“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead (1901-1978)

In our day-to-day lives many of us seldom stop to consider how lucky we really are - to have food on our tables, clothes on our bodies, and heat in our homes.  Every once in a while we’ll get a wake up call, a story about an impoverished child, a blog post on hunger or war in another country, and sometimes we witness it with our own eyes - a cold homeless teenager shivering on the street.

I’m sure that I’m not the only one that finds it easy to creep into my little bubble and keep blinders on from the unpleasant things around me.  Technology, in many ways has allowed us to disconnect from our fellow humans - we  text and email instead of calling, use Facebook to keep in touch with old friends.

I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved with a project called Daily Challenge, a new social network that connects people with small, easy to perform challenges with the intent to change the world.  If ten, one thousand, or even a million people took 2 minutes out of their day to do a small act of kindness for someone else - what would be the impact?!

In light of Blog Action Day and a worldwide discussion on Poverty, the folks at Daily Challenge have honored me as the “Celebrity Challenger” on their site today.  I’d like to challenge you to do the following:

• sign up at Daily Challenge and “Do One Good, Daily” by performing easy, small acts to benefit your friends, family, strangers, the world, and yourself.  Signing up is easy, and don’t forget to add me as a friend!

Do One Good Daily - Use Free Rice to End Poverty!

• Take part in my challenge: “Feed those living in poverty and have some fun at the same time: challenge two friends to a trivia play-off at Free Rice!“  (I’ll warn you - it’s addictive!)

I've donated 360 grains so far - can you beat me?

I’d love to hear how far you get with Free Rice, and your thoughts on Daily Challenge.  For all you social media marketers out there - this is the new social network to watch!  Looking forward to connecting with you!

So after relentlessly adding zillions of people to Twitter (marketing and social media enthusiasts) I have ended up with the following results:

I’ve gotten plenty of visits to my blog, some valuable feedback (thanks for the posts!), 75 direct messages, and hundreds of @replies.  I’m at just over a 2:1 ratio of Following:Followers - and I’m learning so much already!

Some of the interesting things I’ve seen:

• some people have set up Twitter accounts for their pets (I thought this was only a Facebook phenomenon?).  I guess dogs really are still man’s best friend!
• people are very quick to offer their help - I’ve had dozens of offers to help with my Wordpress problem, and my Facebook media buying project has gotten plenty of advice.  Great showing of community on Twitter!
• networking is King - my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles are growing by the hour with like-minded, internet-savvy, marketing and social media enthusiasts.  Exactly the kind of people I want to associate with!
• Twitter is a great traffic pusher, I’ve had lots of people check out my blog and it’s helping to keep the momentum going!

I’m interested to see how my Following/Followers numbers will change.  I’m going to change my approach and go at it organically from here on in - no mega-adds - and get off the Twitter steroids (thanks eromedome22!).

I’ll use the following tips/feedback that I got:

• Keep your Twitter background simple, so that it doesn’t take away from your Tweets (EarlC)
• Always thank the people who follow you, “let them know they matter” (vincenthunt)
• Tweet, tweet, and keep on tweeting! (benlucier - who has to date 2,049 updates!)
• Keep your content interesting, and then it really doesn’t matter what your Following:Follower ratio is (martinjy)

Thanks to everyone for your feedback and your comments on this - I’ll post again in a little while to see where I’m at.

Does anyone have any other tips to add on best Twitter practices?

So my Twitter posse is increasing exponentially and I’m gaining a new found love for this social media hotspot.

Here’s my current status:

So, here’s what I’m pondering - is it some type of social faux pas to be following 3x as many people as are following you?  Come on - am I being a popularity hog here?  Breaking some netiquiette?

Looking forward to Ad:tech New York this year!  Looks to be exciting considering it takes place over the 2008 Presidential election.  I can’t wait to be among the worlds premier social media experts when Barack Obama wins, especially considering his amazing social media campaign!

Let me know if you’re going and if you’d like to get together to talk shop or have a drink!

By now most people in the social media sphere have gotten to know Twitter.  Although some huge question marks remain (monetization strategy? how can it really benefit a business), many people have adopted it as their new MSN name/Facebook status as a way to keep people informed of their day-to-day activities. (P.S. Does anyone else miss the days of detailing your entire social calender in one line of MSN status? I do!)

When I initially started using Twitter a number of months ago, I decided to become a “Twitter Snob”, keeping those that I followed to an exclusive bunch, only people I personally knew, or very important people that I was interested in.  My Twitter clique remained small, where I followed only about 30 people.

Last night I decided to jump right in and start expanding my Twitter posse.  Seeing that I have close to 1000 friends on Facebook, why not have that many on Twitter?

Now the big question remains - how do I find like-minded people to follow, and have follow me?

I’m going to begin by adding the friends of my close friends, I’m sure that there will be people that I know and that I’m interested in there.

Next, I’m adding everyone that follows “Social Media Club“.  How can I be a Social Media Maverick if I’m not in touch with all of those people?

Here’s where I’m starting:

October 9, 10:04am

Following: 37

Followers: 55

I’ll update on my progress as the days go by!  Let’s see what my fellow Tweeters can do for me - but most importantly, what can I do for them?!

Follow me on Twitter to see for yourself!

Stay tuned for a sneak peek into the world of Tiffany - online media buyer, social butterfly, and fitness freak.  As I go on my daily travels, I’ll post my insights on social media, marketing, productivity, providing value for others, online advertising, the occasional recipe and much more!

Here’s a quick glance into my life to whet your appetite.  Although marketing and online media is my forte - I’m still working on figuring out the tech side of Wordpress etc.  So until then here’s who I am…

I am a Networking Ninja and a Conversation Catalyst - you’ll find me out on the town and wherever there’s buzz.

Catch me at the office and you’ll meet a Marketing Maven crossed with a Social Media Maverick.

Need a boost? I’m a Master Motivator and will help you turn that frown upside down. Rhyme intended. I’m a Getting Things Done Blackbelt, and live The Secret to a T.

Being positive is my forte and you’ll always find a smile on my face!

I believe in green living, healthy eating and sweating ’til your soaked. I seek adventure down the road less traveled.

I’m easy to please, but hard to impress.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world,” says Ghandi. Meet me and you’ll meet a Change Charmer, someone who believes in small steps for a huge difference.

“Everyone” is just really a lot of “one’s” - and it’s my mission to change the world one person at a time.

See you soon!