Successful Blog

Geoff Livingston Hosts SOBCon NonProfit Give Back Day

by

On Sunday May 2nd, SOBCon 2010 will highlight four charities (501c3) that have volunteered themselves for a social media coaching session from its attendees. We have the great honor of Zoetica Media Geoff Livingston serving the conference as the NonProfit Give Back facilitator.

Each of our four charities — Anixter, Ashoka, InvisiblePeopleTV and Vitamin Angels — will discuss their strategy, current social media efforts, and online hopes. From there the room, comprised of some of the brightest minds in social media, will match the mission and goals of the organizations with the tools, with the end game of providing meaningful social media strategy that can impact the world.

Like Zoetica CEO Beth Kanter likes to say, “Even better, what if we all learned from the process?” In addition to group sharing, we will have break-out sessions where each table

Sounds like a plan to me. The following is a brief description of each of our four participants. I hope to see you at SOBCON!

Our Participants

anixterlogo293.gifAnixter: The mission of Chicago-based the Anixter Center is to enhance the ability of individuals living with or at risk of disabilities to live, learn, work, and play in the community. Each year, at dozens of locations across greater Chicago, Anixter Center provides an array of effective, innovative services to more than 5,000 children and adults. These services include education, employment, life skills, communication, recreation, health care, counseling, and support.

image_preview.jpgAshoka: The global association serves the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women tackling system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, more than 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs have become Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With its global community, Ashoka develops models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector.


invppl.jpgInvisiblePeopleTV: Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal on Twitter) will come and discuss Invisible People. For years mark used the lens of a television camera to tell the stories of homelessness and the organizations trying to help. The reports were produced well and told a story, but the stories Mark produces now on Invisible People are much different. These are the real people, telling their own, very real stories… unedited, uncensored and raw. The purpose: To make the invisible visible.

VA_logo_2color_RGB.jpgVitamin Angels: This socially-savvy charity seeks to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance availability, access and use of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, by newborns, infants and children in need. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under five. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

Use the Power, Wonder Working Power in the Words

by

A Guest Post by Hollie Pollard

cooltext443809437_relationships

This week a christian hymn has rung in my head. The refrain goes like this “there is power, wonder working power in the blood”. With that song ringing in my head I got thinking about power and the power we have as bloggers. The dictionary defines power a couple of ways that I think applies to us as bloggers.

” ablitity to act or produce an effect” and “possession or control, authority, or influence over others”

Each of us who sit down to our computers to write has a power. Have you ever thought about the power behind your typed word? I have learned there is a power to words I and other bloggers use. We tap into that power each and every time our fingers hit the keyboard.

Every time we type we have the ability to become educators, entertainers, comedians, sharers, reporters, engagers, healers, builders of community and the list goes on. As a fairly new blogger I have realized there is power in the word and I have a responsibility with that power:

1. I must be authentic. My words have to be mine. I must share my way. I try hard not to compare myself to others in my niche. I think my story is pretty unique thus my perspective and twist may be different and may connect in ways others would not and with that comes power.

2. I want to inspire. I want to move people to action or at least engagement. In almost every post I try to achieve this goal. For me it is about finding ways to make life a little easier, a little simpler, a little less expensive but then I am a frugal mom blogger. I share how I am doing it. If I can get you to do something then I have tapped into that power.

3. I want to encourage. Every day there are enough trolls and critics. I find there is a real need for encouragers. We need more people willing to lift up others. After all don’t we all need our own cheering section. When I reach out to others I want to build community and lift it up and for me that is the best use of my power.

I have recognized that there is power in the word, wonder working power. Have you? What do you do to utilize the power that is your typed word and how can it make you more successful? For me, I feel successful as a blogger if I am able to tap into that power to be authentic, inspire and encourage.

How do you use the power of your words?

_____
Hollie is a solo flying frugal mom with a love for all things Internet related. You can find her blogging at Common Cents Mom or SimplyHollie.
You can find me tweeting at as well as @CommonCentsMom.

Hollie is also the winner of the FREE trip to SOBCon2010!

