Filled to the Brim
David Brim on Marketing, Social Media, Entrepreneurship & More

We’re in the midst of the worst economy since the great depression. People are getting laid off or fired everyday and thousands of college graduates (and millions of others) across the country are struggling to find a job. With that said why in the world would I choose to quit my job now?

Allow me to explain…

First off let me say that I not only quit my job, but a job at a really great work environment with awesome people and fun/unique company culture….Where else do you ring in new hires with tequila shots, have cubicle decorating contests and plow your face into cake on your birthday & anniversary of employment? Of course I’m talking about IZEA, a top social media marketing company that operates SocialSpark, PayPerPost and more.

So the question I know many people are thinking…Why the H*ll did you quit? or What is he thinking?

Well I have always been a person that doesn’t shy away from challenges. I have also always trusted my gut, which was one of the main reasons why I moved to Orlando in the first place. I knew no-one in Florida, but something told me this was the right choice. That decision turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and over the last 2 years I’ve accomplished a great deal.

Besides trusting my gut I also moved to Orlando to be in a fertile environment to grow my own ventures. My goal has always been to create jobs for others, not be bound by an hourly job and to grow extremely wealthy in the process. Then be able to give back and help other young entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

With these goals constantly in mind I came to the conclusion that IZEA has done all it can to assist me in reaching them at this stage in my life.

I’ve really enjoyed my time at IZEA, feel that I have learned a great deal and built relationships with a lot of great people, however now is the time for me to go hard after my goals. As time passes many people sink into a mode of comfortably and they stop striving and are content with their current situation. Though this is completely alright for some people at this point in my life this is not okay for me. At this time I have no children to pay for and no major expenses. There’s no better time for me than right now. If you desire to reach your goals no matter what they may be you have to go for it. When there’s more risk, there is a greater chance for more of a reward. In addition to that my dad taught me a long time ago that you improve and grow the most during periods of uncertainty and turmoil. If you’re not working through problems or challenges your performing not growing. I recently saw a great quote on Drew Mclellans blog: “Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

That quote really sums up how I feel and why I did what I did. I have so much of a desire to achieve my goals that fear seems very trivial in comparison. Some may call me foolish, some may call me outright stupid, but the way I see it it needed to be done. I have full confidence in my abilities and in god and know I will make it work.

Stay tuned…

More to come

Over the last two years I’ve won the Joust Business plan competition for two different ventures. In 2007 my business partner Scott Wall and I presented our niche real estate publication for lease purchase properties and took first place winning $5,000. Then in 2008 I won again presenting GroupTable with another business partner Carl Henderson that time winning $12,000. I was pleasantly surprised when this year they asked me to return as a judge in the finals which took place this past Thursday.

This year’s winner was Helping Hands Healthcare, a service-based firm committed to providing superior consulting and installation of daily living aids to families with in-home healthcare needs.

Other finalists included: Mercury Mobile Software, a firm developing a home screen replacement application for smart phones; Orlando Search Engine Marketing, a search engine optimization (SEO) service provider; and Ski Florida, an indoor snow ski, snowboard and kids’ snow play facility.

It was truly a great experience for me being that I got to sit on the other side of the table with judges much older and more experienced than me.

Just to run through some of the other judges:

Rick Walsh

Mr. Walsh is President of the KnobHill Group, an investment and strategic counseling company. Prior to establishing the KnobHill Group, he served as Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs of Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) and was a founding member of the leadership team that took Darden public in 1995.

Mr. Walsh has been recognized as Orlando Business Journal’s “Businessman of the Year”; one of “Florida’s 100 Most influential” by Florida Trend Magazine; “25 Most Powerful People in Central Florida” by the Orlando Sentinel; and “50 Most Powerful People in Orlando” by Orlando Magazine.

Thomas Bland

G. Thomas Bland, Jr., serves as Chairman of the Board,CEO and president of AquaFiber Technologies Corporation.In 2004, Mr. Bland was inducted into the UCF College of Business Administration Hall of Fame. He currently is a member of the UCF College of Business Administration’s Dean’s Executive Council, and serves as a board member for the Florida Hospital Diabetes Foundation. He also established a home healthcare business, TenderCare Professional Assisted Living Services, Inc., for which he concurrently serves as Chairman of the Board.

Charlotte Williams

Charlotte Williams founded SummerHill Homes, a sucessful construction company, and then became a leading local real estate professional.  Charlotte is now a top real estate agent and owner of ERA Williams Real Estate Group.

David Pape

Serial entrepreneur and investor with four successful start-ups and over 30 years of experience.  Mr. Pape has developed a keen eye for lucrative market niches and an innovative ability to develop opportunities.

