I worked on things to fit what she said where her dreams. Modeling didn’t work because that business is just weird. She groked it and that business doesn’t like girl who grok it. We then started writing a book. Harry Potter was taking off and we started writing a book set in New Orleans with a flood threat that skidded to a halt with Katrina. My next thing was podcasting inspired by Dawn and Drew. The Crappy Christian Show quickly evolved from Luria and me getting drunk and talking into a mic into a ministry type thing to share the idea that God may love gay people just as they are, without any expectation they change. I didn’t want to be in ministry and Luria certainly didn’t.

Steve Jobs announced the first iPod that played video and I worked to make that iPod play GeekBrief.TV. That worked well. We started making money. Mevio was a great partner. Luria wanted more, and people in her life convinced her she was the character I wrote every day. Her belief that she was Cali Lewis grew into an argument that led her to leave our marriage.

I still want to be writing tech news as Cali Lewis and producing GeekBrief.TV. I don’t get that as an option, and I’ve come close to launching alternative visions. I almost released a gadget show yesterday.

Here’s the deal though … I don’t want to work on a next thing that is anything but temporary. My heart can’t currently believe in long term. I want to work, but I’m not ready to say, “This is the thing that replaces Cali Lewis and GeekBrief.TV for me.” Even my dreams for Bacon.TV in partnership with Wright Brand Bacon isn’t that powerful!

The Mayans predicted the world ends at the end of 2012. Obviously, that’s silly just like when that preacher dude did it twice in 2011. But you know what? So what! What will happen if I live this year like it’s not only my last year, but yours? That’s what I’m going to do.

Tomorrow I launch a temporary thing I can believe in and I think it will inspire you to do something better than you planned to do in 2012. It isn’t serious because I’m not ready to be serious. It’s just about fun.

I’ve lost my life goal of being married to a beautiful, smart, and kind girl. I’m not making that kind of goal again. To make it through. I want to live as though it’s not only my last year but yours too.

We recognized some really good strategies that can be replicated, and I’m now applying what we learned from building Cali’s brand to my personal brand. One of the things we did to grow her followers was to give things away. We didn’t do it often, but it was effective when we did. Scott Bourne is the king of using give-aways to grow his influence on Twitter, and I recommend studying what he does if it’s something you want to try.

Some people are only on Twitter to enter contests
This may not be shocking to anyone but me, but I was shocked to learn some people are only on Twitter to enter contests. They follow people to enter and Re-Tweet entries over and over again. I had an interaction with one woman who was working to make it as an assistant director in Hollywood. I asked her why she isn’t using Twitter to develop a personal brand. Her answer was she hadn’t thought to use Twitter like that. If she tweeted about her life as a struggling assistant director, it very well could be fascinating and who knows what that could lead to? I’m sure something more valuable than a chance iPad.

People are on Twitter for whatever reason it makes sense to them. Some of us are there for friends. Some of us are there for news and information. Some of us are there to market, and I guess some of us are there to win things. Almost once a day, someone told me they followed me for a chance to win the iPad, but they were glad they did because they got value from the information I share on Twitter. I learned that just because a person only tweets to enter a contest, it doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention to who they’re following. It isn’t a two-way conversation for most of them, but ultimately if they weren’t interested in what I tweeted, they unfollowed when the contest ended.

A few people get mad if they don’t win
Every time we’ve given something away through Twitter or GeekBrief.TV, a few people have gotten upset with us after not winning. It isn’t something I really understand, but it’s good to prepare yourself for it so you’re not caught off guard. I try to respond sympathetically. My wish for every person who likes me or hates me is that they should have an iPad, so I’m disappointed for the people who didn’t win. The old commercial was about buying the world a Coke and everyone living in harmony. That sums up how I feel about iPads.

twitRand is limited by the Twitter API
twitRand is the best way I’ve found to pick a random follower, but the Twitter API has limitations that keep twitRand from being a perfect solution. From what I understand the best solution would involve sucking all the tweeted entries into a database and selecting from that. I had a conversation with someone after the contest ended and he might build something that does just that. I would pay a fee to a company that handles entries and insures the process is as fair as technically possible. I learned about tweetaways.com after the fact and that might have been the best solution, but at the time I announce the give away, twitRand was all I found.

Re-tweets work, but are they worth it?
Since I made the mistake of not developing my personal brand at the same time I worked on the Cali brand, I’ve had to correct that quickly. I’m still working on it and have a long way to go!

I don’t like the idea of contributing to noise on Twitter so I had to compromise THAT value in order to kickstart my personal branding campaign. Having people retweet my brand helped me increase my Twitter stats, but I’m sure it annoyed people too. One guy was so annoyed he created a parody twitter account and followed people who were following me. Some thought it was me. Ultimately, he made it clear he isn’t me and was just having fun at my expense and I can definitely live with that.

The biggest problem with the re-tweets is that I fear they’ll never end even though @TheNobber already one the iPad. Lots of people re-tweeted the links without ever going to Neal.TV to learn the details about the contest. All-in-all there were just over 6,000 tweets referencing Neal.TV during the time of the contest. Only a small number of people continue to tweet the link, but it could conceivable continue for a long, long time. Maybe I’ll start DMing them one at a time to let them know.

Overall, I’m happy with the results. There are things I would do different next time, but I can’t say the negatives outweigh the positives. After the contest ended, I lost about 150 followers and now the number is slowly growing again. The contest increased my numbers by almost 4000. Numbers in social media, when you’re doing it right, are about influence and credibility. My hope is that I either add value to people’s lives when I tweet, or that I make people smile by linking to something funny. My previous mission was to do whatever it took to help Cali succeed. I hope my new mission can be to help lots of other people succeed in using Web video to enhance their brands, and maybe I can continue to win along the way too.

I’m still a little top heavy, but I think if I drop another 10 pounds, I might be able to borrow one of her bigger T-Shirts.