Thank you, Hollie!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz to become more visible on the web!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Register Now!! for sobcon-vmc

In Business and Life: Books that strive to Motivate and Inspire Us

by

A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors and writers by managing their online promotion. As part of my job I read a lot of books (and I love to read anyway!). I am here to offer a weekly post about one book I am working with and one book I have put on my reading list. The books will cover topics such as social media (Facebook and Twitter), organization, career building, networking, writing and self development and inspiration.

Where Did The Gift Go?

wtg

This week I would like to start off with a book I have read and working with entitled Where Did the Gift Go? by Ricky Roberts III.

I believe we all need inspiration in our lives, sometimes more than others. What I really enjoyed about Ricky’s book is the honesty and devotion to his message throughout the book. He writes about the gifts we each have within us to live our greatest lives and how we can regain these gifts at any time we want.

I would like to share with you a brief excerpt from “Where did the Gift Go?”:

“In this book, I ask, “Where did the Gift Go?”. I say the gift is here, right now, just to be. It’s in the essence of who you are and how you choose to live every moment that you are given. Live your life!
If you were to take ten people on a timeline, chances are they will all fall in different places on it. Naturally
some come in the world at the same time, or leave at the same time, but the chances of them coming and going at the same exact time are unlikely…”
“I, my friend, can tell you the exact moment of one thing, and that is your life, the gift. It is now!”

I see it, even in myself many times, I get going so fast, I don’t slow down long enough to really appreciate the gift of life staring me in the face. Each moment we are here on earth, we can make a difference within ourselves and help others do the same.

If you wish to pick up a copy of Where did the Gift Go? you can pick it up on Amazon.

About Ricky: At the age of seventeen, after being stabbed nine times, Ricky realized a higher calling in his life and has been driven to work that purpose since then. He is devoted to this path of service and is passionate about making a difference wherever he can.

Drive

Now is time for me to showcase a book I have not read but it is on my reading list. This week my choice is Daniel Pink’s latest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us.

About the book:
From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the bestselling A Whole New Mind, comes a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter and live better.

Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

About Daniel:
I was born on the American east coast. Then I was reared (that’s the word we use) in the American midwest — where I enjoyed a steady diet of team sports, public libraries, and 70s sitcoms. After punching my ticket at a few outposts of what was once called “higher education,” I went to work, got married, and had kids.

If you would like a copy of Drive, go here on Amazon.

Again, I hope you have enjoyed this week’s post of these two books on motivation and inspiration. If you have read either or both of these books, please comment and share with us your thoughts.

6 Cold Truths about Building New Business in 2010

by

Strategy and Focus

cooltext443809602_strategy

Yesterday I was working with a serious professional on how to use the Internet to grow his national business. He had sent me a list of questions about strategy, productivity, time management, SEO and directories, how to use Twitter, how to write stronger headlines, and how to follow Chris Brogan’s advice from the SOBCon2010 webinar that online business should concentrate on finding revenue. We looked at his blog for a few moments and talked about what makes a compelling blog post.

Strategy and new business is all focus and knowing the cold truth.

6 Cold Truths about Building New Business

My business client said some thing like,

“I’m having so much fun figuring out Twitter. It’s hard to know that I’m doing the right things with my time.” I suggested he Google, “I’m addicted to Twitter” to see that he’s not alone.

Part of the Internet addiction is the lovely relationships and community that it brings to us. Keeping that going can be very alluring, even when it takes our time and focus away things that might be earning. Managing time and ourselves as we build and manage our relationships is crucial to surviving and thriving as a business.

Until you know and feel your focus as an Internet citizen, review these these cold truths often.

