“Start now, don’t care about making it perfect. You will have tons of time to perfect things down the road. Eventually, you’ll find your own groove and go with it. Everything is an evolving process and blogging is no different. Make it fun and you’ll be set.”

I asked Josh what’s been the most exciting thing that has happened to him because of blogging. “I got a postcard from Warren Buffett [and] recently had an awesome interview with Gary Vaynerchuk” he told me. He went on to say that the coolest thing though as been the relationships built over his two years of blogging.

Josh is also getting into video blogging, or vlogging, in a pretty big way. Its a blended form with traditional blogging and videos for some variety. Similar to his advice for getting started blogging, Josh’s advice for getting into video blogging is simple… start now, iron out the wrinkles as you learn.

What to be on the lookout for…
Later this month, Josh is set to launch a new site, Who’s Got Room and has been very busy promoting the new venture. He’s been working diligently to prepare for the launch for the past 8 months. “Our entire focus is to help people book hotel rooms quickly and easily on the go.” Be on the lookout for a mobile version immediately following the late November launch.

Josh on Unconventional Marketing
According to Josh, people and companies are going to be working much harder for their customers. The companies that value their customers are going to have a community build up around them. Hhmm, sound kinda familiar, doesn’t it?

Josh is a great value to the blogging community and someone I count luck to know. You’ll do well to follow him on Twitter @theRealJosh or visit him at the Unconventional Marketing blog at http://www.joshwhitford.com. Be sure to tell him jtrigsby sent ya!

@jtrigsby

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You may have seen Mitch’s work without even knowing it. He’s done several projects that would be considered high profile, but the one’s he is most proud of is web-strategist.com, the personal blog of well known social media observer and analyst, Jeremiah Owyang.

“His site was a checkpoint in my career – it took me from being some guy that designs websites to someone that designs good, usable, and reliable sites for high-level clients. It’s still hard to get used to that statement, but it’s one I take with great pride.”

Why You Should Be Following Mitch Canter

• He strives to make his clients raving fans. “You want [your clients] to be the person who shouts your name to the heavns saying how awesome of a job you did.” Wow!
• His power points are off the hook!
• Mitch does AWESOME work!

Great Advice for New Bloggers?
I asked Mitch what advice he would give new bloggers. “Be consistent. If you pick a [posting] schedule then deviate your readers will react. Being consistent right off the bat will give you a sense of credibility and reliability.” I’d have to say I agree 110%!

To read more about Mitch Canter, visit his website at www.StudioNashVegas.com or his personal blog at www.MitchCanter.com. You can also find him on Twitter @studionashvegas.

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Dave Barger - @lalunablanca

This week I’d like to recommend Dave Barger (@lalunablanca). I had the pleasure of meeting Dave at BarCamp Chattanooga and we’ve been running into each other ever since! He is one of the most energetic and tireless advocates for social media that you will ever run into and definitely a great person to follow!

“Facebook is nearly always my first recommended stop [when getting started] followed by Twitter. In either case, [my advice is] to lurk first and get a feel for the rhythm before jumping in.”

Speaking of ‘Camps, Dave is the principal of the second BarCamp Memphis coming up on November14th. He says, “It’s a lot of work, but more than worth it day-of to see people learning new things and making new career changing connections.” If you are anywhere close to Memphis and haven’t registered for BarCamp Memphis yet, I strongly encourage your to attend.

Why You Should Be Following Dave Barger

• Dave and his company Lunaweb are entering their 15th year meeting their clients’ web needs. I bet he’s learned a thing or two in that time
• In a time where there are plenty of folks that can talk about social media and its impact, Dave is constantly focused on measurement and understand why as well as how
• He’s just a fun guy!

Things To Keep An Eye Out For

• Well, keep an eye out for Dave if you attend any kind of social media, WordPress or Web2.0 type event, he’s probably there somewhere!
• Definitely be on the lookout for the effects of Dave’s passion for social media, especially in and around Memphis… and throughout the Southeast & Midsouth

To read up on what Dave has going on, to drop him a quick note to say hi, or just to find out what Social Media event is coming up next, find him on Twitter @lalunablanca and of course on Facebook and on the Lunaweb website!

