I’m different than most when it comes to Social media
•    I update once a day
•    I talk about hunting
•    I use several different sites rather than focus on one {Facebook twitter youtube (in that order)}
•    Goal to connect with few rather than many
•    I study it almost everyday

o    E-Myth quote “The Challenge of our age is to learn our customer’s language.” Pg 227

Things that help
•    My phone (I can do everything from it)

o    Video to youtube
o    Twit pic
o    FB
o    Google search/ web
o    Take record send video & picture

•    CoTweet to run multiple accounts. (thanks to Jim Gray for teaching me about this)
•    Evernote to save/organize my thoughts and my notes.

Most difficult for me
•    Manage and set others expectations.  I am sporadic by nature.

Social Media helps:

Get to know leaders better.  Where else could see how leaders live their live (even their marriage health.) It is great way to lead by example. Caution to not be fake.

Do you have thoughts on Social Media?

Margaret & I saw the movie Invictus. It is a GREAT leadership movie. At least a dozen leadership lessons!

How Billy Hornsby uses twitter:

Social media gives him a chance to receive feedback almost instantly. It is especially helpful while traveling since he has to leave quickly after speaking or after long speaking engagements like church planter’s roundtables when he will have up to 8 sessions in one day.

After speaking he logs on to a popular social media site called, twitter, where he will check what people are telling their followers.

He finds quotes like this:

“I can use twitter to find which examples are getting my point across. They tell me what they like,”  Billy says while we were walking through the Ronald Reagan International Airport.

Often pastors wonder what people are saying about the church when they leave.  Social media gives them a chance to

Quick Tip: Use social media as a tool. Don’t get consumed.

This hasn’t been a good thing for some church leaders as not all conversations are helpful. Unhappy church members start gossip or leave and use social media as an easy way to cut down the church. Some get bolder behind the keyboard saying things they never would face to face. Getting caught up in gossip is never helpful.

Click here to learn how to search twitter <– really helpful.  Learned a few things I didn’t know.

Like how to search emotions

*Sidenote: If you are Mark Batterson, everything you tweet gets retweeted (41 times the Friday i checked.) Thats right 41 RT’s in one day.

I’m not sure but I decided to anyways. Maybe I should add “Or at the dinner table or baseball game or across the pew.”

Do you have a disclaimer?

For a blog that is not of the record click here.

Here is the story from Swerve- Craig Groeschel by Bobby Gruenewald

“This week, a pretty cool thing happened over at the Stuff Christians Like blog. On Monday, Jon Acuff shared an idea with his readers: let’s raise $30,000 to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. He hoped to reach that goal by December 31. Instead, it happened in 18 hours. From 5:00am to 11:00pm, readers donated the full $30,000 so that 240 kids in Vietnam could go to school. Building on the momentum from the overwhelming response, they’ve set their sights on building a second kindergarten by his initial goal of December 31.

It’s great to see social media being used effectively to engage people in causes, particularly financially. There’s a lot we can learn from this.”

It is great to hear what God is doing through Social Media!

The Blog-Father (read in a heavy Italian accent), John Saddington just posted the 10 Commandments of Twitter on his blog.

“Twitter is a dangerous place, so make sure you stay on the straight-and-narrow by following the 10 Righteous Commandments of Twitter:

1. Thou Shalt Not Practice TTMI

It’s quite possible that you’re popping a zit before you head to class, but that’s TTMI (Tweet Too Much Information), ok? Please save us from those types of tweets. (not gonna name any names but @friaradam)

2. Thou Shalt Not Forgeteth Who’s Following You

It’s quite possible that you have your employer, your boss, your angry (and perhaps violent) ex following you on Twitter. Maybe even your mom. Don’t forget who’s following you or you’ll pay a high price. (great point)

3. Thou Shalt Not Spammeth

Those that practice the deceitful art of spamming have a place reserved for them in the deepest bowels of hell. Don’t do it for your sake and ours.

4. Thou Shalt Not Have Tweet Wars

Arguing over Twitter is perhaps the lamest of lame things to do besides being absolutely fruitless. Save those things for Facebook. (I heard that @maurilio has done this before)

5. Thou Shalt Not Tweet What’s Not Yours to Telleth

Some things are better left alone and it’s not your job all the time to tell the world when something happens, especially if it’s about someone else that doesn’t want it tweeted.

6. Thou Shalt Not Tweet Boringnesseth

Don’t be boring please, especially in series. Don’t tweet things like “I’m prepping dinner!” “I’m setting the table!” “I’m sitting down to eat!” “I’m eating!” “I’m happy eating!” “I’m clearing the table!” “I’m washing the dishes!” “I’m putting the dishes away!” …

7. Thou Shalt Think Twice Beforeth Tweeting Controversy

Dogmatic screaming fringe-religious statements , Political rants, obviously-controversial situational-ethical viewpoints… that can hurt you badly and undo thousands of “goodwill” tweets. Please think twice.

