Why not Make a Change? - Latest Comments

Re: Work Entertainment, Without Losing Focus

Steph — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:46:46 -0000

Stress balls are very useful for me. Every time I get frustrated with a project that I am working on, I just squeeze my cow stress ball and I'll feel better.

Re: Back To The Roots

Jay Dolan — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:36:40 -0000

I just give them a cheap laugh and a poorly drawn stick figure.

Re: No. I’m Not a Guru

gregdelima — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:22:25 -0000

Jess,
Agreed on the later parts, entirely. But the problem is the self-titling. I never doubt those with years of experience, but even they learn, every day. I just think the focus, or labeling is what's overrated.
Just do what you do, do it well, and to hell with the title.

Re: No. I’m Not a Guru

gregdelima — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:20:32 -0000

Exactly, I was approached and asked if I was, "The social media Guru." This post was essentially my reply. It's weird, I don't plan on consider myself an expert. I'm always learning, every day is something new.

Re: No. I’m Not a Guru

Rab — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:56:15 -0000

A lot of people have been calling me a guru or expert recently. it makes me feel uneasy.

i like your line about being a student first.

Re: No. I’m Not a Guru

Jeff Tippett — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:52:11 -0000

Good stuff, Greg. I typically sigh when I see guru on a profile. Thanks for sharing.

Re: No. I’m Not a Guru

renewabelle — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:54:45 -0000

While you may be right that no one is the best, I think you're undervaluing the years of experience many thought leaders have under their belts.

I'll pick on Brian Clark... Dude's been writing copy longer than you've been alive. He's been active online since the early 90s and has learned many lessons along the way. I'd take just about any copywriting advice he gave me to the bank. Why? Because he's done it for years and he knows what works. He's a verifiable authority.

When you put a person on a pedestal as you do when you give them a title like "guru," you neglect to accept they're human, too. They fart in bed. They make mistakes. Anyone who calls themselves a guru probably isn't, but most people who get the title don't like it. They know...

There are a lot of people out there who claim to be experts, who plainly are using that stolen authority to take your money. Just remember that the best teachers are always learning. That's how they stay the best.

Also, not all experts are big online. Just because you know a lot doesn't mean people will listen. That's where marketing comes in... If you're interested in learning more about that, I highly recommend http://authorityrules.com/

Congrats on your upcoming graduation! I believe you are poised for great things, my friend. :)

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

Shawn Morton — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:32:20 -0000

Greg,
You're welcome. As I mentioned on Chris Moody's post, didn't want to distract from the outreach you guys are doing. Just wanted to make sure everyone had more detail.

Thanks for following up,
sm

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

gregdelima — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:52:26 -0000

PS - Please by al means continue to follow the comments here as I'm sure many others will have questions that you may be able to address. Thank you again for your comments, they are helpful.

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

gregdelima — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:49:58 -0000

Shawn,
Thank you first for reaching out and it truly does show a very personal involvement which is greatly appreciated. As to the details, thank you for elaborating on those details. Although, I'm quite sure at this time it is a mute point, what has been done is done.
Truthfully, the details do not concern me. I've done what I can to help a friend and for me that is the extent of my involvement.
Thanks,
Greg

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

Shawn Morton — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:56:26 -0000

Hi Greg,

I lead our social media team at Nationwide and I've been able to gather more information about Jeremy's situation. First, I want to say that I hate to hear of anyone losing their home and applaud the efforts of those doing outreach via social media to help.

I also want to share the facts with everyone who has been following the conversation so that they have more context:

1. Nationwide has hundreds of claims associates deployed in North Carolina to assist our customers and expect to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in covered losses.
2. Unfortunately, Mr. Smith and his wife's homeowner policy was non-renewed in February when they informed us that there was no one living in their Serendipity residence.
3. Unoccupied dwellings do not meet the underwriting requirements for a standard Nationwide homeowners policy. It is generally recommended that, if a homeowner moves out of their home, they contact their agent about available coverages.
4. Nationwide offered Mrs. Smith to purchase a dwelling fire policy in February to cover the residence at that time, but the coverage was refused.
5. It is unfortunate the Smith's did not have proper coverage in place, but it's important to note Nationwide did its part in offering appropriate coverage several months ago.

Please feel free to contact me directly via email (mortons7@nationwide.com), Twitter (sMoRTy71) or phone (614-249-6452) if you have questions.

Shawn Morton

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

Dave L — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:35:54 -0000

Twitter kicks ass. They're all the insurance everyone needs!

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

Morgan Siem — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:59:42 -0000

Greg, thanks for doing something to help. Jeremy - any additional help I can offer at all, pls just ask.

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

jpeters1221 — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:46:17 -0000

This is great. It's great to see people chipping in to help someone in a bind, and seeing the goal being exceeded so quickly.

Congrats to you humanity. Good like to you Jeremy. Great job setting this up Greg.

Re: Help out Jeremy Smith – @jeremysaid

spectrumm0m — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:14:38 -0000

Great way to help someone here at home when they are least prepared! I would hope someone would do the same for me...

Re: Nurture Relationships

Jeff Tippett — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:47:12 -0000

Great post, Greg. Appreciate your thoughts. It's refreshing to see others that are committed to building relationships.

I attended a Raleigh Chamber event last week and the speaker, Valerie Fields, offered that a potential client needs 27 touches to make a decision. Her talk prompted me to offer some suggestions to make that happen. Basically, it's about using online tools to build the relationship. Here's my post from this morning. http://calvertcreative.com/...

Re: Nurture Relationships

gregdelima — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:46:26 -0000

Awesome! Great article dude!

Re: Nurture Relationships

gregdelima — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:45:43 -0000

Absolutely. The downside is that occasionally this type of transparent honest behavior is looked at negatively, and then there's a disconnect which has to be worked around and managed even more closely!

Re: Nurture Relationships

Brian McDonald — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:47:20 -0000

In both real life and online virtual relationships you have to be yourself. One of my favorite quotes is

"be the best you that you can be."

Because in order to build trust, there must be some level of transparency to see who the real you is.

Re: Nurture Relationships

Brian Joyner — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:23:48 -0000

Oh how true...

From personal experience: http://www.briandavidjoyner...

Re: Guest Post: Creating an Online Portfolio

James — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:19:16 -0000

I will have to try out that NextGen Gallery plug in as it seems to be working well for you. Thanks for the recommendation!

Re: Guest Post: Creating an Online Portfolio

Danny — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:39:58 -0000

Very well written. Thank you for the info!

Re: Argyle Social: Ushering in a New Era of Analytics

Brian McDonald — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 10:05:41 -0000

Greg, thanks for the shout out! I need to give Argyle a test drive!

Re: Quora – Idea Generator of 2011

Maura McDonald — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:56:01 -0000

I agree. I started a blog post this morning after seeing a Quora question and it's answers. I think it is a great learning tool.

Re: 2011 Social Media Predictions, For Millennials!

Mark — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:28:58 -0000

What is the adoption rate FB, Twitter (separately) for 18 year-olds? 17? 16? 15? 14? 13? 12? Under? From what I'm seeing, the next generation is so used to being photographed perpetually that their social network is a) more about photos and video, YouTube in particular and b) more informal and immediate, texting and IM. If that's the case, the bigger questions are 1) will/do these habits change as they enter university/the work place? and 2) what will that next social platform look like?