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Danny Brown

Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

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The 12 Days of Christmas Homeless Push

This is a cross-posting from the 12for12k blog. Throughout December, the 12for12k focus is on the homeless and how you can help in your own towns and cities.

There’s no donation widget this month – we’re offering a more hands-on challenge. By all means, if you wish to donate cash as well as the time and items we’ll be suggesting, that’d be great as well. So, with that said, let’s get into our streets this month and really help those that need it the most.

Thank you.

  • Mark Horvath on Twitter
  • Hardly Normal website
  • Invisible People TV
  • 12for12k on Twitter
  • 12for12k on Facebook
  • 12for12k Ning Community

And the Winner Is…

A couple of weeks back I ran a “mini contest”, if you like, to celebrate this blog’s first full year. The gist was as follows – up for grabs was the Headway premium WordPress theme (used on this very blog) as well as a copy of Trust Agents and Six Pixels of Separation. All you needed to do to “win” was tell me why you wanted Headway.

Well, the votes are in – as in, I’ve made my mind up – and my favourite reason (and the one that wins the Headway theme) is this one:

As someone who changed from Thesis to Headway for the very reasons Charlotte mentions, I feel her “pain”. And the use of “shitty first draft” just seals the deal – anyone designing a new blog or site knows that feeling all too well!

So, congratulations to Charlotte – I’ll be contacting you soon with the details.

For the books, I’ve added a couple more – two copies of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It! (review coming soon). So, without further ado…

  • Copy of Trust Agents – James Hayes
  • Copy of Six Pixels of Separation – Jon Buscall (he asked so nicely!)
  • Copy of Crush It! – Ching Ya and SW Hood

Thanks again, guys, for helping to make this blog so enjoyable to write, and I’ll be in touch soon for shipping details. Cheers!

Note: This blog no longer runs on the Headway framework. Instead, it’s a custom WordPress design by Lisa Kalandjian of SceneStealer Graphics.

Have Your Say

Colourful armySo there are a few new changes/tweaks/additions (delete where applicable) coming to this blog soon, and I’d love your help to decide on how it pans out. After all, you guys are the real stars around here – I just offer somewhere to hang.

The first change I’m thinking about is the design. I’m tempted to go for either a fairly minimalistic look – think something akin to Posterous – or a more magazine feel like this one.

I’ll still be using the Headway theme to make it customized to how I’d like it, I’m just not sure which way to go. Thoughts?

Secondly, I’m starting a new interview series on video using wetoku. This lets you have a split-screen chat on video which viewers can watch live then, once the chat is over, the video can be embedded directly onto your blog or website. I think it’s a really cool little app and one that could take blogging into a whole new sphere.

And I’d like you to choose the guests.

Let me know who you’d love to see, and why. Pretty much anyone in the social media, marketing, digital space, PR field or similar – I’ll do my best to get them on. I’m not promising I’ll be successful – I don’t hold that much sway – but I am stubborn if nothing else!

So, a couple of changes, and I’d love for you to help me one way or another, if that’s okay with you?

Leave your suggestions for either option – blog theme or wetoku – in the comments and I’ll take it from there. Cheers!

  • Update October 25 – Going by comments on here and Twitter, it looks like minimal design is preferred – so, this is the new look that you’re seeing now. Thanks for your thoughts!

Note: This blog no longer runs on the Headway framework. Instead, it’s a custom WordPress design by Lisa Kalandjian of SceneStealer Graphics.

Creative Commons License photo credit: maistora

Happy Birthday and a Present for You

Day One Hundred Twenty NineSo as I mentioned in my previous post, it’s been pretty quiet around here this week as I’ve eased in to a new project.

So quiet, in fact, that I never realized that this blog’s one-year anniversary had come and gone on September 30.

To be honest, it doesn’t feel like a year. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but it seems only yesterday I decided to go full-on self-hosted blogging as opposed to the Blogger and WordPress.com ones I’d run before. Guess it’s true that time really does fly when you’re having fun. And it sure has been fun so far!

Looking over the archives, the blog’s evolved since the very first post. So here, in no particular order, are some of the highlights of the last 12 months.