The competition was sponsored by Steven Felkowitz,  CEO of Atico International.  His company, Atico International is a full service sourcing and product development company that provides retailers, wholesalers and distributors with the insight and worldwide relationships to build a successful import program. I heard they generate over $600M a year in revenue…I guess he could afford to sponsor the prize money and event over the last few years.

Getting to know these extremely successful business professionals and investors on a more personal level was a great experience.  I was the youngest judge by far and was judging students I went to school with less than a year ago, as well as students currently enrolled in the MBA program.  Being a judge gave me a taste of where I want to be eventually (sooner than later), which is an angel investor sitting on the other side of the table listening to entrepreneurs pitch, investing in companies I like and working with them to help them grow.

This was truly a great experience.

Social Media Marketing can be a powerful way to grow your business if done correctly. Forrester Research, a top technology and market research company recently published an excellent report explaining Sponsored Conversations and how to integrate them into your social media strategy and marketing plan to grow your business.

The Forrester report is typically $749, but can be downloaded for free Here.

Rumor has it that a new innovative social media site and nano-blogging software is growing extremely quickly and according to it’s numbers is poised to surpass and overtake twitter within several months. It’s name…Flutter

Obviously this is a joke….The video does pokes fun at some real issues though. For instance what’s next in the realm of social media. Twitter has been around since March, 2006…That’s over three years! The early adopters of social media & technology, people like Brian Solis, Chris Brogan and others have been using twitter for a very long time, however it hasn’t been until the last 3-6 months that there seems to be a twitter boom amongst the main stream. Maybe it’s because Barrack Obama is on twitter or celebrities like Ellen, Puff Daddy, Austin Kucher and more are now active on twitter.   What’s interesting is that my girlfriend @Lindsay273 is now active on twitter when a year ago she used to make fun of me for using it and didn’t quite get it.  Technology is constantly evolving and there’s always something next on the horizon, something that the early adopters begin to migrate towards.  I once heard one of the founders of twitter mention that they want twitter to be a social utility like a telephone.  There are also stories of people using twitter in strange ways such as turning off the lights in their home or allowing your un-born baby to tweet, but will twitter every be adopted as a main stream method of communication like email or the telephone, or will it just get acquired and trail off over time?

I had to make a post to give props to our design & marketing team at IZEA for releasing a new version of IZEA.com.   The new interface allows for so much more informative content and looks great!

By visiting IZEA’s site you can view an awesome case study on IZEA’s social media campaign for Kmart and download Forrester Research’s recent report on sponsored conversations.  Another great thing that we’ve added to the new site is that you can see a list of IZEA’s clients including brands like USA Networks, 1-800 Flowers, ColdStone, Dockers, and many more.  You can also view a sample of some of the premium bloggers, all of whom I’ve interacted with over the last few months and our IZEA insiders.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, what are you waiting for?

So many people have ideas for ventures they feel would succeed.  They keep these ideas in the back of their mind and think that one day they may find the time or money to actually launch it.  This will rarely ever happen….Great things may come to those who wait, but are left over from those who hustle. 

It’s all based on risk and return.  If you are involved in a venture that needs full attention to succeed it’s ok to put other ideas on the back burner.  However, I feel that just as a successful student may take 5 classes at a time and be able to get good grades in all of them, if you delegate your time and resources properly you can do, and succeed, in multiple ventures at a time.  Again if you are involved in a venture that needs your full attention to succeed and feel the return will be worth it, by all means that venture should have nearly all of your energy.  However if it doesn’t and you can put people or resources in place to make something happen….why not?

Diversification is key to obtaining wealth (Any investor worth their commission, or degree would tell you the same).  If you have your hands in a bunch of different endeavors and have proper people in place to help them grow, your likely hood for success & wealth rises immensely.

I can’t tell you how many times that I had an idea that I thought would do great and then someone else launches it.  I take it as a compliment, however compliments won’t put dollars in your bank account.  Ideas are really nothing until they’re implimented.

If you have an idea that you feel could be a success and don’t already have your hands in too much, what are you waiting for?  You don’t want to be that guy (or girl) that says “Hey….I had that idea” after a million dollar company is born.

There are ways to fund or grow a company with slim to no budget.

Make it happen!

This is a guest post written by my girlfriend Lindsay Ament (@Lindsay273).

