Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

Recommended Viewing

An Interactive Q&A Session with David Siteman Garland

Hey there, and welcome to a very special blog post. Today, from 12.00 noon Eastern / 11.00am Central / 9.00am Pacific time, the blog is being given over to you and my very special guest, David Siteman Garland of The Rise to the Top.

David’s an entrepreneur extraordinaire, who helps businesses grow their success and shows them how to do it without any of the fluff you can often find from similar folks. He’s one of the most passionate people I know, and is a rollercoaster (in a good way) of fun, smarts and energy.

He’s just released a book called Smarter, Faster, Cheaper that continues his no-fluff approach to building, marketing and succeeding at your own business, as well as the community around it. And today he’s on this blog to answer any questions you have.

Because I use Livefyre, it’s more like a chat room as opposed to a standard comments system. Not only does it update in real-time, but you’ll see a cool little alert box to show you when a new comment has been posted. That way, you can jump between the conversation whenever you want.

To use the interactive options, you can either sign in using your Twitter or Facebook profile (if you have one), or create a Livefyre account when you post your first comment (just select the Create Commenter Profile option).

So, for an hour or so from noon onwards, David will be all yours. He’ll be waiting for your questions about starting a business and/or community, and building it successfully. Simply ask your question in the comments, and David will reply as soon as he sees it pop up. You can wait on your reply, or jump to other questions – the choice is yours!

Now, this could be a huge success or a crazy ass mess. Either way, though, let’s have fun and ask a ton of questions.

I’ll let David introduce himself and the book in the video below, and then the comments and the rest of the blog is yours and David’s – so, over to you!

You can buy David’s book at the official Smarter, Faster, Cheaper website, as well as pick up some cool giveaways.



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A Christmas Video from Bonsai Interactive

As December begins and the Christmas season arrives in earnest, we wanted to share our Christmas message and say thanks to everyone that has helped make Bonsai Interactive Marketing such a pleasant success since launching six months ago.

Launching a business is never easy, but if we’re fortunate enough to continue to make the friends we have; work with the clients we have as well as new; and (hopefully) continue to do right by our families, then we can’t wait for the next six months and beyond.

Here’s to a wonderful end of the year for all, and we look forward to continuing to get to know you all in 2011!



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The Power of Ideas

I’ve written before why I’m passionate about creativity being allowed to shine.

Without it, we’d be left in a boring world where only the few would have a say in what we watch, say or do. Companies would be filled with drones, businesses would be drab affairs, and artists would be virtually non-existent.

We wouldn’t have videos like the one below, either, and that would be a shame.

Taking a fantastical look at the cityscape of Toronto, the video shows the immense scope a person has when their creativity is let loose.

Sexy might not always sell when it comes to business – but that doesn’t mean we can’t mix it up once in a while. Agree?

(For a cool interactive experience, check out the Batelco Infinity Facebook Page. And hat-tip to Randy Matheson for making me aware of the video.)

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Help Nate Davenport Get a Job at iwearyourshirt.com

This post is slightly different, in that I’m helping a friend help a friend out.

Last night, I saw a tweet from Jason Crouch about helping his buddy Nate Davenport out. The gist of the tweet is that Nate is trying to win a job at the very cool iwearyourshirt.com, where companies pay to have their brand promoted on a shirt, in a video.

IWYS started as one guy in 2009, but is now looking to have five folks on the roster in 2011. Nate wants to be one of them.

Why am I sharing this video here?

Because I think it speaks of how we view and use social media, and the relationships built from it. I know Jason, and I trust him. If he likes someone enough to want to help, I’m in. Jason has “proven” himself time and time again, so if I can promote his “business” (in this case, Nate) then I will.

I think that’s a good lesson in how businesses could move forward with customers, no?

Anyhoo… Here’s Nate’s video. After watching it, why not pop over to Nate’s page at iwearyourshirt itself and give him a votes up if you like it? Maybe Nate can crack that addiction after all, and get his ideal job into the bargain…

Cheers!

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Social Media is Like a Swinger’s Club

At Bonsai Interactive, we’re big believers in helping our local colleges offer their students real-world business experience.

To that effect, we work with them to offer internships where business students from the likes of Mohawk College can put what they’re learning about into real-world situations.

More than just coffee order takers, our interns learn strategies, social media audits, marketing analysis and metrics, client pitches, media relations and more. We figure the students are already smart – all we want to do is help enhance and grow that.

Our last intern Hailey was awesome, and we’ll be helping her to connect with companies to take her fledgling career to the next stage. Today, we welcomed Daniel Wakefield to the fold.

Instead of me telling you all about him, we’ll let Daniel give you the lowdown, Bonsai-style.

Enjoy.

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