On this episode of the Gary Leland Show I talk about my first time at Social Media Marketing World.

I also talk about the Social Media Arlington Meet Up Group, and the new Home Town Podcast that my wife and I have started.

I also explain my plans to throw out the first pitch at a major league baseball game.

All this and much more on this episode of the podcast.

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I thought it was really cool that I was asked to do a book signing for my book 100 Podcast Tips while at Social Media Marketing World.

This was my first time to the event, and it was also my first time to be involved in a book signing of any kind.

I have around 18 published books if you count my ebooks, and paperback books. I am the first to admit that none of them are great works of literature.

Most of my books are about the sport of fastpitch softball, and can be seen HERE.

I also have a few about marketing, and podcasting. I guess that is a lucky thing for me. If not for my paperback version of the 100 Podcast Tips Book I would not of had a book to sign at the book signing.

When I first arrived at the vendors area of the conference I went over to the book area to see if my book was there. I had been contacted previously, and told it would be there for me to sign. Until you see it in person though you can't be sure.

To my surprise not only was my book there, but there was a guy in the check out line with a copy in his hand. I do have to say that brought a smile to my face.

I do not think they had a large quantity of my books in the Barnes and Nobles area, but I think they had around 35 copies or so.

After my speakers session I was scheduled to go back to the vendors area and sign copies of the books. Everything was all set up for me when I arrived. My books, and pens were all out on the table waiting for me to sit down and start signing.

I had not been sitting there for more than a minute when a line started forming. People were asking me to sign, and personalize my book to them.

It was a blast meeting people who were actually interested in buying the book, and learning more about podcasting.

The full name of this book is 100 Great Podcasting Tips From 100 Great Podcasters I should thank everyone who sent in their tips for the book.

Since without their tips there would not of been a book to sign.

Thanks everyone. You helped me have a blast at my first book signing.

The book sold out so that was also very exciting.

I am not sure if Social Media Marketing World is the largest social media conference in the world. With over three thousand people attending it may or may not be the largest. The one thing I am sure of is that it is the best conference I have ever attended.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of this great event. It has been held in San Diego every year since it was conceived.

The conference was created by Michael Stelzner of The Social Media Examiner. The Social Media Examiner is the go to website for staying informed on what is new, and going on in the world of social media.

I have known about this great event since it's creation, but had never attended until this year.

My good friend Paul Colligan of The Podcast Report put together a great panel about monetizing your podcast. Paul moderated the panel which included Rob Walch of Today in IOS, John Lee Dumas of Entrapeneur On Fire, and myself.

I personally thought the panel was very well attended, and Paul did a fantastic job as a moderator. The audience asked so many great questions that we were able to answer for them.

The invitation to speak on the panel is what made me decide to finally get off my butt and attend The Social Media Marketing World Conference. Now I am asking myself why did I wait so long to attend?

I feel the key word for this event is the word SOCIAL. Of course it is social because it included a large amount of great speakers, and great sessions on Social Media.

In this case though when I say social I am referring to the fantastic networking opportunities that were available in so many great social settings.

It was hard to believe how many great social opportunities Michael set up for the attendees to network. These networking opportunities really made the event great.

Starting with a speakers party for the session speakers and keynote speakers. This event included a who's who from the world of social media. The top one percenters from the worlds of Facebook, YouTube, Podcasting, and many other areas of expertise.

This networking event with the top leaders in the industry was a once in a lifetime time opportunity to meet, and network with industry leaders in a smaller environment. I met so many people at this event that I recognized, but had never met. I really enjoyed this opportunity to network with them, and what a great way to start things off.

The speakers Networking Party was such a great networking event that I am excited to say that we are going to incorporate a networking event like this at Podcast Movement this year in Anaheim, California.

Then we were taken by bus to an aircraft carrier for another networking event. That's right they actually rented the USS Midway to host a networking party for over two thousand of the attendees.

Who rents an aircraft carrier for a party? Michael Stelzner that's who.

