Since it seems “Best Of” posts are a dime a dozen about this time of the year, I decided to try something a littler different and kicked this question out via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you could sum up your 2010 goals in three words, what would they be?

The answers? They ranged from hilarious to witty to realistic to creative. Like me, you will probably find many of them inspiring as we wrap up the decade. You can check them all out below.

Oh and if you wanted a “Best Of” list, here you go (based on traffic) here are the The Rise To The Top’s Top 5 Posts Of 2009:

1. Top 10 Big Marketing Predictions For 2010

2. 35 Unique Entrepreneurs That Are Changing The Business World

3. 5 Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned From Proposing To My Girlfriend

4. 15 Pieces Of Entrepreneurial Advice To Make Your Head Spin

5. Plus over 45 interviews with and advice from entrepreneurs ranging from web experts to billionaires including Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library TV), Chris Brogan (ChrisBrogan.com), Maxine Clark (Founder of Build-A-Bear Workshops), Dave Steward (Founder of World Wide Technology), Neil Patel (Quicksprout), Tara Hunt (Author of The Whuffie Factor), Amy Martin (Digital Royalty), Patti Stanger (The Millionaire Matchmaker), Peter Shankman (Help A Reporter) and many more right here.

Now to the subject at hand. If you could sum up your 2010 goals in three words, what would they be?

Via Twitter:

@Richardbonilla Together We Win
@ultrarjan Monster Epic Win
@dixiedynamite REinvention REcreation REngagement
@fierypinkgirl Onward And Upward
@sarahmerion Dominate Dominate Dominate
@haydentompkins Get Party Started
@theobell Work Face Book
@theoxygencoach Love Wealth Happiness
@elloinos Put People First
@rizzotees Sell More Tees
@leggsg Escape Cubicle Nation
@stephanieaburke Crush It Daily
@jonathannelson Just Do It
@Jenn_if_er Conquer A 26.2
@partyaficionado I Am Reborn
@davidlynnclucas Kick Major Ass
@elsicomoro Rule The World
@susanisk Live My Dreams
@RossPR Work My Passion
@Shama Global Growing Great
@mrsparklebrain Make More Money
@LeapGreetings Scale My Business
@GeorgeDearing Make A Difference
@RobertPickstone Keep Pushing Forward
@jtohline Growth Expansion Acquisition
@juliebaylor Enjoy Work More
@scoremoresales Big Audacious Fun
@kidsroomdecor Going Digital Baby
@outspire Awake Grow Inspire

Via Facebook/Linkedin:

Laura Goodrich: Books Films Sponsorships
Andrea Herran: Coach Speaking Growth
Michael Buffa: Create Great Content
Cesar G Abueg: New Bold Success
Josh Salcman: Users Subscribers Ambassadors
Autumn Green: Job Health Happiness
Shelly Wolfe: Challenging Optimistic Rewarding
Andrew Levine: Win The Lottery
Peter Wheeler: Finish Ninja Training
Sherrie White: Health Work Connection
Brian Powell: Rock It Hard
Aaron Kominsky: Healthy Wealthy Wise
Dafna Michaelson: Go Real Big
Felicia Howard: Love Wealth Happiness
Tia Singh: Wife Fulfillment $100,000
Vanessa Van Petten: Creative Flexible Passionate

Mine? (@therisetothetop): On The Map

And what are yours? Feel free to leave them in the comments. Bonus points for creativity!

We are just a few days from the launch of our NEW website design and show RISE. In case you missed the details, they are right here.

Have an amazing end to 2009 and start to 2010!

I rarely do a local post, but as we head into, believe it or a not, a new decade, I figured it would be a good time to talk about the potential of The Gateway City.

