If you are a fan of Social Media and you have not seen the now famous Social Media Revolution video on Youtube yet then you may have been hiding under a rock.  This video has been viewed over 2 million times and has turned its creator, Erik Qualman into a Social Media Rock Star. I first wrote about Mr. Qualman’s video back in September of 2009 “How Fast Has Economics Turned Into Socialnomics?” I have even used this video in some of my presentations to demonstrate the power of Social Media.

Well now, through the help of Ilona Olayan with Social Strategy1 I will finally get a chance to meet Mr. Socialnomics himself.  Strategy1 is the “One Stop Shop” in outsourcing online business management using revolutionary social media technology to monitor and analyze the web.  Social Strategy1 is also one of the title sponsors to this years Lift: The B2B Social Commerce Summit.

Eric Qualman is just one of the many Social Media powerhouses that will be speaking at this event. One of the speakers happens to be a good friend of mine.  Michael Thomas is a Principal with Effective Engagements, a Social CRM Consultancy and Director of Social CRM Strategies with Social Strategy1. I have known Michael since he and another good friend of mine Brent Leary started CRM Essentials back in 2003.

The LIFT: B2B Social Commerce Summit is an all day event starting at 7:30am on Thursday, September 23, 2010.  This event’s attendees have a wealth of experience and knowledge in the fields of social media management and social commerce. Lift Summit will show you how to improve and execute a successful social strategy, and connect with savvy bloggers, entrepreneurs, and other business professionals.

So if you are in the Atlanta area and you want to Learn How to Monetize Your Social Media Efforts, I highly recommend you attend this event.

All the best and I hope to see you there

JB

Click Here to Register and Use the discount code LIFT2010 for 10%

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Ok so the tech world is a Buzz.. no pun intended about this new communication service by Google. Google Buzz was release with very little fan fair and a lot of quirky bugs. No one really new what to expect from the announcement and many were puzzled at first with what they saw. Was this new service going to replace Google Wave? Or was it something that was going to challenge the social media behemoths of the world like Twitter and Facebook. Answer.. A little of both.

Google Buzz has made most of us wonder why it was not released instead of Google Wave oh so many months ago. By the way have any of you actually used your Google Wave accounts since being able to use the service? I used my account all of 3 times. It was way to advanced and complicated for me. I especially didn’t like the feature of having people see exactly what I was typing in real time.

Buzz is inside gmail which is a good and not so good thing.  Unlike Twitter, Facebook and even linkedIn you don’t have a Google buzz web address. You can get to someones buzz account through your Google profile address. Mine is http://www.google.com/profiles/jbrath

At first getting someones Buzz stream was a complete chore because of all the threaded replies and comments. They have since fixed that and most of the other privacy issue problems.

I for one am almost Buzzed out. The thrill is gone and I really don’t care to buzz anymore.  I currently have just over 56 followers who are really not that buzzed as well. I click on the buzz link in my gmail every once in a while but I am not really getting anything more than I am getting from the other social networking services.

So what’s your take on Buzz?

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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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(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.

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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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If you want to learn more about Social Networking you have got to check out the animation below and visit http://www.vizedu.com. These interactive animations are awesome teaching tools.

VizEdu’s objective is to explain Social Media, Web2.0, Search and Emerging technologies visually. They make learning visual, fun, simple and actionable.

Take a look at these three Social Networking case studies and let me know what you think.

All the best

JB

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Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, the number one blog on the Internet declared her winner for the 2008 Presidential Election.

Twitter, a micro blogging service has real time conversations with its Election 2008 custom website.

You can then go to TwitVote and vote in a mock opinion-poll for voting for Election 2008.

Facebook will help you find your polling place and for those who don’t know you can still register and vote If you live in Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, or Wyoming.

CNN has an Interactive Map of the United States for updates on the Presidential election as well as customizing that page to show all the different races in every state.

