2 The Next Level

Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

I have been a Facebook enthusiast for about 2 years now and was really happy with my growing legion of friends. I was well on my way to having over 4000 friends until a huge revelation came over me. I did not know who 90 percent of my Facebook friends were!

I like most of you, bought into the program that the more friends you have the better. I believed this whole heartedly up until this past Christmas. What happened to me this past Christmas you may ask? Well I got a new smart phone that had a special software included to keep me up to date with most of my Social Networking services like Facebook and Twitter.

MOTOBLUR is the name of the service created by Motorola.  MOTOBLUR will push Facebook and Twitter updates to my phone without having to download an application or go to their websites. It is a great feature to have when you want to keep up to date with all the people you follow on Twitter or have as friends on Facebook. This was a feature I thought would be a great asset to having this new smart phone. Boy was I right and wrong.

Too Much of a Good Thing.
Some times too much of a good thing is just that, TOO MUCH.  After setting up MOTOBLUR to grab both my Facebook and Twitter something strange happened. My cell phone got really slow and sluggish in responding. At first I thought it was just a defect of the phone but I then realized that it was the thousands of updates downloading to my MOTOBLUR service. It got so bad I almost thought I made the wrong choice in cell phones.

Mass Exodus Deletus
After getting all these status updates from people I didn’t even know or care about I finally made the decision that this was ridiculous and trying to keep up with all these people on my phone made no sense at all. It was bad enough trying to keep up with all of them online with my computer. So I decided to delete all unknown friends. This took me a few days because Facebook does not have any kind of mass delete button. You have to delete each person one at a time.

Quality Not Quantity
I am currently down to about 650+ friends and I am still finding some that I don’t know. I will continue to delete these friends that I don’t know or that don’t directly know someone I know. Some of you may have already figured this out and will keep your friends to a minimum. Those of you who are currently stockpiling friends as though they were a heard of cattle should think twice on what you are doing.  Facebook should be used to build and maintain quality relationships between family and true friends not be a free for all numbers game.

Facebook Fans vs Friends
Now that I have my Facebook Friends under control I am now looking to build up my Facebook Fan pages. If you would like to know more on why you should create a Facebook Fan page over another Facebook profile please see my blog post “The Facebook Insider’s Guide to Viral Marketing is a Solopreneurs Dream Come True“. In the mean time please join one of my two fan pages. One is geared toward using Web 2.0 technology optimization to better your business. The other “JB Speaks” is centered around my love of speaking and training.

How many Facebook friends do you have?

Are you Facebook friends just numbers, or are they true friends?

Do you have a Facebook Fan page? If so, please list the url in our comments below.

If you don’t have a Facebook Fan page and would like one for your business, please email or call us to assist you in setting one up.

All the best

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

It has been 4 long years since I had the ability to call my cell phone anything but smart. Today I was fortunate enough to be given a brand new smart phone. Why does it seem such a surprise it has taken me this long to finally get with the program and get one of these remarkable devices.  Well, without going into detail I guess I was waiting for just the right one to come along and give me everything I ever wanted in a smart phone.  Believe me it was a long and drawn out quest to find this phone.

I like most of you toyed with the idea of going First Fruit Phone but I have been a PC man for so long I just new there was something out there for folks like myself.  Then came HTC and the Android operating system by Google and I was hooked. HTC came out with so many great looking phones to rival the First Fruit of Phones and the Android operating made me take notice even more. The HTC G1 was a  huge draw to me and I was 2 minutes from jumping into the deep end of the smart water pool when that first G-phone just looked so darn bulky and down right ugly compared to Mom’s Pie Phone.

It finally took an oldie but goodie cell phone manufacture to get me back. Motorola, king of the cell  phones back in the 80’s. Did you know that In 1969, Neil Armstrong spoke the famous words “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” from the Moon on a Motorola Radio? And who could forget the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, AKA the “Brick Phone”.

Well Motorola is back with a vengeance and it has taken their new Android powered phone the CLIQ with MotoBlur to bring me back into the smart phone fold for good. Please see my blog post “Social Media Meets Motorola MOTOBLUR” for additional information on this spectacular smart phone.

This Christmas Santa brought me a smart phone that can connect me to my social media network without missing a beat. I watched my first Youtube video, downloaded my first smart phone application, updated my status on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin all while I chatted via Google Talk with two of my best friends.

Motorola I solute you for bringing me back to life when it comes to mobile technology.

