It can be easy to get caught up in being named to top lists on the web.  Quite frankly anyone can create a list of top anything and include those people or things that they find worthy of the list based on a variety of factors.  But I can’t help but feel honored to be included on the Who Are The Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers? list by Forbes.  I mean…it is Forbes right?

Regardless of the circumstances, algorithms, or opinions, I’m flattered and it’s just another feel good moment knowing that the time I spend on my blog means something to others.  So many great names on that list that I respect and enjoy and to be included with them is awesome.  I can’t speak to the exact methodology that was used to determine this list, but I would imagine that my blog factored in way more then anything else.  It just goes to show that creating great content can be a game changer for you personally or professionally.

A popular topic amongst social media folks is the ongoing discussion around how many likes/followers a person or organization has and how much that matters. Most folks will usually side on how the numbers do not matter, and what’s more important is engagement, conversions, and whether those connections actually result in contributing to business results. All of this is is very true. Having a large social reach is certainly useless if none of those other things are happening. But I can tell you from experience that anyone that says the size of your reach does not matter is flat out wrong.

Almost 3 years ago a bomb dropped on me when Microsoft laid me off. I did not see it coming, nor should I have as they never had laid anyone in history of the company. I was ill prepared to enter the job market with thousands of other unfortunate souls. I had failed to focus substantial efforts on my own social credentials. I was fortunate however to have a decent enough severance package to buy me the time to focus on myself. And that’s exactly what I did concentrating on blogging, building my social following, and influence in social marketing.

It’s not too many times in your life when you actually get asked to audition for a reality show, but that’s exactly what happened last week. A casting producer for the upcoming Escape Routes contacted me and while at first I didn’t think it was feasible, the more I learned about it, the more I realized it would be a monumental mistake not to.

Escape Routes is officially season 2 of a Ford sponsored, web based, reality/adventure show that deeply integrates social media into the mix. The show is broadcast on Hulu, and last season was featured on the Jimmy Kimmel show and promoted heavily pre Super Bowl.

Once notified, I watched all of last season, and I have to say that I was genuinely impressed on how they leveraged social media, and how it played such an integral part of the show. Users had the ability to choose which team they wanted to side with, and interact with them throughout the show and its challenges. Followers were actually able to not only win prizes themselves, but help contestants with their specific challenges.

I can see how this investment is a wise one by Ford, especially with the growing trend towards original programming originating online rather then through traditional broadcast channels.  So needless to say, I grew more excited by the prospect of being considered for the show. I auditioned last week and had a great experience. Between my love and experience of social media, competitiveness, and ability to make a fool of myself, I’m no doubt what they are looking for, and I have a tremendous partner in crime @melissayeager1, one of my very best friends who brings a combination of competitiveness, social savvy, and a do whatever it takes attitude that make us an unbeatable team.  If you aren’t already, be sure to follow her as well!

I’m going to do something I rarely do. Ask my readers and followers to support our campaign by doing any or all of the following in order of preference:

1. Share this post on Twitter Tweet #escaperoutes

2. Share this post on Facebook while mentioning @fordescape & @jasonyormark.

3. Leave a comment on this post so that I may personally thank you for your support.

You may be asking yourself why bother?  Fair response.  Most of you may not.  But it would be tremendously appreciated if you took the moment to do any of the above to give myself a better chance.  As an added incentive and to make it more fun, leave a comment with your best embarrassing (but family friendly!) idea for me to film.  I will take the best ideas, create a poll, and the winning submission I will post here on my blog in the next few weeks.

Thanks in advance, and more updates to come!

When the web exploded onto the scene roughly 15 or so years ago, a new revolution began in a variety of ways. One of those was the ability for just about anyone to be anything they wanted to be much easier then ever before. Whether you wanted to launch a business, start a blog, or claim yourself an expert in whichever matter you choose, the web gave just about every person with an internet connection new opportunities.

The social media explosion has had a similar effect. A few years in, and the social web has taken it a step further by giving those some people an ability to connect with far more people more easily then ever before. Tools such as Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc. have made it much easier to amass an audience. And while great things have come from these new technologies, it has not come without being taken advantage of as well.

