If you do a Twitter search for “Michael Jordan” you won’t find who you’re looking for. Who you will find is writer, Michael B. Jordan. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. That’s all I know about him. But, his avatar grabbed my attention immediately. As you can see, he’s obviously a pretty creative and savvy guy. With marketing and branding smarts like this, I’d say he’s worth a follow, but he hasn’t tweeted since January 2011. Looks like someone’s missing a hell of an opportunity.

Now THIS is a web series to get excited about. Blue Motion Productions in Winter Park, Florida has put together a new show chronicling the lives of Michael Jordan’s sons, Marcus and Jeffrey. Watch the princes of the MJ brand over at Heir-Jordan.com.

Music mogul Jay-Z, a part-owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, recently announced that the team will officially become the Brooklyn Nets when it moves to that borough of New York for the 2012-13 season.

In order to appeal to Brooklyn’s largest demographic — its thriving hipster community — the team will need to develop a marketing campaign targeted to the borough’s too-cool-for-everything citizens.

Kurt Snibbe offers up a few suggestions…

Major progresss comes from love. You can bank on that. If you want to start a movement or a revolution (business, technological, religious, social, political, etc.), it’s got to come from a place of pure, unbridled passion. And it’s a complete focus on that passion that should drive your every thought and guide your every move. THAT’S how you make a difference and impact people.

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish — as kids and as adults. (via ted.com)

Here’s a little kick in the ass from my dad, Gary Raser…

C.C. Chapman is an interesting guy. He’s been around all this tech and social media stuff since the beginning and is one of the few who not only gets it, but cares about the bottom line – profit. He gets the human side of business and understands how to translate online “community building” on social networks into real-life portfolio building. I’ve followed C.C. on Twitter for awhile, admiring his game from afar, and was excited to finally hear from him in person at Audience Conference.



The thing I like most about CC is that he is passionate. He exudes it. Even if I didn’t know what he was doing, I’d want to be a part of it. That’s the point. He gets audience. He understands his audience. He knows what makes his audience tick and how to keep them interested and engaged. We can all learn from that.

When people feel like they know you and can relate to you, they are more apt to get involved in your ventures. People follow leaders, not products.

Leaders know how to mobilize their audience to purchase products and services.

As C.C. points out in his talk below, if you’re passionate about something, other people are going to connect with that. THAT’S how you build an audience. Feed your audience. Give them stuff to ponder and chew on. They will, in turn, share THEIR passion with others.

At a certain point, we’ve got to stop undervaluing ourselves. Free content is great and I’m a huge advocate for it, but it’s imperitive to grasp that the difference between a company and a business is that a business makes money. There’s a certain audacity to “free”. If you don’t value your work, why the hell would anyone else?!

“Don’t be stupid, be human and be passionate.” – C.C. Chapman

Last night I had to run out late to bring a golf club to my buddy, Ty Tryon, who was leaving early in the morning for Asian Tour Q-School in Japan. The access code to our condo complex was recently done away with and I had no way of getting back in our front gate once I returned at two o’clock in the morning. I waited and waited and tweeted and waited and answered emails and waited and browsed espn.com, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. Thirty minutes later I was still trying to figure out how I was going to infiltrate the Fort Knox my neighborhood had become.

I couldn’t help but feel “pot committed” after all the time I invested in waiting. I kept telling myself, “A car is due to show up. It’s bound to happen.” Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to drive down the road and park in a day care center adjacent to our complex. I figured I’d hop the fence and worry about my truck in the morning. I gave up. I threw in the towel too early.

As soon as I jumped the fence a car rolled in the gate right in front of me. A few steps later, another car… then another. It was like the floodgates had opened. Oh well. Whatever. There was nothing I could do about it. Inevitably, if I had gotten back in my truck circled back around, I’d be locked out all night. My time had come. I missed my chance.



The same holds true in business (AND golf for that matter). When you put tireless effort into a project then give up, that’s it. It was all for nothing. You were *right* there. Why couldn’t you hold on for just one second longer?! Then when your miracle comes, it’s too late. You can’t go back. You can’t get back in. You may come to your senses and *want* to get back in, but once you miss the boat, you miss the boat.

This triggered me to think of a wonderful video post Adam Daniel Mezei put out a while back. Adam says,

“Most people surrender the fight too early, giving up “five minutes” before the miracle happens. Like a congenital defect.

Why do we do that? What is our collective problem? Time to check yourself and ask these all-too-critical questions.”

