I was invited to write a guest post on the blog Killer Campaigning over the weekend.  I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think. Merry Christmas!

- Nathan

RunSmart2Win is developing a farm team of conservative elected officials, teaching future candidates how to win political races. RS2W will show candidates how to do it, demonstrating practicable strategies — taught by experts and insiders — that achieve winning results.

Would you would like to become a RunSmart2Win contributor, guest blogger, Twitter or Facebook evangelist?  Send us an email to learn more!

RunSmart2Win’s contributors have diverse backgrounds and life experiences, but a common love for conservative politics and the great state we call home: North Carolina.  Meet the team…

Jeff Tillman is the founder of RunSmart2Win, a blog focusing on the recruitment of highly qualified GOP candidates to run for office in North Carolina. Jeff has worked in the marketing/advertising field for more than a decade. He is an Appalachian State University alumnus and lives in the heart of Starmount Forest, one of the best little neighborhoods in Greensboro, NC, with his wife, three children, and a pretty good dog named Beaufort. You can follow Jeff on Twitter here: @GOP_NC.

Nathan Babcock is a missionary turned Republican mercenary. He and his wife, Amber, are returning to North Carolina after four years in Central America. Nathan will work for a political fundraising firm, Harrington Forward Thinking, and the Institute of Political Leadership as a Spring 2010 Fellow. His moonlighting job is helping Republicans win elections by building online communities tied to grassroots movements. He is a Charlotte native and graduated from UNC. Nathan and Amber are in the process of adopting a child from Nicaragua. Nathan tweets here: @NathanBabcock.

Abigail (Abby) Alger works for the Leadership Institute, an Arlington, VA-based organization which identifies, recruits, trains, and places conservatives within the public policy process. She is keenly interested in any combination of politics, policy, and web technology — especially as it relates to government transparency and political strategy. A Duke University graduate and reformed northerner, her heart — and, eventually, her home — are in great state of North Carolina. Aside from visiting North Carolina as often as possible, she enjoys horseback riding, following horse racing, and training to be a classic movie buff. You can follow Abby on Twitter here: @AbbyAlger.

Yesterday I apologized for my long absence from the blog. Today I’m going to do something unheard of in the blogesphere: promote someone else’s blog!

While I’ve pledged to pick up the pace on RunSmart2Win once more — posting about once or twice a week — I know that this isn’t enough to satisfy some of the political campaign junkies out there. So, while I hope you’ll stick around (and subscribe to our RSS feed to make reading RunSmart2Win simpler and more convenient), I strongly suggest you check out Killer Campaigning for “daily non-partisan tips for campaign junkies.”

Here’s more on Killer Campaigning:

If you’re serious about getting the best advice on running a great political campaign, then this is the site you’ve been looking for. Whether you’re running a small local campaign or a barnstorming across a state, you’ll find plenty of common-sense tips and little-known political secrets on Killer Campaigning.

The campaign tips we share on Killer Campaigning aren’t just guesswork.  These are field-tested strategies that we’ve used on numerous local, state and national campaigns . . . strategies that work.

We don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent or Martian . . . our advice is for everyone.  You won’t find political posturing here at Killer Campaigning, just solid campaign advice.

I want to apologize for not updating the blog in recent months. This has been an extremely busy time for me. As we bloggers like to say: “Life keeps getting in the way of my blog.” But I’m happy to announce that RunSmart2Win.com will pick up where it left off: providing campaign tips, do’s and don’t’s, and the latest news on the North Carolina political scene. I’ll start with the unambitious goal of posting one update per week — and more when time allows.

If you would like to help out — and ensure more frequent entries on RunSmart2Win — take a stab at contributing on the site!  Contact me for more details.

Again, our apologies for neglecting the blog. Our inattention does not reflect our gratitude towards our readers or our passion for the subject matter discussed here!

Here’s a reminder of the ways you can subscribe, follow, become a fan, and connect with RunSmart2Win and like-minded conservatives committed to taking back our state and our country:

Subscribe to the RSS Feed. We’re realists. We understand that you probably don’t visit RunSmart2Win.com everyday for new blog posts. People are busy. But what if RunSmart2Win.com came to you through email or a Web notification? RSS (Really Simple Syndication) gives you this option. RSS allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from RunSmart2Win. You save time by not visiting the site’s homepage (unless the blog entry that day is especially interesting to you and you’d like to dig deeper into the content). Best of all, RSS is free! Try it for yourself and you’ll be hooked.

Follow RS2W on Twitter. Twitter is sweeping the nation. Just a few short months ago, Twitter was one of many obscure social networking sites. Today it’s the fastest-growing social media website in the world; it is quickly gaining on Facebook – and even Google — in terms of page visits and influence on the Internet. Remember during the ‘08 campaign when Democrats mocked John McCain for not using computers or PDAs? Well, he figured it out. He has over one million “followers” on Twitter (and counting). RunSmart2Win doesn’t have quite that many followers yet, but we’re trying! Don’t be left out: sign up for Twitter, “follow” RunSmart2Win, and tell us “what you’re doing now”!

Become a Facebook Fan. Facebook is the reigning king of social networking websites. It currently has more than 200 million active users worldwide. Now you can add RunSmart2Win to that list! We launched the RunSmart2Win Facebook Page last week and people are already becoming “fans”. This page is the “water cooler” of RunSmart2Win: where you can meet other people who are interested in conservative grassroots activism, network, post comments and join conversations. (And coming soon, where you can view pictures, videos, and download campaign handbooks.) We encourage you to stop by our Facebook page, become a fan, and tell your friends!