First of all, I love St. Louis. My family is from here. I’m from here. Marcie’s (my fiancee) family is from here. Marcie is from here. I bleed St. Louis Blues hockey. I’m a big Cardinals fan and I painfully watch Rams games. St. Louis has a great theatre scene, arts community, attractions for kids (such as Six Flags), amazing local businesses (many under the radar screen), street festivals, a small town feel, our own local lingo “Where did you go to high school?” plus the aura of Ted Drews, and a REALLY good dining scene (seriously, I travel all the time and St. Louis has an amazingly underrated dining scene).

That being said St. Louis is known as a great place to raise a family but not a great place to raise a business. Or more specifically not a great place for innovation.

When people think of business in St. Louis, the most common responses are:

“Anheuser Busch.. errr In Bev”
“Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Monsanto”
“Banks, Banks, Banks”
“Lawyers, Lawyers, Lawyers”
“Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate”
“Is that Ballpark Village thing ever going to happen?”
“Downtown St. Louis aka Ghost Town”

The common threads: Big old school businesses and conservative ventures. Fair enough as these are important for any city ( a foundation), but I would argue St. Louis can do much better than this.

St. Louis has a great opportunity to be an entrepreneurial powerhouse (maybe not the world leader but certainly better than it is now), retain young talent, and be a marketing mecca (seriously, no joke).

No, St. Louis isn’t going to be the next Silicon Valley or New York City, but I don’t think we St. Louisans would want that.

St. Louis is a town that celebrates its own. Sort of like a proud small town. It is time to celebrate entrepreneurship and innovative marketing.

Here are some ideas of how St. Louis can upgrade our business culture:

1. Celebrate Successful Entrepreneurs

Why do so few people know that Jack Dorsey (Founder of Twitter) is from St. Louis? Or that World Wide Technology (a 3-billion dollar company) was started from absolutely nothing in St. Louis (check out my interview with their founder Dave Steward)? Or how about Build-A-Bear founded by Maxine Clark was born under the arch (interview with Maxine here)? On that note, this holiday’s phenomenon Zhu Zhu pets are St. Louis born and raised.

How do you celebrate these entrepreneurs? I have many ideas…here are a few:

A. More mainstream media coverage. Unique stories and features. Not just that Bank X decreased .2%.
B. More online media coverage. Blogs, online shows, etc. based in St. Louis have a great opportunity.
C. More events. Lunch & Learns. Successful entrepreneurs meeting with up-and-comers.

2. Pay Attention To The Up-And-Comers

There are many of them. Yurbuds, Virtual Nerd, Widget Realm and the list goes on. Plus, smaller unique businesses (including numerous local restaurants, cafes, gyms, etc. doing great things) as well as outside-the-box businesses such as Rizzo Tees.

“Paying attention” here means more press coverage, more buzz on social media, and more buzz in the media in general. Own the St. Louis heritage. Encourage others to start businesses here. The power of group is very powerful.

3. Highlight St. Louis As Mecca Of Marketing

For a mid-sized city,  St. Louis has an absolutely HUGE number of marketing companies. At least that’s how I see it. Ranging from PR to communications to digital marketing to pretty much everything in between including independent marketing consultants, etc.

Why so many? The simple answer is (was) Anheuser Busch. AB kept many of these small shops in business for year by spreading around marketing, advertising and PR dollars in the community.

With media changing so rapidly, many of these firms will fail. Just a fact of business during this evolve or die time.

But, there will continue to be an emergence of great PR, marketing and advertising people in St. Louis (including such folks as Bob Lachky who I was extremely fortunate enough to interview. Bob was THE man behind Anheuser Busch’s most successful campaigns including the Budweiser frogs, Lizard, etc.).

And I’m saying this with a bias as well. Why?

1. I have RISE, an entrepreneurial daily marketing online TV show launching January 4th.
2. I consult/speak on innovative and digital marketing/strategy and social media.
3. I’m one of three principles of Rangency Labs launching this January which is a collection of marketing/pr/web/design/video  rock stars who are teaming up to provide everything from education to execution.

