A fun event to watch is the Pro-Am at Pebble Beach which pairs professional golfers and celebrities for a golf tournament. The great thing about it is that the celebs who are golfing aren’t always that good and you get to see other people struggling on the golf course. Here are two videos of Jeb Bush, Peyton Manning, Chris Berman, and Herm Edwards teeing off. Peyton is an 8 handicap for what it’s worth.
The bottle is pretty slick marketing.
After I finished working out at City Fitness yesterday, I was greeted by a pretty female rep for Neurosleep. She had a stand set up with about 50 bottles of a Neurosleep product and was giving out free samples. Normally this is something I walk past but I figured it was free and I wanted to cordial. She gave me the spiel of how the drink helps you fall asleep by releasing melatonin and I took my bottle and headed home.
I showered up from the gym, ate my dinner, and then started continuing my education of the German language with the Neurosleep bottle next to me. I had no idea what to expect so I twisted off the cap and the liquid inside was thin like water. I took a sip and it tasted pretty good considering I figured it may taste like Nyquil. As I started sipping the bottle, I noticed myself caring less about studying and more about closing my eyes. I was already beat from the workout and this was just adding to my fatigue. I quit studying and got ready to sleep.
I would say the liquid worked because I laid in bed, turned on sports radio, and fell asleep within minutes. I awoke an hour later to some noise in my place but fell asleep soon after. At 5:30 in the morning I woke up again feeling strangely refreshed. As in I could have gotten out of bed if I wanted and started my day. I was considering doing it but it’s cold outside and warm in bed so I fell back asleep for another hour and half and got up at my usual 7:15 time.
I feel fine today and feel well rested after an 8 hour sleep. All in all I’d say the product worked well because I was more tired after consuming the liquid. I’m not really sure why I would drink this if I don’t have any problems falling asleep which I don’t. There was one odd thing that happened though which I can’t fully pinpoint on the drink but it’s so rare that I think it was. I hadn’t shaved in 5 days and had a mild stubble going and I felt something irritating on my skin. I shaved off my facial hair and cut a part of my face which was raised and irritated. It wasn’t like a pimple just a rash I suppose. It went away after the nights sleep but I’m always cognizant of new things that enter my body and the effects. Either way the product seemed to work well but I don’t see a use to it.
Twitter has turned into a legitimate source of social media
Yesterday I had a minor Twitter breakthrough that would go unnoticed by my visitors but is a major development to me. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but my posts have had a different focus of late. Instead of writing about things that pop into my head, like 90% of my attempts at shooting trash into trash cans miss or how I hate this frigid weather, I focused on a specific topic that is current and hopefully trending. This is obviously done to make efforts to gain traffic with Google. What came as a surprise was what happened yesterday.
I had a post in the works about the 5 best Alt bands which I posted two nights ago. Knowing that this post would be seen by nobody if I didn’t try something different, I tweeted the link to Madison of the Sirius channel Altnation. To my excitement, she replied.
“@rnningfool: @RadioMadison What do you think of my rankings of the top 5 alt artists? http://t.co/xC3dWFxzh8” #1 not Alt! Ditch it
— radiomadison (@RadioMadison) February 5, 2014
What her reply did was send about 150 people from Twitter to my page. The analytics show that most people didn’t spend much time on the page, which should give an indication of attention span from people on Twitter, but 150 people is 150 people. This concept worked for a few reasons.
Twitter Missteps
Twitter is easily misunderstood and comes of as confusing and used incorrectly
After getting this response from Madison I decided to shoot a bit higher with my two latest posts. I was on Reddit and noticed the fat kid, SirFedora, who was blowing up on Youtube and figured I’d make a page on his rise to popularity and see if I could tweet at him and have my link snowball. Nothing. Then last night I created the Erin Andrews post spontaneously from a link I saw on Facebook and decided to roll with it. Erin has 2 million followers and the tweet I constructed basically asked her to read my post and comment on it. With that many followers, the chance of Erin Andrews reading my tweet is <.00001%. Fail.
The problem with this strategy is that these posts are straying away from my own creativity and I’m molding posts at what I think is going to get me more traffic. It’s not that what I’m writing are not my own thoughts, they are just formed around the idea that I’m writing them hoping to get attention. This idea isn’t the highest form of posting and even though it may generate some results, it isn’t going to take rnningfool.com to the next level. What I’m learning though is what works and what doesn’t.
