Spence Smith

The more I dive into relationships online and offline, I notice the people I engage with are like a good wine. They get better with time.

I have a lot of friends… a few different circles of friends and honestly, it’s really tough for me to maintain all of the relationships I want to be tied into. But that’s ok… I do what I can and time with friends come and go. It’s the way life happens.

That’s why the time I do have with friends is precious to me. It’s about the quality time we have and the qualities we value in each other. The influence we have in each others lives is priceless, inspiring and makes me strive to be… well… a quality guy. I would rather have quality friends who believe in me and support me rather than quantities of people I know who I can’t engage with.

Back when twitter first started it was all about seeing how many followers you could get to influence the most people possible. But today, and back then… but much more importantly today… it’s about the quality of your followers.. not the quantity. Are they sneezers? Do they believe in you and support you? or are they taking up space in your follower column..

When it comes to your blog readers… a high number of readers is awesome… but if they are quality readers, then it’s even better. If they engage with you and spread what you have to say to their friends, then it’s even more amazing. As Randy Elrod says… It’s influencing influencers…

The quality of who you are and who you interact with will affect what you do or say… or have said online. So if your goal is to reach the masses.. The quality of your content HAS to come first.

However, if you aren’t putting out quality content… then what’s the point?

Your content is the foundation of quality online but if you want it to spread like wildfire and go viral, then you need quality tools to take you and your quality followers and readers to the next level.

Here’s a good place to start… check out what Michael Hyatt is saying about The Anatomy Of An Effective Blog Post and Four Actions You Can Take Now To Dramatically Increase Your Blog Traffic and what Randy Elrod asks about Twitter, Do You Make These Ten Common Twitter Mistakes?

How do you build quality into your online world and offline world? Are you engaged and are you equipped with the tools you need?

I’ve known Randy Elrod for several years now. If there is ultimately one thing he is most passionate about, it is the re:create conference.

I’ve attended now for 3 years and every year I walk away encouraged and refreshed.

The people who attend are creatives.

They are thinkers.

They are doers.

They are passionate.

And they are collaborators.

There’s always time for open, honest and frank discussion after each session. There’s always something new being introduced… for example a new technology, a new idea, a new song that becomes a number one hit through the influence of those attending re:create.

When there is a “WOW” moment, then everyone experiences it together and no one forgets the experience… Then it gets twittered out and the viral loop begins… again and again.

It’s that kind of conference.

It’s a gathering of influencers who when they collaborate post re:create, whether in person or through social media… things happen.

So. If you have heard about it and are on the fence… just come. Be open to creating new relationships with like-minded people. Come be with people who share similar struggles and feel the grace of a safe place to relax among new friends and old friends. Come learn from each other and network with each other. You never know what new opportunities might be around the corner for you… If you just show up.

I met my Ironman mentor and dear friend, Dan Perkins, at re:create. I’m a different man because of it.

I think if you come, you will walk away having started relationships you would have never imagined would happen.

It’s fun like that.

Plus, Compassion International is a major sponsor and I love getting to introduce influencers to the work Compassion does with children around the world through local churches.

Today on Randy Elrod’s blog you can read “Why We Call Our Franklin Tennessee Community ‘The Campus.’” I encourage you to read it as my post today is a follow up to his post.

Why? Because we often hear “I wish I had a campus like yours.”

Well I dare say that no two campus communities would ever be alike but the common thread behind our campus is something we can all share.

That common thread is community.

Community is something I think most of us long for. It’s a group of friends we can share life with through out the year. We share meals, gather at parties, go for walks, run marathons, half marathons, 5k’s and even triathlons together. (our collective sport)

We also share in our struggles and our successes.

We share life together.

That is the essence of our Franklin Campus.

Do you see how this works? It’s not so much the location (even though downtown Franklin is pretty killer)

It is the proactive attitude of us all purposefully diving into each other’s lives.

How do you start? Look at who your friends are and start there. Dive into their lives a little deeper and start off with something you can all do every week or every other week… Like gathering for a cheap meal on a Tuesday night.

Remember when you where in college and you wanted to go do something fun or go grab a bite to eat or go for a little coffee… or a drink? Who did you call? Your buddies.. your friends.. the people you hang with. That’s your campus.

So… Does this make sense? You might already have a campus you belong to but you call it something different. If so, tell me about it…

If not, do you think you can go start your own campus now? Have a Starbucks or a coffee shop near by? It’s a great place to start.

P.S. As I re-read my post for typos and such, I’m reminded of watching Seinfeld and Friends. The common thread? They shared life with each other. They had their own campus and we tuned in to watch both every Thursday night.

Before I get started telling you what I think about Sex, Lies & Religion by Randy Elrod, you should know that I have known about this book since the idea was… well… conceived. While Randy wrote this book, he and I had several conversations about what he was writing and consequently, I got to read it as he was writing it.

So to see this book being birthed into existence has been nothing short of a great experience in learning for me and has kept my mind occupied through many, many miles of running.

