Use your blog comments – your readers are the greatest source of inspiration in your own community. The comments are yours. ?. Ancient philosophers believed life could be broken down into six different directions: Above, or Heaven – this reflects your dreams and hopes. Below, or Earth – this is your grounding and where you are now. Forward – where you want to be in your life. Backward – what you’ve overcome and left behind. Left – those who give you inspiration. Right – the people you trust most (both right and left are interchangeable – they’re basically your “armies”). Above. MORE >>

Total comments approximately doubled since Friday to nearly 250,000. ?. Ahh, the promise of fame: “ Kid, you’re gonna be a big star. Your face is gonna be up on billboards. You’re gonna make a lot of money. You’ve got the stuff of legends “ These days, 15 minutes of fame happens every minute of every day. The internet has transformed the way we live and consume information. In real time, we are connecting cultures, streamlining communications and validating the value of a single piece of content. It’s a rich breeding ground of social phenomenon. Enjoy! MORE >>

If any of you have questions, comments or have interest in how to make this a reality please feel free to reach out to me over on Tellagence.com or at @matthixson on Twitter. I was flattered (and a bit surprised) when Hessie and Danny over at Jugnoo asked me to speak at Social Mix 2012. We’ve been in conversation about the challenges around measuring the marketing effect of social media since we met.  I guess I said something of interest. So what did I speak about?  My presentation was titled “Influence: Today and Beyond”  . The continuous challenges of influence. MORE >>

Get a feel for your community, before plowing in with sales pitches or comments. ?. Back in the day of small towns and dusty “main streets”, word of mouth was what kept the small business owners alive. That began to change as towns became cities, suburban sprawl developed, and mammoth shopping malls were built. The concept of marketing your small to medium sized business to individuals quickly became a thing of the past. Well, word of mouth marketing, more commonly known as social media marketing, is back – and it’s more immediate and powerful than ever before. Convince Me! MORE >>

Just leave a comment below letting us know why you’re thankful it’s Friday (we won’t tell your boss, we promise!), Get sharing your Friday thanks in the comments below, and we’ll announce the winners on our Twitter feed come Monday morning! You see, gentle readers, they wouldn’t call it ‘TGIF’ if it wasn’t for the ‘thank’ part. mean, could you imagine if you were only moderately pleased, yet largely indifferent, that is was Friday? Also kind of inaccurate. After all, who isn’t thankful it’s Friday? MORE >>