Dan Schawbel is the bestselling author of Me 2.0 and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog. His latest blog, the Student Branding Blog, provides branding and career advice for high school, college and graduate students.

There are thousands of different websites that you can leverage to build your own personal brand, but only a few that will give you both the reach and credibility to make a major impact. Here at Mashable, we’ve provided you with a detailed look at how you can build your personal brand on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Today, we’ll focus in on the largest video sharing site on the planet, more commonly referred to as YouTube.

With over 120 million U.S. viewers, YouTube is used by President Obama for his weekly State of the Union Address, by universities who share lectures from star academics, and by celebrities such as Miley Cyrus who use it as a lifestream. Aside from the popularity of YouTube, the site exploits the most powerful branding medium of them all, video.

The reason why video is so effective in communicating your personal brand is because your audience will already feel like they’ve met you by the time the video is over.  With video, you get a sense of who someone really is based on their voice, their face and their body motions.  Video can support your branding efforts like no other medium on the web.

1. Brand your profile

In order to build your personal brand on YouTube, you have to decide how you want to position yourself.  If you already have a brand (such as “financial expert for baby boomers”), then carry it over onto your YouTube channel to make it consistent with your other web properties.  Channels that have multiple faces should be branded under a topic or a company.  Channels that only have one face and voice should be branded under a full name.  This is extremely important to understand because you can’t change your channel name at a later date. 

Choose a channel name: Depending on your branding strategy, you could choose your full name, your company’s name or a unique “show” name for your YouTube channel.  For instance, if you want to brand yourself as an expert in your field, you might want to do it under your own name.  The URL you will receive in return for a successful registration on YouTube is youtube.com/user/yourfullname.

Profile setup: Just like with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, filling out your profile is important because it will allow people to locate you on a platform where millions of people are competing for attention.  You are able to upload an avatar or use a screenshot that they give you from your latest video.  Use the avatar/professional picture that you have everywhere else.  You also get to add a single URL, which should be the website that best represents you as a brand, such as your blog or LinkedIn profile.

Channel information: Most people don’t know that there are different types of accounts you can choose on YouTube.  If you’re an expert in your field, then I recommend selecting the “Guru” account type because you can use a custom logo and add links.  To access this page go here.

Customize your channel: Log into your account and view your channel as it currently stands.  On the top right of your screen, select “Switch to Player Mode.”  This will change your current display to the newer layout, where people can view your latest video and select any other ones that they want to watch from the sidebar.

Channel title and tags: Where it says “Edit Channel,” you should click on “settings” and then give your channel a title, such as “Mike Smith’s Internet Marketing Show.”  On the right, you’ll want to type in tags that reflect your video content, such as “marketing” and “mike smith” because that’s how people will find your material while searching.

Themes and Colors: Under “Themes and Colors,” find the colors and overall look that align with your website, blog, business card, PowerPoints, etc.  You can also upload your own background image and change fonts and colors.  There are websites that have free YouTube designs that you can use too.

Modules: Now you want to go to “Modules” and check all options because comments, recent activity, and friends are all important if you want to build a community around your YouTube brand.

Latest video: The last thing you want to do is to click on “Edit” on the top right of the screen and where it says “Featured Video,” select “Use the Most Recent.”  This way people will be viewing your latest video automatically.

Now that have presented your audience or future audience with a legitimate profile and design on YouTube, you’re ready to start developing videos that will put your brand in the spotlight, while helping you build your business.

2. Create remarkable videos

Content is king and on YouTube, the only true way to be successful is to have content that is worth spreading.  Typically, this means it has to be either really funny or extremely interesting.  Here are a few examples of remarkable content. Video isn’t for everyone and you shouldn’t fool yourself if you know you’re introverted and shy.

Video equipment: I recommend either using a web camera from Logitech ($99) or a Flip Ultra HD ($200).  The flip is higher quality, but the webcam allows you to do video chat or live video in addition to regular videos for YouTube.

Advanced video equipment: If you’re really serious about creating a video show on YouTube, then you may want to invest in a sounds system, amplifier, lighting, and other professional tools that will make it look professional.

Produce content: The best part about taking videos of yourself is that if you don’t like the end product, you can delete it very easily.  I recommend that you shoot multiple videos at once and then cut the ones that don’t work well.  Make sure all of your videos fall under the theme of your YouTube channel and that you fill out the title, description and tags for each.  In the description of each of your videos, there should be a link back to your blog or website because the people that watch your video might have never heard of your brand before.

Once you have about five or six videos, you will want to start promoting both your channel and each video to your audience.

3. Promote your videos

When promoting your channel and your videos, you’ll want to use the network that you already have before you start to get creative.  In the past year, YouTube has streamlined the sharing process through various social networks.

Facebook Application: Using the YouTube Video Box Application on Facebook, you can add your videos automatically on your profile page or your Facebook Fan Page.  This is a great way to give each of your videos additional visibility without additional labor.

Autoshare on Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader: Go to your YouTube account settings and click on “Sharing.”  In this menu, you can automatically syndicate your YouTube updates (such as when you upload a new video) through Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader.  Before you check all three off, please understand who your audience is on each social network.  For example, if you share your professional videos on Facebook, where only your college friends are, then it might be awkward.

