This week’s topic is the London commute which i have renamed ‘The Zombie Commute’ for obvious reasons. Enjoy!

Oh the sweet and joyful commute to the office. The 50-minute journey of silence, and the stench of body oder is enough to drain all enthusiasm I had when crawling out of the shower, and overshadows any stimulating Gordon Brown lazy eye headline I may have decided to set my eyes on reading.

Maybe it’s the over population of the Crackberry that has these sheep staring so hard at their palms that you’d think they had Cheryl Cole naked between their legs.

However, the issue that beckons is the fact that day in day out, the journey is consistently silent… I mean I’m not looking for a six-train pile up of carnage and horror at London Bridge. The look on these Duncan Bannatyne wannabe’s is enough to scare off any Bin Laden look-a-like with his gym bag of C4.

My quarrel is worse than a bad day in Bosnia. It’s staring at our pathetic attempt of claiming to be a multi-cultural state, because the fact is that we are so paranoid of everyone around us that we need to cocoon ourselves in a ball of latest gadgets and black and white paper hoping that we don’t catch eye contact with someone who may actually appear to say ‘Good Morning’ as they travel to their destination!

I haven’t had the joy of travelling the world in a quest to find morning banter on the commute but I’m sure if I was hiking to the office in the Caribbean, I may be partial to a “Wots’ good mon”, followed by a musical duet with a local traveller who has the ability to brighten up their own life without the need of a qwerty keyboard or white earphones and fruit logos.

If not I may get some funny looks for wearing winkle pickers in 100 degrees of heat!

It’s a shame we have to be so dramatic and fearful of the people around us, with the thoughts that every Middle Eastern individual could be ready to explode not only killing me and the unfortunate Morgan Stanley chap beside me, but more importantly making me miss work and ruining my fake Hugo Boss suit…not to mention now I’m going to miss tonight’s Dragons Den.

Fortunately, I also own a Crackberry and I can spend the 50-minute commute polishing my ego chatting with my virtual reality Twitter friends… and not with you Zombies!

Thanks London.
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UPDATED – ONGOING SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS:

1.4 billion music tracks sold on iTunes between Sep 09 & Feb 10 – Wikipedia iTunes tracking

300 000 new twitter users per day Apr 2010 – TechRadar

247 billions emails per day and 18% growth in internet users (of 1.75bn) Jan 2010 – Royal Pingdom ‘Internet 2009 in Numbers’

280 mill iPhone apps per month Jan 2010 – GigaOm

3.5 billion pieces of content shared on Facebook each week and 2.5 billion photo uploads to Facebook per month Feb 2010 – eConsultancy

Facebook 635mill in ad revenue & $75 mill in gifts Mar 2010 – InsideFacebook

Facebook 25 million new members each month Feb 2010 – Mashable

50 million Tweets per day Feb 2010 – eConsultancy

YouTube 1Billion watched per day Dec 2009 SMH

Source:

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The image below paints a nice colourful picture of the evolution of 21st Century Technology.

Click to enlarge

As intelligent specimens we are blessed with the ability to do pretty much anything, bar fire red beams out of our eyes or fly.

We can have whatever we desire; if we use our heads to find a way of getting it, and we can be whatever we want to be; again if we use our heads.

Yet i find as time progresses, as technology enhances and as everything appears to become easier; people are generally making life more and more complicated for themselves.

This begs the questions ‘Are We Spoiled By Technology?’

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What with Social Media, Mobile Technology and the wonders of Internet Search; how hard is it really to make that network, build a brand and climb to the next level?

Now, there is no need for me to reminisce on the days when people actually made of an effort than just 140 characters to communicate, but there was a time before Twitter, Facebook, Blackberry Messenger and Email that we still managed to get things done and enjoy life.

Don’t start assuming i’ve gone from being 25 to 65 overnight, cos that orange bus pass holder is a few years away yet. But what is beginning to bug me, is the way technology has become the forefront of everyone’s lives; to the extreme, that we are living our lives in a digital world and actually neglecting the essence of reality around us.

Here’s an example: Last week i actually said, “Im coming off Twitter for a bit, cos im beginning to feel like a stalker.” So i did… i left Twitter for a whole day; only to get a Blackberry ping AND a text message from two people asking ‘why i didn’t reply to their Twitter messages.’ So it appears everyone wants to be stalked.

“Ok ok chill… i’ll log on and i’ll reply.” and that was that.
*Exits digital rehab and heads back to the crack world.*

Even more exaggerated is the fact, that we actually get annoyed if our technology may either slow, stall or stop working. Now, think about that for a second…

• Do you rely on technology so much that it affects your emotions?
• Have you ever broken a gadget of some kind because it didn’t do something you wanted or better yet…
• Do you have dents around your house from where you have chucked the gadget at the wall?

Were these avenues of communication invented so that we can broaden our networks, expand on our connections and generally get things done easier?

… or were they actually created to keep us contained?

