.
Top-3 Moments of the Trip
1. Line Dancing in Texas
Asian girl country line-dancing? You’d think it’d be silly, but I absolutely loved it. It was totally a scene I could see myself getting into if I lived somewhere else. The bar we went to, Wild West, was something right out of the film Roadhouse.
2. Road Warrior Challenge (Tin Foil Sword Fight)
What do you get when you turn four geeks loose in New Orleans with tinfoil, to stage a fake swordfight? Hilarity ensues, and half of the businessmen and lawyers walking by get involved too. We got some weird looks (alright. a lot), but I like to think we spread a lot of joy that day too.
The day is finally upon us. Early this morning, me and my three new best friends piled into a Chevy Equinox, and embarked on a competition road trip to Austin, TX for the SXSW interactive conference.
This isn’t just about driving, though. We’ll be following clues from location to location, and taking on 50 fun “challenges” along the way. For example, we’ll be stopping by an animal shelter to walk the dogs, getting a group of people to sing a famous song, taking a picture with a police officer, and many more.
As we complete these challenges, we’ll be documenting them on the South Florida SXSW Chevy Road Challenge site at http://roadchallenge.com. The competition between teams (it’s us, South Florida, against 7 others) won’t be decided by who gets to Austin first, but rather, who completes the most challenges, and gets the most buzz created around their posts. Kind of like Amazing Race 2.0.
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” – Dr. Seuss
Up until recently, the concept of transparency was little more than a buzzword for me. I wasn’t completely comfortable revealing certain things about my life online, and kept my personal life mostly private in favor of the professional.
However, starting this blog, being more active on social networks (like twitter and facebook), working on a posterous lifecasting site and receiving encouraging insight from English entrepreneur, Ben Way (@BenpbWay), I’ve slowly started to become more comfortable with online transparency.
It’s gotten to the point where I’m actually known for my transparency, and have become an advocate for getting naked… um, I mean, sharing about yourself online.