@jtrigsby

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Buck is a rare breed in the Internet, he is a Daddy Blogger. You may be familiar with the term Mommy Blogger, its all the rage these days describing moms who write about their lives, kids, products, places, etc. Well Buck does the same thing, just from a dad’s perspective instead of a mom’s. But that’s not all there is…

As One of the Few…

…daddy bloggers out there, I asked Buck if he ever runs into any problems or issues with that. He told me that he actually tends to hang out with mommy bloggers at conferences and such and has learned tons from them. He did say however, that he is put off a little to receive an email that starts with “Hi Mommy Blogger”, or “Hey ladies!”

Why You Should Be Following BuckDaddy

• This guy is passionate about his daughter and his writing
• You can’t read more than a couple of posts and not laugh
• You can’t read more than a couple of posts and not get at least a tug at a heart string
• The pics he uses are awesome!

“The main project I’m working on is me. I love what I do for a living but I want to do something different…less of what I do for a living and more what I want to do for a living. I’m proud of how far I have come but I have a ways to go.”

Things to Keep Your Eye On
Buck is fresh back from a couple of roadtrips but, like most of us, he still has a couple of irons in the fire.

• Look for Buck at BarCamp Memphis, I bet he’ll be talking about blogging!
• Check out He Said / She Said, a joint posting project with MammaDJane
• Watch for Buck from time to time guest posting around the Internet, you never know where he might show up!

A Parting Shot
I asked Buck what he would tell aspiring bloggers, especially bloggers looking to make a living online. Here’s what he had to say.

If you are looking to make money, start a business, get a book deal, or reach and audience, then it is going to be work. I know a lot of people say, “If you build it they will come!” That is true in some aspect but you can’t just throw up a post once and suddenly the internet is going to come to you in waves. Blogging is hard work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you and trying to take your money.

How to Contact Buck Daddy Rogers
You can find Buck on either of his blogs BuckDaddyBlog.com or RulesForMyDaughter.com and on Twitter @BuckDaddy.

Give him a shout and tell him @jtrigsby said, “Hi!”

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In his “spare time”, Andre gives back to the community. He has helped raise food and funds for hurricane victims and collected phones for victims of domestic violence just to name a few. He also gives freely to the blogging community by doing things like organizing WordCamp Birmingham! Andre is a great guy and a great member of his local community and our wider online community. You will enjoy following @acnatta on Twitter.

A Little Background

In 2005 Andre started Dre’s Ramblings as a Blogger blog for as an outlet for thoughts on issues and to stay plugged in with his friends back in The Bronx. Soon it became clear that his writing was taking shape around what was actually going on in Birmingham. He started The Terminal in March 2007 to separate personal from city-related information with a hope of having an impact on Birmingham by shining a light on the goings on that might be missed by the mainstream outlets.

I asked Andre what he would say to people who look at him and thing, “Man, what an awesome gig. I’d love to be a full-time blogger.” His reply? “Being a full-time blogger is a lot of fun… and a lot of work. (Amen!) In spite of that, he goes on to say that given a do-over, he wouldn’t have done very much differently. “It has given me the chance to travel…and an opportunity to interview for jobs that I didn’t even think were accessible to me at this point.”

Be open to where creating a blog takes you and don’t think that just because you’ve achieved one point that you get to stop. It’s what helped you get there.

Andre Natta, Urban Conversations

Why You Should Follow Andre Natta

• Andre has a tight grasp on the business of blogging, what it takes to make it, and where the pitfalls are
• He regularly contributes back to the communities he is a part of
• He’s a pretty funny guy, he comes up with some really great stuff sometimes!

On The Horizon

• Be looking for a “quiet” relaunch of The Terminal in November. After much time and effort, there are some really cool changes coming soon.
• You can also be on the lookout for Andre on the Southern Tech magazine blog, TechDrawl.com (is that an awesome name or what?)
• Look for Andre as a contributing author in the b-metro Magazine in Birmingham. Yes, you read that correctly… he’s writing for off-line pubs as well!

