It’s been over 24-hours since my #firsttwitterdate and I have much to discuss. I met Twitter-user @CLRochelle at Nolita House in NYC (8/4/2009) for dinner, drinks and then headed to Kyotofu for dessert. This was a blind-date where we documented happenings for the world (via Twitter) while being blind to each others Tweets/messages.

I understand that some people who are following this story do not have Twitter to follow myself (@Nicky_Papers) or Christine (@CLRochelle) The feed is presented chronologically with numbered Tweets for reference.

Please read our live Twitter Feed (#firsttwitterdate) below:

Tweet #6: My date thought about cheating and calling me to avoid a potentially awkward situation! She half-cheated by sending me a text to avoid walking into an dark and crowded restaurant to spot me. After reading her post date commentary, I now found out she’s “blind” and owns glasses she doesn’t wear and spotting me made her nervous. To ease tension, I want outside to great her as she approached.

Tweet #17: In retrospect, I should have keep my business to myself. Sometimes, I share too many details with people. I thought @CLRochelle would tell more about some of her triumphs, especially her trip to Vietnam. (which I was really interested in learning about!) However, she held back and talked about her freelance work.

Tweet #27 / #45: Let it be known that I never insisted on paying for anything. I did what came natural for me in this situation. Please note, I picked the restaurant(s) so picking up a tab should not be viewed as something negative.

Tweet #28: I knew my date liked cupcakes, I think she appreciated my effort to go for something she’s into.

Tweet #31: My date secretly snapped a picture of me while I was Tweeting. Was she put up to it? I thought that was a little creepy seeing that on Twitter the next day.

Tweet #36: “I brought up past relationships”. For the record, I asked my date if she was seeing anyone. Certainly, that’s a fair question and a typical girl would not be “freaked out” and answer truthfully. However, my date admitted that she is “seeing someone” but it’s “not serious”. The only thing “bold” was her response my question. (As she posts CL ads to go on Twitter dates…?)

Tweet #41: I didn’t stalk my dates blog. I read it thoroughly and enjoyed it! I think she is a phenomenal and comedic writer and has a bright future in journalism.

Tweet #43: The date ended awkwardly on the train platform as we “shoulder-hugged” as if she thought I’d pull a creepo move and slip her the tongue. Get real! I was just making sure she got on her train safely.

Would I date @CLRochelle again? Probably not.

Simply put, the chemistry wasn’t there for me. However, remaining friends and staying in touch about blogging would be smart as she’s a gifted and talented writer.

Last week while clicking through my RSS feeds, my buddy Mike sent me a cryptic IM linking to a Craigslist personal ad for “women seeking men” in Manhattan. While I was expecting a typical ad for an Asian Massage Parlor, or a housewife looking for some hot NSA action, this was an opportunity far more exciting.

Shortly after clicking the link, Mike followed up with an IM saying, “that’s all you bro”. NYC based woman blogger 23, looking to meet a mysterious man via Twitter and go out on a date. The date sounded cool being that we’re close in age and will probably have a lot to talk about as we both blog, however there’s purpose behind the date.

Without hesitation and in good faith, I sent a response to the ad. See below.

Well what do you know? I was selected by my mystery woman (Twitter user) @CLRochelle to accompany her and make Twitter / dating history!

This entire date is to be recorded by Tweets with the following hash tag: #firsttwitterdate so the world can witness our thoughts before meeting, during the date, and our feelings after getting together.

This concept is the first form interactive dating by means of social networking. Simply put, like those TV shows where the lucky dating contestant has an ear piece and guided “by a wing-man”, we’ll both be “guided” by Twitter users world-wide.

So what do I know about my Twitter date so far? Besides from being a talented freelance writer / blogger from New Jersey, she’s also obsessed with cupcakes. If only she knew that I subscribe to Bakerella.com and that Nicky Papers is the self-proclaimed King of all Things Edible, (I’ll keep my Montauk Monster shaped cookies to myself…) this certainly should be a fun date and a memorable experience indeed.

Dating is a lot like soccer sometimes, if you look for where the ball is (action) you’re never going to score. For me, I was wide open and ready for this opportunity. I’m fairly certain my date has done her due diligence by reading my blogs, (seems like a smart and sassy chick) and had no reservations on what was behind “Door #3”. (Obviously hoping to avoid a case of buyer’s remorse at all costs!)

Follow me, (@Nicky_Papers) and (@CLRochelle) on our #firsttwitterdate tomorrow evening Tuesday, August 4th as we will be blind to each other’s Tweets!