How To Use Twitter For Website Promotion
Step 1: The first thing that has to be done is create a page that is original and dedicated to a subject matter that you are knowledgeable about. Having a good post is key. Do you think Madison would have replied at all if the post sucked or she wasn’t interested in the material?
Step 2: Targeting the proper people on Twitter to potentially reach a wider audience than you are capable of reaching yourself. These are people who the post relates to. If you write a post on fantasy football, target Nathan Zegura or Sigmund Bloom, not Matthew Berry. Zegura has 49k followers and Bloom 29k, Berry has 590k. Think about what actually has to happen for this to work. The targeted person on Twitter has to read your post and then actually reply or retweet your post. The higher the amount of followers, the more people who are desiring their attention, thus the better chance your post gets lost.
Step 3: Once you’ve nailed down your targeted celeb or notable person, somewhere in the 10k-100k follower range, construct the tweet. I think this is the probably the hardest part and one that I have to continue experimenting with. Asking a question seemed to at least elicit a response whereas asking the person to read the link did not. I think executing the concept of putting yourself in the reader’s shoes and working on what they’d want to read is what has to be done. What question or statement would get them to not only think about reading it, but then replying or retweeting. This is probably a skill that once learned expertly, could be turned into a profession. Using the hashtag feature of Twitter is also useful.
Step 4: If you are able to get a reply or retweet, it’s time to follow up on people’s comments or tweets and be actively involved in the process of answering or conversing. I believe in 2014 and learning how to use Twitter as a vehicle of communication and social networking, these are the steps involved to developing a wider audience.
The highest form of social media in 2014
Twitter isn’t growing as quickly as it should because people are confused about how to use it. With the #’s, @’s, retweets, difficulty in gaining followers and how to read a conversation, it takes some time to get used to the social network. One thing is evident though and that’s how many celebrities have taken notice to it and use it exclusively to communicate with their followers. Twitter provides a global identity which no social media does as well. Facebook brought you together with friends, Twitter brings you to the world.
Wallstreet misunderstands this power and focuses on whether it makes money or not which is short sighted. Twitter has 241 million active users and I’d assume most people don’t have the proper understanding of how to use it. As celebrities continue to gain followers and more people are driven to the enjoyment of Twitter, it will grow as the social media powerhouse with revenue potential far exceeding current expectations. Time will tell.
Queen of Sports
I had a sneaking suspicion that men don’t respect female sports reporters but I can’t believe how stupid some people can be. Kevin Harlan, I guy I’ve never heard of before, called her reaction to the Richard Sherman interview, “drama queenish”. It’s worth watching the interview because she did nothing even close to inappropriate and the network cut it because they were worried Sherman was going to explode.
[blockquote source=”Kevin Harlan”]
“I don’t know if she was unprepared, her reaction was more about her than the guy,” Harlan said. “It was very odd. If you go back and look at that interview, her reaction was more like drama queenish.”
“If Michelle Tafoya or someone like that were interviewing, I can’t help believe that she wouldn’t have asked the appropriate followup and been a little bit more composed,” Harlan added. “Whereas the gal that was asking the questions was almost like she was on a stage. It wasn’t about her, it’s all about him, and the more I think about it, the more irritated I get.”
[/blockquote]
I’m aware this story is almost 2 weeks old and Kevin Harlan has since apologized 3 days ago, but what is Kevin Harlan thinking? His jealousy is being presented by dissing Erin Andrews like she’s an amateur? Based on the weak minded comments, she’s obviously more professional than Kevin Harlan. His stupidity is probably the most national attention he’s ever received which would have been a good career move if he’s that smart.
I read an Elle interview with Erin and I will fully admit this is probably the first article I’ve ever read in a magazine geared to females. Erin Andrews as a topic can make that happen. The Elle article commented on some fashion topics like the ring Erin wore for the Superbowl and how she chose her Superbowl outfit (don’t pick the colors of either team), but it also gave insight to her as a person. She has a clear head on her shoulders and this specific comment gives an idea on how she is perceived.
