Cameron Olthuis

Happy New Year to everyone and be safe wherever your partying travels take you. See you in 2007!

I’ve never really been into the whole New Year resolutions thing but I realize there’s a few things in my life that I need to change. I figure now as good of a time as any to start working on them.

1. Workout - Ya-ya, I realize this resolution is on everyone’s list but it’s going on mine too. I haven’t worked on a regular basis since I was in high school, and even then it was only because I took a weightlifting class which most days I didn’t show up for anyways. So in all honesty I’ve never really worked out on a regular basis in my entire life, and I never really had the desire to either. It will be hard but I need to commit to doing this. Why? For one, I am starting to put on some extra weight and I’m also seriously out of shape. I could also use the energy that comes from working out.

2. Get on a regular schedule - My schedule, or lack thereof, sucks. I wake up anywhere from 8-10 and go to bed anywhere from 1-4. So I need to start getting to bed earlier and that way I can start my day at a normal hour. I don’t have an organized schedule that I follow during the day either so I want to work on that as well.

3. Balance - I’ll be honest, I have a problem. I spend way too much time on my computer. The time I spend working is excusable, but I’m sure at least a couple of the 14 hours I spend on here everyday is completely wasted. Lately I’ve been feeling burned out so I took two days over Christmas where I didn’t even touch my computer, and you know what? It felt great. I realize this is something I need to start doing more often. Freeing up a few hours of my day will keep me from burning out and give me a chance to get out and get some balance back in my life. This resolution is a huge priority for me.

4. Start playing hockey again - I miss playing hockey and I am anxious to start doing it again. I’ve been threatening to start playing again for a couple years now and this is the year I’m really going to do it. I’ve already started shopping for new equipment and contacting people in the area to figure out when all the leagues start and the pickup games are played. I’m getting excited. This will also help with resolution #1 & #3.

5. Spend more time with my family - This goes along with the balance resolution. The time I am spending on the computer is time that is being taken away from my family. Family is the most important thing in my life and I need to make it a huge priority to start giving them more attention again. Especially now that my kids are getting older. This is a hard one because I am trying to work as hard as I can now so that later on in life we’ll be set financially and I won’t have to work so many hours.

6. Take public speaking courses - Now that I am starting to speak at conferences regularly I need to get better at public speaking. I really noticed the need for this at SES Chicago, where in my opinion I didn’t give as good of a presentation that I’m capable of. I have a strong desire to become a great speaker, not only for myself but also because part of my company’s success depends on it. I think the main thing that I need to work on is the nervousness; it makes my voice shaky and I don’t have a clear head when I am nervous.

During the coming year I hope to refer back to this post on a regular basis, that way I can keep myself honest. If anyone has any tips or tricks that have helped them stick with their resolutions I would love to hear them.

Tagged again, by Pete from Mashable and he’s asking what my predictions are for 2007. So I’m going to look into my crystal ball and see what it’s in store for the coming year.

1. Social Media. It will continue to grow as people waste more and more time watching people do stupid things on YouTube. The majors like Digg, Delicious, and YouTube will keep growing. Most others will fade into oblivion, although we’ll see a couple of brand new startups with unique angles come out of nowhere and make some big noise.

2. Niche. As more people get comfortable with social media, social sites for every little niche will popup. They’ll gain enough adoption to sustain themselves and we’ll all live happily ever after.

3. Mobile Web. It won’t go anywhere because staring at a 1″ screen is annoying and not very practical. It will continue to be used only for email, checking RSS feeds, and wasting time with Twitter.

4. Vertical Search. We’ll see some good vertical search engines created because it makes sense to only search one site instead of ten. Most won’t execute properly though and there is only room for 1-2 winners in each vertical.

5. Social Media Marketing. It will be a strong year for SMM and we’ll see companies start putting a lot more resources towards it. The agencies who don’t get it will still take money from their clients but since they won’t be able to produce results they will resort to social media spam that will do more harm than good. Oh wait, that’s already happening *cough*Edelman*cough*. Social media spam will become an epidemic and the sites that can’t control it will die by the wayside.

6. Ignore SEO. The startups that continue to ignore SEO will fail because they don’t realize that’s the only way the masses will ever find them. The founders will continue to think SEO is spam as they scratch their heads trying to figure out why their companies bombed.

7. YouTube on TV. Someone, somewhere will figure out a way to seamlessly bring YouTube directly to the TV. They will be acquired by Google only if they can manage to beat them to the punch.

8. Politics 2.0. I already predicted this earlier in the year. We’ll all be so overwhelmed by all the flame wars and dirt that cover social media sites that no one will even show up to vote. A lot of money will be spent on reputation management this coming election.

I tag Neil Patel, Britney Spears, and You.

mypredictions2007

Just a quick post to wish all my friends, family, and readers a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays. Be safe, have fun, and most of all enjoy the company of those closest to you.

For those of you wondering what I’m getting Amy for Christmas this year watch this clip. But if the word “dick” offends you, don’t watch it. Mom (both of you), you’ve been warned.

Merry Christmas!

I’ve been tagged, twice. First time by Todd and then again by Jarrod. For those of you wondering what the hell I’m talking about it this is kind of like a chainletter, but it’s done through blogs. The purpose of this one is to write 5 things people don’t know about you and then when you’re done you tag 5 other people. So without further ado here are my 5.

1. I crashed a bullet-bike at 100 MPH with no helmet and I’m still here to tell you about it. I was racing my cousin on a windy road and came into a corner with way too much speed. I ended up skidding a good distance on my face across the road and some gravel. For the next month or so I didn’t have much of a face but the scars are hardly noticeable now. For the record I almost always wear a helmet, but this time I got caught being an idiot. I can guarantee you it’s been on ever since.

2. Another near death experience… I was skiing out of bounds at a ski resort and was caught in a huge avalanche. The ski patrol told me it was the biggest uncontrolled avalanche they’ve ever had. 1000 ft long, 300ft wide, and a 6 foot crown. I went for a ride the whole way; across a road, over rocks, over some trees and I ended up with my head sticking above the snow. I thought I was going to die the entire time. They only injury I had were minor scratches & bruises and a torn ligament in my knee. Hopefully that is something I never experience again.

3. I dropped out of college. Partly because I was figuring out how to make money on my own and partly because I was never one for school. I was also married and didn’t have much time but that’s just an excuse, I just hated school and once I could figure out how to get by without it I was gone. I will admit though, I sometimes have the desire to go back and finish.

4. When I was 16 I worked at Burger King for an hour. I was in there one morning while skipping school and the manager came up to my friends and I and offered us a job. I accepted and after an hour of watching training videos I walked out. Come to think of it, they still owe me $5.25.

5. I’m Canadian. I was born in Calgary Alberta but moved when I was around 5-6. That should explain my obsession with hockey, eh!

I’m supposed to tag 5 more people but after looking over this list I can’t think of ANYONE that hasn’t been tagged yet. You know what they say - the early bird gets the worm.