Add your blog: Go back under YouTube account setting and click on “Blog Setup.”  This will allow you to link your blog (Wordpress.com/org, TypePad, Blogger, etc) with your account.  This feature will enable you to post your videos on your blog directly in just a few simple clicks.

Embed your videos: If you have a blog or traditional website (corporate or personal), you can embed one or more videos from YouTube on it.  YouTube embedded videos give you options, such as a border, different size arrangements and a variety of colors.

Link to your channel or videos everywhere you can: The more links you have to a video, the higher it will rank when keywords are searching in YouTube or in Google.  Also, more links typically means more traffic to your videos, which helps build your brand.  Link to your channel and videos from your resume, from your social networking profiles (possibly as a graphic icon), from your email signature, from your presentations and everywhere else.

YouTube isn’t going anywhere.  It’s one of the most trafficked websites in the world and it’s a great place to get started with online video.  Even though many of your videos might not get 100,000 views, the important thing is that you can leverage that video content and share it on all of your branded properties.  Your YouTube channel can become a very important asset to your brand, one that provides your authentic voice and appearance like nothing else can.

More personal branding resources from Mashable:

- Personal Branding 101: How to Discover and Create Your Brand
- Personal Branding 102: How to Communicate and Maintain Your Brand
- HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Facebook
- HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter
- HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
- HOW TO: Leverage Social Media for Career Success

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kkgas

Tags: how to, personal brand, video, youtube

Web Faceoff: Overall Results

We’re trying out a new feature on Mashable today: Trending Stories. The idea is simple: whichever story gets the most social reactions from the community (eg. Retweets, Facebook shares) goes to the top of the homepage and article pages.

That’s right: we’re letting you decide which story rises to the top. Use your power wisely!

What do you think of Trending Stories? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: mashable, trending categories, Trending Stories, trending topics

Image galleries are one of those features that can help your website or blog rise above the rest. Quality photos can draw in your visitors and keep them on your site longer. Sure, you can still add eye candy to your blog using the default installation of WordPress. But if you really want to go for sugar-overload, then you need to include a photo gallery.

Here are five WordPress photo gallery plugins that can add some interactivity and pop to your blog. Now that’s sweet. (...)
Read the rest of 5 Photo Gallery Plugins for WordPress

© Tutorial Blog, 2009. | Permalink

We had a feeling that the Michael Jackson documentary “This Is It” would do pretty well at the box office, thanks to strong online ticket sales in advance of the film’s release. When the final box office numbers were tallied up, “This Is It” grossed $101 millon in worldwide ticket sales its first five days in release.

That figure included $32.5 million in domestic ticket numbers and the film was #1 at the local and worldwide box office. Although Sony was reporting high customer-satisfaction scores, we wanted to see what social media users thought about the film. Our friends at Crimson Hexagon did some Twitter sentiment analysis for tweets about the film.

The Analysis

Crimson Hexagon analyzed 15,000 tweets from between 10/28/2009 and 11/01/2009. This graph shows the breakdown:

The vast majority of tweets were either responding positively to the film or were about users who wanted to see the film. Eleven percent of tweets were looking for feedback from other users and a scant 3% didn’t like the film.

Looking at the trend graph, you can see that the number of “want to see it” tweets declined after opening day, whereas “I loved it” tweets increased. In short, it looks like both Twitter and the box office pegged “This Is It” as a big winner this weekend.

Did you see “This Is It” in theaters? What did you think of the film? Let us know!

Tags: box office, crimson hexagon, michael jackson, This Is It, twitter sentiments

As the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies heats up, fans are turning to the web in droves to capture and replay its most exciting moments.

Last night’s game four in Philadelphia was certainly no exception. The game, tied in the top of the ninth, featured a key double steal by the Yankees’ Johnny Damon. Given that double steals are quite rare in the game of baseball, and the fact that this one helped lead to a Yankees win, the clip has become somewhat of an online commodity.

It’s an important moment that may go down in baseball history, and web searchers are clamoring to check out the incredible climatic scene. Here’s a quick recap of the game, but if you want to watch Johnny Damon’s amazing double steal, skip ahead to the 1:50 minute mark.

Image from Shutter Daddy on Flickr

Tags: johnny damon double steal, world series

UPDATE: you can get started with Twitter Lists by following the Mashable Team Twitter List at Twitter.com/mashable/mashable

The just-launched Twitter Lists feature is a new way to organize the people you’re following on Twitter, or find new people. In actuality, though, Twitter Lists are Twitter’s long awaited “groups” feature. They offer a way for you to bunch together other users on Twitter into groups so that you can get an overview of what they’re up to. That’s because Lists aren’t just static listings of users, but rather curated Twitter streams of the latest tweets from a specified set of users.

In other words, you can create a list that groups together people for whatever reason (the members of your family, for example), and then you can get a snapshot of the things those users are saying by viewing that list’s page, which includes a complete tweet stream for everyone on the list. Lists allow you to organize the people you’re following into groups, and they even allow you to include people you’re not following.

Why Would You Use Lists?

There are many reasons for creating lists, but here are a handful of ways that you could use the Twitter Lists feature. What other ways are you using Twitter Lists? Let us know in the comments.

