DISQUS

Robert, Thank you for your opinions. I am social media community manager for the Best Buy Remix project. Not sure how many people know, but Best Buy has opened up it's API of information to allow developers to create third party apps on Best Buy content. I don't want to reiterate the things that some of my coworkers have said, but one thing I am sure is that you will see improvements on the horizon.

As a company I know Best Buy has web 2.0, engagement, and change as top of mind.

Thank you for the suggestions.
Keith Burtis - @Bestbuyremix
http://remix.bestbuy.com

PS- It was nice to meet you at SXSW.

Hi guys. i wish i could attend this event. is there any chance you will be streaming at all?

Kevin, you said you will be having a post Christmas get together. This means that you will be alone on Christmas. I am not letting this happen. I am inviting you to please spend some time with my family. We will be having Christmas Dinner in the afternoon and I am not taking 'no' for an answer. As far as I am concerned there is n way your spending the day alone. Come to the house, have dinner, some dessert, and relax for a bit. Take your mind off the dissertation and enjoy the day.

Your Friend
--Keith

<abbr>Keith Burtiss last blog post..Holiday Wrap-Up & More Wine bottle Stoppers!</abbr>

Great Post, thank you for gathering all of this information into a succinct post. I am the community manager for Best Buy Remix an open API proect for Best Buy. I guess the big question i have is, does all this have to be done individually or by hand? Is there a way I can push this statistical data into on or offline software that will collate all of this information into hard copy reports that can be passed on and shared?

The tools are great and many i have been using for a really long time, but to colate all the data into something substantial is where I struggle.

So I guess the thing that I'd add is that the tools are there, but you need to find a way to take that tracked information and turn it into bottom line metrics. Also, which metrics are important to you as a company.

Great Post
-Keith @BestBuyRemix

Chris, you say that this post is inspired by your friend ED. I gather that this is also much of the way your writing partner Julien thinks. Set a goal, and manage each step. I believe in this form of building but I also believe that in all of this noise, people with thousands of twitter followers, hundreds of facebook friends, and a zillion friendfeed followers that we need to start zeroing in.

One of the things that frustrates me is all of the analysts. Everyone is an analyst. Analysts are analyzing other analysts and blog posts are all starting to look the same. For marketing, business building, and flat out getting things done we need to STOP talking about the tools and START growing our relationships.

Your right Chris, this place is too freaking noisy. Everyone tooting their own horns and tooting their friends horns. Did you see the latest analyst predictions on where the web was going next? Have you seen the rapid growth in the social sector? Have you read the top 10 ways to leverage social media by the guy who's been using twitter for a week? (WHO CARES??)

C'mon people, we are smarter than this. Lets start creating alliances of unique thinking. Lets band together around the greater good. Lets help each other grow our businesses and succeed. Lets do, rather than talk. Instead of five bloggers clawing at each other for the same market segment, pool your talents and create a network. Instead of Hashing and rehashing the same old crap lets get together on an intimate skype call and help one another strategize.

This isn't high school. Twitter followers, facebook friends...all means nothing without context. Go out and help someone....and seriously think about it. Today, figure out your Macro, and start building from the micro.

Keith

I think keeping your brand up-to-date is important. However, the creativity in sending a bunch of bloggers empty cans was "Empty". Boring and lacks creativity. Creates a few articles on a few popular blogs but where is the substance?

Marina, First off. Awesome Post. I have a related post to "Thinking Big" that I will Ping Back here. However, My Thinking Big is more of a long term thing. I love the short term outlay to get my butt moving NOW. So, I have a few goals before January 1st and I will list them.

- I don't care about weight, but I would like to drop one inch off my waist before Jan. 1st.

- I am currently working with a designer on a media site. As long as he is finished I would like to have my first professionally edited Podcast up by Jan 1st.

- I have been thinking about creating a site at keithburtis.com, a basic information page about the services and things that I offer. I will have this to at least 90% Completion by Jan 1st.

