Our guest blogger today is none other than my good friend Cheryl Harrison from Columbus, Ohio. Cheryl is one of those cool friends that people make on the internet and that they have an instant connection with. Never mind the fact that she is 917 miles and 15 hours away from me. Never mind the fact that I have never met her in person. She is just a great upbeat lady who happens to be very sharp at what she does – Social Media. What makes her that much better is that she is engaged to get married later this year to a guy who is a pretty sharp dresser. I can see some good looking kids coming out of this union. Take a look at her Q&A below – and even that damn cool picture she made for me as part of this blog entry. Then follow her on Twitter and give her some love.

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1. What is the name of your blog:
   Being Cheryl – which is what I do best – with the fun tagline, “I am a good idea.” (I also write for GreatestCityofAll.com and SyncCreative.com)
2. What is your blog about:
   Social media marketing tips and strategy, with a sprinkle of personal flavor.
3. How long you have been blogging:
   Since early 2008
4. How much time do you spend each week working on your blog:
   2-3 hours
5. What was one of the first blogs that you read that you love:
   The blog that inspired me to start blogging was Chris Brogan’s
6. What three blogs do you read every single week:
   I subscribe to more than 50 blogs that I try to read every day, but three of my favorites are Social Business Strategies, Altitude Branding and Social Media Explorer.
7. What is the blog post you are the most proud of:
   I’m proud of the concept of Fast Friends that started on my blog – using a blank calendar and social media reach to connect with new people in real life every day. I articulated it a little better the second time around.
8. How has your blog helped you personally or professionally:
   Immensely! I’ve gotten my last two jobs and all of my speaking engagements and freelance clients as a result of my online presence.
9. What is something you hope to do with your blog that you have not done yet:
   Redesign! My blog runs on WordPress and currently uses a free theme + design, which, while very visually interesting, isn’t custom and doesn’t best represent me.
10. What is the best “do it” tip you have for a blogger that is start today:
    Just that – do it. Don’t overthink it, don’t make excuses – just start writing!
11. What is the best “never do it” tip you have for blogger that is starting today:

    Don’t be afraid of blogging, but think before you click “publish.”

One my goals (remember – we have a page for that) has been to have a talk/review show of some sort – whether it be over the air or online. I will be taking the first step towards achieving this in the next week or two. Right now we are finalizing the initial location ( I am sure it will change ) and the hardware/software that will be needed to get it off the ground. We are thinking initially of 1/2 hour format to LiveStream. I really love the LiveStream platform because it lets people easily play previous content if the stream is not live. Ustream does something similar but I don’t believe it is as automatic as LiveStream.

I’ve received some great ideas of hardware/software from people on Twitter. Please keep your thoughts coming in the comments below or via Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Telephone/Email/SnailMail/Crossbow/Carrier Pigeon.

Do you ever wake up one more morning and just wondering what are you doing here, and where are you going next?

Recently it feels like I have been doing that more and more. There are places I’ve wanted to be in life, and goals I’ve wanted to knock out. And I am not making steady progress getting there. There are some distractions recently which have really thrown me for a loop. The distractions may be anywhere from a minute to a month, but slowly they have put me behind schedule in life. And that is darn frustrating.

But with these feelings I also realize that recognizing this issues are half of the battle. I know it now. I know I am off track. And consciously knowing will allow me to make the course corrections I need to make to get back on track. Minute by minute the ship is coming back in line with the originally planned course. I go to bed and wake up with a sense of purpose and satisfaction knowing that I’ve made steps in the right direction. Every day is just that – little tiny steps in the right direction.

Has this ever happened to you? What did you do to get back on track?

If you are wondering why this blog has been quiet it is because all of the activity and buzz are now over at PatrickAllmond.com. Care to join us over there?

A quick thanks to all of those that showed up for class at Francis Tuttle NW this morning. We had a great turnout and I know we have a huge interest in more beginner classes as well as some more advanced classes.

From what I understand the webcam cutout after the first break, but the ustream audio and chatroom were still going. We will work on that and getting the powerpoint online to make it easier for our remote viewers to keep up next time. Technology is moody – I don’t care what they say.

XO – Patrick