Create a Group – Because Twitter Lists create grouped tweet streams of the people that are on them, you can use Lists to organize your tweeps into groups based on anything you want. For example, we’ve created a list of everyone at Mashable. By viewing or following this list, you easily see what all of Mashable’s employees are tweeting about. You could do the same thing with your co-workers, family, or friends, or just group Twitter users based on location, subject, or anything else you can think of.

Recommend Cool Tweeps – One of the other intended purposes of Twitter Lists is to allow people to recommend other users to follow. You can create a public list of people you think other Twitter users should follow, then anyone else can visit that list and follow the people on it (or follow the list).

Follow People You Aren’t Following – When you follow a Twitter List, you’re not actually following every user on the list, but following the entire list — those users’ tweets aren’t added to your main stream. You can then visit that list and view its tweet stream. That’s why you can also use Lists to follow people without really following them. For example, if there are users whose tweets you’d like to follow, but whom you don’t necessarily want in your main Twitter stream (perhaps they tweet too often for your liking), you can add them to a list and then check up on their latest tweets every once in a while by viewing your list.

Creating a List

Creating a new Twitter List is a simple process. When logged into Twitter you’ll see a new “Lists” section right below the search box in the right side navigation, simply click on the “New list” link to begin creating a new list. After you click on that link, a window will pop up asking you two questions.

First, you’ll be asked to provide a name for your list (i.e., Family, Web Tech Tweeple, etc.). The name is also used for your list’s URL, which will be “twitter.com/username/list-name.” You’ll also be asked if you want your list to be public or private.

Public Lists – These lists can be seen by anyone, and anyone can follow them. Public lists are ideal for lists of recommended follows.

Private Lists – When Twitter says private, they mean private. Only the creator of private lists will be able to see or subscribe to them — not even those on the list can see private lists. That means, for example, you could create a list of your competitors and keep an eye on them without them being any the wiser.

Once you’ve clicked the “Create list” button, you’re ready to add users. After you create a new list, you’ll be prompted to search for people to add to your list, but there are really two ways to add users to lists. First, you can add users from their profile page, by clicking the lists button and checking off the lists you want to add them to from the drop down menu. You can add a single user to multiple lists.

The other way to add people, is from any “following” page (i.e., by clicking on either the “Followers” or “Following” links from any profile). You’ll also see the lists button next to users that appear on these pages, and can add anyone to your lists by clicking on it.

You can add yourself to your lists by visiting your profile page. Keep in mind that each list is currently limited to 500 people, and users may create a maximum of 20 lists. These limitations could change in the future.

Managing Lists

Both the lists you’ve created and the lists you’re following will appear in the “Lists” section in the right-hand navigation of Twitter. Private lists will be denoted by a small “closed lock” icon. When you click on you a list, Twitter will load up the tweet stream of those on the list in the main body of the Twitter page — this is similar to how Twitter displays search results.

You’ll also see a link to “View list page.” Clicking on that link will bring you to your list’s dedicated page. This is what other people will see when they visit the page if your list is public, with one major exception: in the top right corner you’ll see links to “Edit” or “Delete” your list. The delete link is self explanatory, while the edit link allows you to change the title of your list, or change its public/private status.

To remove users from your list, follow the same procedure you used to add them, but this time uncheck the box next to the list you want to remove that user from.

Finding & Following Lists

When you follow a list, it will show up in the “Lists” section in the right-hand navigation of Twitter. Following lists is a great way to keep tabs on tweets from a large group of people without needing to add those people’s tweets to your main stream. Here are some of the ways you can find lists to follow.

People You Follow – When you visit the profile page of anyone on Twitter, you’ll be able to see any of the public lists they have created, or any of the lists they follow. (NOTE: you may have to click “View all” to see every list if the person has created or is following a large number of lists.) You can also see any of the lists that person appears on. Checking out the lists that your friends have created, follow, or appear on, is a great way to locate lists you might be interested in.

Listorious – Listorious is a third-party site that maintains a categorized directory of Twitter lists. You can search or browse through lists by category, and find the most popular lists.

TweetMeme Lists – Readers of Mashable will be familiar with TweetMeme, which exposes the most tweeted links on Twitter and powers the “retweet” buttons on all of our articles. Just like it does for links, TweetMeme also finds the most tweeted about Twitter Lists.

Once you find a list you want to follow, click the “Follow this list” button to follow the list. You can unfollow a list from the same page by clicking on the “Unfollow” link.

Lists You’re On & Blocking Lists

Twitter shows you how many public lists you appear on. Clicking on the “Listed” link on your profile, which appears next to your follower and following numbers, will bring you to a page that shows you every list on which you appear. Your lists page has two tabs: one that shows the lists that are following you, and one that shows the lists you’re following/have made.

If you find yourself on any lists you don’t particularly want to be on (like a list titled, “Jerks,” for example), you can remove yourself from that list by blocking its creator. Just be aware that blocking a person on Twitter means that person can also no longer follow you. Blocking is not permanent, however, and can be undone.

You can block someone directly from the list page, by clicking on the “Block [username]” link, which is located on the right navigation menu in the “Actions” section.

How are you using lists? Let us know in the comments.