Stats and Facts

  • 354 posts (including this one) with 4,598 approved comments so far
  • At time of writing, 3809 subscribers either by RSS feed or email
  • 5 theme design changes, with the most recent moving from Thesis to Headway
  • Google Page Rank of 5 and Alexa Rating of 75,598 (at time of writing)
  • Featured in the AdAge Power 150 list
  • Syndicated through the iEntry, WebProNews, Newstex and Social Media Today networks

While I’m nowhere near the big numbers and lists that other bloggers have or are featured on, I don’t think it’s too bad a start. Besides, numbers are just to keep calculator makers happy. I’m also only too aware and grateful of how big a part you guys have played by visiting, reading and subscribing, so thank you sincerely for continuing to pop by.

Favourites, Funnies and Fights

Of course, a blog’s made up of three main things – posts, readers and comments and there sure has been an eclectic mix of all three over the last 12 months. Again, in no particular order, here are some of my favourites from over the course of the year. Be warned – some comments include fruity language!

  • Favourites. Probably one of my favourite personal posts was Pale Blue Dots. I’m always looking to be inspired and the video inspiration behind this post is a prime example. The same would go for Celebrating the Mountains, I guess, where I suggest we all encourage each other. I’m also really grateful for the conversation that opened up around Virtual Stalking – A Real World Problem. A viewpoint can instigate change and there are some great ones on display in that post. Speaking of viewpoints, the ones that were shared on Are You Abusing Your Social Media Voice? were brilliant, and another reason why companies need to look at the bigger picture in this space.
  • Funnies. Life can be a serious thing – we can be swept up in our work, personal issues, financial worries and more. It’s good to laugh now and again, and Sue Murphy offers that with You Know You’re Not a Social Media Guru When… Back in July, you could also take part in the Social Media Drinking Game (which could get you very drunk, very quick!). There’s also some decidedly obvious bullshit at play when someone says My Gift to You – Hurry, Offer Ends Soon! Be wary of the sales pitch…
  • Fights. I guess a blog isn’t a blog unless there are some scraps along the way, and this one’s no different. One of the first was when I asked Does Twitter Monitor Its Brand? The comments came flying in, and are (I feel) a good example of open comment policy. People have points of view – if you’re going against something, offer supporters of that something to have a voice too. The most recent was my Response to Barbara Talisman’s Misinformed 12for12k Post, which saw an amazing show of community for which I can never say thank you enough.

Combine guest posts from amazingly talented people, interviews about social media, videos, and even a Blog Talk Radio addition, and it’s been an eventful first year to say the least! So, where’s this present for you, I hear you ask?

To celebrate the first year (and hopefully many more), I want to offer a little thank you. As I mentioned, I now use the Headway Theme for my blog. I’d like to buy someone a copy for their blog (note – it has to be self-hosted and on WordPress). Just leave a comment why you’d like Headway for your blog and the best reason gets the theme – simple! I’ll also help you get it up and running on your blog.

I’ll leave this open for a week from today. Additionally, the second best comment will receive a copy of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s Trust Agents, and the third best comment will receive a copy of Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation.

Thanks for joining me on the ride so far, guys, I really appreciate it, and hope I can keep you coming back for more of what you’d like to read.

Cheers!

Creative Commons License photo credit: Dustin Diaz

Note: This blog no longer runs on the Headway framework. Instead, it’s a custom WordPress design by Lisa Kalandjian of SceneStealer Graphics.

A Little Thing Called Thank You

If you’ve been hanging around me the last couple of days (and thanks for the company!), you’ll know that there’s been a little back and forth activity about a blog post regarding 12for12k. The details and response can be found here. An apology has since been issued, so I’m not going to dwell on the subject too long.

Instead, I wanted to share this with everyone who’s been around – you know who you are. You’re the living proof that friendships aren’t restricted to the physical, and for that I thank you sincerely.

Just a quick point – I’m still recovering from wisdom tooth surgery so I’m normally only half as scary-looking. And I don’t make a habit of loud swallowing every few seconds. Honest…

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