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“So what is it exactly that you do?”

That is the question I get asked most often.  Not because it is standard, but because people look at my odd business card, and find out that I’ve been couchsurfing for over 3.5 years.  ”And you make money by couchsurfing?”

I have not really shared what exactly I do, until now! Read on! You may be surprised how I can help you, the people I have helped and how I have helped them, and WHY I am sharing this with you now! (In that order) Read the rest of this entry »

At Disc Golf Mastermind I was pretty goofy.  I climbed pretty high up in a tree to get a disc (not the one I lost, mind you, but the one I found… which was even better), I threw without aiming, I told lots of stupid jokes…. The guys were entertained, but I kept saying, “I’m way more entertaining when I bowl!”

Little did I know that 3 days later there would be bowling! Immediately following Mexican food (at El Callejon – which I gave a poor review to on Yelp: slow service, horrible parking, ok food, great chips)- which included Margaritas, since it was Steph’s birthday!  This was actually my first time meeting Steph, but I doubt she’ll forget me… ever (see video below)!   Read the rest of this entry »

I teach clients how to improve their social media, but I haven’t blogged anything about it in a while… but this, I could not resist.

One of the first things I tell everyone is to monitor your brand– use Google Alerts, use Search.twitter.com — whenever someone talks smack, provide good customer service.  When someone talks nice, reward ‘em.  Well…  here’s an awesome example of that:

Tabitha Hancock (@fox_girl313) posted , “AAAHHH Im outta wheat thins… Mi life is officially over,”- and Wheat Thins brought an entire giant palette of wheat thins to her house.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thinnest I've ever been

Short post- just a video really.  Everyone’s been giving me grief about “What do you look like now that you finished your cleanse?”  and “You’re supposed to take before pics when you start P90x!” — I don’t even have a scale, and I don’t really care right now.  I’m just committed to doing the exercises, and eating healthy… and running on occasion too, ’cause I have that 185 mile relay race later in July.  So… here’s the video (since I don’t have anyone around to take my pic for me):

Again, as I say in the video… there’s many more reasons to do a cleanse than just to lose weight.  Look into it.  If I can help, feel free to ask any questions you have.

I’m excited that I’m beginning P90x from the thinnest I’ve been… should be interesting to see the restults I achieve by September 17- when I’ve completed the program. Wish me luck!

If you’re not familiar with Ted/TedX, it’s a conference of the most brilliant minds…. They’re having a conference all day about the oil mess…. should be quite educational- just click play.

One of my goals for this year was to get decent at the guitar… that didn’t happen, but… since I made the goal public, why not have some fun at my expense, while bringing a smile to a friend on his birthday?

I had the roach suit…. had a guitar…. I couldn’t sing or play the guitar… but that’s all right.

Despite being completely mortified, and having my brain yell at me at how people will laugh at me, how this is going on the internet – thus can’t be removed if it’s that awfu…. you know, standard brain stuff.  But, I was able to say “Shut up, I’m doing this!”

I keep telling people that if they are petrified of doing something… then that is something thaty must do!  Well.. I took my own medicine. Despite never singing and playing the guitar at once (or doing much of each separately), I recorded my 1st effort and here’s what I got: Read the rest of this entry »

If you want a quick dose of happiness, rent a roach suit.  I rented a roach suit! Then I wore it to go to the grocery store, and showed up at a few friends’ offices. Here’s my story (Pictures at the bottom)

It was a great day indeed– I refused to go to sleep until I finished this custom Twitter Background for someone, and when I woke up, it was to an e-mail saying how much the work rocked.  Then I got to see my buddy Tex… Well, actually, it’s Dave Bredesen, but I always called him Tex ’cause when I met him, I was living in Florida, and he was living in Austin.

He did always tell me that I’d love Austin, and boy, was he right!  Actually, how we met is entertaining.  It was at Read the rest of this entry »

This is Aron Bender. He’s the one who within 4 hours of seeing my tweet has found me an awesome couch for tonight (who’s not pissed that I had to change my schedule already by 7 hours).

I am moved every time I watch this one.