On the ship they handed out bingo cards. These bingo cards required people to track down speakers, and other people to get the squares on their bingo card marked out. Of course there were prizes for the winners of the bingo event. This forced attendees to meet new people, and network with them. What a great idea. As a speaker I met so many people that were excited to get their bingo card marked, and chat for a while.

I also loved the daily power walks. Every morning at six a.m. I joined a group in the hotel lobby, and we walked about a mile at a fair pace. I am not sure I would really call it a power walk at that pace. I would call it another great networking opportunity, which enabled me to make more new contacts.

I enjoyed the power walk so much that I plan on personally heading up a power walk at all future Podcast Movements.

Another thing I loved were the table sessions that were held during lunch. I hosted a table session about podcasting. This allowed people to join the groups and discuss podcasting while eating their lunch.

There were dozens of tables discussing on all kinds of topics. I really enjoyed this opportunity to talk podcasting with new, and seasoned podcasters. This was another great networking opportunity.

Of course during the three day event there were many other networking opportunities. There was the Networking Plaza, and another great networking party called Under The Sea on Thursday night.

I could write about all the great speakers, and all the great conference sessions. I am sure plenty of other people will write about how great those were, and they really were great for sure. There is no doubt that the line up of speakers were as good as you could hope for.

Since one of the quotes I am known for saying is “Sometimes you can make more money networking in the hallways, than you can make in a session” it just seemed appropriate for me to talk about the networking opportunities instead.

As I have tried to state in this post that the social aspect, and networking opportunities at this event were great. They would make this event worth attending all by themselves. When you add all the great conference sessions this is a must attend conference for anyone trying to learn or grow in the world of social media.

Thanks Michael for putting on such a great event, and allowing me to attend. I hope to see you again next year.

To find out more about this great event go to SocialMediaExaminer.com/smmworld.

The other day I decided to look at an old photo album from around the mid 70's. This album has been hanging out in the back of my closet for year, and years. I am not sure why I pulled it off the shelf, but I did enjoy look through it.

While looking at the photos I started realizing that I hardly knew who any of the people in the photos were. I did know the basics of them. I could place most of the faces, and tell you how I was associated with them. I could point our old girlfriends, and the girls I dated. I knew which ones were co-workers, and which ones were childhood friends.

The thing I could not do is name many of them.

Here is how the album photos broke down:

There were a total of 171 photos.

A total of 69 different people in the photos.

Of the 69 people 7 were old girlfriends, or girls I dated.

Now for people that I knew the names of:

I knew the names of 16 people, and in case you are interested I did not know the name of any of the 7 girls I dated.

That is less than 25% of the people in the album.

When I took these photos I must of felt the people in the photos were important to me.

Not only did I take, and develop the photos. I then decided these people were important enough to put in a photo album.

Of the 16 people I knew the names of 14 of them were people I knew for more than 15 years.

I do not know what any of these numbers mean, but I found it interesting how little most of these people meant to me.

When we are passing through life it is really hard to know who will be important in your life. Some of the people that you think will be important turn out to be very unimportant long term.

As I said these numbers probably mean nothing. They were just interesting to me.

My father was not the smartest person in the world, nor was he the most motivated person ether.

While he did have his negative points. I do have to say he was correct about one thing.

He always said that people should not walk around with their noses up in the air. With this statement he meant people should not think they were special.

His reason for this comment was that all they money that fell out of peoples pockets was laying on the ground. So the people walking around with their noses in the air were missing out on all the money laying on the ground.

When I was a kid I was always amazed at how much money he always found. Now that I think about it I am not sure it was a lot of money, or just a little money a lot of the time.

Ether way you look at it he did seem to be correct with his saying.

I still remember his words every time I find money, and I also feel that I find a lot of money. Maybe I should say I find a little money a lot of the time.

Thanks for the great advice Dad.

I really, really love being interviewed.

As far as I am concerned there is no better marketing tool in my toolbox than an interview on a someone else's podcast.

Why do I say podcast interviews are such a great marketing tool?

Let me count the reason for you.

1. It does not cost me anything to allow someone to interview me on their podcast. All it takes is a little bit of my time.

