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Video: Daniel Learning His Motor Skills

January 28, 2012 By 2 Comments

Over the past couple of days, we have been working on helping D grab toys and work on basic motor skills. He started grabbing for stuff on his own…so we just started encouraging it by sitting him in his Bumbo with some hard toys around him. So far, he is doing really well with it. It is amazing to watch him really think about what he wants…then go after it.

We are starting to get into that fun stage where he becomes less and less of an infant and more of a baby. Things like tummy time, interaction with my wife and I and activities like this are starting to be a lot more fun for him and us. I am really stoked about the next couple of months. From what I have heard, 6 to 9 months is something really special.

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Video: Daniel Telling Us About His Day and General Observations

January 27, 2012 By 2 Comments

Lately, Daniel has started to become really responsive to us talking to him. With his motor skills getting better and his ability to try to communicate really taking off…it is hilarious to have conversations with the little guy even if we have zero clue what he is saying.

Obviously, at 16 weeks we are a long ways off from him actually saying a word, but this interaction seems to go a long way in encouraging him to make sounds and move around. Plus, he seems to love it and we get to see him smile a lot.

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We Are Capable of Amazing Things…If We Allow Ourselves To Dream

December 14, 2011 By 11 Comments

The human mind is capable of amazing things. If you take a look at history, the amount of time between major events is pretty short even though it may seem they are worlds apart.

Think about it…

On December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers brought the human race into the air with the first successful, controlled, powered flight in the Wright Flyer 1. In a short 66 years later on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong put man’s first step on the moon. When you put those events in that context, it doesn’t seem like that long of a period where huge strides were made in technology purely through the collaboration and imagination of people.

We Are Our #1 Worst Enemy

With that in mind, what keeps us from achieving our dreams? We all have ideas and aspirations that will take our lives to that next level. However, we watch people every day be content with the average. We put our dreams aside for the stability of not ‘rocking the boat’. We convince ourselves that keeping things as they are is better than having to deal with failure. We watch as mainstream media tries to convince us that you are ‘unique’ while beating in actions that make us all the same.

While it may seem at times that it is the fault of someone else or circumstances that brought us to where we are now, the reality is that our own fears and self doubt is the biggest deterrent to forward progress in our own lives. We believe the hype. We change our course and ability to test our own limits off the thought that failure or rejection must be so bad that it is not worth the reward. The more we try to push the limits of what we consider normal, the more others who are happy with staying in the status quo try to keep us down. Why are you disrupting the way things are going? We are happy with the way things are…or are we?

True innovators ignore the critics and continue to dream…

The reality in the world in which we live is that when you step outside of the box, you are going to get shot at. That is just a fact. The Wright Brothers were ridiculed and basically called insane for their ideas at the time, but now air travel is the most efficient way to travel and ship goods. It was their ability to believe in their dream that made it a reality.

We have to allow ourselves to dream. We have to allow forward progress through the testing of those dreams. Are they all going to work out? No. Are the successful ones going to work right away. Absolutely not. Are you going to have to cross hurdles and work incredibly hard to achieve what you truly want in life? Absolutely.

When we start destroying dreams as a society, we are dancing on very dangerous territory.

So…some of you might be thinking the following…

Great Robb! But how the hell does this apply to me? I don’t have any ideas like the first flight!

And you are right. We are not all going to have that idea that completely changes the world and that is ok. We do, however, have that one idea that can change our own reality. We just haven’t given it an honest chance. We either gave up too early or started to believe the hype of people who didn’t really care to begin with. We found that one excuse or failure that triggered the quitter in our mind and we let it go there. We became satisfied with the notion that ‘it will never happen anyway…so why try’.

We do not have to be innovators for the world, but we can be innovators in our own lives for our own families.

If you have dreams, professional or personal, it is up to you to make it happen. You can not let roadblocks deter you from accomplishing your goals. If you keep the dream alive, you will find a way to get around those that think it can’t happen. It just takes believing in yourself and your ability to get something done. There is so much talent in this world that is wasted due to self doubt and glorified critics.