Scot Duke (aka “Mr. Business Golf”) and I have been friends on Twitter and Facebook for over a year now. Scot is the CEO of Innovative Business Golf Solutions, LLC, a business development consulting company dedicated to helping business people learn how to use golf as a business tool. Brilliant idea if you ask me. He also runs several popular online platforms for both players and business professionals within the golf niche. I consider Scot a “connector” because he has a genuine knack for bringing like-minded people together.

The Business Golf Country Club is an online community comprised of business owners, business professionals, golf professionals, club pros, teaching pros, industry leaders, amateurs and brands alike. The ClamBake Cafe is the social media arm of the Business Golf Country Club. Scot and I have a lot of similar views on social media’s place in the golf world and share a common passion for driving innovation within the industry as well as out on tour. Like me, Scot is a strong advocate for a cultural shift in golf. He has a deep love for the game, but isn’t scared to ruffle a few feathers or challenge the traditionalists within the sport. So we sat down to chat on ooVoo…

Many of my closest friends STILL do not get all the hype surrounding Twitter. Yes, tweets can be viewed as glorified Facebook status updates, yet that is really over-simplifying things. Twitter is about engaging, interacting, connecting, networking, branding, and thinking big-picture. I have been on Twitter for 4 months now and have seen the power of this social media outlet first-hand. Allow me to give you a rundown of what Twitter has done for me, personally and professionally. (This is somewhat of a chronological timeline)

To be the best you have to learn from the best; and Ted Murphy personifies success through the power of Twitter and Social Media. I learned through observing Ted and how he conducts himself on Twitter… He’s HIMSELF! He is a leader and people want to follow leaders. His companies, IZEA, SocialSpark, and CloudShout are successful, in large part because of the leader he has branded himself to be. Ted has taught me a lot about maximizing the power of the internet and letting business come to you – by being you!

Calvin Lee was one of the first tweeple to teach me that content is king! I watched his follower count go through the roof literally overnight. I consider Calvin a design, marketing, and branding guru. He knows how to balance casual, engaging conversation with business plugs and is one helluva helpful guy. When you are helpful to others on Twitter, you reap the rewards professionally. His company, Mayhem Studios, is growing and flourishing because of the way he effectively utilizes Twitter.

Joanna Lord was one of the first people I began engaging with when I first got on Twitter. I found her to be incredibly sweet, helpful, and patient with me as I learned “the lingo” and etiquette – which she (and others) guided me through. She was the first who taught me how to ReTweet, amongst other things. She has assisted me in building my online presence and introduced me to Seth Jenks. (read on)

I inquired about how I too could get a professionally done Twitter background and she highly recommended I contact Seth Jenks. Seth is an incredibly talented designer with loads of SEO expertise and marketing know-how. Before we began designing my Twitter background, we set out to effectively brand myself. This is when I was introduced to Adam Smith.

Adam Smith is an award-winning web designer introduced to me by Seth Jenks. He is also the President and Creative Director of a Advent Creative, an Online Business Development Company which specializes in Web Design, SEO, video, and CMS. After several conference calls, brainstorming, and strategizing, I was extremely impressed with Seth, Adam, and everyone associated with Advent Creative. We developed a comprehensive marketing and branding strategy all through initially meeting Joanna Lord.

From day one we worked hand-in-hand developing my personal brand and style. The guys at Advent Creative truly brought my vision to life with both my personal blog, designed by @atsmith and my twitter background, designed by @sethjenks. Their patience, and professionalism was mind-blowing from the beginning. Every request I made was effectively executed and I felt very “listened to”. Obviously, their work speaks for itself.

I initially met Mike Rausch through our love of golf (@clevelandgolf), however we have become both close friends and business associates. He voluntarily offered to design my “follow me on Twitter @johnraser” logo which I will use for stickers, T-shirts, as well as graphics on my Staff Bag and Tour clothing. He has really helped me tie my brand together for maximum exposure and continuity.

John Grover found me on Twitter and was the first person to recognize the tremendous financial opportunity Blu Frog Energy can provide; especially in these tough economic times. Blu Frog Energy is one of my main sponsors, but I am also a member and have been making significant weekly supplemental income to go towards my upcoming tournament fees and travel expenses. We are now business associates – never having met face-to-face.

I could list about 10 more people who have had a dramatic impact on my professional life all because of Twitter. It goes far beyond “socializing”. I could not be more appreciative to these individuals for their unselfish contributions to my own personal success. Had it not been for Twitter, I never would have met these people.

Think of how YOU can use Twitter to build your business, brand, cause, reputation, …whatever. This is only the beginning! Maximize the power of Social Media!