- My most Audacious goal before Jan 1st will be to have a new job working in social media either in Blogging or Community Manger by January 1st. (Readers- Please send all job sitings to my email keith at magicwoodworks dot com)

Those are my Goals for the time period listed.

ALSO - If you are interested in making a contest out of this I will gladly make a handmade trophy. I will make a sculptural piece that will have a handmade trophy base and we'll even have a plate inscribed for the winner of the 2008 End of year Contest. So go get em!

There are no rules. That's why I love social media, put me in a box and I will surely break out.

Alain, you didn't read the post. I never said there was anything wrong with self promotion. Not once. I merly said that if ALL you do is self promote without adding value that people wont follow you. You say so what? I say you do care if people follow you. If you didn't you'd just keep a journal. The idea is to collaborate and share. I am not telling anyone how to use the tool, merely sharing my suggestions on sharing with the community. BTW, I love the inspirational quotes!

@Dominick, as long a your engaging and creating more than a one way stream, In my opinion your all good.

@Paul Moss, that's why I gave the Barack Obama analogy, because it seems that as long as you have enough enduring fans and your creating value with your blurted tweets people will still follow. However, if you or I do that, people will close the book on us!

@Meridith, great comment and great study on your part. I am also a tweet deck user and i use it to follow certain groups. With almost 1,000 followers on twitter it would be impossible to catch anything. Tweet Deck Helps me sort these feeds of interest. I think Twitter is self regulating. The Unfollow Button is powerful.

@Marc - Awesome! Your doing geat. It's all about intentions.

@Rebekkah - Thats exactly why those marketers will never gain traction. They are coming at it from the standpoint of "Whats in it for me, rather than how can I serve"

@Jeff, I think people do care about the tea your drinking! More so, as this thing grows it will be great way for people to meet you in a certain place.Keep up your tweets man! I'd be surprised if you haven't already used twitter to generate meet-up or lunch.

@Alma, Twitter is FULL of Professionals of all kinds and to leave out your professional life or your blog posts would be a sin. However, if the only thing you do is post your links to yourself, people just wont follow. Your doing great!

@Theresa, way to engage! Keep having fun!

@Sonny, Awesome - Thank you.

@Judy, I am in full agreement.

@Bob, many times I find people replace it to comment on a blog post, i also find that people don't subscribe to blogs as much because they get their feeds from Twitter.

@Bernie, Thanks for the feedback

Brian, I think twitter can be super fun! Sharing is always fun. Just don't only share your content. Engage and Enlighten!

I agree with almost all of the comments so far and I also agree that social media in general is used in many ways and is very personal. Remember that I said sharing is totally cool with me. I would be upset if you didn't share your blog post or recent success. This is why I love twitter. easy access to great information and the ability to share the things I am doing. I guess Chris said it best when he said look at someones twitter page, if all 20 posts are just shouted messages are they really part of the community?

Keith

Wow! Zoe, I am flattered that I made this list. I had no idea, just stopped by the blog and there I was at #2...Surprise! Anyway, the post was awesome and I am heading to the free video info site right now. Thank you for the great info!
Keith

Hey, great job. Proud of you both!
Keith

That would be awesome Dave! Good Luck!

Chris, Thank you for this. You know that as a woodturner I have a lot of time that needs to be spent offline. I do my best keeping up with blogs that I follow as well as blogging, podcasting, streaming and twittering myself. Yes it is true that we only have so much time in the day. As soon as am able to shed the 9-5 job I think it will open up many more opportunities. Thank you for the post and giving such a great explanation. However, if I could bring one more quick point to the table.

Every person on this earth has an amazing capacity for creativity, but if one does not maximize both sides of the coin the other side will eventually fail.

What I mean by this is "Exercise" your brain to feed your body, and e"Exercise" your body to support your brain. My thoughts are, those that do not take care of the brain and the body will just burn out!

Longevity, means to train like a marathon runner not a sprinter. This is the area I have the most trouble finding time for.