St. Louis with its central location between New York and LA is geographically positioned to be a big player as the “center of the innovative marketing universe” (slightly exaggerated). But, I’m not kidding. There is WAY too much talent here that should be tapped.

4. Embrace Outsiders And Provide Resources To Everyone

The St. Louis stereotype is this town is an old boys network. Based on past connections. Based on who your father is. Based on where you grew up. Based on where you went to high school. While this is great for networking if you are IN the inner circle, it is not so much if you are an outsider.

Whether someone is born and raised in St. Louis or has been here for 1 week, our city needs to do a better job of being welcoming, providing events/resources, and embracing everyone that comes to St. Louis for work or play.

5. Focus On Relationships and Using Technology

I often start some of my local speeches joking about the 6 Degrees Of Separation. My joke is in St. Louis that it is about 1 degree and that person is probably a relative.

This is a HUGE positive for the city. If it is so easy to become connected (in person and online), we should jump on this. The mayor having coffee with the start up. The billion dollar company helping the $1 company. Instead of being competitive, what if we were all more helpful?

Plus, what is St. Louis REALLY focused on connecting both online and off? City-wide WIFI (here’s hoping!) would be fantastic (*wink*)

Become pioneers to new technology that HELPS the community become smaller and more connected (social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook and smaller sites which will be huge in 2010 including FourSquare and Gowalla).

This doesn’t mean the city has to develop every piece of technology, but instead pick and choose ones that help the community, promote it, use it, help local businesses and entrepreneurs use and understand it, and just improve our connectivity whether the handshake is virtual or in person.

Those are my thoughts. I can’t wait to help with the movement.

What are yours? If you are a St. Louisan, what is your perspective? If you are not a St. Louisan..what is your perception of St. Louis and what is YOUR community like?

Many of you know, that we are launching RISE, a NEW daily web show starting Monday, January 4th (as well as a website redesign which explains right now why on TheRiseToTheTop.com some things may look a little bit “off”). I figured it would be time to take a quick break and give us all a chance to take off that awful holiday sweater to tell you a little bit more about it and why you might be interested in becoming a regular viewer.

#1: The Show Is Designed To Help You And Your Business With Marketing

The new tagline will say it all: “RISE: The #1 Non-Boring Resource For Marketing Your Business Like An Entrepreneur. Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.”

Why? Because EVERYONE can benefit from marketing like an entrepreneur. Whether you have zero employees or 10,000, a multi-million dollar budget or one dollar, learning HOW and WHY to market like an entrepreneur will help you build your business.

Entrepreneurs use any resource available and innovate when it comes to a usually bland marketing world. Instead of “throwing money at the problem” entrepreneurs maximize social media tools, online marketing and digital strategy.

I know it because I’ve lived and breathed it.

You can count on: Marketing tips & tricks, how to advice, resources, breaking down marketing strategies of small and big companies, social media marketing, tech you can actually use for business, product & book reviews, expert interviews questions & answers and much more.

#2: RISE Is Short And Meaty

Around 5 minutes every weekday starting January 4th. Every Monday through Friday will feature a new, original episode of RISE.

And there won’t be any BS. If you want some fluff, go pet a bunny. These are real strategies, tools and resources. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the difference between a megabyte and spider bite.

#3: You Won’t Be Bored

We all have some form of ADD, I get it. You won’t be bored for three reasons:

#1: I guarantee I will be juiced up on so much natural and artificial caffeine that I will make your head spin.

#2: Each day is different. For example (subject to change):
Monday: Marketing Headlines And How It Affects Your Business
Tuesday: Tips + Strategy and/or How To Lessons
Wednesday: Tech For Entrepreneurs And Marketers or Product/Book Review
Thursday: Breaking Down Marketing
Friday: Question and Answers: Ask The Entrepreneurial Marketer
Plus unique interviews, articles and more.

#3: Surprises, shenanigans, downloads giveaways and more. You’ll see.