[blockquote source=”Erin Andrews”]It is funny when people say, “Oh, she got the job because of the way she looks” or “Why does she have to be so dolled up?” Because I’m a female, and I want to look nice. I’m not going to stop looking a certain way. It’s entertainment; it’s part of the whole job. When I’m not on camera, I’m in a pair of Lululemon spandex and a Lululemon hoodie jacket. Seriously. It takes a lot for me to even put on makeup when I’m not on camera.[/blockquote]
She’s a regular girl who does a good job and she looks good doing it. To think that she doesn’t know sports because she is a female is ridiculous. I know dozens of guys who know nothing and pretend they do which are probably the idiots ragging on female reporters.. She knows exactly what she is doing and she’s doing it well. Plus the obvious fact that she’s smoking hot helps. Why are people ragging her when they should be kneeling down to her. Obviously I’m not the first person to come to this conclusion considering she worked the Superbowl but why anyone would have qualms with Erin Andrews is beyond me. Yes, it took a peep video to get her to the highest rung, but sometimes bad publicity is the best publicity.
This kid is spazzing out that he got 1 like on a YouTube video he made. He then hoped to get 3-5 and wound up with 59,000. Is that a cable car hanging in his room?
I wouldn’t have made this post if I didn’t see his next video. It’s his reaction to getting 45 Twitter followers.
I’m pretty sure this is how I’d react if I got 45 twitter followers after a good night’s rest. How did he make this happen is what he asks? Lord must question his intelligence because he can’t even explain how to link things properly he is so wired.
My Face pic.twitter.com/8D4PmJFmx5
— MrFedora (@SirFedora) February 5, 2014
He is now up to 6,000 followers and I’m pretty certain this is just the beginning of his run. His followers go up by about 25 every minute and I’d expect 25k more followers once he gets rolling. Being young, funny, enthusiastic, and fat is the new combination for followers. As I sit with 40 total followers, I’m taking notes.The kid now has 23k youtube subscribers and can’t contain his excitement. 100 likes? This kid needs an agent. Is there no school anymore?
Reuters – Four people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with drugs found at the home of film star Philip Seymour Hoffman following his death of an apparent heroin overdose, the New York Daily News reported, citing unidentified police sources.
So you’re a heroin dealer in a part of Chinatown in New York City playing your Playstation when when cops bust down your door because the heroin you sold just happened to kill someone famous. The cops found 350 bags of heroin during the inspection of the apartment. It’s safe to say that the life of Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn’t the only person’s life you’ve ruined.
In a branding move by these heroin dealers, each bag had the label “Ace of Spades” or with an ace of hearts. The bags collected at the apartment didn’t have this branding which seems kind of strange how they found this particular set of people. Either way, this has to be a drug dealers nightmare and this incident should be the underlying theme why drug dealers are always living on edge. Normally you are just ruining common people’s lives and don’t get caught, but when your drugs kill someone famous, you better run for the hills.
Common death from Heroin is the drug stops your body from breathing
It’s not like the drug dealers know who the drugs go to a lot of the time. I’d be surprised if the guys in that apartment knew Philip Seymour Hoffman. They probably sell a larger quantity to one of their boys and they distribute like Badger and Skinny Pete. I can’t imagine though you live any day as a drug dealer without any paranoia because you know what you are doing is wrong. Especially when the drug is heroin. Please watch the video below because even though I’ve never done heroin, it explains what it’s like in perfect format. I probably wouldn’t have made this post at all if it wasn’t for sharing this video.
The Top 5 Current Alt bands is not a subjective list. Bands can be rated based on the quality of their output and how receptive the people are to their music. Plenty of people will say their indie band is the best but they are not being realistic to standards. These bands rise to the top because of the amount of work and effort that they put into their music. They are essentially the most talented at producing music that people want to listen to. It doesn’t have to sound the same, but these bands produce top notch music.
Dan Smith chose the name Bastille because his birthday is the same as Bastille Day. The 4 person group formed in London in 2010. Not much was heard from this band until the release of Pompeii in February 2013. Pompeii promptly became one of the top songs of the year and has currently over 92 million listens on Spotify. To give you an idea of how big this is, Roar by Katy Perry has 90 million. Their first studio album Bad Blood was released in March and it’s safe to say that it was one of the best alternative albums of the year. Bastille isn’t just a one hit wonder. Songs like Things We Lost In The Fire, Bad Blood, These Streets, and Weight of Living are all awesome tracks. With 526,804 Spotify followers, this band has too big of a following to overlook for this list.