In the video above Timothy Sykes does an excellent job describing how to spot a stock scam from a legitimate investment opportunity. As Timothy explains, there approximately 8500 of these “scam stocks” trading on the OTC Bulletin Board that utilize “pump and dump” strategies to drive the share price of their stock up.

Please note that the marketing tactics of these companies may be overly aggressive, but for the well-informed investor, trading these types of stocks can be lucrative if you know what to look for. As Tim further describes, he has no qualms investing in what he considers horrible companies, but plays the odds when noticing a penny stock jump from 100-200%.

One must always take into consideration that the hot penny stock that was just recommended was most likely aimed at individuals who are susceptible to impulsive buying tendencies based on reading “jazzed up” marketing materials. Those individuals have not done their due diligence and read the fine print contained in the marketing materials. Other times, a chop shop will pump a promoted stock to prospective clients to raise the share price on sparsely traded penny stocks over the telephone.

Always remember that a stock being promoted (by e-mail, message boards, cold calling) is not putting money back into the company, research and development, staff augmentation, mergers and acquisitions, etc. The independent marketing firms pumping these stocks are making out like bandits! Always do your research before moving forward with a “marketed” investment.

Kind Regards,

Nicky Papers

I’m not into the whole Flight of the Conchords thing, but this video is great! Flight of the Conchords – “If You’re Into It” features two male singers serenading (and using weird instruments!) a cute girl by progressively coercing into getting naked and having group sex. The song starts off innocently and gains momentum to the “climax” at the end.

I heard about Flight of the Conchords before, but was never really sold on their humor. However, this song makes my YouTube favorites list as it’s good for a mid-morning smirk and to pass along to someone who is not familiar with the group.

For those like myself, who only knew about the group from HBO, Flight of the Conchords is a Grammy Award winning comedy duo from New Zealand. The duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement use their musical background and comedic personalities to create songs that are melodic, funny, and entertaining. Granted, not all of their stuff I’m a fan of, but “If You’re Into It” had me hooked after the guy with the deep voice made his first appearance.

The chick in the video is pretty cute too. Not really Nicky Paper’s type, but her look kind of makes me want to grab a “White Chocolate Mocha” at Starbucks with her and “just talk”. She’s definitely seems like that type of girl, “if she’s into it”.

Who would have thought dialing for dollars could be so much fun? For pennies on the dollar you could buy thousands of leads in select states and set parameters of your choosing.

To make money “chop shop” style you will need the following:

1. A telephone blocking the number on outbound calls.
2. Thick Skin
3. Male Leads (We don’t pitch the bitch.)
4. Puma Jumpsuit.

Welcome to Cold Calling 101. The sample lead above, (rendered to protect identity) is a fair representation as to how a boiler room works and the mentality of the brokers behind the high-energy phone calls. Everyday thousands of Americans are harassed at work by money-hungry brokers hopped-up on a mix of high testosterone, Red Bull, and Ritalin. For Nicky Papers, (yours truly!) it was a combination of all of the above on typical office afternoon.

So what are the “sharks” looking for exactly?

Currently working with Brokers: A prospect who works with multiple brokers shows that he’s not completely committed to anybody and will cut a check if he likes an idea. (He’s done this before…) Be wary of guys who use online brokerages as they don’t see the need in being told what to do. For prospects that have brokers out of state, (especially in NY) it’s a clear indicator that they are receptive to doing business completely over the phone.

Owns Stock: Prospects that trade common stock are our type of guys! We are looking for liquidity and a gamblers mentality. At this time, if they’ve made some money on a stock they’ll share the ticker with you. On the sample lead the prospect was kind enough to tell us that (NASDAQ: SLAB) Silicon Laboratories took the prize as he doubled his money on it. Reference something similar on the next call to open the account.

Ballpark Portfolio Size: So, how much are you playing with in the market? We were looking for guys with over 100k in the market. In pursuit of gaining a piece of that portfolio, anything over 100k is a safe number to weed out the piker’s from the players. In this case, our prospect is playing with 900k. “A fucking whale baby!”

Personal Info: After capturing the aforementioned “meat and potatoes”, now it’s time to bullshit a little. So are you still making six-figures? (Of course.) What do you like to do in your spare time? Still chasing the ladies? At this time the victim will lighten up and tell you some tales of adventure and romance. Our prospect (above) enjoyed fishing for trout. (How exciting!) It’s not much, but valuable enough to pull out your ass on the next phone call.

This prospect turned into a slippery eel and got away on the follow-up call. Now don’t think I was the Michael Jordan of cold-calling, but for being 21 years old I was pretty ferocious. With a solid 5%-in, 5%-out game plan in place, the broker’s always on top. And if the stock actually went up, more power to them!