Demystifying the web and more. Come join me.

So you’ve joined up on some social networking sites and nothing seems to be happening for you. The contacts aren’t flowing in, the customers aren’t finding you, spammers fill your stream.

Ready for some friendly guidance? Want to learn some tips and tricks to be successful using Twitter and Facebook? My ebook is now available:

Sunday Guide to Social Networking

It’s the first in a series of guides I’m writing, bringing you strategies, tips, and tools to make your online networking time fun and profitable.

In this one, I’ve collected articles from the Sunday Social Networking series, along with two additional articles on specific services, Utterli and Twitter.

Some of the topics:

• Search for social networks
• Cultivating relationships
• Sharing what you love

The ebook only costs $6 US because I want many people to have the opportunity to enjoy the it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Please see the payment button below to buy it. Thanks!

One reviewer is right, this is a single idea book. It fleshes out the idea of what sways our decisions, specifically how we are swayed to make irrational decisions.

The authors define irrational as being out of line with well reasoned and logical choices. These are those cases where the pilot takes off without clearance, the woman is tempted to go around a car stopped at a light into oncoming traffic and more.

Explored are a handful of factors that do the swaying. The book doesn’t just list them though, nor are they even in bullet points of any sort. It’s a rather meandering course as we are taken from example to example and back again. It’s as if the authors felt the need to weave a tapestry of thoughts and experiences, perhaps to make the text more fluid. I found it distracting.

In spite of enjoying the book overall, and honestly, having my eyes opened, this could have been a shorter work The references could have been more on point. The sections in each chapter should have been more clearly defined.

If you enjoyed Blink, and books like it, then you’ll enjoy this as well. I recommend the paperback.
It’s also generally an easy read; you won’t need a dictionary to get through this.

Buy Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior.

Jeremiah Owyang brings up the question, is blogging becoming lifestreaming. It’s a dang good question. Bloggers across the net have taken to using their blogs as a collection point for all of their various Twitter, Friendfeed and other sources. They’ve become aggregation points.

The truth is though that’s a skewed view. Blogging is changing in it’s use. In a way, some folks are taking it back to its roots, the self centered story. Blogs have long been personal bandstands and stories. Tech focused blogs or real estate blogs are really still on the edge of the curve in my opinion.

What’s really happened is that folks have found more effective methods of sharing links, stories, and pictures. They’ve also discovered video, podcasts, and other formats. The push to push out all your ‘content’ via the blog is changing. Blogs aren’t the end all and be all, they’re just another tool in the box.

Myself? I’m actually not lifestreaming via the blog. That’s what I do with Twitter and Facebook. The blog is more focused on a few topics. As a matter of fact, I actually have a few blogs and contribute to a couple other parenting focused blogs. Less anecdotal.

How about you? Has your blog taken to being a life story, an aggregation of your other output? Or are you still blogging on topic?

Jeremiah’s original article

Please consider my ebook on Social Networking.

The Riverfront Times ran an article today featuring the Friday social networking lunch series, Bring a Tweep to Lunch.  The article is an interview style with key questions about the how, why, and who of these gatherings.

Go show the Riverfront Times some love.

Tonight Zynga releases Mafia Wars Lottery on Facebook. You can follow the discussion on the Zynga Mafia Wars official forums.

You can see it now in action though it’s disabled; check it out here. (may be live by the time you check this out)

The lottery spawns a whole new collection as well. I’ll keep you posted here.

Sometimes you get lucky and spot stuff.

Friend me on Twitter.
Friend me on Facebook.
Join my Mafia.
Join my Vampire clan.

It has been almost a month since this blog launched, with much help, guidance, and contribution from Todd Jordan. Todd and I both share a vision of St. Louis as a thriving social networking community, one of benefit to many, and this blog was seen as a means to facilitate and encourage the realization of that vision by promoting and reporting on local social media news, events and groups.

So shares Greg Bussmann, aka @execbp, about the launch of St. Louis Social Media Report. It’s been a great first month from my point of view as well.