We’d like to introduce RunSmart2Win’s team of contributors, hailing from all corners of the country and continent!

Jeff Tillman is the founder of RunSmart2Win, a blog focusing on the recruitment of highly qualified GOP candidates to run for office in North Carolina. Jeff has worked in the marketing/advertising field for more than a decade. He is an Appalachian State University alumnus and lives in the heart of Starmount Forest, one of the best little neighborhoods in Greensboro, NC, with his wife, three children, and a pretty good dog named Beaufort. You can follow Jeff on Twitter at @GOP_NC.

Nathan Babcock is a missionary with Christ for the City in Nicaragua. His moonlighting job — and future career — is politicking: helping Republican candidates plan and execute winning campaigns by building online communities tied to grassroots movements. He is a Charlotte native and graduated from the University of North Carolina. Nathan and his wife, Amber, are in the process of adopting a child from Nicaragua. Nathan, Amber, and “Baby Babcock” are planning to move home to North Carolina early next year. (Twitter: @NathanBabcock)

Abigail (Abby) Alger works for Terra Eclipse, a political web development firm in Aptos, California. She is keenly interested in any combination of politics, policy, and web technology — especially as it relates to government transparency and political strategy. A Duke University graduate and reformed northerner, her heart — and, eventually, her home — are in great state of North Carolina. Aside from visiting North Carolina as often as possible, she enjoys horseback riding, following horse racing, and training to be a classic movie buff. You can follow Abby on Twitter at @AbbyAlger.

If you would like to become a RunSmart2Win contributor, guest blogger, Twitter or Facebook evangelist, please contact a member of the team above.

In the spirit of Abby’s “Social Networking 101” tutorial from last week, here are the ways you can subscribe, follow, become a fan, and connect with RunSmart2Win and like-minded conservatives committed to taking back our state and our country:

Subscribe to the RSS Feed. We’re realists. We understand that you probably don’t visit RunSmart2Win.com everyday for new blog posts. People are busy. But what if  RunSmart2Win.com came to you through email or a Web notification? RSS (Really Simple Syndication) gives you this option. RSS allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from RunSmart2Win. You save time by not visiting the site’s homepage (unless the blog entry that day is especially interesting to you and you’d like to dig deeper into the content). Best of all, RSS is free! Try it for yourself and you’ll be hooked.

Follow RS2W on Twitter. Twitter is sweeping the nation. Just a few short months ago, Twitter was one of many obscure social networking sites. Today it’s the fastest-growing social media website in the world; it is quickly gaining on Facebook – and even Google — in terms of page visits and influence on the Internet. Remember during the ‘08 campaign when Democrats mocked John McCain for not using computers or PDAs? Well, he figured it out. He has over one million “followers” on Twitter (and counting). RunSmart2Win doesn’t have quite that many followers yet, but we’re trying! Don’t be left out: sign up for Twitter, “follow” RunSmart2Win, and tell us “what you’re doing now”!

Become a Facebook Fan. Facebook is the reigning king of social networking websites. It currently has more than 200 million active users worldwide. Now you can add RunSmart2Win to that list! We launched the RunSmart2Win Facebook Page last week and people are already becoming “fans”. This page is the “water cooler” of RunSmart2Win: where you can meet other people who are interested in conservative grassroots activism, network, post comments and join conversations. (And coming soon, where you can view pictures, videos, and download campaign handbooks.) We encourage you to stop by our Facebook page, become a fan, and tell your friends!

Enjoy your Independence Day weekend!

If you must read about campaigning over the holiday, Politics Magazine has an informative article on what a candidate’s “4th of July Parade Strategy” should consist of. I would only add to their suggestions that you should be sure to eat lots of burgers off the grill; watch fireworks; and celebrate America’s birthday with friends and family.

Runsmart2Win is about winning elections.

RS2W is working to develop a farm team of future elected officials to represent conservative values in office. RunSmart2Win will teach candidates how to win local and statewide offices, ensuring that conservative voices are heard in the courts, at city hall, at the state capitol, and in Washington, DC.

RS2W will show candidates more than what to do to win, but how to do it — going beyond campaign theory and demonstrating practicable strategies that achieve winning results.

Some of the most guarded secrets — by the most savvy campaign gurus and elected politicians — will be revealed for the benefit of the future stars of conservative politics.

Let’s face it, in politics it’s all about winning elections and running successful political campaigns.

Nothing feels better than winning an election knowing you have run a successful and winning political campaign.

In political races, one candidate wins and all the others lose. The harsh reality is that there is only one outcome that is viewed as a success, and that is to win over the most voters in each particular race.

Runsmart2win has assembled an all-star team of elected officials and campaign gurus to show you some of the secrets to running a smart and effective campaign.These elected officials know about winning elections. A few of them have never lost an election. This team of advisers will help the campaigns of all levels of candidates - from local school board officials to state wide races. They even have great tips for elected officials who are up for re-election and want to cushion there next race with a bigger percentage of the vote.

No topic is left uncovered in these political seminars. Winning political tactics and strategies are revealed for all aspects of the political race. Grass roots campaign tactics, using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace for gaining momentum, fundraising techniques, how to host a fundraiser and get people to attend and give money, campaign finance laws and compliance, how and when to buy TV, radio, and newspaper spots … it’s covered here by proven veterans with years and years of experience out in the trenches.

A super special bonus is coming. We will show you a case study of how one successful State Senator won his very first election while getting outspent 3 to 1. This was his very first run for an elected office and since his first victory this Senator has captured at least 70% of the vote in every one of his general election races. This kind of executive political training is priceless.