I was sitting this morning watching this video that is a string of amazing feats by people. With a string of YouTube clips cut together, this video makes you once again realize what we are really capable of. Normal people…doing amazing things. It reminded me that I have several projects that I have either been holding back on or shelved for the very same reasons I listed above. It gave me inspiration to get the needed tasks done in my own life to make those a reality. The people in this video had the drive and the willingness to make their idea a reality. We are capable of amazing things. We just have to make it happen for ourselves.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Design, My Life, Videos Tagged With: , ,

What Makes A Video Go Viral on YouTube?

June 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

It is a struggle for everyone that is on the internet and has a video camera. What actually makes a video go viral? What brings your brand, blog, product in front of millions of YouTube visitors all looking to digest unique video content?

Real Life Examples of Viral Videos

As most of you know, I am obsessed with my Subaru WRX. I take pictures of it…take it apart on a weekly basis…and watch much of my income get dumped into it with upgrades. The sickness spreads beyond my car as I also pay attention to drivers out there that are behind the wheel of WRX’s and STi’s.

Ken Block is known throughout the car industry for producing viral videos that scream through YouTube like wildfire. His latest viral video shows off his new Fiesta RS WRC rally car with the “Monster Girls”. With 568,400+ views and counting…the video you see below is doing pretty well on YouTube.

(of course, when he made his Subaru STi video informercial…it is at 26,427,000 views and counting…maybe he should switch back to Subaru. See that video here.)

Ken is tapping into one of the oldest rules in viral videos…sex sells. In an attempt to one up Ken Block, fellow rally car driver and general nut case Travis Pastrana made is own version of “car and girls” video.

In this video…Pastrana says “car + girls = traffic”. And while Pastrana’s video is only at about 300 views when this article was published, I have a feeling it will eventually take off as more forums and Facebook pick it up.

What To Take From This And Viral Videos You Produce

Do you need to have dancing girls around your eBook or video review? No…absolutely not (but it might help).

Viral YouTube videos are a black art of sorts. You never really know what is going to take off and what sits in the graveyard never to be found. From my experience with YouTube as both a watcher and producer of content, there are several key things you need to keep in mind when producing your videos if you want them to go viral.

  1. They Must Be Entertaining – If you are going to put up some boring video and expect it to get a lot of views…you are going to be waiting awhile. People want to be entertained. Even with more boring subject matters and reviews, the entertainment value can still bring a lot of views to your video. I remember including me wrecking in one of my video reviews of a mountain bike and that video saw 10′s of thousands of views over the regular website views. It brought (and still brings) a lot of new visitors to my blog.
  2. Be Over The Top – This really goes with #1, but on video…everything looks flat. You really have to take facial expressions…wording…and tone to a new level for it to be caught on video. You will feel stupid during the execution, but it will come out better on video.
  3. It Has To Be Unique – Even with the videos above…there is nothing new about girls and cars…but there is a uniqueness to the editing and feel to the video that allows it to not be just another car video. Especially with the 25+ million views video from Ken Block, the uniqueness of his skill and the added effects (like drifting across light bulbs) add to the “wow factor” of the video.
  4. Keep It Short – When I used to work in video production, we were constantly looking for ways to keep people invested in the content while viewing. We found that shorter clips (around 6 minutes max) with multiple cuts through the clip (15 to 20 seconds) kept people’s attention. You do not have to have fancy editing techniques, simple cuts are fine but what you want to stay away from is your face infront of a camera for 6 minutes. People will get bored quickly and leave no matter what you are saying.
  5. Quality Wins – Take your time and do it right. Just slapping up subpar video quality with audio that people can hardly hear is not going to work. Also, use HD where ever possible.