Aaron Bruno of Awolnation
I truly would like to put Awol at #1 but the lack of catalog keeps me holding them back. Aaron Bruno is intense and the music is even more so. I’ve seen them twice in concert and both times the music lifts the concert to unforeseen levels. The music is so in your face, these songs kick ass, I’m feeling pumped listening to them, I think I may have seizure. It’s a feeling that other bands not only don’t, but can’t generate. Sail, Awol’s most popular song, currently have over 100 million listens on Spotify and the band has 458k followers. Megalithic Symphony was released in 2011 and only a few new tracks have been released since then. The band said that they will release a 2nd studio album “sometime in 2014.” A tidbit on the band’s name, “In an interview with Kristin Houser of the LA Music Blog, he stated that he “would leave without saying goodbye because it was just easier, so that’s where the name Awol [slang from the military acronym for Absent Without Ordered Leave] came from.”
Cover art of Foster the People’s new Album Supermodel – Available Mar 18th
A highly anticipated album called Supermodel is being released on March 18th and I’m Pumped (up kicks) for it. The song Coming of Age has already been released as a single and it was a nice tease to what is going to drop. Foster the People has released a total of 11 songs currently. Only 11. Amazingly all 11 are quality songs which is why this album is so heavily anticipated. Foster said in November 2013 that the new album is “more organic and more human”. Foster the People’s following on Spotify has climbed to 865k followers with Pumped Up Kicks getting more than 63 million listens. If the album doesn’t live up to expectations, Mark Foster will be one sad pup.
I should be most ridiculed for this pick on my list. Young is the least well known on this list but I’m so floored by their second album that I have to bump them this high. Anagram is my favorite song of the new year followed by Mind Over Matter. The pace of the songs are so awesome that I find myself nodding along just feeling the song. They lyrics are all understandable and mean something which adds to it. What I’m most excited about is the songs I named aren’t even the most popular on the album. It’s About Time and Crystalized have already been mentioned on bigger a scale. I sometimes don’t even get to the later part of the album which sucks for me. Adding to the their first album which had many hits as well, this band is going to turn into Old the Giant. To be consistent with this post, they have 284k Spotify followers and Cough Syrup has 17 million listens.
This is the easiest #1 there is right now and you should all learn the name Dan Reynolds, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons. Night Visions was the 4th best selling album of 2013 and Radioactive was the most listened to song of 2013 with 174 million listens on Spotify. I’m not sure people understand how good Night Visions is. It could become the 4th best selling album on Radioactive and It’s Time alone. People don’t even know about the rest of the album. The deluxe edition of Imagine Dragons has 15 tracks and 15 tracks are wonderful. I still listen to this album. I use Imagine Dragons as my Spotify radio. Did I mention they blew the doors in with this remix of Radioactive with Kendrick Lamar at the Grammy’s? These guys do it all and are the best band out at the moment. They plan to hit the studio this year but no date of a new album is announced. What separates this band is the lyrics to their music. Some of my most memorable lines from their songs are “the path to heaven run through miles of clouded hell” and “don’t wanna let you down, but I am hell bound.”
This lady just beast moded the shit out of this pizza http://t.co/0J8jFVtm7p
— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 4, 2014
This isn’t just a lady. It’s Molly Schuyler who I watched last Friday beat the Philly Wing Bowl record by 27 wings. She beat Kobayashi’s record by 27 wings! Something is a bit odd though because the guy who got 2nd place in the wing bowl also beat Kobayashi’s record so maybe it was something with the wings. The Pres’ tweet doesn’t even name her which is straight up disrespectful. World be aware, this woman is taking competitive eating by storm.
She’s been competitive eating since Aug 2012 but I think it’s safe to say she’s only recently hit the public spotlight. The note in her Wiki page says “her hometown is Bellevue, Nebraska, and she works as a bartender and server at Applebee’s. She is married and has four children.” Unbelievable that you come out of nowhere to be not only the best, but possibly THE BEST!
I could do a typical post where I recap my Saturday and Sunday but I’m getting sick of that so I’ll post whatever I want in bullet format which makes writing simpler.
The biggest disappointment was not getting a new episode of True Detective this weekend. I’ve never been more convinced about a world class performance as I am with Matthew McConaughey. I never really watched much that he was a part of but I have a new found respect and am considering watching anything he’s ever done.