#4: RISE Is Interactive

Have to practice what we preach! The show will be completely interactive, social and sharable. This is a two-way show and not a bullhorn.

You can comment, make suggestions and you will be able to submit questions on the TheRiseToTheTop.com as well as Twitter and Facebook that may be answered on the show (and I will give you and your business a delicious little plug).

RISE can easily be shared with friends via email, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Plus you will be able to pop in your headphones (or annoy the person next to you) and watch on your mobile phone.

#5: It Is Free And You Can Subscribe Easily

Zip. Zero. Zilch. That is how much it will cost you to watch. Each show has a sponsor and/or affiliate of a trusted company/parter that we feel you will value from.

No sketchy products or anything weird. Just great stuff we feel would be worth sharing with you.

And we will have brand new subscription options (don’t worry E-Blast subscribers, you will be transferred over painlessly). You can subscribe via RSS or Email. Our email options (all free of course) allow you to have control in terms of frequency.

Perhaps you want to be notified EXACTLY when we post a new show (if so, you are awesome and I love you) or perhaps you want a weekly digest with links to all the shows from the past week. Either way there will be easy options for you.

Plus there will be subscription options for those in St. Louis looking to keep in the loop with our business building and networking events and workshops in 2010. I don’t want to let all the cats out of the bag right now (by the way why would you actually put a cat in a bag?), but let me assure you they will be great.

More Info And Suggestions?

Over the next couple of weeks look for plenty of info on TheRiseToTheTop.com as we get ready to launch.

Feel free to tell a few people or few million and I may give you a prize or a brownie

And remember this show is all about YOU. If you have suggestions or have something specifically you would like to see or ideas, please let us know. Not only will EVERY idea be considered, but you will be given full credit for it as well.

Finally, Consulting:

I’ve gotten a lot of requests over the past year for consulting. Brands, businesses, big companies, entrepreneurs etc. ranging from the tech-savvy to the not-so-tech-savvy looking to maximize online, social media and other “new” marketing tactics and strategies to generate incredible revenue.

The problem is my schedule: TV show, blogging, creating content, spending (lots) of time on social media, conducting interviews, speaking, marketing, monetizing and promoting and oh most importantly family time.

And while I’ve worked with many companies in 2009, I’m launching a new program for 2010 to dedicate my time and energy to only 10 clients who are really serious and ready to market smarter, faster and cheaper just like we have done with huge success.

Feel free to contact me for more information on this 12-month program that includes everything from the creation of a complete custom online game plan and digital strategy, ongoing support and accountability, maximizing social media, new resources, tips and tricks, how to capitalize and monetize the latest trends, bridging online and offline marketing efforts, access to my personal resources and much more.

As the holiday season looms, have a safe and amazing holiday and get ready for an incredible 2010. Next week as we wrap up 2009, look for a “Best Of” post actually worth reading.

RISE: A New Non-Boring Web Show For Entrepreneurs And Marketers Ready To Launch
Many of you know, that we are launching RISE, a NEW daily web show starting Monday, January 4th (as well as a website redesign which explains right now why on TheRiseToTheTop.com some things may look a little bit “off”). I figured it would be time to take a quick break and give us all a chance to take off that awful holiday sweater to tell you a little bit more about it and why you might be interested in becoming a regular viewer.

For the full article, make sure to click the link.

As many of you know we are going through a BIG site redesign right now to launch RISE, a new daily web show for entrepreneurs and marketers on January 4th along with many other goodies.

In the meantime, the site might just look like a bit of a “mess” but don’t worry the 100+ articles and over 200 hours of videos aren’t going anywhere, we are just shifting the puzzle pieces around.

So, if something looks out of place, it probably is.

If something looks like it disappeared, it will be back.

Whew, in the meantime if you need to reach me, I’ll be spending LOTS of time on Twitter (@therisetothetop), Facebook Fan Page (facebook/risetothetop) and my Facebook page (facebook.com/DavidGarland)

Thanks!