Yes i am writing this post in a very contradictory fashion using the same technology that i question; but ask yourself…

• Are you using technology to keep up with the trends or is it essential to your business?
• Are you using technology for your benefit or someone else’s?

Here’s one for all you Social Media Celebrities…

• Do you find yourself acting as a completely different persona in front of a screen to how you would act in person?

Now pause to think about those questions carefully before you disregard them.

Technology can be just like a drug… Give someone a little taster and if they like it, they will want a little more.
Give them a lot more and they get addicted, they forget how they lived without it and begin to lose control.

I find myself admitting myself into the digital rehab now and again, turning off my Blackberry, temporary deleting my Facebook and taking a step back from Twitter. Why you may ask?

Because productivity is based on being focused and it’s very difficult to be focused if you are juggling between gadgets, websites, networks and applications.

While you may feel like you are out there being very productive, chatting to people across the globe using your incredibly ambitious 140 characters to compile the most interesting passage of your day; the irony of it all is that you probably do so whilst sitting in your pants in your bedroom.

Pause!

• When was the last time you pulled our a notepad and brainstormed productive ideas whilst you have those spare minutes?

• When was the last time you read a book, maybe something like Rich Dad, Poor Dad? (That’s what i am currently reading).

Take a day off technology and refresh your brain… you deserve it!

“Everything is amazing and nobody is happy”
Uploaded by Meowbay. – Click for more funny videos.

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But, never fear im back now; with an informal app-off (face-off for apps) between Blackberrys two leading (or only) Twitter clients.

Originally when i first downloaded Ubertwitter i thought; “what a crap name to be sitting on my home screen. Why can’t Twitter for Blackberry (BB Twitter) make an official application?” Well their ears must have been burning because a good nine months later they released Twitter for Blackberry. WIN!

After using Ubertwitter consistently since i purchased a Blackberry, i decided to welcome the new app with open arms; because who doesn’t like an ‘official’ application in their palm. It’s like a rosy rainbow with all the nice colours and fonts right?

The application works and feels like the similar Facebook for BlackBerry app; not necessarily a good thing, as working with it takes too much effort. Most BlackBerry Twitter applications require patience, but Twitter for BlackBerry is the worst. Much of the time, the screen remains blank while the data loads.

Where there are a few positives; there are too many negatives. Ubertwitter introduced the predictive user function which allows you to find a follower by typing a few characters from their name, yet BB Twitter did not incorporate this.

BB Twitter also has a ridiculously slow refresh time; without even a message saying ‘go make some dinner or take your dog for a walk cos we are gonna be a while refreshing.’ How inconsiderate.

I mean lets face it, we use Twitter for simplicity. Yet this application is everything but simple. It should be quick, snappy and vibrant; giving the user the ‘on the go’ experience rather than the ‘i can’t go anywhere with this brick now’ feeling.

Personally i’ve reverted back to Ubertwitter and found already my handset is running a lot faster.

As for the future of the official Twitter application on my handset; who knows, maybe i’ll give it another download when the bugs are fixed. If they don’t step up to the plate on the second coming the application will be dead and buried like Steven Seagal’s acting career.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2010/02/24/twitter-for-blackberry-review/

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But why is Twitter so important to the marketing campaign of an artist?

Are the artists that are not utilising Twitter to it’s full capacity missing out?

Are they jeopardizing their career also?

I read a blog post recently written by DJ Semtex. He touched on some key points that Musicians and Artists should follow if they are serious about a career in this industry and the post picked up some interesting comments from both sides of the spectrum.

I then decided to investigate into 10 Reasons Why Musicians and Artists Must use Twitter.

We have all heard cliche terms like “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” right?
Well i say “it’s not what you know and who you know, it’s what you do with what you know and who you know.”

With Twitter you actually have the opportunity to understand how a person’s mind thinks, by the way they construct their short messages. You can witness their daily activities and you have the ability to network with them if you can work out what makes them tick. It’s all about knowing how to Influence the Influencer…

As Andrew Davis of The Worst Kept Secret states, “They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, the way to a DJ’s turntable is through his ego.”

What’s the point of being in this industry if you’re not going to interact with your fan base?

Your fans are your market and will make or break your career. So many artists make basic fundamental errors by failing to engage with their market and thus are disconnected. If you make the effort to be at one with your fans, they will embrace you like you are the most popular person at school.

Since the rise of Social Media over the last few years, the platform for you to go from zero to hero with the expense of minimal finances has been getting bigger and bigger. But it appears, the more resources available, the more complicated people make life for themselves.

Twitter keeps it simple; hashtag # your regular tweets to associate trends and focus on utilising your core followers to retweet for you. Heard about the 80/20 rule?
No. Click here.

140 Characters to write isn’t a lot of effort and with modern technology, we have Twitter and every other networking capability in the palm of our hands.
So use it your advantage. Once you have your target market on your side, the rest is history.

The days of watching the news, listening to radio and reading newspapers for daily updates are long behind us. Twitter is now the forefront of daily gossip and headlines; by following the people who are always up to date on their gossip and by paying attention to the trending topics you will always be on top of your game.