Now onto the book…

Sex, Lies & Religion captured my attention from the very beginning. I have always felt as though there was a deeper meaning to sex, how it parallels our faith and what God intended for us in the bedroom as well as in a relationship with Him.

No matter what your belief system – Conservative, Liberal, Catholic, Protestant, Non-believer, Married, Divorced, or Single… we all have to define our beliefs on the subject of sex at some point in our lives.

There is no doubt Sex, Lies & Religion will challenge you and cause you to question what you believe about your views on sex and how it pertains to what the Bible says as opposed to what man has made us to believe.

I now know that whatever unanswered, confusing questions I had in the past, seem to make sense when I read this book. I’ve come to understand there is actually a more redeeming, holistic relationship between body and soul.

In the end, this book causes me to examine the level of intimacy and trust I have in my relationship with God and how redeeming and life-giving God’s love really is.

To purchase a copy of Sex, Lies & Religion by Randy Elrod, Click Here.

It’s official release date is February 14, 2010.

For the past three years I’ve been a part of a mentoring group that meets every Tuesday morning. Our group varies in attendance only because everyone in the group is an artist or creative type of some kind and we all travel. But… if there’s one thing I know about all of us – we do everything we can to be there Tuesday morning to sit, talk about life and catch up.

This year as we were all sitting around a dinner table for our annual Christmas party, I was reminded of how much I love each guy in our group and the impact they have all made on my life. Our group is lead by Randy Elrod and we are fierce in our loyalty to the friendships we have created with each other.

I’ve been in several bible studies and small groups in my life and they have all been good. But this particular group is special. Why?

The approach is really simple. No bible study, no prayer time, no books to read unless it’s what we want to do for a season or if someone has a request for prayer then we pray. Our time together is spent talking about each others lives and what is going on at that moment. Sometimes we need business advice or relationship advice or help with a problem. Sometimes we talk about cool technologies we’ve found or great music and books we are into…. and sometimes we debate on the issues of the day.

But… we always learn from each other, help each other and are always just one phone call away if there is an immediate need.

Over the years the men in my life over the who I would consider to be mentors of mine have all brought me through specific seasons of my life. They have all meant so much to me, but there is one thing for sure – I would not be the man I am today without them.

So… if having someone in your life to help guide you and give you advice is something you lack. Seek out someone you respect… take them to lunch or coffee and pay for it…ask them if they would be willing to walk along side you.

If you think you need a life coach and are willing to pay for a coach, then by all means… go that route. Life Coaches are a huge value and worth their fee.

Take note… not everyone you seek out is going to say yes to being your mentor. Don’t take it personally if the person you seek out says no. It could be an issue of having to busy of a schedule to add anything else to the mix. It DOES happen.

Michael Hyatt is starting a mentoring group in the Franklin area and if you feel like you fit the requirements for his group then you should take advantage of the opportunity.

Believe me…. Having a mentor has changed me in every kind of way.

And as you grow… be willing to mentor someone else along the way.

It never hurts to pay it forward.

LifeWork 2.0 yesterday had to be one of the best days of teaching Randy and I have had so far. It was hosted by Michael Hyatt, Lindsey Nobles and the fine folks of Thomas Nelson. It was well attended and the interaction was over the top for us.

There’s nothing greater than learning from others. In an environment like LifeWork 2.0. we tend to have the kind of discussion where even Randy and I walk away learning something new. Why? The internet changes so fast everyday. There’s always something new technology popping up that people are finding.

The graphic in this post is just the beginning of the real time conversation that was happening during the seminar through our twitter hash tag (#lw2tn). If you would like to see the day as it unfolded through the eyes of the registrants and those following along on twitter. Just click here.

You gotta love technology that fosters feedback in real time.

Some people have no idea what we are saying when Randy Elrod and I start talking about Search Engine Optimization(SEO), and having a presence online…and simply the ability to be found online! . Sure… you might have an easy dot COM name that is simple to find if you Google it (spencesmith.com). But that’s just one part of it. And it’s one part of what we teach at LifeWork 2.0.

If you want people to find you because of the products you offer or because your content is of a particular subject matter, then learning how to optimize your site so that the search engines (google,yahoo,etc) recognize what you are about is crucial. This is a huge way to create traffic and key to creating a conversation online with your fans and clients.

There are a lot of SEO (search engine optimization) experts out there who are getting paid a lot of money to get a company to pop up on the first page of Google.  In fact some of these people are on monthly retainers. There’s nothing wrong with this as long as you are getting what you want.

At LifeWork 2.0, Randy and I teach you ways to do this on your own in such a simple way that YOU can do this yourself and save YOU and YOUR company a lot of money in the process.

We consulted one company who had misspellings in their keywords. They were paying a guy who was an “expert” thousands of dollars a month for good SEO and in a matter of minutes Randy and I showed them how they had been wasting their money. For them it was like paying a mechanic to fix their car but for some reason they had to always get their car fixed. HMMM I wonder why? Job security maybe?