Having just returned from SES Chicago (a search and social conference), I had another overall good experience. I had the honor of getting to moderate one panel, speak on another, and participate in a Webmaster.fm interview (to be posted here shortly). The reality is, I don’t attend conferences much anymore unless I’m doing one or a variety of one these activities. More so because typically these conferences are not geared for me, but for those without my experience. Not that I don’t learn a few things or two along the way, but I tend to learn much more with other methods (on the job, books, online research, etc.).  

The following post was inspired by Jon Morrow’s latest post over at ProBlogger.net titled “How to Generate Massive Traffic, Excitement, and Even Jealousy with a Hollywood-Style Launch Trailer“. It’s a great read about the concept of having a movie style trailer created to promote an ongoing blog or project before actually committing to creating any content.  You can check out the trailer here.

Now I’m totally on board with this idea. I think it’s a creative and fantastic way to build buzz and awareness of your current or soon to be blog. People are visual in nature, and taking this approach will certainly create some interest for your endeavors. However I think it should only be a part of an overall larger strategy of a blog launch. Where I somewhat disagree with Jon’s take is around the results you can expect as a lessor known blogger, and dictating your decision to move forward based on those results.

As of this writing, Jon claims to have received over 1,700 subscribers, 1,000 Twitter followers and 600 likes/comments on Facebook prior to even writing a single post and only publishing his movie style trailer promoting his upcoming blog launch. Pretty good numbers if you ask me. I was intrigued after reading his post, and most certainly had to see the trailer.

Imagine you come up with a great idea for a blog, or business idea.  Or maybe you just are helping a good friend out with getting them their website up finally.  You’ve got the domain name, the business or organization is registered, and you’re just about good to go.

Then you go to obtain your social media usernames.  You know going into it that there’s a good chance it’s probably already taken, but worth a shot anyway.  You go to Twitter, enter your desired username, and RATS…it’s taken.  But that’s not really what’s frustrating.  What’s frustrating it although it’s taken, it’s a dead account.  Either never used, or hasn’t been used in months…years even.  You know what’s even more frustrating?  Twitter won’t do anything about it.

If you’re receiving this blog post, that means you are one of the last remaining survivors.  You are the future now.  You are the last hope for humanity.  Only you can help rebuild our fallen world.  Round up as many Facebook friends and Twitter followers that you can!  Re-tweet dammitt!  For god’s sake Re-Tweet!!!!!! (and don’t forget to @mention yourself in the Re-Tweet).

You would literally think it was a zombie outbreak the way people are responding to the latest Klout score changes.  Hordes of people emotionally breaking down claiming all sorts of negative backlash that will fall upon their professional lives now that the majority of users scores have decreased.  Actually, it’s more likely that it’s even, we’re just not hearing as much from those whose scores were unaffected or went up.

Well, nobody is perfect.  Was unfollowing everyone and starting over a good idea?  Probably remains to be seen. Looking back, I probably would have been better off not announcing it on my blog, but I’ve always been transparent with my actions, and simply thought it would be useful to others to document what I would be experiencing.  But in my particular case, I do believe it was the right thing to do regarding my wants/needs when it came to managing my social media efforts on a personal basis.  Needless to say, quite a few folks didn’t quite agree with my tactics.  And that’s OK.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

The time has finally come.  I think I always knew that I’d have to do some sort of Twitter house cleaning, but based on my last blog post, and some folks like Michael Hyatt and the mighty Chris Brogan who have pioneered by braving the backlash, I think I’m ready for a purge myself.  So starting today, I begin unfollowing everyone on Twitter with the help of SocialOomph.

Up to this point, I’ve subscribed to the reciprocal follow approach.  You follow me?  Well then I follow you.  Why not?  I’ve always used lists to curate my Twitter information, so the size of my following wasn’t all that much of a concern of mine.  Over the years it’s allowed me to grow a sizeable Twitter audience.  But at what expense?