Follow me on Twitter.

Yes, that’s right!  BACON!  So… I gotta tell you how cool this is.  One second I’m seeing a link posted to Bacon Explosion (which I’ve seen before), and I decide it’s time to take action!  No idea yields results witout action… so.. whatever your goals are- whether it’s to start a new business, or to experience the Bacon Explosion, you can’t get there by mere thought.  No offense to fans of “the Secret” - but they left out the entire chapter about “You actually have to do something!” So… I post that I will CouchSurf / consult / photograph with whomever can make Bacon Explosion for me.  I then thought I’d contact the creator (*chuckle* isn’t that what the religious folks try for?), and on his webpage, I noticed that there’s this giant Twitter icon (come to think of it… I think I’ll go steal it for this blog.. it’s a nice icon. Ok- there it is as the image for this post.).

I click on the twitter icon, I follow the guy, and I write @bbqaddicts http://bit.ly/14nfi Clear off your couch! You’ve been targeted! (this is at 1:05am yesterday… the @ before someone’s name, for you non-twits is a reply — it sends them a  message publicly… also the bit.ly link is because when you only have 140 characters… so you use abbreviated links – tweetdeck does this automatically.  In this case, it was a link to my announcement about Bacon Explosion).  The guy replied in like 3 minutes that he’s cool with it… it’s official.  You can see he’s even commented on my blog.

I then spent 3 hours on the phone with a journalist in Gainesville, FL speaking about Couchsurfing/adventures, but it came on because I was helping her with a piece for her column about Twitter.  I mentioned that it is a way that I’ve gotten in touch with some awesome people, have had people help edit some of my writing last minute, had people volunteer couches, and gotten to know some people that I’d never have access to otherwise.  These days you have to be on twitter.. it’s a way to follow your brand.  It’s a way to bring awareness to your brand.  The Hudson River plane crash was on twitter before it was on the news!  The news networks used a twitpic.  A picture that someone uploaded from their cell phones!

If you want to learn a lot about Twitter, and social networking in general… do’s / don’t's, and where it’s all going, you have to watch this amazing/amusing presentation by Peter Shankman (@skydiver): http://waynesutton.tv/news/2009/01/16/peter-shankman-talks-social-media-at-prsa/ (Thanks @waynesutton for streaming) .  I found it to be brilliant, and you want to know what’s even cooler???  Peter has agreed to be one of my couches this year.  He’s an adventurer, and he has this amazing service called HARO – Help A Reporter Out which you must subscribe to if you need PR (everyone needs PR… especially if you have a business)– the press goes to him, tells him what experts they need today, and he sends it out to the list.  So… if  a story matches your expertise, you contact that reporter.  They get a story, you get press. Win-Win.  But… here’s the kicker…. Where did I find Peter?  On Twitter!

Do yourself a favor… get on twitter, make connections, and… take action (even off twitter)!