Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

Online Communities

Why 2009 Is Going To Be YOUR Year

The Little Queen of my Wild River!!! / La peti...
Image by Denis Collette…!!! via Flickr

You offer me hope.

You continue to amaze me (in the best way possible) with your ability to negate all the naysayers that doubt there’s still kindness in the human race.

You prove the positive nature of mankind is alive and well. And you do this on a daily basis. You are the heart of the future.

Why? Simple.

On Twitter last night, I mentioned that I wanted the community I share space with to write this blog post. I made a simple request: “In one line, how will YOU encourage greatness in 2009?” And you didn’t let me down – not by responding itself, but with the content of the responses.

These are the responses.

  • @haverhill01835 – “Don’t just listen to people, hear what they say.”
  • @3keyscoach – “Encouraging entrepreneurs to take their vision and put it into action on daily basis.”
  • @cognac – “Goodness follows Greatness. Be good, do good in 2009.”
  • @tmonhollon – “Help make work and writing fun through creativity and play.”
  • @sbradley3 – “Good is the enemy of greatness. Never settle for good. Never be afraid to start over when a good idea is not enough.”
  • @marinabroker – “I will always sell the best spot!”
  • @juliebonnheath – “My motto for greatness is what my drama teacher taught: Professionalism is attention to detail.”
  • @LaughingCrow – “I will spend more time with my children, help and inspire others, and spread ripples of compassion.”
  • @isCool – “I will be the change I seek. No one else can be that change.”
  • @russell_cook – “Greatness will be achieved when we give all we have to a purpose greater than ourselves.”
  • @abarcelos – “Using our talents (we all have them) to influence and help others in positive ways personally & professionally.”
  • @KatieKrafka – “I will encourage greatness by REPORTING greatness!”
  • @ShayRockhold – “I will encourage greatness in others by being their constant cheerleader and (when applicable) coach.”
  • @ScottHepburn – “Elevate your less ‘connected’ followers instead of fawning over A-listers… you’ll be amazed at what happens.”
  • @greytblackdog – “Act on the inspiration that I find everyday. The results will show up everywhere in my life, including my writing.”
  • @SternalPR – I will light a fire under people who lost a job and encourage them to find the entrepreneur spirit in a way that changes the world for the better.”

My own motto? Be interested in others. Genuinely interested. Encourage growth and assay fear. Be the rope for others to climb on.

I look forward to continuing to learn from you all in 2009 and thank you, and everyone I’ve connected with, for making this year the one where I really grew. If it’s true that we’re all in this together, I can’t think of any other people I’d rather be in it with.

Now it’s your turn – how will you encourage greatness in 2009? I’d love to hear your plans.

Starbucks – A Lesson in Social Media Branding

Venti Mocha!Ask anyone what one of the biggest stumbling blocks for businesses and social media is and the over-riding answer will probably be understanding. Or lack of it.
With so many businesses questioning why they would enter a medium that doesn’t offer the same kind of return on investment (ROI) than traditional marketing, why bother?

One look at Starbucks could offer some answers. The Seattle-based coffee giant has embraced social media with some great initiatives that any business could learn from.

For instance, while other brands are deciding whether micro-blogging site Twitter is for them, Starbucks has tackled it head on. Better still, they’re actually engaging their customers into the bargain. Instead of simply using Twitter as a broadcasting tool, Starbucks is actively conversing with its 17,000 followers (although weekends seem strangely quiet).

By helping people buy Starbucks-related products to sharing information on various charity projects the company is involved in, the Starbucks Twitter account is the perfect example of great brand usage.

On top of that, Starbucks has also set up an interesting project over at My Starbucks Idea. Here customers of the company are invited to share their ideas on how Starbucks can improve. An open forum approach sees users post their ideas and other members vote for the best. These are then looked at by Starbucks for viability.

As an idea in improving a company through the people that matter – the customers – it’s brilliant common sense. As an example of interactive social media at work, it’s perfect.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Starbucks is embracing social media as well as it is. After all, the company has long been an advocate of social responsibility with their eco-friendly projects. With My Starbucks Idea and their Twitter account, they’re merely transferring their offline ethos into the social media world. And a fine job they’re doing too.

How does your brand compare?

Creative Commons License photo credit:?betsyjean79

It’s Nice To Be Nice

The world can be a tough place to live in at times. We try our hardest to make it work, but things don’t always work out to plan. It’s a fast-paced environment where people get left behind or ignored, or simply forgotten about. If you don’t fit into a stereotype, you’re not one of the “in-crowd”.

(And you thought that stopped at high school.)

But you know, as fast as the world is and as unfair as it can be, we can still make it better in our own little ways. Nothing mind-breaking; nothing rocket science in nature. For example, this morning on Twitter I suggested this:

“Look at the first person in your Twitter stream and Direct Message them to say thank you for being a friend.”

Simple, easy and maybe just offering a little fun into our lives and the people around us. What was really nice to see was that people picked up on it.

If we can pick up on something as simple as this with people we may never have met physically, shouldn’t it be just as easy to do so with those we know? So let’s try it.

Look at the last “proper” email you received, reply to that person and say, “Thank you for being a friend.”

Look at the first name in your phonebook and call them to say, “Thank you for being a friend.”

Look at the first person on your Facebook friend list and say, “Thank you for being a friend.”

It’s easy to do. It doesn’t take much. Yet in a world that does its best to put us down at times, it can brighten up a whole day. And just so you know?

Thank YOU for being a friend.

Have You Been Tweetbombed on Twitter Yet?

For an off-the-wall way to use Twitter, new craze Tweetbombing may just take the award for the most fun. Like the best crazes, Tweetbombing keeps it simple and open to everyone and so far the formula is working, with the Twitter profile for Tweetbomb already enjoying over 1,000 followers.

So what is Tweetbomb and why is it so much fun?

At its simplest, Tweetbomb is nothing more than a harmless way for Twitter users to play a game almost junior school-like in its approach. Twitter users follow Tweetbomb, and at exactly 3.33pm Eastern time (EST), a message is sent out to all followers with the name of the Twitter user to be Tweetbombed that day.

Everyone then sends out a blank Tweet – the Tweetbomb in question – to that user. No message, no hello, nothing – simply a blank Tweet and that’s it. Live results of how many Tweets are sent are provided via the Twitter search tool, while the user in question has no idea what’s going on until informed later.

As a way of encouraging new connections, Tweetbomb delivers (Tweetbombers often befriend the person that’s just been targeted). As a fun way and harmless way to use Twitter, Tweetbomb also delivers.

And isn’t having fun and meeting new people what makes Twitter so popular in the first place?

  • UPDATE 30 NOVEMBER 2008: The Tweetbomb account has been suspended by Twitter pending investigation into misuse. While the idea behind Tweetbomb seems to be innocent fun, as Lucretia Pruitt points out in the comments it could perhaps be costly for someone receiving cell phone updates from Twitter. Until a way of voluntary and non-cost Tweetbombing is found, perhaps it needs to go back to the drawing board?