Yes it’s no hidden mystery that Google records all of your tweets. Scary? Slightly.

We know the Internet is one huge archive of your life that will NEVER get deleted. Anything you say on Twitter can be found in Google so be careful if you don’t want your life story brought to you in ten years.

Unfortunately when you use sites like Bit.Ly or Tiny URL for your links; Google can’t find them.

Yeah Twitter is a Social Networking site mainly used for networking and communication; but as a traffic source it can supply a large proportion of the links to any website.

By using tracking sites like Google Analytics linked directly to your home page or self-hosted blog, you can clearly monitor where your traffic is coming from and what keywords work and don’t. Use this to your advantage and tweet hot content, blog posts, videos, links and your homepage regularly.

The Internet is the gateway to personal branding, giving you the ability to qualify yourself to your market as whatever you want them to view you as. Check out this post i wrote with tips on ‘building a personal brand using social media.’

Start by capturing your perfect Twitter Handle (name). If you can’t find your perfect name try this site Tweexchange where you can buy names that are currently taken.

Then work out how to brand your Twitter Page for your followers. Both Twitpaper and Twitterimage can help with that.

Make your bio clear, precise and link to your BEST website, NOT your Facebook page. (Rookie error!)

How can you expect a Record Label or Company to take you and your music seriously, if you don’t?

Check out a post Mashable wrote on Twitter branding for further reference.

Both fundamentals 8 and 9 are about using the very strong Twitter Search Engine http://search.twitter.com. If you don’t use this, get using it. The advanced search options allow you to search for keywords and phrases, all in real time!

Meaning when you post a link, question or topic, you can monitor exactly who is responding and what they are saying. Try it out and type a few words that you want to search for. It is a VERY POWERFUL TOOL!

Remember those days when you would wish you could know what everyone thinks about you?

Well the Twitter Search Engine option gives you that sixth sense. Take the time to search for keywords about you, your brand and your market. Knowledge is power!

Like Google, where asking the right question will give you the right answer, Twitter works very similar, but you have to ask the questions your fan-base want to hear. Give them the option to have the engagement for further conversation and play to their mindset.

You want to get them talking so use your head. If you ask the right questions and give comprehensive answers you will very quickly become a popular trend for interaction.

Also catch me on Twitter.com/iAmLuca and if you like the content you read on my site, you can subscribe via RSS Feed or via Email.

As always this is my personal blog and is meant for light entertainment reading and not be quoted or used in professional practice. See my disclaimer if you have any issues.

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On the 24th March 2009 i had the idea to create a blog. My words at the time in my first post were “I created this blog with an idea of what i was going to chat about, but more of a decision to just get on it and get busy with it. Blogs are happening and people are reading them… which means there are people that wanna know more about something and for me that’s an opportunity in itself.” Intuitive right? That’s what i thought…

That was as Andrew Davis says, “Getting off the bench and into the Game.” For the first few weeks i was blogging about anything and everything, but in time i realized the gap i saw was that no-one on the South Coast (where i was living at the time) was blogging at all. More to point, no-one was talking about the entertainment scene, and it got me questioning.. If no-one is talking about it, then how can anyone outside of those towns know about it? That’s where i guess i wanted to start.

From that point i was blogging all things Urban Entertainment, as that’s the area of the industry i was involved with. Events, Clubs, Music, Artists, DJ’s etc, if it was hot, it was here. After about a month of great posts and intense text, i came to understand something; the reason why no-one was talking about South Coast Entertainment, is because the majority of it isn’t worth talking about. It’s a sad story but there are too few people trying to make an impact in an area that no major player in the industry cares about. Lets face it, if your in entertainment you have to be in London.

So i changed up my blog up and began creating my own perspective on Urban Entertainment as a whole. Videos, Reviews, Interviews and random posts, i was getting some serious traffic and a lot of comments. It was a good time to be a blogger. I made a lot of connections, and using my Twitter as my feed generator i was getting myself out there.

Towards the end of 2009 i had yet another epiphany. Realizing this time that too many people were blogging Urban Music and all things Entertainment. The market is saturated, so why fight for a position on a ladder that is gonna take years to climb?

I have come to understand one thing about blogging that actually matters. Regardless of what you a posting, if it gets you “off the bench and into the game” then it’s a good thing. Since the last day that i made a blog post i have thought of ways to change my blog to sync in with my current ideas and lifestyle. But the more i think, the more im not blogging and actually doing anything at all. So while i think about the next set of changes for this blog, im gonna just blog my day to day activities.

I expect your one of those people that has an idea or a selection of ideas and are trying to perfect one of them before you unleash your masterpiece right? Well, that will probably end with you saying to someone, “yeah im doing a few projects and working on something, but its not ready yet” or something along those lines.
Now its 2010 and the call to action is now. Heard the expression, “there’s no time like the present?” Exactly. It’s time for you to get off the bench and into the game.

PS: Here’s a freebie. If you are involved in the music industry, you should read this! I won’t tell you too much now, just click the link!

It’s good to be back!

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