When Microsoft decided to enter the portable mp3 player race, I thought they were insane… now that I have one, I know they were!  Here’s the story (Scroll to the bottom to see a video- I’m even wearing my BurningMan goggles):

During SXSW Interactive, I left the press lounge (all you can eat Zone bars, all you can drink coffee… electricity, silence) to go shoot my next panel, and there’s KBJ (@KateBuckJr).  She’s talking to some people, and she (tosses me under a truck) says “Oh! You guys need to interview….”(grabs my by shoulder, yanks me in front of some dude, and some girl who’s running camera) “Ori… he’s a designer!”

“Uhhhhh….?”

“So.. what do you know about  Microsoft Website Spark?”

“Uhhhh….”  Kate was nowhere to be seen Read the rest of this entry »

What better way to break in a new office on the 22nd floor downtown than to bring up some babes on a skateboard and whip out the Starwars costumes?

After enough Margaritas I started hoolahooping in the middle of a bar.  In case you’re thinking that it’s unprofessional to go out for Margaritas the day before the project is due, know that my client insisted on it, and bought the first few rounds.  Got the project done, and on time.  Worked till the very last minute… got it to FedEx with a whole 3 minutes left!  Hooray teamwork!

My mom's on facebook- witty, and accurate

My parents ARE on Facebook… and on Twitter (though, they say that’s too much work).  Good thing I already tell ‘em most everything… this video totally says it all   Best hair-band video ever!

Trying a video blogging format. What do you think (other than “OMG! WTF happened to your ear?”

Basically, my ear has been giagantic for 16 hours or so now… maybe I got angry, and am slowly changing into a mix of elephant man and the hulk? Thought I’d exercise, so… watch the video.

Tellman is the first person ever to run coast to coast barefoot.

I’m thrilled to bring you guys this interview with Tellman Knudson, while running, as he runs across the country barefoot to raise $100,000,000 to help fight youth homelessness.

Tellman Knudson is a really awesome person.  He’s driven, but chill.  He knows who he is, and lives according to that.  People like that are far and few.  He is a very successful marketer, and decidedto do a first.  In this video, he tells the challenges of finding a “first”,  about why he’s doing what he’s doing, and the challenges of it.

He’s gotten to meet my hero, Richard Branson… whose charity (Virging Unite) he’s raising the money for.

I can hardly fathom $100,000,000.00 — I don’t care what your cause is, that’s a lot of money, that can really make a difference! Hanging out with Tellman while at Matt Bacak’s & Mark Joyner’s Survival Tactics for Tough Times was very enlightening and humbling.  What do you think of what Tellman’s doing?

Thanks to Harris Fellman, who’s another successful fellow who’s fun, money was raised just from this jog.

What the heck is a Groupon?  It’s a way of leveraging group buys– check it out, they probably have something in your city. These people are clearly smart, as competitions are a great way to gain PR, traffic (eyeballs), and eventually new clients and business growth.  Their competition is called Live Off Groupon.

What you are supposed to do is live for a whole year off of nothing but groupons.  Be resourceful, figure out how to survive, and of course blog the whole time.  Sounds easy enough!  You start with nothing… like, no clothes even.  You wear a suit made of paper groupons!  I’d turn that into a whole photoshoot!

The audition requires you to make a 90 second video of why they should choose you. Because I only found out about this 3 days before the deadline, I had to shoot this to spec– as compared to adding graphics, editing ummms and uhhs out, etc…. No flashiness, just a video that could be uploaded.

I finished filming it (thanks Craig Allen for all your help!) at 11:20pm, with 40 minutes left to upload it, as well as write a 300-500 word essay on my experience with a Groupon vendor, which I had to videotape, and write a blog post about…. and a 400-500 word essay about why I should be chosen. I was typing it up at 11:58.  This felt like highschool again!  Doing the big project the day it’s due!

I was dancing for joy at 11:59pm when I received a confirmation e-mail saying my application was received!  I made it!

