In this video, I talk about the all-important principle of promiscuity, and why it’s essential to your promotional efforts on Twitter:

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KevinDelaneyVO

Tweet This Post!

In a recent post, I wrote about a deal that was struck between myself and the service Ad.ly to issue a “paid Tweet” about sandwiches in Los Angeles. I emerged from the experience $1.40 richer.

Shortly thereafter, I received a second proposition from Ad.ly, this time to advertise beer. Again, the amount offered was $1.40. I declined. I’m not about to hawk booze for a lousy $1.40. I have standards.

$250 — that’s much more like it.

Thinking long and hard about it, I have decided that I will issue paid Tweets — if the price is right. I logged in to my Ad.ly account, and upped my price per paid Tweet from $2 (the recommended amount), to $250.

I also visited my account at SponsoredTweets.com — another pay-to-Tweet service that I had registered with a while ago, but so far have gotten no action from. I raised my amount there also to $250.

I used SponsoredTweets back in October ‘09 to issue a paid Tweet of my own. For $117.65, a major blogger sent out several Tweets directing people to WealthyBohemian.com, and specifically to my article on how to become a semi-celebrity. (These Tweets were labeled with the “#ad” hashtag.)

My blog saw a significant — though temporary — jump in traffic as a result. That blogger has tens of thousands of Twitter followers, so even a small percentage of clicks could result in a lot of people checking it out, if only for a moment.

I bought the Sponsored Tweet mostly because I was curious to see how the service worked. Would I do it again? Maybe.

Meanwhile, if you have something you’d like me to pitch via my Twitter feed, $250 is all it will take to make it happen. Hell, that’s a fraction of what I normally get to record VO for a major ad campaign. My Twitter followers are all highly interested, motivated, bright, good-looking people. So are the readers of my blog.

I should add: The folks who follow me on Twitter don’t hate me — yet. They might start to, and soon, especially if I include ads in my Tweets with any regularity. So get your advertising message out with me now, before the masses turn on me!

Full disclosure: Clicking on the links for Ad.ly and SponsoredTweets in this post will cause me to receive a commission for any money and/or any purchases you make through these services.

Tweet This Post!

I was on Mike Pintek’s radio show on KDKA in Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon. Mike and I talked about my video on parking in Pittsburgh, and especially the phenomenon of the Pittsburgh Parking Chair.

Click the player below to listen to the audio. (7 minutes)

A big thanks to Mike & to KDKA for having me on!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tweet This Post!

If you follow me on Twitter, you received the Tweet to the right from me today.

I didn’t write it. A company called The Ad.ly Network emailed me and offered me cash to broadcast the Tweet to my readers.

The amount I received for passing along their promotional message: $1.40.

Ad.ly is a service that anyone can register with — provided you have a reasonably large Twitter following, and are willing to prostitute your account for the purpose of sending paid advertisements.

I registered with the service some months ago, but didn’t hear anything from them until today. When they dangled that $1.40 in front of me to blast what seemed to be a harmless link to a page ranking local sandwiches, I couldn’t resist.

“Paid Tweeting” is a controversial issue. Many see it as spamming — which it is, of course. Two slight things that the concept has in its favor: 1. The tweet is labeled as an (Ad), and 2. The Tweeter has the option to accept or reject any advertisement submitted.

I don’t have much of an opinion about it. Several people I follow (all of whom have much larger Twitter followings than me) have sent out these kinds of paid messages, and I generally don’t mind. Occasionally, in fact, I’ve found the links they contain useful.

What do you think? Did my sponsor get their money’s worth? Do you approve of the practice of paid Tweeting?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Full Disclosure: Registering with Ad.ly via any of the links in this post will earn me a 12% commission on any money you make using the service. That means seventeen cents for me every time you send a $1.40 Tweet. Sweet!

Tweet This Post!

“And what is a kiss, when all is done?
A promise given under a seal — a vow
Taken before the shrine of memory
A signature acknowledged — a rosy dot
Over the i of Loving — a secret whispered
To listening lips apart — a moment made
Immortal, with a rush of wings unseen —
A sacrament of blossoms, a new song
Sung by two hearts to an old simple tune —
The ring of one horizon around two souls
Together, all alone!”

(from the Brian Hooker translation)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tweet This Post!

Got hiccups? Here’s a foolproof method I discovered to rid yourself of them:

Be sure to post a comment and let me know about your success with this technique!

Tweet This Post!

Spending time in the ‘Burgh, I’m reminded of just how unusual parking habits can be in the city. Here’s a short video I shot explaining “reverse parking” and the “Pittsburgh chair”:

UPDATE: The blog Boring Pittsburgh and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s PG+ website have done write-ups about my video. Since the Post-Gazette’s site is subscription-only, here is an excerpt:

South Siders, Bloomfielders and Lawrencevillites and other urban scramblers may appreciate this little gem — in the vast history of parking documentaries — which was shot today on Wightman Street in Squirrel Hill and Meade Street in Point Breeze. Commercial voiceover artist Kevin Delaney highlights some of the cultural delights of Pittsburgh parking: specifically, the chair used to hold your spot, the note on said chair expounding on your reasons for putting the chair in the street and the backwards park-job.