What project have you worked on that you are most proud of and why?

In preparing to write this post, I ask Andre to answer a couple of questions for me. When I asked him about the project he’s most proud of, his answer was so great and important, I’ve included the entire quote below. Forgive me for running long, but this is important.

The project I was most recently involved with was Blogging Against Violence, a new take on holding a blogathon organized by our local NBC affiliate and The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham. Area bloggers were asked to take part and asked to write blog posts to help raise the community’s awareness about domestic violence and how major an issue it remains. What was different was the chance for some of those bloggers to come into the NBC studios and be given the chance to interview experts on the issue. It’s something that bloggers and interested parties would benefit from more in the future – the chance for bloggers to be able to write about something while being equipped with the resources to provide facts to work from. I’m looking forward to the chance to do something like that on a regular basis here in Birmingham and to raise the awareness of even more issues.

If you’d like to get in touch with Andre, he can be reached via email: andre AT urbanconversations.com or andre AT bhamterminal.com… and of course there’s always Twitter! If nothing else, shoot him a quick tweet and let him know you saw the post here and say thanks for what he gives back.

Speaking of Tweeting

Look, I made it easy for you to retweet or otherwise repost this, um, post. Help me pass the word around on Follow Friday about a good guy to know!

and One Parting Shot…

If you haven’t already, signup for my newsletter! Its a brand new project here at jtrigsby and I’d love to include you. Each Monday I’ll be sending a short email with the best of the previous week, sneak peeks at the coming week and some original content that will only appear in the newsletter! Sign up today to ensure you’re on the delivery list for this coming Monday’s mailing.

Thanks so much for coming by and meeting my friend Andre. If you follow him I know you will get a lot from the conversations and you will know like I do that he is one of the All Star Bloggers!

@jtrigsby

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Tammy has been specializing in WordPress development for about three years. After doing static web design and development a new client asked her to translate a design into a WordPress theme. That request became a steady stream and it wasn’t long before the the utility of WordPress and all it is capable of doing became apparent. About a year ago, Tammy re-branded TammyHartDesigns.com and positioned herself as an “Expert WordPress Theme Designer.” After seeing some of her work and reading her posts, I’m sure you’ll agree… I know I have!

Tammy told me recently that the work that she does for MideastYouth.com is pretty special to her. She has been working with Esra’a Al Shafei for nearly three years, designing and developing sites for her. The sites are human rights sites and so far Tammy has done 10-12 projects with Esra’a. I’ve had the opportunity to hear Esra’a speak about the work she and others are doing, taking the power of blogging into parts of the world where freedom of speech isn’t always without its consequences. I’d encourage you to check out MideastYouth.com to see what some of our fellow bloggers around the world face each day.

Why You Should Be Following Tammy Hart

• Tammy has a wealth of knowledge and experience building WordPress themes
• Her keen creative eye makes it look and work great
• She teaches a WordPress class once a month both in person and online (Check out WordChalk.com for more info)
• She’s a pretty happy person and you’ll get a “good morning peeps” tweet most days

What To Keep An Eye On

• Definitely check out the WordChalk.com site, tons of good stuff coming there.
• Tammy has an unofficial invitation to speak at WordCamp Las Vegas next April
• and an official invitation to speak at WordCamp Romania next May
• Tammy and Wade Kwon from the Birmingham Blogging Academy are looking at more (free?) sessions early next year! You won’t want to miss that if you’re in the Birmingham area!

A Parting Quote Please…

Fredom of speech used to only have so much power, because it lie in those that owned the press. With social media, anyone can now own that press, because it is free or affordable. it is helping us shape our world into a new and better one, one where the truth is known and able to survive. It also makes it easy for me to talk to my mom in Oklahoma.

To Contact Tammy…

www.TammyHartDesigns.com

or via Twitter @TammyHart

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