2. The lifespan of a podcast interview can be almost forever. Especially if the content is evergreen, or a subject that will be of interest for a long time.

3. An interview on an unknown or new podcast may turn into many more listens than expected. If the podcast takes off, or become a big time hit more people than expected will hear your interview.

It is amazing how many times a listener will download the entire back catalog of a podcast they discovered, and feel in love with.

You never can tell when that fledgling podcast with become a big time hit.

4. Many times podcast listeners will hear your interview, and contact you about being on their own podcast for another interview.

5. Many times I will start a relationship with a podcaster that lasts for years. I will see them at other events like podcast conventions, or social media conventions.

At these events they will introduce me to their podcast friends which can lead to more business connections, and even more interviews.

6. Podcasters appreciate you taking the time to come on their podcast, and are more than happy to repay you if you ever have a need for their services, or a question they can help you with.

7. I have made so many long term friends from what started as a simple interview. This may actually be the best thing that can come from a interview.

I don't think I really need to go on much more to explain how exciting a simple interview can be.

It does not matter if it is a seasoned pro like John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur On Fire, or someone I have never heard of recording the first episode of their podcast. I have never said no to anyone, and I never plan to ether.

As I stated at the beginning or this post I love being interviewed on podcast, and believe they may be the best marketing resource in existence.

I will be joining Paul Colligan of The Podcast Report, John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire, and Rob Walch of Today in IOS for a great panel on How To Monetize Your Podcast.

This great podcast monetization panel will be at Social Media Marketing World in March of 2017

I was caught off guard when I read the email. The email from Mayor Williams stated that his office, and the City Council thought I deserved to have a day named after me in my hometown of Arlington, Texas.

At first I thought it was a joke put together by my wife Kathy, but after taking a second look at the email I realized it was legit.

How could this happen? How would the City Council, and Mayor Williams know anything about me?

It turns out my wife saw a Twitter post about someone else who had been fortunate enough to have the Mayor make a proclamation that he would have a designated day in the city of Arlington, Texas. After reading the post she thought I was as deserving as they were.

Kathy emailed the Mayors office, and basically said I was deserving. Then she gave them a link to my bio. The rest was up to the Mayor, and City Council members.

I guess they agreed with her, because three weeks later they sent the email saying so.

They told me I could have my choice of any day that was not taken up for something else. Since my birthday (March 1st) was right around the corner I could not think of a better day for Gary Leland Day.

On February the 28th at the City Council meeting Mayor Williams made the following proclamation:

From The Office Of The Mayor Arlington, Texas

Proclamation

Whereas, Gary Leland has become a pioneer in the world of podcasting by being one of the first 100 podcasters starting in 2014; and

Whereas, Mr. Leland’s podcasting website was recognized as one of Time Magazines “50 collest Websites” in 2006; and

Whereas, Gary Created and produced the Fastpitch TV Network for the sport of fastpitch softball, producing an abundance of free softball content for all to use; and

Whereas, Mr. Leland was inducted into the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame in Chicago in 2016; and

Whereas, Gary Leland has helped hundreds of inspiring podcasters and young entrepreneurs reach their goals of starting a podcast and growing their business; and

Whereas, Gary created Social Media Arlington, the most active and free Meet Up group available for our local marketers in Arlington, Texas; and

Whereas, Gary Leland has successfully owned and operated two retail business in Arlington, Texas since 1981.

Now Therefore, I, W. Jeff Williams, Mayor of the City of Arlington, Texas, and on behalf of the Arlington City Council, do herby proclaim March 1, 2017 as

Gary Leland Day

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City to be affixed this 27th day of February in the year of Our Lord two thousand and seventeen.

Now that is pretty cool. Who would of thought that when I created my first podcast back in 2004 it would lead to this? I sure did not.

I am honored and humbled to have a day named after me for doing something I love to do.

I have uploaded the 3 minute video of the proclamation ceremony down below in case you want to view it.

I have spent the past few days in Orlando, Florida at a podcasting event called Podfest.

This was a three day event, and as I said it was all about podcasting.