8. Thou Shalt Not Tweet Spoilers

When Twitter asks “What Are You Doing?” that doesn’t translate to “Tell the entire world who won the world series of poker” or “OMG!!!11111!1 _______________ won AMERICAN IDOL!” or “I can’t believe _____________ happened at the end of ______________ movie!”

9. Thou Shalt Thinketh Before Tweeting

Just think before you tweet. Period.

10. Thou Shalt Tweet The 10 Commandments of Twitter

Please pass on the 10 Commandments of Twitter for your sake, our sake, and the twitterverse’s sake.”

It was a great post.

Tweet unto others as you would have them tweet unto you…

Yesterday, I used an @reply & TwitPic to show TJ_McCormick (ARC church planter)  a sign that made me think of him.

He decided to write a blog post about it.

Just makes me feel special to know that someone read my tweet.

Here are some tools that will help your children, High School or College level.  Who knows some may even be helpful to you!

1. Cramster

Finals are getting close. They can use cramster to help with homework or study for a test. 

Cramster offers a Facebook app, Courses 2.0, that enables you to enter the courses you’re taking to see which of your Facebook friends will be in your classes, as well as list your books so that you can find people to share with or buy used books once they’re done with them.

Good alternative: FunnelBrain

2. InternshipRatings.com

Does your kid need an internship this summer? Wondering what kind of experience they are going to get out of that internship? InternshipRatings offers you reviews from students that have already been through internships and know how valuable they are.

I have had some great internships and some BAD ones.  This site is a great way to weed out the bad ones, and help you find the ones that will actually be a benefit.  Luckily for me, my ARC internship is a good one!

Good alternative: RateInternships

3. Zimride

Is your child moving away for college with no car? How will they get where they need to go?  Maybe your kid can use  Zimride.

They also have a handy app on Facebook. You can filter the results by rideshares or cab shares by one-time or repeating rides.

4. Box.net

Box.net is simple. Just upload any files that you need and access them from any computer, anywhere.

This is a really easy way to share large files. (ie a video or pictures from their first college party!)

Good alternatives: Dropbox (), Drop.io ()

5. Twitter

Twitter () allows you to connect with anyone in the world, whether they’re acquaintances, classmates, celebrities or complete strangers with common interests.  Why should you recommend it to your kid?  Imagine getting constant updates from them.  They will tell you where they are and what they are doing.

Here are some Twitterers I recommend students follow:

@heatherhuhman – Tweets helpful information to those seeking internships and entry level jobs.
@collegebloggers – Connects college students, faculty, and alumni bloggers, sharing relevant content.
@careerealism – Career experts tweet career advice in response to questions sent in by readers.
@sweetcareers – Great tips for college students and job seekers.
@findinternships – Informative resource for those looking for internships.

See also: HOW TO: Find a Job on Twitter

You can also watch this video to understand how twitter works.

6. Remember the Milk

This is a handy application. I started using it this week.  If your like me, you tend to get busy and forget stuff.

Remember the Milk provides a convenient place for me to manage my daily tasks.

Use it with gmail and your iphone, Twitter, BlackBerry and a number of other services.   Check it out, this is my new Fav.

Good alternatives: hitask, tadalist

7. Gradefund

Do you try and reward your kids for good grades? You should try Gradefund, where sponsors donate money to students if they achieve good grades.

Just create an account, invite your friends and family to be sponsors, upload your academic transcript at the end of each semester and once Gradefund verifies it, you’ll get paid.

6,000 people signed up thus far!!!

8. Evernote

Evernote is a cool tool that allows you to capture information and access it later, from any computer. You can clip a webpage, a business card, a picture, class notes, quotes from a book, a voice recording or whatever else you might need to find later.

To understand evernote better watch the video on their homepage. I use this App 10 times just to write this blog post!

9. Zumeo

Do your kids need a summer job?  Use Zumeo to find a job. Signing up is easy with your email or through Facebook Connect. Then fill out a survey to determine their strengths and interests, which will help find jobs that suit their personality.

Zumeo automatically creates an online resume with a brief description, their objective, experience, skills and education. Users can also upload files to develop a portfolio, showcasing your past projects.

Good Alternatives: Brazen Careerist, Linkedin ()

10. Facebook

Ok they are probably already using this one…

I hope you find these tools to be useful, and that you’ll continue to explore the great amount of tools available to you and your kids!

Check back because I’ll be posting more as I continue to learn…

Many students have not yet embraced the great amount of other social media tools available to them.  All of these listed are free and can be very helpful.

Have more to add? Tell me about your recommendations by commenting on this post or if it was helpful just say “Thanks”

If your a pastor I would pay $5 and read this e-book before I made my mind up not to.

While attending a conference at Gateway Church I came across Kari Jobe’s website. I am alway on the look out for cool website’s. I liked this website because it is simple.

Kari is making it easy to follow her.