I hope you enjoy this interview conducted by Phil Dobbie of BTalk Australia (CBS) where jumped into some more detail on my 10 Big Marketing Predictions For 2010.

Phil is a great interviewer and has a really cool accent. In this interview, we talk about what marketing in 2010 will “look like”, why I think content producers are going to rule the world and other marketing predictions and trends.

Here is a link to the original interview on Btalk.

Enjoy!

Gary Vaynerchuk stopped into St. Louis last night on his Crush It Book Tour and gave an unbelievably passionate and “real” keynote at World Market.

This is 45 minutes of it. (Note: The file was REALLY big so I cut it down a little bit so it isn’t the highest quality but you will get the gist).

Of course Gary says, “Now I’m going to tell a story I’ve never told before” and my camera runs out of juice at the end. But I figure I’ll leave everyone in suspense.

Gary Vaynerchuk is simply a real good, good guy. He genuinely cares and his message is fantastic.

If you are a Gary rookie, you can check his Wine Video Blog, His Personal Video Blog and follow him on Twitter.

You may also want to check out an interview I did with him at the famous Wine Library in New Jersey on The Rise To The Top where Gary gives business tips for all of us.

To me, Gary is much more than an “Internet Celebrity” or “Wine Guy” or “Internet Guy”. He is a true mentor to be and has been extremely helpful with my business and I’m thankful for it.

Also, now he is friends with my dad. Anyone that knows my dad knows that he is far cooler than I could ever be

Above is a clip from a segment I did today on Great Day St. Louis on CBS-KMOV 4 in St. Louis dealing with social media for kids and how parents can educate themselves and set policies.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this. How young is too young? Do you monitor your kids?

The key takeaway is social media is a GOOD thing. This isn’t an anti-drug or smoking campaigning. The few bad stories we hear are the exceptions, not the norm.

What are your thoughts on kids on social media?

Stalking yourself and others has never been so easy and fun! We have all left digital footprints all over the web. Anytime you blog, or post something to Twitter or comment on a forum, you leave a footprint. Anytime your competitors issue a press release, or posts a video, they leave a footprint.

And more importantly, anytime someone talks, blogs, or writes about your company, it is all there on the web for everyone to see if they look.

While there are literally hundreds of tools for tracking and researching yourself and competitors online, here is a basic overview of some that will turn you into a sleuth in seconds. Best of all: They are all FREE (hooray!)

Note: Make sure to sign up for Google Reader. It is free and fun. It will help organize many of the resources below.

1. Google Alerts: Aggregates many places on the web talking about your business or keywords related to your business or competitors…as they happen. Simple action plan: Track your name, your business name, your competitor’s CEO, your competitor’s companies, and some key words that are relatively specific (Example: Marketing In Florida).

2. Adding Google Alerts To Google Reader: Here is the fun part and neat little trick. Add your Google Alerts to Google Reader so you can organize all of them on one screen (the alternative is getting an email from Google anytime an alert goes off or once a day with all alerts. It will drive you nuts) All you have to do is take the RSS feed and plop it into Google Reader (if you are a beginner with RSS, no worries, here is a nice video tutorial.)

3. Google Real Time Search: This is brand new and Mashable did a nice article on it. Simply Google something (your name, your business, etc.), click “Show Options” and you can now choose some great new options especially “Latest”, “Past 24 Hours”, etc.

4. Google Blogsearch: Blogs move quicker than Google (Google is trying to catch up with Real Time Search), but to check what is going on with you, your business, competitors, etc., check out Google Blogsearch.

5. Search.Twitter.com: The hub of the realtime web. Nothing gets closer than up-to-the-literal second updates. You can also take an RSS feed for keywords, your business, your name, people you want to stalk, and put them into Google Reader (similar to the Google Alerts Example) making even more info available to you in ONE screen.