I have to say that Chris Krimitsos and crew put on a great event. It was well organized, with some great speakers, and really did run very smooth.

There were some great speakers that I enjoyed listening to. Some I knew from previous events, and many I did not know, but enjoyed meeting and getting to know.

They say you can tell the quality of an event by the quality of the attendees. Using that saying as a guide I thought it was an interesting fact that 3 of the 12 members of the Academy Of Podcasters Hall of Fame were at the event. In attendance was Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central, Danny Pena of Gamertag Radio, and myself. If you think about it that is 25% of the members of the Hall Of Fame. Now that's not too shabby at all.

I think Chris was expecting around 500 people to attend. While it was a really a nice size crowd, I am not sure he quite reached his goal of 500 people.

One of the events scheduled during Podfest was the premier of the documentary Messengers. In case you have not guessed already this was a movie about podcasting.

I thought the movie was very well done. There were some really great Podcasters in the movie talking about their enjoyment of podcasting, and how podcasting had effected their lives.

I really enjoyed the appearance by Rob Walch who has the Today in IOS Podcast. I really did laughed out loud when he gave Leo Laporte a little jab with his net cast comment during the movie.

Dave Jackson of School Of Podcasting Fame brought me to my knees several times with his comments and one liners. His keynote speech during the event was also excellent.

Don't get me wrong, this movie was not a comedy. It was quite the opposite being a serious documentary about podcasting, but had many great moments and quotes. It had serious moments, and some funny moments.

The vendor tables were limited, but I think that was more because of the limited space the location had to offer, and not because of the events capability to bring in vendors.

I was amazed at how many of the people I met were thinking about producing a podcast. They came to the event to find out more information, and learn the steps involved.

It was great to see so many people thinking about moving into the world of Podcasting, and starting their own podcast. When I see so much growth in podcasting it just gets me excited.

I spoke on a Keynote Panel with Glenn Herbert, Cale Nelson, Kimberly Falker, and Ryan Gray about building podcast networks. I really enjoyed speaking on this panel, and the opportunity to meet the other great panelists.

The location for the event was at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando which was a great choice. Since this was a resort hotel it really did provide a great back drop for the event.

My wife came with me to Orlando and completely enjoyed hanging out at the pool. She enjoyed the local shopping, and especially enjoyed the local discount mall. I am very happy it was a discount mall.

Since the location was in Orlando we stayed an extra day, and took in Disney's Animal Kingdom. That made for a great final day, and turned the trip into a mini vacation for us.

All in all I have to say it was a well run event, and I would love to be invited back. I would recommend Podfest to anyone interested in learning more about Podcasting. It would be hard to go wrong attending this event.

I always enjoy talking with other Podcasters. I have to admit I love networking at the events I attend. I really enjoy the networking way more that the seminars. I really get so many great ideas from my networking efforts.

I have several new ideas mulling around in my brain that I am going to start working on thanks to Podfest. One of which is to start creating audio books from my podcast episodes.

To find out more about this great event go to Podfest.US.

My next speaking gig is about monetizing your podcast, which will be in San Diego at Social Media Marketing World. I hope to see you there.

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One of the things that I have been working on for the last few months is creating a network of media to help market my store Leland's Wallpaper, and the store's website LelandsWallpaper.com.

I started the business back in 1981, and built the website in 1996. Yes, being built in 1996 was like the olden days of the internet.

Over the last few years the site has had a loss In traffic and business partly because of Google's dislike of the site. I am sure Google disliked the website for not being mobile friendly, and other issues the site had.

After spending the time to completely rebuild the website I started my new marketing plan to get the site back in Googles good graces.

I have made several posts about the steps, and process I have been using to help spread the word about the store and in turn increase sales. You can see some of those previous posts on my blog.

I have been creating blogs, podcasts, and I have been using social media sites to really push the site out to the internet.

I am so happy with the results so far. And have to say my plan seems to be working very well.

I have included an image of my google statistics for one of the pages in the site. I have really been working hard on promoting this page and this graph shows some great results.