At it’s heart…it really is a simple formula. It just takes time to execute it correctly. When you look back at the videos that you posted on YouTube, did they have these features that set you up for success? Or did you create a video that you wouldn’t even watch…

Filed Under: Social Media, Tutorials/How To, Videos Tagged With: , , , , ,

John Chow, Zac Johnson and Syed Balkhi having fun with David Risley

May 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As most of you know, I am up NYC at BlogWorld Expo this week to talk about retail buying habits and how to profit on those trends as a blogger. While my talk is not until tomorrow, this week has given me the chance to hang out with people I have worked with online but had not officially met in person.

I will post more on the trends of what was talked about and what I think is happening in the blogging world in a later post, but as a humorous side note, I recorded the intros that John Chow (johnchow.com), Syed Balkhi (WPBeginner.com) and Zac Johnson (zacjohnson.com) had David Risley (davidrisley.com) do for their blog monetization panel.

They decided to have a little fun with DR as we was moderating the panel.

Filed Under: Blogging, Videos Tagged With: , , , , ,

How To Leverage Social Media Into An Asset For Blogging

November 11, 2010 By 9 Comments

Last night, I gave a presentation at the Atlanta Bloggers Meetup on social media and blogging as part of Atlanta’s Social Media Week. I was one of three presenters of the night and the only one that fully relies on blogging for income. I brought along the Kodak Zi8 to record the session and the video came out ok. The small sensor camera really struggles in low light and I wasn’t wearing a mic, but the quality was good enough to publish.

One word of warning…apparently I REALLY talk with my hands. It is funny what you realize about yourself when you have to watch it on video.

How To Leverage Social Media To Grow Your Blog

In the video, I talk about basic principles in regards to social media, blogging and how you can combine the two to increase your business, traffic and bottom line and then I answer some questions from the audience on generating income and increasing traffic.

Text Summary On Social Media Presentation Video

Everyone already knows the most popular social media spaces online. We all use them on a daily basis to converse with friends, keep in touch with family or to follow our favorite celebrities. When we do this act, we are functioning within the core, fundamental purpose of social media.

Entertainment.

99% of users of social media have zero interest in blogging or starting a blog. However, they have a great amount of interest in conversing with other like minded individuals online who share their same interests. That need to communicate is what we can leverage into our blogging to pull readers back into our content.

All of these social media spaces (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.) in and of themselves do not generate revenue or traffic. They are their own separate sites with defined purposes. The blogger has to tie all these separate entities into something usable and measurable by giving them a common home base. That home base for the blogger is the blog.

By going out and pulling potential customers and readers back to your content, you are bringing value back to social media by turning it into something that can be measured and converted.

With Facebook fan pages, branded Twitter accounts, LinkedIn groups and other aspects of these social media sites, we are able to create a consistent branding atmosphere, a consistent voice and a consistent purpose that all increase our traffic and revenue.

If Only It Was That Easy!!

The theory of “if you build it and they will come” applies as little to social media as it does to blogging. The trick for the blogger is to go out and converse with members of social media sites to pull them back to your content.

However…there is one major mistake I see most bloggers and businesses do when they are looking to expand into social media to increase their web presence.

They do ZERO market research.

Just because Joe down the street told you Twitter is the next big thing or you believe you have to be everywhere at once does not mean that is the right plan of attack for your blog or business.

Most bloggers and business owners like to do what I call the shotgun affect. They spread themselves out really thin across all aspects of social media just hoping something sticks. The result…nothing does and they become another person that says Twitter or Facebook doesn’t work. It isn’t that they don’t work, it is your approach that failed.

Your job as the blogger or business owner is to go where your core audience interacts and bring your content and brand to them. It is not your job to convince them that Twitter is better than Facebook.

For Bike198, I find that Facebook is a much higher converter as cyclists could really care less about Twitter. My Facebook likes and shares are very high on that site and it serves a great purpose in my blogging. However, in the blogging niche, Twitter took off like wildfire and bloggers across the world are using it as an easy way to spread content and connect with other bloggers. It all depends on your target audience and how they are already communicating. Once you figure that out…you go there and set up shop. If you do that, your chance of success is much higher than if you just recklessly hope something sticks.

That is the key to making social media successful for increasing your profits and expanding your brand’s reach on the web.