Here is the Barack Obama’s website and YouTube Channel John McCcain’s website and Youtube Channel

Last but not least there was even a social media marketing case study created by Social CRM Expert Brent Leary and Internet Marketing Expert David Bullock. Barack20.com

This study helps small businesses understand how Barack Obama used social media to market himself. Brent and David used their blog to give

audio lesson on how small businesses can use social media to further their business as well.

We first reported on this study when it was just a webinar but has now grown into so much more.

Brent and David were recently featured in the November issue of Black Enterprise and are in the midst of launching their first

seminar in a local city near you. We will keep you posted on what happens next for Barack20 after the election.

The main thing that everyone should understand is that the 2008 Elections has used Web 2.0 technology and made the Internet better for us all.
We are so much more informed and knowledgeable about our local and national candidates. This can only help us make the best choices for the leadership of our country.

So if you have not done so yet. Please get out and Vote!

All the best

JB

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This is a follow up post to the Webinar that Social CRM Expert Brent Leary did with SEO Rainmaker David Bullock. The webinar went so well that it has sprung a new interest in how the Barack Obama Social Media campaign can help Solopreneurs and Small Businesses. If you missed the webinar you can now watch and listen to it by going to Brent’s CRM Blog or by clicking on these two links

http://www.barack20.com/Barack_Pt1.htm
http://www.barack20.com/Barack_Pt2.htm

Remember this webinar is not about politics in any way. It is how those on the Barack Obama technology team used social media to its fullest. Brent and David are going to have more conversations and webinars around this subject so stay tuned to hear about how you can join in on how this business model can help you take your business 2 the next level.

All the best

JB

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I have only been using the micro blogging tool Twitter for just under a month and I have to say I am hooked. My first Tweet or Twit was on a myspace page that someone emailed me of a lady who makes dresses out of Barack Obama T-shirts, and my latest Tweet was about my testing out a new broadcast email service called Mad Mimi. I can send Twitter updates directly from the Twitter website or from my cell phone using SMS. I can even send them via voice activation using a service called Jott that will take my spoken word and translate it into text on the Twitter network.

Some of you Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners are probably asking yourself why in the world would I need to get a Twitter account and start Tweeting. I said the same thing over a month ago but a funny thing happened when I sent out my first Tweet. I got an answer back in a Follower. A follower is someone who sees what you just put out on the Twitter network, then looks at your profile and then at a push of a button follows all your twitter update from now until they want to no more.

I know it may sound like a religious experience or maybe even cyber stalking and NO it is not. It is more like a voluntary way of telling you that I like what you wrote about and thereafter checking your profile out, I don’t mind getting more information from you.

If you goto a website called Twitterholic.com you can find out who the top 100 people being followed on the Twitter network. Barack Obama is number three on this list. Not only do I follow him but in return he follows me. How thrilling was it to see that the current Democratic Presidential Candidate is following little ole me.

So how can you use this to your advantage as a Solopreneur or Small Business Owner? Very simple. Think of it as Micro Marketing 140 characters at a time. 140 characters is all that you are allowed to post at a time on Twitter so your messages need to be short and to the point. Use it as a way to make timely announcements of your new services or product launches. Invite your many followers to your next event or just share a great website that would help someone in their time of need.

What you should not do is abuse the Twitter network of followers by sending them Twitter spam. Twitter spam is just like email spam unwanted information that serves no purpose. If you do this you will lose followers in a heartbeat. The best thing to do is just be yourself and share topics of discussion your audience of followers would appreciate.

I will do a follow up post on the many Twitter Tools for Solopreneurs and Small Businesses. In the mean time please get your own Twitter account and start sharing. If you share good information you will get a great following.

All the best

JB
twitter.com/jbrath

Had to add this great Youtube video on how Twitter works enjoy.

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My good friend and CRM expert Brent Leary is hosting a Free Webinar with SEO Rainmaker and business development expert David Bullock. The Webinar is on Barack Obama’s social media lesson to small businesses.

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