This graph shows the increase in visitors to one page about Joanna Gaines' new wallpaper book Magnolia Home over a 60 day period. As you can see there is a great increase in traffic to this page.

One of the best things that has happened to help promote the website was really just a side benefit of the marketing I have been doing myself.

Yesterday on the Today Show's blog my website was used as the go to resource for purchasing the wallpaper from Joanna Gaines new wallpaper book.

They interviewed Joanna and were posting about the interview and her wallpaper . They not only used a link to my site on the blog, but they had 6 separate links to to 6 of my website pages.

OMG, can you say Google Juice. Having a high authority site like Today.com linking to my site 6 times is fantastic.

Yes it was great for Google Juice, but it was also great for getting readers of the Today Show blog to come to my website to purchase wallpaper.

You can see the blog post on the Today's Show Blog Here.

Like I said my plan on blogging, podcasting, and using social media are paying off big time, and this is just the start of my new marketing plans for LelandsWallpaper.com

 

I am a big fan of P.T. Barnum

I think P.T. Barnum was the greatest marketer of the 19th century, and maybe of all times.

P.T. Barnum lived in the 1800s and is remembered for promoting many hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus.

He was also an American politician, showman, and businessman.

He is known for many great quotes, but my favorite quote of his is “I don't care what you say about me, just spell my name right”

I believe that is P. T. Barnum was alive to day he would of preferred the quote “I don't care what you say about me, just spell my Domain right”

Just a quick thought that I thought I would share with you.

If you have been keeping up with everything I do then you already know I started a new podcast with my wife to help market our decorating websites.

Kathy, and I decided to produce a podcast about the HGTV Fixer Upper TV Show.

The TV Show has ben one of the top shows on HGTV, and has brought quite a bit of fame to the show hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Every Tuesday Kathy and I watch the latest episode. Then we record our podcast on Wednesday night. I edit, and upload the podcast Thursday around noon.

As part of our marketing program I decided to create Fixer Upper Gear to sell on the podcast, and the website too.

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The first thing I created was the Fixer Upper Podcast Caps. I think it is a perfect fit too sell on the podcast. I thought it would be an item that men would like, and since this podcast will attract more women listeners they might buy the caps for their husbands.

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Both items are available now, and will ship to customers within 24 hours.

I hope you enjoy the first 2 items for the Fixer Upper Podcast.

Yes, I was hanging out with Tom Cruise.

During my one, and only appearance in a major motion picture. I was in the movie Born On The Fourth Of July with Tom Cruise.

Being in a major motion picture was a great experience. For a full week I was hanging out with Tom Cruise, and having a blast. While doing this I really learned a lot about Movie Magic while there. It makes for a great story that I am going to share with you. A story of how some opportunities are made, not given.

It all started one day while driving to work in Dallas. I was listening to the radio, and a story came on about a movie being filmed at the Dallas Convention Center. Since I was a salesman and could schedule up my own day I went straight downtown to the conventions center to see what was going on.

Walking in the convention center I saw a hundreds of people hanging out, and waiting for something to happen. I was told they were the extras for the movie. I was told that if I wanted I could just wait with them. That I could be an extra in the movie, so I waited.

After about thirty minutes of waiting I heard a voice on the speaker say “All secret service agents come to east door”. I decided to go to the east door and see what the story was on the secret service agents. When I arrived at the east door I saw twelve men all wearing nice suits. Since I had a suit and tie, I knew would fit right in.

I remember when one of the people in charge of the cast came over, and started counting. I almost laughed when he said “there is thirteen of you guys. There is only suppose to be twelve.” I thought I was busted for sure. Then he said, “Oh well come on everyone lets go.” The next thing I knew we were all going to over to get our guns, badges, and earphones. Basically, they gave us everything a secret service agent would need.

After we were given our gear we were all marched into the arena. This was where the filming for the Republican Convention would take place. I was then assigned a spot to stand at. I was just suppose to stand at this spot, and stay there during the entire filming of the movie.