More Twitter resources from Mashable:

- 6 Incredible Twitter Powered Art Projects
- HOW TO: Do Good on Twitter
- 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates
- 6 Gorgeous Twitter Visualizations
- 10 Ways to Find People on Twitter

Tags: how to, List, Lists, trending, twitter, Twitter Lists

It’s a brand new week, which means it’s time for Mashable’s guide to upcoming social media and web events, parties, and conferences. For more upcoming event listings, check out Mashable’s Events section.

Is your event not on this list? Contact us at least one month before your event and let’s establish a media partnership.

Mashable’s Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite, the Web’s Event Marketplace.

November 2-5, 2009, Washington DC: Attend the Advanced Learning Institute’s Forum on Social Media for Crisis Communications in Government: How To Integrate The Latest Web 2.0 Technologies To Maximize Effectiveness Before, During, And After A Crisis to learn how to incorporate the power of social media into your organization’s crisis communications strategy. Hear from FEMA; CDC; U.S. Department of Defense; City and County of San Francisco; U.S. Forest Service; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Department of Transportation; City of Owasso, Oklahoma, and more, on how you can capture the power of social media in your organization, along with helpful tools, tips and techniques to get started. Mention “Mashable” when registering to save $200.

November 3, 2009, New York City: The Winning with Social Media: Industry Leader Forum is an interactive event to help advertisers, agencies, media and research companies determine how to use social media and digital behavior for their listening strategies. Learn from Chris Brogan, one of social media’s most influential forces, Google, IBM, ESPN, Crispin Porter + Bogusky and more. Network with Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Novartis, Colgate-Palmolive, Fidelity Investments, Procter & Gamble and other industry leaders. Mashable readers can use promo code ILFMASH to save $100.

November 3-4,2009, San Francisco, CA: Come to PayPal X Innovate 2009, PayPal’s first dedicated developer conference. Here you’ll have the absolute inside track on how to capitalize on all of PayPal’s products. Learn from hands on tutorials about PayPal APIs and listen to keynote from industry luminaries including Tim O’Reilly and see showcase of cool developers. Get 50% off if you register with code MASH or join us at $50 if you are a student.

November 4-5, 2009, Raleigh, NC: Internet Summit 09 will feature over 75 speakers including major internet brands such as Twitter, Pandora, Google, Salesforce.com, Digg, Technorati, CBS Interactive, Huffington Post, Blogger, Meebo and more. Join over 1200 entrepreneurs, senior marketers and executives in the conversation about the future of the industry and how to capitalize on the shifting dynamics of the internet and tap into its unlimited business potential. Use registration code MASH for 20% off.

November 4-6, 2009, New York City: Looking to advance your social or mobile strategy? In need of branding insight? Ready to make industry connections? Join Mashable at ad:tech New York – the event for digital marketers. Register now with code BRNYX9 and save $200 off the current online price! Visit ad-tech.com/ny for the latest details on speakers, sessions and exhibitors.

November 5, 2009, Chicago, IL: Join us for a Gary Vaynerchuk Crush It Bash! We’ll enjoy amazing food and wine and hear Gary talk about his latest book, Crush It. Every attendee will take home a brand new copy of Gary’s book, and we’ll have fantastic prize giveaways. Mashable readers, use the code MASHABLE to get your ticket for only $30, a savings of $9 off the public pricing. Get your tickets now, as this event is anticipated to sell out quickly.

November 5-6, 2009, Berlin, Germany: The European Venture Market is a platform for investors, service providers and entrepreneurs to meet, network and further develop business ideas and projects, in a relaxed yet professional atmosphere. During the event the participating entrepreneurs will be able to pitch their business projects for around 5 minutes to a crowd of interested investors and service providers. The two conference days will also feature keynote speeches, specific industry presentations, coffee and lunch breaks, a large dinner reception on the Thursday night and, finally, a themed club party on the Friday night. Get 10% off by using code evm_mashable

November 5-6, 2009, Los Angeles, CA: The Independent Game Conference West is a 2 day, 5 track conference for game developers in the tradition of the devcons of old where speakers are accessible and connections are key. Now in its 4th year, the IGC series is coming to the West coast with tracks on Programming, Design, iPhone/Mobile, Social Gaming, and Business/Production, with a variety of sessions that will benefit game companies of all sizes. With a day one keynote by Sanrio Digital VP Robert Ferrari, and sessions by leading developers and industry experts from around the industry, attendees will get practical tips and tactics that they can use immediately in their development and company. In addition, any attendee can sign up to bring their game or technology to IGC’s GAME DEMO NIGHT, which has lead 25% of participants in 2007-2008 to financial deals directly related to their participation. Use code MASHABLE to get 20% off 1 or 2 day advance regular admission.

November 6, 2009, Arcadia, CA: The Tweeters’ Cup will be held during the first day of races at Santa Anita Park for the 2009 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The Tweeters’ Cup will be held in an exclusive area at the track, Seabiscuit Court, and will include a designated seating area (frontside) for all participants. A ticket to the event also includes a betting voucher, 2009 Breeders’ Cup gift, buffet and a chance to win prizes. The day will feature a handicapping session, Q&A with prominent jockeys, appearances by ESPN personalities and stars from Animal Planet’s show “Jockeys.” The best Tweeter onsite will win a VIP trip for two to the 2010 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs (including airfare and hotel). Purchase your tickets here and use the code mashableLA for a $5.00 discount.