I think this would be a wonderful extension of everything I’ve been doing.  I truly believe these groupon things are a great business model for the participating businesses, and a wonderful deal for consumers who buy it.  Having infinite groupons sounds like fun, as does $100k, but the challenge of being constantly on the move… that’s exciting!

Wish me luck!

To learn more about the contest, check out the Live Off Groupon contest page.

A lot of you remember that I lost 28 pounds in 30 days, and everyone kept asking me how.

The answer is…

Click to see the before after

The Daily Juice.  It was at this place that I first sat down to chat with Craig Allen, and we ate and discussed raw food.

I had always been a brat about salads (ask my mom - she’s newly on twitter!).  I would not eat them (most veggies actually).  But that day, I tried the BBQ Coconut Burrito at Daily Juice.  Mmmmmmmm!!!!

Seriously! It was so good, that I was able to not only finish the meal, but also crush my disbelief that veggies can’t taste good without being fried (Tempura veggies aren’t healthy?? what?).  After that, I had gone on a 30 day raw challenge, and lost 28 pounds in 30 days.

I ran into my friend Lyn Graft, and told him about this contest I’m entering called Live Off Groupon (You get $100,000 if you can spend a whole year living off Groupons-  check their site to learn all about ‘em).  Turns out that not only did Lyn know all about Groupons, but his favorite Groupon Deal so far has been for Daily Juice.

I went in and chatted to one of the staff there today about the establishment, and their experience on Groupon. It was a lot of fun- check it out:

Now you know why this place is a healthy Austinite’s favorite hangout.  If you haven’t been, try it out.

Since I like to share marketing ideas, I recommend that you contact Groupon about being a deal on there. It would take you a long time to sell 1,000 smoothies (or whatever your product is)…. Groupon helps you get the word out about your business quickly. It’s tied into social media.  I even spoke about it as the marketing advice for Couchsurfing Radio Episode 9.

The nerf vulcan gun is not what i am using

Craig Allen likes to modify his nerf guns to have more power to them. They even have a “laser-sight” kinda thing. I’ve been shot many times while working.  Revenge is a bitch

One night… Craig had fallen asleep while Read the rest of this entry »

What to do if you don’t have plates or bowls to make soup in? Use glass cups of course, as they are microwave safe. .. What if they don’t fit in the microwave? Watch this, and have a laugh

Many more crazy moments from this trip…. editing it now!

Wave hello to the drone that's spying on you

Grrr…. Houston Police has been lying to the press about restricted airspace (and god knows what else), in order to test out their new secret drones.

Channel 2 in Houston had the balls to check with the FAA, and investigate/film anyways. These drones can fly ofor 15-24 hours, look into your house, car, etc… and of course, be equipped with various other sensors.

Will they be giving speeding tickets? Will they be spying on you? I don’t know about you, but I’m not thrilled about this.

I think that if enough of our rights are violated, and we’re spied upon, someone will fight back… destroy these things (using something like uni-directions EMPs), and waste tons of tax dollars that you paid.

It may be entertaining to watch what they’re watching though

The following video is brilliant. Channel 2, you’ve earned my respect.

You gotta laugh. It’s healthy, it burns calories, it produces all sorts of chemicals that you normally take drugs to try and emulate…. It just makes you feel good. So, here’s one of the funniest things I”ve seen in 2010 — Enjoy your laugh

Many people have asked me for more “Day in the life” kind of stuff. I was at Kevin & Will’s to hang, and eat fried Deer and southern food. I’ll start with a video (shot on my webcam): Read the rest of this entry »

I spent a few hours writing my review of Avatar.  Now it’s time to spoof   If you “don’t get it” – you have to watch Team America….It’s a hilarious (and stupid) movie by the makers of South Park.