6. Advanced Twitter Search: That little button on Search.Twitter.com. Allows for better geo-targetting and a whole host of options you would expect with the word “advanced” *wink*

7. Ice Rocket: Beautifully designed search site to help track blogs, the web in general, Twitter, news, etc.

8. Backtype: Good one here. Backtype lets you track comments left on blogs and forums as well so social sites. Often overlooked and extremely important.

9. Compete.com: Measures web traffic against competitors. Warning: We have used this for awhile and often it is not extremely accurate (often low or just a bit off); however, it does give you some quick information.

10. Video search. Videos are important and Youtube is the second-largest search engine to Google. Search there for videos about you and the competition. Other video search engines include Google’s Video Search, Yahoo’s Video Search, Blinkx and my new favorite: Truveo (very slick).

Of course the tools are just the beginning. What you do with the data, how you analyze it, the ability to pick out important parts, and how you respond is the real value.
What did I miss? What are your favorite tools?

It used to be you could get away with marketing a piece of crap.

Literally crap.

If you had enough money and bought enough ads, you could convince enough consumers that they needed and wanted your crappy product.

Now with this big social digital shift, the continued rise of social media, and one-way conversations becoming two-way, the crap no longer sells.

Never before has EVERY customer been the most important one. Every customer has a large voice and doesn’t need permission from a traditional media source, a letter to the editor or a customer service hotline to voice it(both good or bad). Blogs, social media, online content are all examples of word of mouth super-sized.

Love a product? Blog about it. Hate a product? Blog about it.

Replace “blog” above with “Tweet”, or “Create A Video” and you have a few of the many examples of the importance of consumer voice and participation in the social digital age.

Word of mouth has always been around. Now it is amplified. Great stuff travels fast. Bad stuff travels faster (just ask Dominoes).

Your angry or happy customer may have 10 followers or readers or 10,000 or 1,000,000. Either way they have a voice in this new era of marketing. A seat at the table. Nobody is just a number. Everybody matters.

The remarkable, the useful, the companies with incredible products and customer service, those that create interesting content and those that truly care and do business the right way are going to win the game. Transparency and authenticity aren’t buzz words,they are a view into the boardroom of every company.

Bad marketing and business will continue to be exposed. Good marketing and business are going to continue to rise.

If you are a big brand, this may sound revolutionary or a bit scary. If you are an entrepreneur, you are probably saying “Duhhhhhhhhhhh!”

This is because marketing like an entrepreneur IS the future of marketing.

Entrepreneurs hustle.
Entrepreneurs care.
Entrepreneurs innovate.
Entrepreneurs have to market smarter, faster, cheaper and more creatively (unless they have zillions in venture funding, which is not most of us).
Entrepreneurs build real relationships and form unique partnerships.
Entrepreneurs take action.
Entrepreneurs jump on every opportunity.
Entrepreneurs aren’t afraid of failure and would rather fail fast.
Entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to experiment. Something doesn’t work? No problem. Try something else.
Entrepreneurs have to leverage and think what is next, not just what is right now.
Entrepreneurs have to sell themselves and their business.
Entrepreneurs have personality.
Entrepreneurs are passionate.
Entrepreneurs can make decisions fast (without 200 lawyers and 156 accountants).

And I’m not talking about the entrepreneurial dreamers. I’m talking about the entrepreneurial doers. If you want fluff, go pet a bunny.

Big brands have a few things to learn from entrepreneurs. The future of marketing is going to see a lot of big brands looking to understand, learn from, and market like entrepreneurs.

So what now?

If you are an entrepreneur, this is exciting and an opportunity to teach a few bigger dogs some smaller dog tricks.

If you are a consumer, this is exciting because you will see less crap coming at you.

If you are a big brand, this is exciting to step away from the way it has always been done.

The future of marketing is in entrepreneurial hands. How do you see it taking shape? Who will be the best to learn from? Who are going to rock this new marketing world?