Greg goes on to share this:
We picked a great month to get started, as the last month has seen lots of big events around town such as the Girls Guide To the Galaxy relaunch party, the Social Media Club St. Louis Small Business event, some Bring a Tweep to Lunch tweet-ups, and many others. We have lots more in store for you and the future looks bright for St. Louis.

He’s not kidding about a great month. Tweetups every week. Relaunch parties. Networking events. Heck, even Shock City Studios got in on the act.

Updating and informing are critical to the site’s continued success.  Help out by contributing event news, commentary on events already behind us, and other social networking and media news you happen upon.

It’s an exciting time for St. Louis and social media. Can’t wait to see you out there.

Hugh writes without apology. He’s telling you how to keep that creative spark alive.

His 39 tips (really 40) are all about defending your creative spirit and your right to have it. The tips are typically short, numbering no more than a few paragraphs each. A handful are longer where he relates personal experiences.

The book isn’t meant to tell you think right and you’ll win. It doesn’t tell you the world will line up to help you succeed. This is not a law of attraction book. This book makes you feel like having a creative spark puts you in an eternal war. Beyond that, he tells you everyone has this spark, and most of the world is out to crush it.

Sounds a bit depressing but quite the contrary, it’s uplifting and funny. It challenges you a bit though, and Hugh isn’t afraid to use a rough word here are there to make his point.

Best takeaways? Keep your day job and apply force and focus to your creative endeavors.

I’m reminded by reading this book how few people challenge themselves in the creative area, but settle to just be another bystander in life.

Cheers Hugh. A fan.

PS. I’m giving away a copy the last week in June.

Hugh MacLeod tells you in the title, Ignore Everybody; he means it. The book is all about creativity, your dreams, and nurturing both. Actually it’s more about protecting them.

Hugh is the genius behing gapingvoid.com; business card art is alive and well. He’s a cartoonist but makes his living selling fine prints via the Internet; so his bio says. His book takes a collection of his art, along with his thoughts on creativity, and packages them in one great read. He’s given us a sneak peak.

Promoting a book can be difficult. Even famous people like Hugh can have a tough time. Helping things out, he did something fun, he gave away signed copies.

Giveaways rock. Hugh offered up an extra signed copy for the for first 1,000 pre-orders. That’s right; if you pre-ordered a copy, he sent you an additional signed copy. Well, I’d like to pass on his generosity to you.

The original deal is done; getting a signed copy now is going to cost you. I’d like to offer you a chance to get a brand new unsigned copy for free. You just have to give a few minutes of your time.

The Giveaway: a hard-cover copy of Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.

Required Entry: For your chance to win tell me what your favorite gapingvoid illustration is. You can earn only one entry for this method. Visit gapingvoid, and come back and leave a comment with a link to your favorite.

Extra Entries: The following are all extra things you can do for more entries. Leave an additional comment for each thing you do to earn extra entries.

• Blog about this giveaway on your own blog (please don’t copy my entire post onto your blog though). Leave the direct link to your post in your comment for an extra entry.
• Subscribe via email to my feed and let me know in your comment for an extra entry.
• Follow me on Twitter @tojosan and send a tweet about the giveaway. Leave a direct link to your tweet (instructions here on Robyn’s Online World) in your comment for an extra entry. Here is a tweet you can use (or make your own):
  Win Ignore Everybody from @tojosan http://bit.ly/BIVkc Plz RT
• One additional entry for visiting Robyn’s Online World and choosing a favorite post. Come back and leave a comment and a link.

Rules: Only one of each entry method listed per person/family/household. No entering on behalf of others, using extra identities or others identities, no automated program entries, etc. If I catch you cheating you will be banned from this and all of my future giveaways! This giveaway is only open to those in the USA, ages 18+ only. All entries must be received by 11:59 pm Central Time on Friday June 26, 2009. I will pick the winner and email them and they have 48 hours to claim the prize. If no response, I will pick a new winner. Good luck!

NOTE: This contest is about giving away a great book. However, I’d like to publicly thank Robyn of Robyn’s Online World for her personal guidance, great examples, and graceful attitude regarding blog giveaways. Please visit her site and register to win something great.

Taken at the Butterfly House.