Gary Vaynerchuk and Kate Buck Jr. 2 REAL social media experts

Caution! There’s some cursing in here! Now you can’t complain that I didn’t warn you. This is a hillarious clip about what is going on in the world. There’s thousands (actually – there are 15,740 social media experts on Twitter, according to Mashable).  I’ve had my clients send me copies of their social media strategies (I helped with) get praised (Tito’s Vodka for example), and others just tell me thanks… ’cause business is doing better because they’re on social media.  But Social Media has become a buzz word. It’s gotten to the point where people have heard the terms, but don’t know what they mean… just that they need them (reminds me of Dilbert’s boss).  “I need some SEO!”  “I need an Opt-In!” “I need to tweet!” — you probably do, but that doesn’t mean that the guy who bought $80 worth of books at Amazon (Free shipping after $30, how can you go wrong?) justifies the $5,000 he’s charging.

Don’tbe intimidated by language and terms.  You can totally google them, or I can Google that for you! There are so many tutorials and courses out there.  Many of them are good content actually, but just like Law, you want to make sure you have the latest and greatest… A technique may be in a book that no longer works… or that works with consequences.

There definitely are social media experts out there.  For example, one of my close friends and one of my couches,.  Meet Kate Buck Jr. a REAL Social Media Expert. Kate can get you tweeted for, Facebooked for, and your customers dealt, educated, and cared for through Social Media. She actually has it down to a science how to get you more followers (that interact with you, not just follow-bots), and what time of what day gets the best retweets  or reaction.  She’s got many of “the gurus” as clients.  Why? ‘Cause she knows her shit, and to them reputation is more imporant, as is their free time. I know a few awesome people in social media. But don’t go putting “Social Media Expert” on your profile if you have less than 2000 followers. Anyways— screw it… I’ll get off my soap-box– enjoy this hilarious clip, and leave a comment if this seems familiar at all

One last thing… you can hire an expert… but remember- no one’s a guru… we’re all born crapping ourselves (We’re all human).

ebook cover design is fun

I have to pay for gas, food, gadgets, and fun…  I’m often asked “How do you make money when you’re on the road?”  I’m a male stripper of course.  Actually… that would probably be way cooler.  No, I’ve been called “The most highly skilled hobo in history” because I do marketing (ad-writing, graphic design, analytics, ppc, seo, website design, printing, videography, video editing, motion graphic design, branding strategies, social media strategies, local-search submissions), Photography, consulting, and the occasional workshop, and public speaking.  What?? I get bored easily

One of the websites I just designed is BeWellWithSue.com, a blog about healthy living, practical raw lifestyle, and healthy cooking.  It belongs to Suzanne Thomas, who I”m couchsuring with right now in Austin, TX. A little “Internet Marketing 101″ – Sue wants to build up her mailing list, so she is offering an “Ethical Bribe” to get people to give her their contact information, so she can continue to market to them on similar topics. This is called Lead Generation, though it’s often called an “Opt-in”.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, and a good picture that represents a concept well is worth dollars too.  One of the things I do is design. Since I created her theme (the way the site looks), and header, and logo, it only seemed logical to have me create the Ebook cover.  The ebook is called “28 tips for a healthier, skinny you!”  I believe the title, because Suzanne is the one who helped me lose 28 pounds in 30 days.

A lot of people hire designers to create e-book covers, regular book covers, flyers, and much more… Design is actually simple, and with Photoshop (free 30 day trial of Photoshop available), you can do it yourself fairly quickly.

I recorded the entire process of how I created this ebook cover, and you can do it yourself, and save hundreds of dollars of hiring designers.  If nothing else, you can show your designer EXACTLY how you’d like your cover to look.

Since I explained what an opt-in is, an ethical bribe, and lead generation…. let me give another awesome example!

Get my free video on how to create a ebook cover of your own!  Just fill out the (opt-in) form below with your primary e-mail and your name, and I’ll send you the video!  I hate Spam, and so I solemnly swear not to give your information away, or even sell it. I’ll just send you notices when I have additional awesome new training videos (they don’t ALL make it to my  blog). Trust me, I know a lot of really cool stuff!

Then you’ll get a quick e-mail you have to click on, to prove that you’re you, and then you’re good to go! I’d love to know what you think of the video, and what other topics you’d like to see me explain.

My last post was in the Christmas spirit…’ish… but I like to laugh at every holiday, not just Hanukkah, so.. Here’s a Christmas classic, performed by The Muppets: Ringing of the Bells.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.