Again - Thank you for the post.
Keith Burtis

I have a hard enough time keeping up with Chris and his prolific blogging, but i signed up! I try to keep on top and Chris is the way to get the latest info!
Keith Burtis

GARY, Great post. I know this to be true in my own life. I have spent a lot of time visualizing the places that I wanted to go, all while staying in the moment. I find that I am not having to work as hard at pressing things to happen. I am making the choices everyday that help me in the "where"

Bottom line for me is this. My passion is Social Media and Woodturning! Social media for the great people and networking and the woodturning is my creative outlet.

Gary, I am bringing an age old art to the masses through my live streaming, my blogging and my podcast to be. My goal is to make a living...straight up! By following my passion. Monetizing the things I do, so that I can continue to do them better!

Kevin, awesome blog post. Congrats on the talk at Cheektowaga Central! Whats the next book on the wish list?? I think I'll have to get Clay's book as well :) Good deal.
Keith Burtis

Gary, late comer to the party here as far as making my question, long time follower, and long time watcher of "The Thunder Show"

First off, you RAWKED out on Donny. I can't tell you how much I loved that show!

Question: I am a woodturner. Woodturning is my passion, my air, my expression. So my question to you is: How does an artist such as myself who only has so much time to produce product for sale with my own two hands kick it up another notch to were I can generate income with my knowledge, and my passion for the industry?

To preface the question:
1.I am streaming live on blog TV and drawing decent numbers.

2. I have a blog where I explain my artistic process as well as tell the story of my art.

3. I am beginning to prouce podcast called Woodturning and Creative arts.

4. I have already been approached by large companies in my industry to help in their social media projects as well as possible sponsorships.

Gary, I am working full time, putting all of my free time into my passion of woodturning and social media! I want to support my family with my passion and my love!

Thank you
Keith Burtis

PS. Thanks for doing what you do!

Gary, another amazing video. The slam factor, the thunder you bring with every focused but of information rings so true with me. I'm resonating like the Librty Bell here Gary. Beautiful stuff!! I'll be joining you at the top ...in my own way of course ..very soon. Thank you for the inspiration.
Keith Burtis

Kevin, Thanks so much for the review of my woodturning show. As we disussed last night, there is a record feature on BlogTV. However, i forgot to push it! So i will be streaming live again tomorrow to make up for the small screw up -- heck maybe even turn live again toninght .. we'll see. Anyhow, thank you again for the wonderful post,and i can vouch that if anyone needs a social media strategist, keving is your man!
Keith Burtis

Chris, my ay starts with my day job. I start early 6am, so my social media day starts about 3:30 PM. I usually go with the flow. I check into twitter where i have built a nice community of like minded people, and i also have select twitter updates that go to my phone all day long. I use the "Track" feature to find others that are interested in the same things I am and I also use it to find people in the businesses that I sell my woodturning too.
I will usually only blog about 3-4 times a week, uploading photo's of my work to flickr, and I use email to stay in touch with former customers as well as generate new business.
Finally, am also using Ustream to stream live my woodturning process.
Future services that I plan to use are:
YouTube, MDialog, and iTunes for Podcasting, as well as other podcatchers.

Thanks for the great post as always
Keith Burtis

Thank you Gary, I look forward to watching your video every day when I get home.
Keith Burtis

Hey Gary, I agree with what you say here in that it is very important to build your personal brand and to be in place for the explosion of the future. As an artist, woodturner, wood sculptor I am building community one person at a time. I started a blog about 7 months ago, started twitter about 6 months ago and I have already been pretty successful in building up my personal brand in the space. However, what I love about this space is the room for freedom, growth and personal expression. The fact that my brand does not have to be something that is packed up all neat and tidy in a little box somewhere with a Label on it. We all have the ability to push forward, learn, and grow in this space.
I agree whole heartedly with you on the positioning of new media. I really do. However I still think that we all have to be able to keep our feet on the ground. Stay connected, stay sincere, and don't come off like a commercial all the time. Consumers are able to see through a marketing pitch like glass and if we get too high on ourselves or too car salesman, they'll just say goodbye. Gary, great post...and keep up the great work. I never miss a new vid post from you anymore!!
Keith Burtis