Tuesday, October 03, 2006

6 Degrees of Blogging

Sorry, JL, but I'm changing my topic for today. I already responded about why I blog.

Today, I'm going to talk about networking, a subject near and dear to my heart as I rev up for the American Title III contest. You know that whole "six degrees of separation" thing? It's amazing how that works. I read somewhere that you are connected to everyone in the world within those 6 degrees. Kind of a neat thing to think about when you're contemplating your place in the universe. Take the famous Kevin Bacon example.

Let's see; you're reading me and I had a friend who roomed with a bunch of people, one of whom was an actor who was in a movie with Kevin Bacon. That puts me at 3 degrees and you at 4. How about Ben Vereen? Ben Vereen, you say? Sure, why not. He's a famous individual and you're only 2 degrees from him. How's that? I worked out in a gym with him in Florida many moons ago, chatted, got invited to his show and there you go. 2 degrees for you. Tell your best friend. Now, he/she is 3 degrees. How about President Bush? There may be other ways you and I are within the 6 degrees, but here's one of them. One of my friends from college married a republican congressman's son during the Bush era. So, there's me, my friend, her husband, his father, then the president. There ya go, 6 degrees for you.

My point, and I do have one, is that networking is an amazing tool, and one I'm coming to rely on heavily for my American Title showing and blogging ties into it. It seems like every email or phone call I make these days contains the words, "so please tell all your friends." I mean, if they've got a vote and their friends have a vote, and their friends have a vote, well, you get the idea. So, please tell your friends (see? I told you!), and family members and people at the grocery store and anyone else you can think of. I'd like to see who all we end up with and from where.

I wonder if there would be any celebrities in the mix. They reach all sorts of people. Think of what it'd be like if Kelly Ripa mentioned me on the show. She did such an amazing PR job for Vicki Lewis Thompson (love that Nerd series, Vicki!). Maybe she could even endorse me. Okay, I'll wake up now.

What about JK Rowling? She had a tough start in the business, maybe she'd vote for me out of compassion for another struggling writer her age. Think of all the people she's in touch with from her websites alone!

Somehow, someone has to know these people, right? If I can work the celebrity thing downward, surely, somehow it can work the other way? Maybe Katie Couric will call me for an interview (hey, it's my blog and I can dream if I want to.)

It's not the celebrity thing I'm focused on. It's the people they're connected to. The sheer numbers of people they reach. Television is great, but add the internet and the exposure is unbelievable. One push of a "Forward" button and voila! thousands more can see your words/info/stories. That's the power of blogging - reaching people and watching the ripples extend outwards.

So, yes, in a shameless self-promotion plug, please, push those "Forward" buttons and email your friends about Beauty and The Best. It's a call to arms for the 6 Degrees Army.

Or maybe I should email my college friend to have her father-in-law mention me to his ole buddy George who could mention Beauty and The Best in one of his State-of-the-Union speeches. ....Or not. -Judi

1 comment:

J L said...

Hey, I can one-up you on this. You're one-degree separated from Kurt Vonnegut and Jerzy Kozynsky.

See, I was at a party in 1973 and Kurt Vonnegut was there and I talked to him and got his autograph on a piece of calligraphy I did of some of his writing. I actually (literally) sat at his feet as he talked and we all sat around and drank.

A year later I was at another party and had a big likker drink alongside JK. Of course, he's dead now, so I guess it doesn't count.

Let's see, who else do I know? Danny Marino, Hugh Green, assorted other football players (I worked at the University of Pittsburgh in the Athletic Department); assorted romance authors (Kathleen Eagle, Connie Brockway, Lois Greiman, etc.) from my chapter here in town. I'm sure if I search my brain I can come up with others.

I'm not sure how much self-promotion will help, though. In the end, folks will vote for the entry they like the best, and as we all know that's so dependent on personal taste, isn't it? And then there's so many in the AT contest. I 'know' five of the finalists, either through online groups or critique groups or whatever. Lots of votes to spread around.

I'm sort of out of the loop on this since I'm probably one of the few human beings over the age of ? who have never seen American Idol. So I could be all wrong (and probably am) about the self-promotion.