Google makes it very easy for us everyday-non-programmer-types to do this well. But in order for a person to learn how, there are a few valuable components that you must know in the process.

So… During a LifeWork 2.0 seminar we teach Search Engine Optimization that anyone can do. But it’s just one part of the day.

If you so choose to come to one of our seminars, you will learn all about online reputation, blogs vs. traditional websites, social networking as well as twitter from beginning to advanced uses.

Come join us and let us teach you how to create a two-way conversation with your fans and clients. It will be fun… I assure you… and you will leave with your head-spinning full of refreshing new ideas for the future of you and your brand.

The next LifeWork 2.0 Seminar is July 30, 2009 in Nashville, TN and it’s hosted by our friends Michael Hyatt and Lindsey Nobles from Thomas Nelson. You can follow them on twitter too. @michaelhyatt, @lnobles, and  @thomasnelson.

Click here to register for LifeWork 2.0.

Randy Elrod will be hosting a benefit wine/chocolate tasting to benefit Liam Thiessen, Sunday evening, May 31, 7pm at Sol On Main Restaurant in downtown Franklin, TN

Liam was born in December 2008 with Down Syndrome. His Dad Jeremy has been in the artist mentoring group I lead for over eight years and plays drums for Centricity Recording Artist band DOWNHERE

Our mentoring group thought it would be a great idea to host a tasting. I will provide the wine and Brock Gill will bring chocolate from all over the world. (We will have soft drinks if you do not prefer wine.)

There is no set admission charge, but a donation of $10 or more is required to attend. All donations will go straight to Jeremy, Erin and Liam’s Paypal account. There will be no middle man. ALL proceeds go directly to the Thiessen family to help with the additional medical costs and equipment.

Please join us. To register, click HERE.

We’ve added a date to LifeWork 2.0 Seminar. May 14, 2009 in Orlando, FL. The following day we will also have another seminar in Franklin, TN. These dates are filling up so if you plan to attend please sign up soon! You can sign up by going to www.lifeworkseminar.com

Randy Elrod and I are extremely excited about the growth we are experiencing and the feed back from those who are now alumni of LifeWork 2.0. Tomorrow afternoon Randy and I will be giving a one hour overview with Q & A at the Gospel Music Association’s Indie Impact Track for Indie Artists. You must be a registered attendee to GMA Week in order to attend.

I’m excited to see the music industry start to get more excited about the possibilities the digital world has to offer. You would think that this industry would be more on top of the digital game but actually that’s not the case in most instances.

Everyday the online world adds another resource, a faster way, a better technology and a new way to brand yourself online. It’s our goal and mission to provide you with the most up-to-date way to meet your goals in engaging with your clients and fans.

For more information on attending the next LifeWork 2.0 Seminar click here.

I’m bringing back The Sunday Post. It’s a highlight of blog sites I think you should check out. It’s a short list but Sunday’s seem like a good day to throw a few places out there for you to check out.

So, for this Sunday Post, I’m going to tell you about some things to come.

1. We are starting up BigTentRevival.com. We’ve decided since we still have quite a few fans out there that we want to re-connect with them and bring them into what we are doing as individuals and…as a band. We’ve been talking about playing a few shows again and we feel like this year might actually be the year for it.

2. cRE:ate Blog Conference and Expo will be going online soon. This will be a one day event in Franklin, TN on August 7, 2009. Cost is $99. We will have some great keynote speakers and break out sessions that will cover everything from Mom Bloggers, Church Bloggers, CEO Bloggers, Getting a book deal through blogging, Social Networking etc.

3. LifeWork 2.0 Seminars seem to be picking up quite a bit of speed. We will be annoucing soon two different kinds of LifeWork 2.0 classes. One will be the very basics of blogging and social networking. Randy and I will walk you through ALL of the info you need to start your blog and social network profiles well. Links, headers, photos, content, basic search engine optimization, and maximizing your profiles. The second class will be advanced blogging, social networking and SEO. This will be a very intense one day class to give you every possible tool available to do what you want to do online.

Believe me… there are some amazing things you can do that are so easy to engage your fans and clients online.

4. I’m taking Emerson Drive to El Salvador tomorrow for the week. April 13-16 I’m taking a few folks from the Southern Gospel world to the Dominican Republic. April 24-May 3 I will be in India with CompassionBloggers.com and the week of May 4 I will be filling in on drums with a band while their drummer’s wife has a baby that week.

Yep, and in the middle of all of that I will continue to train for Ironman Louisville. Crazy I know…

For all of you Nashville area folks who enjoy art, wine, cheese and good hang time, come to Randy Elrod’s Book Tasting!

This Friday evening, Jan.23 from 5-7pm at Landmark Booksellers in historic downtown Franklin, TN

Complimentary wine & cheese and a free wine glass and signed print if you buy a book(s).