Meet Tommy Walker, who has studied acting, but later took an diversion to become an online strategist who has been doing various forms of online marketing since 2005. How he got into online marketing is an interesting story and we will let Tommy tell us about that in the interview.

He writes articles on how to use the web and specifically the social media to promote one's business. He also conducts "strategy sessions",one to one telephonic conversations, for clients and claims that a single session with him will dramatically alter the way that you conduct your business.

As per Tommy - "My mission is two-fold; rid the world of marketing noise and help independent business owners attract passionate buyers in higher paying markets.".

Catch the interview with Tommy below:






Tell us something about yourself Tommy.

Oh let's see, I'm an online marketing strategist, father, husband and all around cool guy. I've been doing some variation of online marketing since 2005 when I started promoting a music video I created for a local band.

I like to drink Coca-Cola, and have to admit it was their social media efforts that made me become a regular customer.

For some reason, my office is always cluttered, with notes, quotes, and other forms of inspiration lying around.

I trained for half of my life to be an actor, but after graduating from conservatory in New York, found that I enjoyed production and marketing much more.

I've never known the meaning of giving up, and I probably play pretend more than any guy in their mid 20's should.


We find the domain that you are using, http://tommy.ismy.name, very interesting. Is there a reason behind using this domain name?

Lol, not really actually. I bought the ismy.name while I was working at a gas station. The .name tld had just come out, and I figured that owning ismy.name would be the most valuable way to use the .name address.

Had no idea what I was going to do with it though, I sat on it for about two years before I ever got active with it.

In fact, when I first started blogging, I was using a different domain name altogether, but that site got hacked, so I used the only other available domain name that I owned.

I've always said though, it doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank, or how famous you are, at the end of the day your name is all you have.

SO I added tommy as a subdomain to ismy.name and the rest is as they say, history.















What inspired you to start your blog? Is there a story or incident that you would like to share with us?

The story you're looking for is how I got fired over a pair of pants :-P The short version of that story is that I was working for a large retail chain as a cell phone salesman. I had asked to borrow a pair of pants off of the clothing rack because I had been locked out of my house, in a car accident, and out of power for the 24 hours previous to my shift. The manager on duty said "Yes, by the way we have wii's" and a few weeks later I was fired.

The reason, "We know you didn't steal anything, but borrowing pants off the floor looks sketchy."

After two weeks, a friend had asked me to go to a superbowl party, I told the story there, and through some creative networking managed to land my first client.

I didn't start my blog right away after the pants incident, however.

Instead, I did various freelance gigs through getafreelancer.com, and eventually found my way into a startup mobile/online marketing agency. I worked with them originally for $750/ month to develop online marketing strategies for their clients. As you could imagine however $750/month was not easy to live off of, and while we renegotiated my salary one other time, when it was brought up a third time, I was told no.

This was right after putting in 80 hours in a four day window on an animation project (yep I animate too) then being told I wasn't going to get any extra compensation for the time and work put in.

After that, I gave my two weeks, started my blog, and have been blogging for roughly 2 years now.


Tell us about your “Inside the Mind” series. What is the concept behind it?

Honestly "Inside The Mind" started because I knew I wasn't truly doing everything I was capable of. It's an attempt to bring some humor and entertainment to the online marketing world. While there's a lot of information out there right now, a lot of it is presented as either a talking head, or a person in front of a white board.

I wanted "Inside The Mind" to take the concept of online marketing and make it more approachable.

I've personally always found the Online Marketing "game" to be really fun and entertaining, but when I talk with people who own businesses, or are outside the online marketing industry, some are really perplexed by some of the concepts, and further more, bored to death by the presentation.

Checkout Episode 6 of Tommy's "Inside The Mind" Series:


What according to you are the most crucial factors in having a strong and engaging social networking presence?

Network Selection. "Engaging" is such a relative word. Saying something like "Be engaging" is so ambiguous that it's no wonder that so many people quit shortly after they've started.

However, when you have the right network of people that you're talking to, "Engaging" doesn't take a whole lot of effort, because you're engaging just by being who you are.

It's all about being in front of the right people, and a lot of that just has to do with the research and time you spend looking for them.

Find other bloggers that share a sense your sense of humor, find forums with people who could benefit from your help.

If you're spending all of your time networking with "experts" you'll never find the people who look at you as an expert.


What strategy can new online merchants/bloggers adopt to ramp up the traffic to their website/blog?

Guest posting for other people's blogs, doing crazy good valuable interviews, and most importantly, have something incredibly good on your website.

Good isn't measured by your own personal standards either. Good is what other people think is good. Look at the stuff within your industry that people have shared rabid animals,
now beat that.

If there's anything I've found within the past year especially is that you have to be incredibly good to stand out. Having a good "product" and a well defined mission makes it much easier
to get other people on your side.


What has been the biggest compliment that you have received since you started your blog? Do you have a story to share with us, on that.

I've gotten a few, and the one's that mean the most to me is when I hear something to the extent of "This really helped me out."

However, very recently I got tagged by Chris Brogan on Google Plus promoting Episode 2 of "Inside The Mind" saying this:

"+Tommy Walker explains how his guest post on my site ended up (and still is) the top 1-3 posts on my site almost every day since he wrote it back in October. Re-read that and think about it. SINCE OCTOBER, some OTHER GUY kicked my butt on MY OWN BLOG. If you're interested in creating good stuff, and you're not subscribed to Tommy, after that, then I can't help you. BTW, the video's actually kind of fun."

Which was really exciting, to say the least.


Apart from blogging what activities do you enjoy? Tell us about the one book/song/movie/blog that you keep going back to for inspiration?

I actually don't have much time these days between a busy shoot schedule and editing... So really any time that I can spend, I spend with my Wife and Son just being goofy.

My newest favorite activity has to be making silly faces with my 15 month old, or cuddling up with my wife on the couch.

As far as inspiration, I really find interviews with Seth Godin or Julien Smith give me that boost, but I also try to stay very aware of what's going on in my surroundings to draw inspiration. I've found that looking for spontaneous beauty in real life can be far more inspiring than any prepared and finely edited presentation.  


If you could have one superhero (or magical) power, what would it be and why?

Often times, I pretend, I'm either wielding a lightsaber or using telekinesis.

My wife also caught me casting a fireball out in the woods once before we started dating.

I'm not sure I could choose just one, when there are so many cool powers out there!


What advice would you like to give to budding entrepreneurs/bloggers?

Don't ever quit.

It's going to get tough. But don't stop.

And don't sacrifice your values for money. Fight for what you believe in as though your life depended on it, and the rest will fall into place.