Delaney, who has done voices for video game characters in World of Warcraft, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Halo, has relocated to Los Angeles from his hometown. He highlights yet another benefit of living in the Iron City vs. L.A.: no $45 tickets for leaving your vehicle parked every which way.

Tweet This Post!

Attention Mac fanatics! Here’s an easy technique I discovered to save significant money shopping at the Apple Store:

Using this method, I bought a brand-new MacBook for $70 less than the listed price. If you try it, let me know how it goes by leaving a comment below!

Tweet This Post!

Staying in an elder-care hospital facility is an experience everyone should have — preferably earlier rather than later in life. Here are some thoughts and observations from the past few days of staying with my dad in such a place:

• You have to punch a code into a box in order to exit the building.

• I asked one of the nurses for a plastic fork. She said, “We don’t have forks here. Only plastic knives and spoons.”

• I was in the rec room the other night, making use of their Internet connection. A guy in a wheelchair rolled up to me and told me that I had no right to be there, that it was a “residents only” area. I had to bite a hole through my lip to keep from saying I was sorry for violating his inner sanctum of TV viewing and jigsaw puzzles.

• If it wasn’t for old people, television would not exist.

• Some nurses and aides adopt a saccharine, patronizing tone with elderly patients. I was initially annoyed by this, but now I’m convinced it’s at least in part a psychological mechanism to help the staff cope with the depressing nature of their work.

• There is a guy in a room across the hall from my dad who shouts “HEY!!” every time someone walks past the door.

• The mainstream medical establishment rejects the idea that constipation can affect your overall health. (This was a major point of contention between me and some of the staff at my dad’s previous hospital.) People who work with geriatric patients, on the other hand, accept this viewpoint as an obvious fact.

• The song lyric “I hope I die before I get old” has taken on new meaning to me.

• Double-occupancy rooms are the devil. As I indicated in my previous post, I’m not exactly thrilled about the place where my dad is staying, but at least he’s not sharing a room. There is a second bed in his unit, which so far has stayed empty, however one of the nurses told my mom there is a strong likelihood that it could be filled. If that happens, I’m pulling Dad out of here instantly. The last thing my father needs is some old soul retching on their deathbed next to him while he’s trying to get better.

• Nurses and nurses’ aides can be a fascinating source of real-world, practical info.

• An officially-recognized side effect of one of the most-prescribed drugs for Alzheimer’s is confusion. Other possible side effects include dizziness, hallucinations, and sleepiness.

Tweet This Post!

I’ve been somewhat off the radar these past couple of weeks. Here’s a brief update on where my epochally interesting and exciting life has taken me recently:

About two and a half weeks ago, my father had two stents put into an artery near his heart. It’s a difficult procedure (though not nearly as elaborate as open heart surgery). I flew to Pittsburgh from L.A. to be with him and my mom.

My dad is 82 years old, and experiencing what the medical establishment calls the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

The procedure went well. However, due to the drugs he was given and the physical toll the process took on him, he was very out of it, very confused, and extremely weakened.

Because of his mental state and his poor short-term memory, he was unable to be alone. My mom and I worked it out so that at least one of us was with him at all times; we traded off spending nights in the hospital room with him.

He was released from the hospital a little over a week ago. We took him home, and for much of the first day he seemed to be doing better. Within a few hours he was walking with the aid of a walker, then with a cane, and by the end of the day he was getting around entirely on his own.

Later that evening, however, he became extremely weak, and practically collapsed. He wasn’t in pain — just seemingly exhausted, and possibly affected by several new medications he had been given. We decided to wait it out. When he was no better the next morning, we decided to take him back to the hospital.

We brought him to the ER, and he was re-admitted. I’ll spare you the tumultuous details of the next several days — suffice it to say, it was a long and often very frustrating ordeal, with a great deal of hassling with (and on occasion, tearfully begging) the hospital staff.

Three days ago, my dad was moved from the hospital into a rehab facility, ostensibly for physical therapy. The place is indistinguishable, however, from a geriatric nursing home.

Frankly, I’m not thrilled with the facility, and my dad might very well be moved yet again in the next day or so.

Dad is progressing physically, and has improved considerably mentally. He still suffers from dreadful confusion at times, particularly when he’s tired, and especially when he’s waking up.

Last night we tried leaving him by himself for the first time since this adventure began. This morning, we received a phone call; he was highly agitated and wanted us near him immediately.

Tonight, we decided to try again. After I drove my mom home for the night, I returned to the facility to check on him. The light was on in the room and he was awake and talking with one of the nursing staff. He was totally confused, and told me he was more frightened than he had ever been in his life.

He asked me to spend the night in the room with him. How can I say no?

The facility has no Wi-Fi, so I’m typing this on my laptop, and shortly will steal away to the rec room to make use of the only Internet connection that’s available to me here.

Actually getting sleep in this room (if you’re not the one lying in bed) is practically impossible. There is a large, uncomfortable chair — apparently the facility’s way of saying they don’t like family members staying over.

As difficult as the situation is, I’m extremely glad to be here, and I’ve learned a lot over the past couple of weeks. I’m a lot stronger that I’d thought. I’ve felt some of the toughest emotions of my life — yet I’m able to “keep it together” and remain in control, even in difficult times.

I’ll post more about what I’m experiencing soon. For now, I’m staying in Pittsburgh, and will be here for at least a few more days.

Tweet This Post!