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Since it is Valentines Day I spent some time reflecting on my wonderful relationship of three and a half years with my boyfriend David. However, being the girlfriend of an entrepreneur is challenging but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. So for those of you in the same boat as me, hang in there it will be well worth it! Here are some tips that I found helpful:

1. You must be able to block out the alerts coming from the cell phone. It will drive you nuts with all of the e-mails, phone calls/text messages and Twitter updates.
2. Only expect a tiny little corner of the bookshelf. Most likely the book shelf will be completely stacked with books like “Future Millionaires”, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and “Founders at Work”.
3. Let him know that dinner is ready about 10-15 mins before it actually is. Therefore, he can finish his e-mail, conversation on Twitter or phone call in a timely manner before his food gets cold. I can’t tell you how many meals I’ve had to microwave.
4. Always be supportive. Being the girlfriend or wife of an entrepreneur requires you to be their support through the many ups and downs of the roller coaster ride.
5. You may have to move across the country because he needs to go to the state/city that will be best for his venture.
6. Be prepared for him to NETWORK everywhere you go!
7. Be prepared for him to be in front of or at least near his computer 75% of the day
8. TV shows like BIG IDEA will be filling up your DVR
9. Get used to going to bed alone. Especially if you work early and want to get at least 8 hrs of sleep. Most likely he will finally shut off the computer and crawl into bed around 2 or 3 am.
10. Most importantly, understand that you are with an extremely motivated, self disciplined and inspired person, be proud of them. It takes special people to be entrepreneurs.

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Not bad for her first post huh? Thanks for being the best & most understanding girlfriend ever! Happy Valentines day babe!

- David

Do you have any helpful tips that you would add to the list? If so drop them in the comments below.

It’s amazing and inspiring for me to examine how much a year can change your life.   If you have a blog and keep it updated, it almost provides a way to interview your previous self and see what you were thinking and doing and how everything has ended up thus far.

With that said, tomorrow is my one year anniversary since I started blogging.

The purpose of this post is to outline major events in my life and the lessons I’ve learned about blogging since I first started on February 11th, 2008.   I encourage each of you to do this exercise as well.  It can really be rewarding/helpful and encourage you to think about what a year from today can bring. If you do, or plan on doing a similar post drop me a comment, I’d like to check it out.

Major Events Since February 11th, 2008 (My blogging B-day)

1. Launched GroupTable’s Beta (First week of February)
2. Went to the Indy 500 Racetrack & pitched GroupTable to judges in the back of a limo (Late March, National Business Plan Competition)
3. Won the UCF Joust Business Plan Competition (Only UCF Student to ever win back to back competitions, April 2008)
4. Started working at IZEA (May 2008)
5. Attended conferences: Search Engine Strategies in San Jose, Search Marketing Expo in Ny, Blog World in Vegas,  IzeaFest, Affiliate Summit in Vegas (Random dates- Definitely learned a lot)
6. Became the Director of Premium Blogger Relations at IZEA- Met and worked with top bloggers like Chris Brogan, Wendy Piersall, Chris Pirillo, Jim Kukral, ShoeMoney, Neil Patel and many more. (Late July)
7. Moved with Lindsay (@Lindsay273) to an awesome apartment in Baldwin Park (August)
8. Graduated College from UCF with a degree in marketing (Mid August)
9. I was interviewed on Orlando’s Local Six news about Social Media & its impact on Politics (Mid August)
10. I got my first dog (Pics: Jackson and me, Jackson and Lins) (September)

There’s a a few more…but I’ll keep it to 10

Lessons I’ve learned about and from blogging

1. Blogging is a great way to build your personal brand.
   
2. Like writing in general, blogging is an effective way to organize and get your thoughts together.  It can be very therapeutic.
3. The blogosphere/twittersphere has its own culture.  It’s best to interact on other blogs and see how those who are experienced do it before you jump in. (Double Dutch Analogy)
4. I’ve learned how to identify influencers and high quality bloggers…It’s my job
5. I learned that I like WordPress way better than Blogger.  It’s more flexible and has lots of cool plugins.
6. If you don’t post regularly your traffic will drop….significantly
7. Write about issues others are interested in (even do keyword research before writing certain posts).  When I first started this blog all I wrote about was GroupTable.  When I started writing about other issues (like some of my favorite posts on the right) my traffic and reader engagement went way up.
8. Social proof is a powerful thing.
9. It’s good to comment on other blogs regularly. (Helps build relationships and brings you traffic)
10. Twitter is an incredible tool to increase awareness & traffic to your blog if you know how to properly use it.  (Many people who join it don’t have a clue how to harness it’s power or are unaware of all the third party twitter apps available)

Writing this post definitely helped me become more aware of how far I’ve come in this past year and what I’ve learned during my first year of blogging.

What have you learned since you started blogging? Isn’t it great to be able to have a chronicle of what you went through, or were thinking over the last year(s)?