Blog Consulting, LLC.

A Random Tweet of Kindness for Chris Brogan

Tomorrow is Friday, and as is typical,  Twitter will be a spam land of #followfriday Tweets.

I will never forget the lady who spammed me all day long, with seemingly all 6,000 people who follow her.

It was a horrific offense, and I immediately quit following her.

Then it got me to thinking, why is the herd so quick to think that a large number of followers is the key to the kingdom?

After all, is not the whole premise of social media found in relationships?  Inbound marketing? 

Then why am I being spammed to death every Friday?  Huh?

So, in revolt, I have created my own little Friday tradition: 

A Random Tweet of Kindness!

Today, before all the spam start flowing tomorrow, I would like to give a hearty high five to Chris Brogan, and throw a Random Tweet of Kindness his way.

Chris is well know in the blogosphere, and has been a tireless evangelists for all that is Social Media, and blogging.  He has been in the trenches longer than most, is willing to be more transparent than most, and subsequently is enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Congratulations Chris!  You have earned the admiration, and following of many thousands. 

If you are not a follower of Chris Brogan, and you desire to gain understanding of Social Media, Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and the coming tidal wave of change in the main stream media, then Chris Brogan belongs in your RSS Feed.

We break for an important news update!  Friday, May 22 @ 6:15 AM - Now that I am using Seesmic Desktop, to manage my Twitter stream, #followfriday is no longer the annoyance it was.  Prior to Seesmic, I was using TwitterFox and the constant interuption in my browser was driving me bonkers.  Therefore, I take back my disdain for #followfriday.  However, I still like the idea of a Random Tweet of Kindness, and will continue the practice.

A Random Tweet of Kindness, and a Great Benefit to Social Media - a Good Friend

Wes Thorp is a recently retired newspaper man, Senate staffer, and a lover of stories, and communication.

I met Wes Thorp, through my first blog, a number of years ago.  We quickly became fast friends.  In fact, I hired Wes as my first blog coach.

Today, my business day was just starting, and into my blog's comment box comes this from Wes:

"David-- If we were drinking a bottle of Great Lakes Red back here in Michigan, I would offer an observation. It's not the pitch about your business. It's the conversation that you've started and you're wanting to lead. Take Seth Godin's premise about Tribes. You're a leader of a Tribe. Then go over to the Cluetrain Manifesto and look at what these thought leaders about the web observed about how the marketplace is changing. Markets are conversations and not pitches. You're sitting at the head of a big global table filled with coffee pots and wine glasses and you're getting people to talk about using social media and blogs for their organizations, whether profit or non-profit. I'd love to be in the elevator here in Lansing and say to somebody, "hey, you need to read this blog post by Dave Porter. Remember when he was in Okemos?" And then share how you are a real listener and a facilitator of information. I've already done that with your post on the Scottsdale PD using Twitter. Every cop and police chief in the country should be coming to your blog to chime in and ask questions and share observations. Just my opinions. I will be following, of course. Wes"

Wes, you are a good friend, and you have brought me great honor today.  I greatly appreciate your friendship, your willingness to speak up on my behalf, and your great love of the story.

Every man should be blessed with a friend such as you.  My life is truly richer with you in it.

I love you man!

Please give my best to your beautiful family.

A Random Tweet of Kindness for Darren Rowse of Problogger

<--- Darren Rowse w/ my wife at BlogWorld.

I don't know about you, but the #followfriday spamfest, each Friday, has been driving me a little bonkers.

I applaud the idea. 

It just seems that it has gotten out of hand, and fallen prey to those who are more interested in a large number of followers, rather than building meaningful relationships, and showing a sincere interest in sharing with others, the passion behind your enterprise.

Therefore, assuming that this hasn't already been done somewhere, I am going to suggest to the world that we adapt rather:  A Random Tweet of Kindness!

As my first "Random Tweet of Kindness", I am going to share with you my heartfelt appreciation to:

Darren Rowse of:
ProBlogger
ProBlogger on Twitter
ProBlogger on Facebook

I found this hardworking Aussie, over 5 years ago as I was building the nation's #2 mortgage blog.  I have since sold the company, and three years ago shut down the blog, but Darren was very instrumental in teaching me the ropes.

Darren, I thank you for your tireless efforts to promote, and educate that world about social media.  Any success that has come your way, is greatly deserved.

Thank you for becoming a blog mentor to the world!  I appreciate you.

Please show your appreciation to Darren by following him, at all of his outposts, and then Re-Tweeting this message in your networks.  Let's reward Darren with thousands, and thousands of new followers.