All the best and Happy Holidays

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

John Lawson from ColderICE.com has been recognized by StartupNation (http://www.startupnation.com) as one of the top businesses in its 2009 Home Based 100 competition under the category of Savviest in Social Media.

Many of the StartupNation Home-Based 100 submissions revealed that business owners are bucking the current economic downturn and finding business success in these tight times. Historically some of today’s most well known businesses started in a downturn, including Microsoft and General Electric.

“The 2009 ranking shows that the home-based business is more relevant than ever. The current recession has spurred a new wave of home based businesses as a response to loss of jobs, the need for supplemental income and the sheer passion for blazing your own trail and running your own show,” said Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation.com, one of the leading small business networking and advice websites. “Home based businesses are the biggest block of all businesses in existence and we expect numbers to grow ever greater as extra bedrooms, kitchen tables, basements and garages become host to the innovative thinking and pursuit of success by millions of Americans.”

“This is by far one of the coolest recognitions ever for me” said John Lawson, editor of ColderICE.com, a education portal for internet business owners. “This is the first year that this category has been acknowledged and to be the first winner is truly trail blazing. Social media is officially on the map and now I get to be the first pin.”

The StartupNation Home-Based 100 highlights 10 top-ten lists making it not just your ordinary business ranking. From the wackiest, to the most innovative, to the savviest in social media – this unique and diverse list highlights the home-based businesses that usually go unrecognized, but still play a vital role in the economy today. MSN publishes the ranking as well in an editorial collaboration with StartupNation. The ten categories for 2009 include:

· Recession Busters

· Savviest in Social Media

· Most Innovative

· Boomers Back in Business

· Greenest

· Yummiest

· Wackiest

· Highest Vote-Getters

· Most Slacker-Friendly

· Most Glamorous

John Lawson was selected from among thousands of contestants by a StartupNation judging panel, which issues the ranking results annually in the November.

The full results of the Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation’s website at http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100/. The 2009 ranking was sponsored by Microsoft Office Live, Infusionsoft and FedEx Office.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Do you have a touch screen phone yet? I don’t. I have been debating whether or not I actually need one at this time.  Even with all of the iPhone craze, I still have not been tempted to have a touch screen phone. Well I have finally found a touch phone that I have literally fallen in LOVE with. What makes this lovefest so amazing is this new touch phone is not even on the market here in the USA yet.

The new Motorola CLIQ with MOTOBLUR won’t be available until the first week in November. Why am I raving about this phone, you may ask? Well this touch phone puts Social Media in the forefront of its main functions. MOTOBlUR gives you the ability to see your Social Media updates on the phone without having to log into each individual website. Not only can you see your Facebook and Twitter updates but your can also respond or reply to these updates.

The Motorola CLIQ uses the Google Android platform. If you are not fond of  having  just touch access on your phone the CLIQ also has a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out of the bottom of the phone. I am really excited about the potential of this phone. My only problem is that I would be looking at going back to a 2 year contract with T-Mobile. I currently have a month to month payment plan with my cell phone provider that has worked very well for me up till now.

After taking a look at the above video please give me your thoughts in commenting on this new phone and let me know what made you switch to your current touch screen phone.

All the best

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

(ATLANTA) – September 29, 2009 – Atlanta Tribune : The Magazine will host its first annual Social Media/Technology Day on October 1, 2009 at Clayton State University from 8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine recognizes in today’s social media–driven society, it is imperative for businesses to learn how to use social media as a highly effective marketing tool.

Sessions featured in Social Media/Technology Day include:

• Strategically Social-Tips and Tricks for Maximizing the Effectiveness of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
• Blogging for Dollars  – The Best Practices for Business Blogging
• Analyze This! Five ways to measure The Impact of Your Social Media Activities
• Working Lunch: Real Talk about Social Media
• Five Technologies to Help You Build Your Brand and Connect with More Customers
• 5 Ways to Use Social Media to Attract Customers

Brent Leary, co-founder and partner of CRM Essentials, has assembled a skilled team of social media and technology experts to serve as moderators; including Six Apart’s Andy Wibbels, award winning blogger, social media trainer, and author of “Blogwild; John”ColderICE” Lawson, president, 3rd Power Outlet; and Jeff “JB” Brathwaite, 2 The Next LEVEL, Inc.

Registration is free and includes a free breakfast sponsored by MetLife Securities, starting at 7:45 a.m. For more information, visit http://atsocialmedia-techday.eventbrite.com.

[pictobrowser type="flickr" userID="41692514@N02" albumID="72157622399261761"]

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.