November 6-8, 2009, Savannah, GA: Geekend 2009 is an interactive conference that brings together geeks from all walks of life for three days of cutting edge speakers, expert panels, afterparties, networking and mash-up opportunities. Speaker highlights include Major Nelson of Xbox Live, renowned designer David Carson, Eric Snowden of Atlantic Records, and Matias Corea of Behance, among many others. Get your geek on and enter Mashable for $30 off the full price weekend badge.

November 7, 2009, Douala, Cameroon: BarCamp Cameroon brings together technologists and experts for the Cameroon first Barcamp. The theme for this edition is digital dreams, with some big names on the guest list and an open agenda that any attendee can contribute to, the organizers aim for tough talking and innovative thinking . Attendance is free; all you need to bring is a willingness to share your ideas and opinions.

November 9-10, 2009, Santa Clara, CA: At Social Media World Forum California, learn from social networks, brands, advertisers and analysts. Hear from leading social networks on their strategy, revenue models and how they are approaching the future. Worldwide case studies from global brands and corporations on their use of social media. Examine the current market conditions, future forecasts and predictions from leading analysts. Mention you are a Mashable reader to receive 15% discount.

November 10-13, 2009, Las Vegas, NV: PubCon is a multi-track educational conference hosted by SearchEngineWorld & WebmasterWorld. PubCon events are for thought leaders and professionals in search engine and Internet marketing and advertising to gather and to share best practices in the design, development, promotion and marketing of their Internet businesses and brands. Mashable readers can take off a 15% discount with code ma-77815.

November 12, 2009, Phoenix, AZ: If you think there isn’t a vibrant entrepreneurial community in Phoenix, guess again. We bring Silicon Valley to Phoenix to share best practices. The theme for this year’s conference is “Bright Spots in the Recession: four entrepreneurial growth segments you need to know about” and showcases Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Health 2.0, Cloud Computing, and Sustainability. Use code AZEC09 for a discount!

November 12, 2009, New York City: This conference will showcase the best case studies that demonstrate how leading brands use social communications to achieve tangible business goals. Case Studies will be presented by McDonald’s, JetBlue, Intuit, Allstate Insurance, Roger Smith Hotel & more. 2 interactive roundtable sessions will follow the case studies. Register at bdionline.com/socialconsumer.html using promo code MASH for a discounted rate of $155.

November 12-13, 2009, San Francisco, CA: The CMO Club is bringing together the preeminent CMOs in business today for the CMO Thought Leadership Summit, a two day event that will be a platform for the world’s best CMO conversations. A coterie of the country’s leading Chief Marketing Officers have been assembled to lead workshops at the event, including Michael Mendenhall of HP, Porter Gale of Virgin America, Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures, Scott Lutz of SAP, Susan Linton Smith of Red Robin Restaurants, Evan Greene of The Recording Academy (Grammys), Joe Rooney of Cox Communications, Randall Beard of UBS, Terri Graham of Jack in the Box, and more. 75-100 CMOs expected to address industry issues, share ideas, and help each other be better CMOs. Heads of marketing interested in attending the Summit visit thecmoclubsummit.com. Get a $100 discount by using code mashablecmo.

November 14-15, Tempe, AZ: Explore the world of new and relevant media at PodCamp AZ, the southwest’s premier destination for bloggers, podcasters, social media butterflies, photographers, video pros and more! It’s a chance to enhance your skills while learning from those in the trenches every day. This is the third year of the event and promises to bring in over 1,000 people hungry to learn — and to share! It’s an unconference, so everyone is encouraged to lead a session. The event is always free, and you can’t beat the weather in Phoenix in November. So get registered, and we’ll see you then!

November 15-17, 2009, Las Vegas, NV: At the Social Media Summit: Social Media & Billionaire Boardroom Experience. Join Peter Shankman (@skydiver) and Nick Nanton (@nicknanton), along with Tony Hsieh (@zappos), David Bullock (@davidbullock) and Andrew Lock (@andrewlock) for this unique event that will take you inside the minds of entrepreneurs who have built million dollar businesses on the back of social media. As a bonus, go inside Zappos corporate headquarters to learn why Zappos has become such a phenomenon (recently sold for nearly a BILLION dollars to Amazon.com) and pick the brain of CEO, Tony Hsieh to learn how he has used social media to create a culture that led to a $900 million sale. Register today at www.TheSummitOfTheYear.com and save $250 using code mashable.

November 16, 2009, New York City: The upcoming Gravity Summit NYC event will provide richer-level and best practice insights on how businesses are using social media to give relevance and meaning to their marketing. Bing is the Title Sponsor and will join speakers from Current TV, the SyFy Channel, VML, Adweek, Columbia Records, Business Week, and Deep Focus. The event will also feature case studies from TurboTax, Domino’s, Operation Smile, The Roger Smith Hotel, and LA’s Roxy Theater on Sunset. Following the event will be a TweetUp to benefit Operation Smile. Mashable readers: get a discount by clicking here.

November 16-19, 2009, New York City: Web 2.0 Expo New York brings together the designers, developers, entrepreneurs, VCs, marketing professionals, product managers, and business strategists – from start-ups to enterprises – that are building the next-generation web. Along with a dynamic Expo Hall and plenty of networking opportunities, ten main topic areas discussing a spectrum of Web 2.0 topics from business strategy to web design, user experience, developer hacks, community building, security, mobile, web ops, user-generated content, and more. Register today and save 25% (code: webny09bd5) or get a free Expo Pass (code: webny09bde) at web2expo.com/ny.