  1. Perceived productivity won’t move you forward. Tweaking a blog, updating a status, and talking on Twitter can all be useful business actions. But stop often to make sure what you’re doing is on the path to getting new business and not work that doesn’t connect to it. Everyday I see folks who talk on Twitter only to their friends … as if some customers or clients will “discover” them. Just as often I guide folks who spend all of their time working their blogs, never meeting a potential client – kind of like someone who stays home forever, dressing up every night to go out, wondering why a date never shows.
  2. Your friends don’t owe you work. A wonderful and cherished ethic of the social web is “givers get.” It’s true, but don’t over-invest in it. It’s not about friends taking their time, their work, and their reputation to build your business for you. We start our work lives getting told what to do and it seems natural to go to our friends and say “put me to work for you.” But a simple “what can I do to help you?” puts the work of finding your strengths, carving out a role, and figuring out how you might fit into their business on them. That’s asking more than most folks have time to do.
  3. An idea is not an offer. Have you noticed that ideas are everywhere, but people who execute on their ideas are fairly rare? If you want to work with someone, go beyond the idea to a plan that shows at least in broad brush strokes how the idea would roll out. Be able to explain the benefits, the timing, and the budget. Even if the client you approach can’t buy in, he or she will be able to tell you more specific reasons. You can tweak the plan and have something tangible to present to the next one.
  4. Most new business is outside your current network. It’s fun to hang on Twitter and talk about business with our colleagues. It’s also easy. We already know where to who’s there and how to start the conversation. But new clients and customers are usually not the people in our existing networks. Move into circles and networks that don’t know you or what you offer.
  5. Negotiation is never about your goals. Align your goals for funding revenue with the goals of the folks you want to buy in. If you can sit on the same side of the table and show how doing what you want will make them a hero while it also makes their jobs easier, smarter, and more meaningful, then you’ll get the attention you’re looking for.
  6. You can’t stay offline. You can’t stay online. Growing businesses are learning that a seamless existence of multiple channels that reach out to clients and customers. Telephone and email are still great social tools and many deals still need to get sealed in person. Don’t make the mistake of thinking the tools determine your strategy. Your customers and the worlds they habit do.

As the recession eases, you might notice that we’re hearing less and less about following links and “shiny objects.” Businesses are realizing that time well invested on the Internet can reap huge benefits.

What other cold truths do we need to know about building new business? Bet you know one I’ve missed.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Register Now!! for sobcon-vmc

Irresistible Value Proposition … Won’t You Always Wonder What Might Have Been?

by

The Proposition of the Old Spice Super Bowl Man

blockquote>Designers of the former type loved the theater of their demos. They loved an audience. They loved performing. Designers of the latter kind of demo preferred participants to spectators. They wanted to watch people having fun with their inventions instead of putting on a show. Their demos weren’t props — they were playgrounds. — Let Your Customers Persuade Themselves

cooltext443809602_strategy

Both can work. Yet both depend on how well the features of the product are communicated in the demonstrations. These days allowing people to interact can have limitations … such as getting the people and the product into the same real time space.

Either way, could bring a customer to find what we’re selling is remarkable and worth purchasing. But neither will necessarily about the irresistible value proposition … that we, our brand, or our product knocks all competition out of the field.

For that to be so, we need to add one further idea that this ad from Old Spice does beautifully.

The message is in every frame:

  • he gets it — seamless, flawless work.
  • he sees you need — heart.
  • and you’ll have getting things done with him.

Did you notice how it doesn’t seem self-promotional or pitchy? Despite the humorous over-stating of his abilities. Imagine just walking into meeting and talking about who you are, what you brand and your products do that the others can’t. When we are fully expressed in our message it looks like that.

Simply stated it sounds like … “Work with all of the rest, they aren’t me.”

Look at them. Look at me.
Look at them. Look at me.
Won’t you always wonder what might have been, if you choose other than me?

A true value proposition sets you apart from the rest of the world.

And delivers on that promise consistently.

What’s your irresistible value proposition?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want help with your value proposition? !!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Register Now!! for sobcon-vmc

When we want to get a customer interested in ourselves, our brand, or our products … common wisdom has been that we can sell them — give them a demo and tell them — or we can let them sell themselves, give them a problem and let them use the product to solve it.

Beach Notes: Priceless Beach Art

by

by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

Installation: “Flotsam, upright, after the storm”, Duranbah Beach, February 2010

Materials: Sand, found objects (timber)

Artist: Some Anonymous Surfer Dude

doodart

Duranbah (accent on the second syllable, as in Duran Duran) Beach is only used by board riders and boogie boarders. Walking there one morning this week after big storms, we saw trees, branches, seaweed and various other bits of flotsam and jetsam strewn along the beachfront. Then this, with the upright pole definitely not even a freak effect from the storm.

Tantalizing.

We were reminded of many contemporary art exhibitions in trendy galleries we have visited. Only here there was no cheap wine and crackers, no little card explaining in artspeak what the work “means”. Nor any red sticker, or price tag

Literally, priceless.

Look around. Find some priceless creation today in your neighbourhood.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh