Vision Of Success

All right, I’m impressed.

As you know, I read a lot. I read at least one book a week, and usually have a half dozen books or so laying around between my desk and my night stand.

I buy a lot of business books, and they are usually a part of a promotion through a friends, or part of a promotion to gain traction with places like Amazon.

But the newest promotion is by Seth Godin, and really “wow’d” me. So of course I have to share.

Back in August, an announcement came out through my Twitter that Seth Godin had a new promotion. Pre-purchase his newest book, Tribes, to be released in October, and you’ll become a beta tester for his new social site, Triiibes. So of course I had to play.

I’ve been on Triiibes ever since, and try to participate in discussions daily. I’ve really grown to love the site, and met a lot of great people.

Today I received a package in the mail. Inside was Seth’s book, Tribes. It’s sitting on my desk, next in line to be read. But what struck me was the letter included with the book.

This isn’t the book I ordered through Amazon. Instead, Seth sent out a second book in advance for all of us to read ahead of time. With one request that when we receive the second book from Amazon, that we give the book to someone in our network that could use it.

What a promotion! WOW!

Imagine as an author having hundreds of books pre-sold before the publishing date.  Imagine these hundreds of people developing a social site, that will have thousands of pages built for you when the book comes out, and others venture in and decide to join as well. Imagine sending out hundreds of additional books, with a request you pass the book along - what kind of traction will this have!

I guarantee you a ton. Not only will I be sharing my book with some lucky client of my own, but I’m sharing the idea with you too.

Oh, and one more thing. As a special “surprise”, Seth used the beta testers’ profile pictures to create the inside book jacket. How cool is that. 

What can you do to create your own WOW promotion? Have you ever done something that made others say WOW?

I just noticed my class is online. I’ll be teaching a class at Arapahoe Community College on October 7th from 6 to 8:30 pm.

The class is titled, How To Use Social Networking To Boost Your Business. If you’re in the Denver area, I’d love to have you in class.

We’ll be talking about a variety of different ways to use the new social media to build up connections for your business, where to look for social sites, and how much time it really takes to stay active online.

Hope to see you there.

Blog Action Day 2008 has just been announced - and I’m excited to be a part of this amazing event.

Thousands of blogging sites will take place in this unique online event. On October 15th, every blogger registered for the cause will make a blog post about poverty. To be truly unique, the blog post should be targeted towards your audience of readers. So of course I’ll be reflecting on the importance of financing an entrepreneurs dream of making a better life.

I’ll also be supporting Kiva that day - an amazing organization in which you can help entrepreneurs in developing countries with a micro loan.

Do you have a blog? Do you want to join this amazing cause yourself? Come join in the fun, and see how blogging can take you to new heights. 

I’ve been talking to a lot of people about LinkedIn the past couple of days. Does it work to network online? Can you really build your business using tools like LinkedIn?

Or should you limit the number of friends you have on social sites, and make sure you only use great people you actually know well?

Take a look at this blog post on LinkedIn which will give you insight as to how people are using social sites as marketing for their business.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on LinkedIn connecting up with other business owners. I answer questions regularly, and have started asking a variety of my own questions.

So as I logged in today to start surfing through the site, I was surprised to see today’s featured question - by John McCain.

Think of how a presidential candidate could operate in the future. If there’s a topic brewing  among the masses, he or she simply logs into their social site, asks a question, and begins analyzing the responses from average American citizens.

Talk about the power of the people.

In less than 2 hours, 81 people have posted answers to his question. Imagine the response in 7 days. And imagine the answers he can get by asking a question every day.

It doesn’t have to be just for presidential candidates. It can be for small business owners too.

What if you could ask a question to a group of people and get answers from people around the globe? How do they feel about something? What opinion do they have about something in the news? Could it impact the way you build a new service?

I’ve been asking questions just to get an overview of how people feel about social media and blogging. While none of the answers surprised me, it did confirm things I already had a feeling about.

What can you ask to help you build your business?

Does it take a journalist to blog, or can anyone do it?

That’s the question that was raised in an article in my local newspaper this past weekend.

A reporter wrote an article on a blogger that was fighting a $25 million defamation lawsuit for something he wrote about another business owner. Journalists are taught what is acceptable and what isn’t in the world of reporting. But can bloggers go too far, and write in such a way that a lawsuit is brought up against them?

Or is it all just a scare tactic?

Journalism as a whole is changing every day. The younger the audience, the less likely they are to gather news in the same way as their parents. And it’s not just the 20 -somethings that are changing. I myself get almost 100% of my news from online sources. I haven’t watched news on tv in a long time (I don’t watch much tv anyway) and I only get the Sunday news for the comics and ads (there’s still something about sitting down and reading the comics with my daughter) and reading things like the book reviews. 

Blogging is perfectly safe - just keep these three things in mind.

1. Blogging creates a permanent record. Always think twice about your posts; list facts, references and resources; and make sure things are written the way you desire.

2. Use your blogs as an extension of your business and your expertise. Share your knowledge, and give people information about what you do. Don’t step out of your areas of expertise.

3. Instead of writing up certain issues - link to stories instead. Let your readers make their own opinions.

Do you have any stories about blogging, or ideas to stay safe online?

What? Internet safety for parents?

But I’m trying to learn how to keep my kids safe – why do I need safety tips?

I thought in this post I would turn the whole idea around of why we as parents need Internet safety.

Maybe you just don’t have time to learn that much about being online. You don’t visit anymore sites that you have to, and really only turn on your computer a couple of times per week.

Or maybe you spend a full day at work, and the last thing you want to do when you get home is spend more time online learning about the latest technology.

Or maybe you dabble in the new technology, and have learned just enough to be totally confused.

Yet you as a parent are the only one that can help your child navigate the online world, and teach him or her wrong from right. Most parents are not doing this today, which is leaving many sites on equal territory to the wild west.

So when you child was a toddler, you told her “no” when she tried to touch the stove because you understood it was hot and would burn her.

As a child, you taught her “don’t speak to strangers” because you understood the safety issues.

The same applies to the Internet.

Start with the simple statement “Don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want your parents or grandparents reading”.

If you say it enough, they will listen.

Also teach them stories of the implications. If you post a video showing you drinking alcohol at 17, it may impact getting into the college of your choice, or getting the job you desire. People search, and they will find you.

Think twice. And don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want your parents, grandparents – or even your kids reading.

Not only is it a good rule for you kids, it’s a good rule for you too. Establish your boundaries now, and teach your children well.

?4U
[I have a question for you.]

2MI
[Is there too much information in your life?]

Just when you learn one thing, a dozen more pop up. And if you have kids, they come home with something new every day – in addition to the dozen things you’ve been presented with throughout the day.

When will it end?

Information, like it or not, is here to stay. If you have a question about homework, you can Google it. If you have a problem, you can Ask about it. If you need a definition, you can head to Wikipedia.

While we will never have a lack of information available to us, the one thing we now need is a way to learn the most important things, and put the rest out of our minds.

Texting has huge penetration at the moment. If you look at any teenager, chances are they are going back and forth between talking with friends, and texting another group. Can they really be engaged in several things at once?

Yes they can. They’ve grown up with technology, and use it like we use calculators and phones. They multitask in a big way – and its preparing them for the world they will live in.

Blogging and microblogging formats (like Twitter) require a user to think about communication skills in a variety of ways, and share it with the people around them. It’s no longer about sharing with one friend at a time – it’s about keeping your entire network up to date.

Texting is teaching our kids:

1. Communication skills
2. Technology skills
3. Sharing skills
4. Networking skills

Now, do they really use it the right way all the time? Of course not. But they are learning.

The important part of starting out in a fun, simple way is to put the skills to use. Refinement comes over the years, and as you move into more complex situations.

What are you learning?

B4N
[Bye for now]

I bet I know what your day is like.

You get up and check email. Then you work on client projects, answer phone calls, meet with prospects, and have lunch. Then you start all over again after lunch.

You may spend a little time with family and friends, then back to the computer to check email, do a little more client or office work, and call it a night.

So when are you supposed to learn about social networking AND put it all into action?

Social networking isn’t meant to take up your entire day. It’s meant to be a complement to your other marketing tactics.

With your traditional marketing, you may attend one or two lunches or after hour business meetings per week. In a couple of hours, you may get a handful of leads to follow up on in the coming week.

It’s the same with social networking. Only with social networking, the work you do today can help you build way into the future because it doesn’t disappear from the online world. It creates a presence, and allows you to build from there.

The important thing is to make time for it. Dedicate a few minutes each day, or a half hour a couple times of week, and just do it!

I’m what you might call a heavy networker.

I find several local meetings to attend every week, and head out with my 30 second commercial in tow, ready to make connections.

After every meeting, I follow up with some amazing people. So in addition to each and every networking group, I also add several face to face meetings each week for more personal connections.

But lately I’ve been having so much fun connecting online as well. And it goes much faster online than you could ever do offline. It’s easy to find people with like interests not just in your local community, but anywhere in the world.

My latest group I’ve started on Facebook has added 98 members in 3 days.  Want to see how it works? Come on into Facebook, and look me up as a friend.