November 18, 2009, London, UK: The 4th Annual GREEN AWARDS™ for Excellence In Communicating Sustainability Calls for Entries. Now in its 4th Year the GREEN AWARDS™ are firmly fixed on the global eco calendar as the leading industry awards for sustainability in marketing and communications. The GREEN AWARDS™ recognises excellence in 16 categories in 2009 from Best Green International Campaign open to global entrants to Best Green Campaigner for individuals and small groups championing sustainability. The winner will be announced at a reception in London on 18th November with guest speaker Jonathon Porritt CBE. The deadline for GREEN AWARDSTM 2009 entries is 18th September. For further details on categories and submission guidelines visit greenawards.co.uk.

November 18th, 2009, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Cool Twitter Conferences will be holding its eighteenth event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on November 18th, 2009 at the Media Rotana Hotel –Barsha, Dubai. The Cool Twitter Conference provides an environment for developers, people in business, and enthusiasts from multiple disciplines, who seek to understand and maximize the power of Twitter, the chance to contribute to the discussion and tap into this real-time use of the web. This forum is ideal for advertising, marketing professionals and business owners looking to increase visibility and improve customer experience. Use the code: mashable to save 25% on registration.

November 19, 2009, Mountain View, CA: Featuring 30 of the most cutting edge mobile startups from around the globe, Under the Radar will get you dialed in to what the 2010 mobile innovation marketplace will look like. It’s a must-attend event for dealmakers from global carriers, brands, media companies, and handset manufacturers responsible for helping their companies leverage new mobile technology and innovation in the fast-evolving digital landscape.

November 20, 2009, New York City: Join a select number of PR, marketing and communications professionals at PR Camp™ New York for a full day of highly interactive discussions on social media — complete with marshmallows and a virtual campfire. It will explore how to market, measure and manage the opportunities and challenges that social media presents. Our “unconference” format avoids panels or PowerPoint demonstrations. Top agency and brand executives serve as moderators to help participants find solutions to their social media questions. Mashable readers get a ten percent discount with promo code MASHPRCAMPNYC.

November 23-25, 2009, Berlin, Germany: IIR’s Mobile 2.0 – Content & Services Conference provides a dynamic networking and information-sharing business environment, bringing together key stakeholders within the mobile web 2.0 value chain to discuss current trends and revenue generation possibilities, successful business strategies and the future opportunities that exist within this space. Receive a 10% discount by quoting I08LFMASH when registering. Significant price cuts also available to Operators, online communities, and content providers

November 30-December 1, 2009, Toronto, Ontario: nextMEDIA Toronto is an intensive two day event of networking, learning and strategizing with the top minds in the fields of broadcasting, digital media and advertising. nextMEDIA is an unparallel opportunity for our community to understand and interpret the evolution of digital media and how cross-platform content is funded and produced. Also, the event boasts the CNMAs, Canada’s only national new media awards. Tap into the digital economy and navigate your way to new revenue sources, network with a multi-disciplinary audience reflective of the emerging new world of media. Use this link for a 20% registration discount.

December 1-3, 2009, Boston, MA: The 6th Annual Gilbane Boston Conference will offer sessions tied to competitive business and productivity issues surrounding a company’s content, collaboration & customers. You will learn about content solutions that are ready to be implemented today! The conference tracks have been organized around the four major areas of how enterprises use web and content technologies and where they are most likely to invest, including: Web Business & Engagement, Managing Collaboration & Social Media: Internal & External, Enterprise Content: Searching, Integrating & Publishing, and Content Infrastructure. Session topics focus on managing enterprise social & mobile content; SharePoint & Office 2010; E-government & transparency. Save an additional $200 by using the discount code Mashable.

December 1-3, 2009, London, UK: Online Information & IMS 2009 Exhibitions will host more than 200 international exhibitors, covering Web 2.0 Technologies, Content Management, Search Solutions, Online Content Resources; ePublishing Solutions and Library Management Systems. There is also a wide range of free seminars looking at, among others, Marketing Through Social Media, Content Management and Enterprise Search. Free to attend if you pre-register, it is the perfect place for marketing professionals to equip themselves with the information, skills and knowledge to succeed in the digital world.

December 2, 2009, Toronto, Ontario: The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is a must-attend conference for participants in the innovation economy. CIX is a gathering of key players in the innovation economy which will showcase and accelerate the development of the great technology-based innovation emanating from Canada and will be attended by entrepreneurs, inventors, investors, corporations, service providers, government and media. Participants can expect an International who’s who of investors, innovative corporations and entrepreneurs and a nexus of multiple meeting and networking opportunities enabling discovery of Canada’s next great innovations and the people behind them. Use this link for a 20% registration discount.

December 4, 2009, London: At Social PR Forum, learn from global PR companies who have successfully embraced social media. Understand what products and services you should be using, and how to use them well. Learn how to seamlessly introduce social media into your way of thinking and into your employees. Mention you are a Mashable reader to receive 15% discount.

