Greg McMullen

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

This quote really resonates with me. As I was tweeting back and forth with a few friends, there was a sense of humility.

The reason this quote speaks to me so much is just that, you should have humility. Let other people tell you that you do a good job. Ask for that recommendation letter or LinkedIn recommendation.

In an effort to improve my writing skills and to post more frequently I have decided to join the #Trust30 effort. Luckily I won’t have to be too creative as there will be prompts for me to write about. Today’s prompt by Gwen Bell is “15 Minutes to Live”

“We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson”

These are the last notes that I would write to my friends and family:

Mom and Dad:
Unfortunately I’ve been told that I’ve only been given 15 more minutes to live. I just want you to know that I have appreciated absolutely everything you’ve ever done for me. You supported all of my dreams and ambitions and even pushed me toward goals that I never thought I’d be able to reach. I just want you to know that I’m sorry that I wasn’t around nearly enough to help you.

I know I don’t say it nearly enough, but I love you both and wish I could have spent this time with you.

To Lloyd, Kyle, & Mike:
You three have been the best friends that anyone can ask for. Kyle, I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to see you in Florida but I’m glad that my last weekend here was during your wedding. Lloyd, take care of the kids and make sure that your wife doesn’t corrupt them by having them support the Bengals. Mike, keep up with the hard work and earn that Ph. D. You’re the best man for it, I know your dad would be proud.

To my Brother: Here’s the speech that you deserve.
Kelly, you’ve found a great guy. He may be somewhat standoffish and hardheaded but he truly does have a good heart. The two of you were lucky to find each other. Just don’t forget to support each other’s needs, wants and desires. You never know how much you’ll need one another until you don’t have that support net. Welcome to the family, Kelly.

BTW: This is not the same speech I WILL be giving

To the love of my life:
Sarah, you’ve meant the world to me. Even though we’ve had our fights and arguments you’ve truly been the best. I’m so happy that I was able to have you in my life making me a better person. The only thing that I ask is that you stay in contact with all the friends that we’ve made over the years and become the doctor that you’ve wanted to be for so long. Try not to be so hard on yourself. You may think that you’ve failed every test, but I know better.

Just remember the times that we had, and thank you for always being my source of strength and support.

To everyone else: Live your life to the fullest. No regrets and remember to never let life take control of you, you are the one in control.

Love always,
Greg

This morning I decided to utilize some tools to figure out how I was doing from a Social Media perspective only to realize that I had (seemingly) lost 96 followers. Now I know that people on social media want to “read good shit”, which is why I was trying to “share good shit.” However, today just proved that I was failing at a few different aspects of what social media is.

Instead of actually sharing something that people see as worthwhile I was (again, seemingly) boring the hell out of people, wasn’t engaging, nor was I engaging in very many conversations.

Now I want you all that may read this know that I want to improve in social media and want to work with you, learn from you and help add better posts to the Twitter, Facebook and blogging world. So with that here is my call out for help.

What’s so important about Social Media?

Whether you are just starting out or are a social media ninja there’s one thing that’s always going to be important in the art of Social Media Marketing. YOU!

Without You, there aren’t going to be any interactions. Posting “Here’s our deal, buy from us” isn’t engaging your customers. YOU need to start having a conversation with someone, YOU need to reply to messages that interest you and YOU need to share what will interest your friends or followers.

The idea of Microblogging has been redeveloped. When Twitter was released I thought it was just like blogging (which I was wrong, I have to admit it) “Tell me what you’re doing; Where you went; How you did ___”. Boy was I mistaken.

Social media revolves around conversations, whether that’s creating new ones or simply watching for something to reply to all you need to be is yourself.

I’m sure that you’ve heard the old phrase “Don’t Judge a book by it’s cover” but is that really how we operate? I know that I am guilty of judging someone based on their looks.

When we are looking for something or someone we look at links, videos, and images. What I want to talk about is your personal appearance, particularly in your online avatar. If you were to show up to an interview in a pair of ripped jeans, a dirty polo and basketball shoes would you be received the same as if you were to show up wearing a professionally cleaned and tailored suit? I think not!

The same goes for your online appearance. You cannot expect to be taken serious as an 18-year old at a party with a beer in your hand. Marketing yourself starts with your initial appearance. This doesn’t mean that you have to go out and have a professional head shot done (however @mooshinindy or @joshhumble could help you there). You just need to make sure that you are portraying yourself in a manner that is not detrimental to those judging you solely based on your cover.

As was stated by Casey Mullins (@mooshinindy) at the @BlogIndiana Conference “Find three words that describe you and have your avatar represent those three things.”

One last thing to remember, you can never get a second first impression.

If you’re interested, please leave some comments below. You can also find me on Twitter, @mcmullen_greg

Edit: If you are looking for a place for a “Global Avatar” (usable on most WordPress Websites) go to http://en.gravatar.com/. Your Email Address helps to identify who you are and displays the correct avatar of your choosing.