2 The Next Level

Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category

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.

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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

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If you have not seen this video yet you are in for a treat. The creator of the video, Erik Qualman is also the author of the book Socialnomics: How social media transforms our lives and the way we do business.  Now be prepared the video goes at a fast clip and you may need to pause it or watch it more than one time like I did.  Even if  you have to watch it over and over again it is worth it because of the astounding statistics it give on the comparison of social media over traditional media.

The video stars by asking you a simple question. Is Social Media a Fad? It then goes on to inform you of some amazing figures about social media. My personal favorite: If Facebook were a country it would be the worlds 4th largest behind the United States and ahead of countries like Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan.  Facebook’s growth rate in 9 month, more than doubles what the television did in 13 years and  the Internet did in 3 years.

So what does all this mean for Solopreneurs like you and me? Well, for one it means that we can reach more people with a viral Youtube video and a free Twitter account than all of the viewership of last years baseball World Series. By the way I watch more baseball games via the MLB TV channel on the Internet than I have watched my whole adult life as a baseball fan.

I watched today’s Yankees/Rays game and was able to connect with Yankee fans via Twitter who were watching the game and Tweeting at the same time from all over the world.

Baseball may seem boring and not as exciting as some of the other sports like Football and Basketball but they are sure using some of the social media tools in order to bring even more eyeballs to their product. I even met a new friend on Facebook who shares the same passion as I do for my beloved Yankees yet he lives farther from the Bronx than I do.  Nate is a family man with a wife and kids just like myself.  We share the adoration of our Yankees but we also share another passion in using social media and the Internet to promote ourselves and our businesses.

Nate has an online store that sells shoes and accessories for people who have a love for clogging. What is clogging you may ask? Well according to Wikipedia Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing from the British Isles, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer’s footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive rhythms. Why do I tell you all of this? Its because while Nate and I have only met and known each other through Facebook and Twitter I was fascinated by his use of social media to promote his Clogon.com store.

Nate is a true case study of how one uses and embraces Socialnomics. All Nate did was make a comment on one of my famous Facebook updates saying that the Yankees won again and now I am writing this blog post about him and his business. I currently have over 2800 friends on Facebook but it only took one comment from Nate to get me to his profile that lead me to  his website that then lead me to his blog and to my amazement lead me to the reading and viewing  of more information about clogging.

I don’t know if I will ever meet Nate in person and I am almost sure I will never put on a clogging shoe but our shared love for the Yanks and social media will keep us connected. So if you are still stuck in the rut of traditional economics I suggest you follow Erik Qualman @equalman and Nate @mollermarketing on Twitter and get with this Socialnomics program.

All the best and GO YANKEES..;-)

JB

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I had a great time with the members of the Dekalb Chamber of Commerce last week. We had a packed house and a very eager audience who really wanted to know more about social media. I only had 90 minutes to give them a better understanding on how to use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin in their businesses. The pressure was on but I was up to the challenge. Here are some of the comments I received after the event.

Jeff,

Great presentation on Social Media Marketing. I thoroughly enjoyed the information you presented and am currently focusing my attention on this area of marketing to provide as a service to my clients. Your presentation helped in making everything more clear for me.

Thanks for everything,
Sharla Bell
Triniti Business Concepts
A Virtual Assistance Company

Jeff,

It was great to meet you at the Dekalb Chamber of Commerce today.

I am already taking some of what you talked about to heart and will apply them to my blog TheSocialSet.blogspot.com.  I’d also love to talk to you about wordpress.

Sincerely,

David

David S. Cohen

Social Media Copywriter

JB

Attended your seminar today — it was FABULOUS!!! Let’s connect

Jennifer Whitaker
Executive Coach and Management Consultant

I want to say a special thank you to all of the staff at the Dekalb Chamber of Commerce for allowing me to speak before their members and the staff of the Dekalb Convention and Visitors Bureau for the use of their great facility. Please go to both their websites to learn more on how both their agencies can help your business.

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It has been about a month since Facebook allowed its user to have a personal username instead of a string of number and letters after Facebook.com (Ex. http://www.facebook. com/home.php#/pages/ Atlanta-GA/Dentist-S OS/8873444421).

Since it is so hard to find information on how to do things on Facebook I thought I would find it for you and put it here on my blog so that you can read for yourself. I encourage you to get a Facebook username if don’t already have one. But also remember to get your own piece of Internet real-estate by getting a domain name for your business at Proemailaddress.net And as always these Facebook questions and answers are subject to change without notice from Facebook. Enjoy..;-)

What is a Facebook username?

You can personalize your Facebook URL (web address) by selecting a unique username. It will appear in the location bar of your browser after “http://www.facebook.com/” when you view your profile. Ex. http://www.facebook.com/jbrathwaite

Where can I claim a username?

http://www.facebook.com/username You can select a username that Facebook suggests or create your own. Select “Check availability” to check for available usernames. If the desired username is available, click “Confirm” in order to confirm your choice.

How many usernames does each person get?

Users can only have one username for their personal profile. Similarly, Facebook Page administrators can only have one username for each Page.

Can I edit my username, or transfer it to another account?

Once you have claimed a username by clicking the “Confirm” button after checking for a username’s availability, it is not possible to edit it, or to transfer your username to a different account on Facebook. Additionally, when an account is removed from the site, its username will not be made available. Facebook does this for security reasons.

You should make sure it is something you like and that it’s appropriate for friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else who might use it to find you.

My username was not available.

You may not be able to claim a username for several reasons. Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (“.”), for example — john.smith55. It is important to note that a period (“.”) does not count as a part of a username; therefore, names like johnsmith55, john.smith55, john.smith.55, etc. all constitute the same username. Usernames also must be at least 5 characters long. Usernames are not case sensitive. Facebook also prevents certain words from being included in usernames. It is not possible to copy a username that someone else has already claimed.

If Facebook has indicated that your username cannot be claimed, you will need to select a different one. You will see a green checkmark indicating that a potential username is available before you actually claim it.

Will usernames be for Facebook Pages and personal profiles?

Yes. People can set one and only one username for their personal profile. Similarly, Facebook Page administrators can only have one and only one username for each Page they administer.

What if people want to release their username in lieu of another?

To prevent username squatting and other activities that would limit options for other users, we have a strict no transferability policy.

When will usernames be available to new users?

Users will be required to have a verified Facebook account, which may require mobile phone authentication.

When can I use my new username?

Immediately. After the username has been confirmed, people will be given the option to publish the new username into the stream to inform friends, family and co-workers.

I tried to secure a name for my Page but Facebook said the Page was not eligible. What are the requirements?

Your Facebook Page must meet two requirements: it must have been live on Facebook prior to the May 31, 2009 cut-off date and have had a minimum 1,000 fans at that time.

This limitation is temporary. All Pages created after May 31, 2009 or that had less than 1,000 fans on that day will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009 if they have more than 100 fans.

Why should I register a username for my Facebook Page?

Usernames allow public entities to easily promote your presence on Facebook with a short URL (http://www.facebook.com/companyname). This username can be used in your marketing communications, company website and business cards.

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