December 7, 2009, San Francisco, CA: The SF MusicTech Summit brings together more than 600 of the best and brightest developers in the Music/Technology space, along with the musicians, entrepreneurial business people, press, investors, service providers, and organizations who work with them at this exciting convergence of culture and commerce. We’ll discuss the evolving music/business/technology ecosystem in a proactive environment, conducive to deal making, and connect with friends and business partners old and new. Get your Mashable 15% Discount tickets at sfmts5.eventbrite.com/?discount=15Mashable

December 7-10, 2009, Washington DC: Attend the Advanced Learning Institute’s Forum on Social Media for Government: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using The Latest Web 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results to learn how to capture the power of social media in your organization, along with helpful tools, tips and techniques to get started. Hear from DoD; Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; City of Chesapeake, VA; IBM Center for the Business of Government; U.S. Department of Energy; Charlotte Fire Department, NC; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and more, on how to engage your employees and citizens by using social media. Mention “Mashable” when registering to save $200.

December 9, 2009, San Francisco, CA: Tech professionals by day, rockers by night, they’ll pick up their instruments and venture onto the big stage to let their alter egos shine… for a good cause and the love of music. Silicon Valley Rocks 2009 will bring together the Valley’s tech community – from VCs and entrepreneurs to bloggers and software developers – to raise money for Music in Schools Today (MuST), a Bay Area non-profit that seeks to rescue music programs from budget cuts. The second annual showcase will once again feature Silicon Valley bands and original rockers who will entertain and amuse your entire social graph. Mashable readers can get a special discounted ticket rate by clicking here.

December 14th & 15th, 2009, Washington, DC: The Government 2.5 conference aims to bring various participants and stakeholders within all aspects of government at the local, state and federal levels together to learn how best to apply social media toward improving government services and allowing the public to participant in policy debate and the spending of tax dollars. If you have an interest in making government more efficient through applied information technology and social media, then this conference is for you. Use the code: mashable to save 25% on registration.

January 14-16th, 2010, Sedona, AZ: Join us at #SMML for a Social Media Mastermind Conference. We are going to get personal. As you seek to glean more information about social media, how it works and how you can use it to gain more customers. You’ll see more results in 2 days than you will have in six months working alone! If you are ready to be energized, engage with your audience, work with the best and take home real solutions in developing your own social media strategy, then join us. Speakers include: Robin Harris, Raliegh Pinskey, Frances Flynn Thorsen, Shannon Evans and more. Use event code SMMLBiz to save 15% on your registration fee.

January 20-22, 2010, Washington DC: Social Media for Defense and Government is a unique forum on the embracement, implementation and utilization of new media platforms that meet the Governments goals of transparency that allow for more efficient internal and external communication. As the public develops their use of online tools for their personal, career and business development goals, DoD & Gov’t have made it their mission to reach the public via these new forms of media. The forum will provide insight into technologies including Twitter and Facebook as well as advanced elements such as the Governments general information page, blogs, and closed social media suite. Mashable readers get an exclusive 20% discount off the standard pricing with special code IUS_MASH_SMTM_#1 when registering!

January 23, 2010, Virginia Beach, VA: Social Media @ The Beach is a place for anyone looking to “get their feet wet” and explore social media. It’s an interactive conference with the laid-back atmosphere of a meet-up. The January event will focus on two main goals: boosting personal social networking skills and developing professional social media marketing strategies. The event is open to everyone, drawing community members of all ages, backgrounds and levels of social media experience. Enter mashable for the discount code to receive 15% off ticket price.

January 27-28, 2010, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Enterprise Social 2.0: RIP or ROI? This senior executive event will bring together decision makers from the top Fortune companies to discuss innovative strategies on how to maximize business performance through social media engagement. The event will include keynote speeches, best-practice presentations as well as interactive discussion sessions. Use promo-code MASH14 for a €100 (Euros) discount for the 2 day conference registration fee (maybe also be applied on top of the Early Bird offer valid until October 1st).

February 8-10, 2010, Philadelphia, PA: The 9th Annual ePharma Summit is the most innovative digital marketing event for pharma. Year after year, hundreds of marketing professionals from leading pharmaceutical companies attend ePharma for incomparable access to insider information for optimizing their brand strategy and perfecting consumer relationships. Join us next February to collaborate with industry leading industry minds and perfect your digital strategy by pursuing true e-marketing innovation. The 2010 event is packed with fresh case studies, hands-on workshops, hot topic debates, facilitated roundtable discussions, and live audience polling sessions. Register with Priority Code XP1506MASH to save 15% off standard registration!

February 10, 2010, New York City: The Online Community Unconference East is a gathering of online community professionals – managers, developers, business people, tool providers, investors – to discuss experience and strategies in the development and growth of online communities. As we have found with our past events, the best source of information on all of these challenges is other knowledgeable practitioners. Mashable readers are entitled to a discount by registering here with code mashable.

March 4-5, 2010, Chicago, IL: At SOHO’s 2-Day, “The Co-Alignment of the Corporate and Personal Brand,” a Strategy Framework, develop your exclusive copy of “The Draft,” SOHO’s 16-page social communications policy workbook for businesses and corporations. The focus in 2010 is co-aligning the corporate brand with internal and external communications. SOHO brings to you presentations, case studies and Town Hall meetings with Chris Brogan and Dave Armano, and other experienced practitioners. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.Sohobiztube.com. Use discount code MashableChi for a 20% discount on a 2-day “The Draft” ticket.

