2009 May | Brandon Coppernoll

28May/090

Wedding anniversary reminds me why I'm here

Despite several couples falling apart around us, we are very excited to celebrate our four year wedding anniversary. As everyone probably knows (that know me), I am very busy in day-to-day life because I am a busy-body. I work 40-48 hours a week, participate in a competitive video gaming league, tried a couple of unsuccessful businesses and I am a father of two very wonderful children. I also am trying to find a reasonable amount of time to exercise and take care of myself personally.

You may have noticed that I didn't put being a husband in that list. I did this because I wanted to really touch on that point. My goal for this year is do a better job at it. I work very hard to provide for my family, and I am definitely a little selfish in wanting my own personal time especially when it comes to competitive gaming. I need to spend more time with my wife on a daily basis. Not just at a time level but on a more personal level that helps us continue to grow as a couple and as friends. It's very hard to do when you have two young children, and we both want to have our own personal time. This is not to say we are doing poorly. I would venture to say we are both very happily married, but I know in my heart that I can do a better job in this area of my life and want to make it a priority.

My wife is very understanding to why I want to play video games or do this or that. I need to do a better job at giving back to her in return. Being a husband is not only for providing, but it's also to be a friend and partner. My promise to my wife (who reads my blog) is that I'm going to do everything I can to be a better husband and friend. I promise to put you before myself more often, and I promise the years to come will be an adventure we both enjoy (not that we haven't enjoyed the first four).

I love you.

Filed under: Family and Life No Comments

20May/090

What's going to work? Teamwork!

It's the Wonder Pets slogan! My wife and I are starting to figure out our evening structure after only a couple days back at work. She's finally back to work (although I'm sure she wishes she wasn't).

Although we're both pretty sleep-deprived at the moment we are getting by through teamwork. We know when to hand off the children duties to the other while the other takes care of other important daily items such as cooking, cleaning and pulling your hair out. One of those three doesn't really happen so take a wild guess at that.

I feel confident we're going to be just fine as time goes on because we do everything together as a team. We also know when the other needs a break. Unfortunately sometimes our own personal pride can step in the way and not allow the other to help, but we do a good job at reminding each other to let the other help and we're back to being golden.

Marriage is a partnership. I can't stress that enough. You have to let your pride take a backseat to what is much more important. We have family and friends going down the path to get married soon. Please take my words to heart when I say you must work together. Some days you'll want to go crazy, but know that the good always outweighs the bad. We are trying very hard to not always put the kids first and take time for each other.

So remember..."What's going to work? Teamwork!"

Filed under: Family and Life No Comments

13May/091

Just as nature intended

So I went to the eye doctor yesterday as a first attempt to take better care of my body. I have a this strange phobia with my eyes (I can't even use eye drops) so it's been a long time since I've seen him.

I felt that everything went pretty well. He said my eyes were healthy. I do have an astigmatism which I already new, and apparently it has gotten a little worse over the past two years. My left eye is much stronger than my right eye.

Anyway, the doctor has updated my glasses prescription which is going to make a dent in my wallet which already has been dented pretty heavily due to baby bills. He also said he urges me to wear them more often so my eyes work "just as nature intended." He admitted this was his way of telling me he'd want me to wear them all the time. I'm not so sure I'm ready for that commitment, but there are many areas I can start using them more.

So here is my pledge to wear my glasses more often. So far so good.

Filed under: Family and Life 1 Comment

8May/090

Fell off the wagon already

So after a week of constructive blogging for both my personal blog and company blog I have already found a week where I really didn't have a lot on my mind to post about. I tried thinking of subjects, but in an effort to provide content that may be worth your time I am trying to not post random nonsense that has no meaning.

When trying to create a new habit it is often very easy to "fall off the wagon." I continually struggle with this very problem. The issue that I'm finding is that it's very easy to have a setback and quit or not get started. The weather is getting rather nice again, and I keep telling myself I need to start running and exercising once again. I used to be such an exercise junkie. Where have those days gone? I also keep telling myself and the world that I'm going to post more to my blog. Last week if you read the Fusework Studios Blog you will find I was very active as I had three or four very relevant posts. I even had some people read and tweet about my latest post about degrees of separation in the Internet world which was impressive.

Here's my new course of action to stay on task and make steps forward to developing good, long-standing habits:

I am going to bring exercise clothes to work and run during lunch breaks on nice days. I won't run far starting out, but I'm going to get in that habit of running.
I am going to start stretching, working on my abdominal muscles and other exercises with specific focus on toning.
I am going to post on this blog about how I'm doing. This will require myself to hold myself accountable.
I am going to read something pertaining to my career in some way and post on the company blog at least twice a week.

Once I get more comfortable with these new goals I'll get more strict and bold to have more demanding goals. I know I need to start out small and form the habit.

Filed under: Career No Comments

1May/090

What is this Twitter thing people keep talking about?

On Wednesday night I was travelling to Anderson to help a good friend and family member move into a new home. I'm an avid baseball fan so I tuned in to the Cincinnati Reds radio channel to catch some of the game. I'm a Chicago Cubs fan myself, but baseball is baseball and I just wanted to listen to it. Marty, one of the commentators, asked his co-host if he had heard of Twitter. Being in a company that works on Internet Marketing and Social Media it definitely queued my interest to see where this was going.

Apparently someone had shown Marty a Twitter account titled Marty Says (as of now I cannot find the account at all) that he didn't create and had his picture. He told his co-host he was going to sue the guys at Twitter for all it's worth. This statement was shortly followed by a rant about, "Who would think they're important enough to have people want to know what they're doing at any giving moment?"

There are two key points that come to mind Marty is missing or has been giving misinformation:

It's not just about letting people know what you're doing. It's also about connecting at any given time.
He's a broadcaster for a Major League Baseball team. People are already tuning in to hear what he says. I guarantee there would be a following in a social networking environment.

What makes this story even more interesting is that I tweeted about this the next day. Within 30 minutes the unoffical Twitter account of the Cincinnati Reds retweeting my statements all because I mentioned the Reds and Marty in my tweets. With proper use of Twitter you can find anyone thinking, doing or talking about the same subjects as yourself. Companies can use this branding opportunity to search for specific keywords to draw customers near.

For instance, at Fusework Studios we can monitor Indianapolis Internet Marketing or many different search terms to engage with potential customers immediately through the use of Twitter. With any luck, since the potential client is using Twitter, we'll be able to help the client solidify their online presence and strategic marketing.

This experience has given me some more personal reflection on how to use these tools. Even my own blog experienced a large jump in traffic by tweeting an update and posting it on Facebook. This shows promise that there is a lot of potential out there.

Filed under: Career, Internet Marketing, Social Networking No Comments