I have to tell you this was a terrible spot to stand. The camera would never see me if I stayed in this spot. I was very removed from the action, so I had to move. I moved to the main aisle, where all the filming was going on. The aisle that Tom Cruise would be rolling down in his wheel chair. I found a good spot, and just stood there like that was my assigned spot.

Before I knew it another guy came by, and told me to run into the crowd. He told me to help remove Tom Cruise from the convention center when all the fighting started. It was not five minutes later before the original guy, who told me where to stand came by. “What are you doing in over here?” he said. I simply pointed to the other guy, and said “he told me to stand here”. That was all it took to make this my new assigned spot.

For the next week I was within thirty feet of Tom Cruse all the time. I was right in the middle of the action. Personally, I thought Tom was great. He hung out with everyone between scenes. He was very pleasant, and talked all the time. I know people give him a hard time, but my only experience with him was great.

It took close to a week to film this one scene. I was amazed how long it took to get this one scene done. It is hard to believe that after a week of being in all that action, and that close to Tom I am only in the movie for a few seconds.

I guess most of my scene ended up on the cutting room floor. Oh well thats show biz, and the end of my story.

Just remember that sometime you have to make your own opportunities in life. The things that are left to those who wait, are left by those who hustle.

I have spoken all over the country.

Yes, I have spoken everywhere from New York to California.

You can see all the presentations I have given at GaryLeland.com/speaking.

Coming up in February I am a keynote speaker at Podfest in Florida. Podfest is a great new podcasting conference.

Then in March I am speaking at the world largest social media conference. That is Social Media Marketing World in California.

I love speaking, and giving presentations, but I never took the time to create a speakers reel.

Now I finally have one thanks to Dennis Yu, and the crew at Blitz Metrics. They created this speakers reel for me, and I really do appreciate it.

I think it turned out pretty nice.

The 2016 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Convention was a great event this year.

As I fly home from the NFCA Convention in New Orleans I decided to jot down a few thoughts about this great event.

First let me say I think the NFCA is the number one resource for all softball coaches. I don't care if you are a travel ball, high school, or a college softball coach you need to join.

If you take the cost of a yearly membership, and what you get as a member it is a no brainer. You need to join today.

One of the things I always enjoy is the exhibit hall. For two days during the convention softball vendors set up their booths, and are there to tell you all about their products. This is also an opportunity to see all the new products on the market. Many times it is a preview before they're even on the market.

All of the big companies are there like Mizuno, Wilson, and Schutt. There are also a lot of smaller companies like software creators, educational, and training companies. While this part of the exhibit isn't about softball you would still want to go and see everything. It is amazing how much you can learn in the exhibit hall.

The biggest and best part of the convention are the speaker halls, and all the great speakers that are there everyday.

Want to get more education in pitching, hitting, or fielding? Help is there. Do you wish you were a better coach? Help is there. I would have to say that there is someone speaking on almost every subject you could think of.

I do not think there is any event on the planet that has as many speakers covering as many parts of softball as the NFCA has.

Another great part of the convention every year is the Hall Of Fame Banquet. Not only are the new inductees there, but many former inductees and legends of the game. People like Joan Joyce, Mike Candraia, Diane Baker, and many more.

The opportunity to meet and talk softball with these legends of the game is priceless and I always learn so much during this event. I love the history of softball and there is no other event like the Hall Of Fame Banquet for softball history.

Then there are all the networking opportunities. The chance to make friends, and relationships with other softball coaches. There were over 1,500 people at this years event. That is a whole lot of people to meet and get to know.

To make the networking opportunities even better companies like Diamond Sports, USSSA, and Wilson Sports sponsor networking events in the evenings. This is a great way to meet and network with other softball coaches.

I have made great friends that will last a lifetime. I actually look as much to seeing old friends when I attend as I look forward to the education I receive.

There are a lot of other events during the convention that I do not have time to mention in this article, but I think you get the picture from the few I mentioned.

Yes, the NFCA Convention is a MUST attend event, and the NFCA is a MUST join association.

I recommend you go to their website at http://NCCA.org and join today. The cost is very cheap for all you will receive in return.