March 30-April 1, 2010, San Jose, CA: We’re looking for people pushing the boundaries of location-enabled technology. If you are working on cutting-edge mobile projects, rich data, analysis tools, or augmented reality we want to hear from you. Geo programmers, researchers, early stage startups, garage hackers, social media mavens, CTOs, entrepreneurs, and product developers are invited to submit proposals to speak at Where 2.0. Proposals are due by October 13, 2009; registration opens December 2009. Be part of the Where 2.0 2010 program, submit your proposal now: en.oreilly.com/where2010/public/cfp/78

May 4-5, 2010, New York City: The Internet Show is a series of seminars and a showcase. It is the only event that brings together Big, Medium and Small business, all eager to find new ways of doing internet business. It is a business, not a technology, show. The Internet Show is a place where innovation is showcased, solutions are found and learning is done. Identify and evaluate new technologies, Understand new business methods, Learn to deliver ROI. Create new business and revenue streams. Learn how to generate cost savings. Learn how to risk and project manage. Purchase the latest solutions. There will be 72 seminars running over the two days of the show, themed around the following: Digital advertising and marketing; Web 2.0 and social networking; e-commerce and payments; Content management and streaming; Hosting and infrastructure. Find out more and register to attend for FREE at theinternetshows.com/2010/ny.

May 14-15, 2010, Milwaukee, WI: At SOHO’s 2-Day, “The Co-Alignment of the Corporate and Personal Brand,” a Strategy Framework, develop your exclusive copy of “The Draft,” SOHO’s 16-page social communications policy workbook for businesses and corporations. The focus in 2010 is co-aligning the corporate brand with internal and external communications. SOHO brings to you presentations, case studies and Town Hall meetings with Chris Brogan and Dave Armano, and other experienced practitioners. For more information and to register, please visit Sohobiztube.com. Use discount code MashableMke for a 20% discount on a 2-day “The Draft” ticket.

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According to mobile analytics company Flurry, there’s been a surge of ebook-related applications for the iPhone. Based on their research, which included sampling over 2,500 applications and 40 million consumers accross four mobile platforms, this category is so popular on the iPhone that it overtook even the extremely popular games category.

Looking at that data, one might come to the conclusion that iPhone is the next big thing when it comes to mobile book reading. It might even take on Amazon’s darling, Kindle! And while I think there’s definitely something to it, one needs to look at that data closely before jumping to conclusions.

First of all, while there’s been a lot of new book-related apps for the iPhone lately, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people are using them more than before. Flurry claims that in October, one out of every five new apps launching on the iPhone has been a book. OK, but how hard is it to release a book compared to a game? Is it possible that there’s been a lot of books for the iPhone simply because it’s easy to create them?

Flurry backs its data up with some older numbers about actual consumer demand for ebooks on the iPhone; according to them, in August 1% of the entire U.S. population was already reading a book on the iPhone. Again, I’d like to see some precise figures: were these books paid for, or were they free? Are comic books included in the category? How about tips and tricks – a lot of such short e-books are highly popular in the App Store?

Finally, there’s the fabled Apple Tablet, which – if it ever actually materializes – would be a direct contender to Kindle. iPhone is a versatile device, but its screen is definitely too small for comfortable reading of longer titles. If Apple launches the Tablet, it’s obvious that users would prefer that device for their book-reading needs.

All that said, the iPhone is great for certain types of e-books: short titles, comics (I’ve tried the Comics app and, contrary to my suspicions, reading comics on it has definitely been bearable, perhaps even pleasant), various guides, tips and manuals – all of these work well even on iPhone’s screen. Combine that with the possibly-upcoming Tablet, and yes, Apple might one day be a very, very serious contender in this space.

Tags: e-reader, ebooks, iphone, Kindle

My strategy with blog design is like this. I generally aim towards a completely customized blog design that will give my blog a distinct look and brand – but before I work towards that I almost always start with a more affordable option because I like to test to see whether the blog is going to work or not.

As a result I’ve always been on the look out for great themes and when Chris Pearson and Brian Clark started DIYthemes and released the Thesis theme I was keen to test it.

I used Thesis as the first theme on TwiTip and have been very happy with it.

I’m actually about to release a complete overhaul of the design of that blog (completely custom) but in the year or so since TwiTip’s release I’ve been more than satisfied with Thesis. It’s been easy to use, it’s set up really well by default for Search Engine Optimization and it’s been easy to add extra things in (like advertising spots etc).

I never did much with changing much of the default design on TwiTip but many bloggers use Thesis as the basis for quite impressive customizations. You wouldn’t know it to look at but blogs like Chris Brogan, CopyBlogger, Laughing Squid and Rae Hoffman all use Thesis as the basis for their blog design.

The new update for Thesis (you get all these updates for free if you’ve already got it) takes the version up to 1.6. It includes new navigation menus with drop down menus and the ability to change colors throughout the themes without having to get into the code.

I’m told also that Thesis 2.0 is also being worked on and promises to be a fantastic update.

PS: here’s a cool video that shows just some of what Thesis is like to use – in it Chris Pearson plays around with changing the default layout in a number of ways to shot you how you can begin to customize it.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Thesis Theme for WordPress Upgrades to Version 1.6

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