Filmed with the Kodiak Zi8 and edited with iMovie and Keynote

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media, Tutorials/How To, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Video Blogging Lesson: Treating Your Blog Like A System

June 15, 2010 By 18 Comments

As many of you know, I do blog consulting on the side and one of the biggest problems I see with most blogs is the lack of system integration between the blog and other social media outlets. It is almost as if the blogger thought about each individual part, instead of how they affect each other as a whole. Your Twitter account, Facebook account, email newsletter and blog are all apart of a system that you, as the blogger, use to convert casual viewers into longtime readers and customers. Without this integration and planning, you create branding confusion amongst the different mediums and your conversion rates suffer. So let’s take a look deeper into how you need to treat your blogging like a system.

Video Blogging Lesson: Treating Your Blog Like A System

Discussed In This Video – Logopond.com | Aweber

Ok…so the idea here is that you want your blog and your related sites/social media to be a sum that is greater than it’s parts. With branding and design consistent across mediums, you are able to build trust in your content and brand through integration. Think of it this way…what do you think when you switch from someone’s blog to their Twitter account and finally to their Facebook account and everything matches? It helps you remember who they are and what they are about right? Well…that is the idea.

So…how do we treat our blogs like a system?

While the video goes more in-depth on the subject, here are the cliff notes.

Your Blog: On Page Optimizing

Your blog is typically your first line of attack with your readers. It is what creates that first impression and gets a new reader to start absorbing your content. On your blog you need to have some items that all look seamless within the design and compliment your goals.

  1. Unique Logo in the header.
  2. Social Media Icons that match your color scheme and design.
  3. Newsletter Opt-Ins below content and in sidebar that carry the same color scheme and design. (Preferably through Aweber)
  4. Personal photo on about page that is professional looking even if it is humorous.

From your on page blog system optimization, you are laying the foundation for your other social media and newsletter elements.

Your Social Media and Newsletter: Off Page Optimization

We carry this same theory to your off page sites using your blog as the foundation.

Facebook Fan Page
  • Professional picture – Matches the picture on your about page.
  • Matching Logo – Same as the one in the header of your blog.
  • RSS Feed – Deliver your content to your Facebook fans.
Twitter Account
  • Professional Looking Personal Avatar – Matches your Facebook fan page and blog about page.
  • Logo – Located in the background of your profile page.
Newsletter
  • Same voice and style in content as blog content.
  • Same color scheme and logo if html formatted.

There Are No Assumptions in Blogging!

The biggest excuse that I hear bloggers say as they choose to ignore this crucial part of the process is…

I don’t have to worry about that…they’ll know.

Well…guess what? They don’t. It is up to you as the blogger to operate under the assumption that there are no assumptions. You have to make your blog and your brand stand out from the competition by making everything easy to recognize and as simple as possible. Any confusion will only hurt you in the long run. It is not always about what you like or what you think looks good. It is about what converts the best while keeping within your personal voice and originality.

Next time you are jumping around blogs being a consumer of content, take a look at how the successful blogs attack this theory. Chances are…if they are seeing a lot of success…they are holding true to their branding and voice across all of their outlets.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Social Media, Tutorials/How To, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What I Do On The Weekends – Mountain Biking Video

November 13, 2009 By 8 Comments

It’s Friday, I feel like kicking back and watching videos so I thought I would share one with you guys that gives a little insight into my weekend life. As you have probably already noticed, I do not post much on the weekends on this blog or my others. I typically use the weekends as a chance to get out and enjoy life outside of the weekly grind. Luckily, Bike198.com is my outlet for all things cycling related and it allows me to test out all of the newest gear in the industry.

This past weekend, I grabbed the Niner W.F.O. 9 review bike (those that don’t ride mtb have zero clue what that is!) and the VholdR ContourHD helmet cam to go get some riding done in Tennessee. As you can see by the video, there were leaves everywhere. So bad in fact, that it was hard to even see the trail! We had a blast anyway and the weather was perfect.

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