» Social Networking

Please bear with me and let me set this up with a little background and then I will bring this up to TODAY and why I would like to try this Alpha Test…

Each One Teach One is a known African-American Proverb. This phrase originated in the US during slavery, when Africans and African Americans were denied education, including learning to read. Many, if not most slaves were kept in a state of ignorance about anything beyond their immediate circumstances which were under control of owners, the law makers and the authorities. Denying education was one of the methods used to keep them docile and instill and maintain the belief that they were inferior and unworthy of a life beyond subservience, labor and harsh treatment.

Using these methods those who were in bondage to others would teach each other. This was done in violation of state and federal law, since those in the position of power used government rule to deny slaves proper education. The denial of education made it possible for the system of slavery to exist and prosper because it is HARD to enslave an educated human.

NOW for how this relates to today….Well first and foremost I am Black and this is Black History Month so I was reviewing some of these lessons with my kids so the legacy is maintained in our home. As I am doing this study for them, I am learning more and more about myself and how learning from the past can be applied today in life and business.

Many of the ecommerce merchants that I speak with are not as astute and learned as they should be. Some of us started our businesses out of hobby selling on platforms like eBay, Etsy or Craigslist and got sudden success via these tools. Our businesses grew over time on the platforms and we learned methods for harvesting crops on the farm (ecommerce platforms) but never learned how to "own the plantation."

What we have become is somewhat similar to the days of indentured servants or share croppers. We are at the whims of the platform and its movements due to a lack of concrete education on the principles that govern ecommerce. That leaves you and I vulnerable and almost like a slave that is subject to abuse at the whims of the "master" because we simply do not know how to provide for ourselves. We are locked in fear and uncertainty about or future because there is no way out in our minds and we simply don’t see an answer. We can not adequately formulate an option or an answer due to our lack of education and ignorance of opportunity.

We can NOT expect eBay, Amazon or any other marketplace to willingly teach me how to NOT be dependant on them. It makes no logical sense for me and you to expect the owner of the plantation to teach the the servants who PAY THEM for the privilege of selling to THEIR customers…….just think about that statement for just a second…wow! We are PAYING these marketplaces to list our products so they can offer our wears to their customers as if THEY are the vendors of the products. If that is not a similar tie to a share cropping, I don’t know what it is?!?

So with that same spirit of addressing and ending ecommerce illiteracy amongst us as sellers, I would like to try an Each One, Teach One Topical Discussion here on the ColderICE.com blog. I will post a topic related to us a merchants and the the COMMUNITY…YOU GUYS will come in on the comments and post. You can post your comments on the subject, links to articles or posts to other blogs on the topic, you can post links to YouTube videos or Podcast episodes. I do not care what you post as long as it furthers the education of the community, it qualifies. But of course this will ONLY work if you participate. This is why it is an Alpha test because I want to see if the community would participate to make it great. Come on guys, lets each one, teach one!!!

Topic is… Brands and Branding: What is it? How can you do it?

OK, I need your input now so lets start posting to the thread topical information on Brands and Branding.

Congratulations!!! You have just duplicated your "un-success". Wow, I am sure you are so proud of yourself. How many platforms do you have ID’s on? How many "booths", websites, stores, blogs, social sign ups, Twitter followers, Linked-In connections? WOW, that is very impressive. The most impressive part is the fact that you are still NOBODY!!!

The late, great Billy Preston (the only person who had a BIGGER Afro than Michael Jackson) had a song called "Nothing From Nothing" and the lyric goes like this:

I’m not tryin’ to be your highness
‘Cause that minus is too low to see, yeah
Nothing from nothing leaves nothing
You got to have somethin’ if you wanna be with me…

—Billy Preston

I remember being a kid and simply loving that jam…but I digress. Look at the simplicity of the words and the message it conveys. Now I want to change it around and spin that to say: Nothing times nothing equals nothing and want to congratulate so many of you for doing multiplication by ZERO! I do not care what number you start with, if you are multiplying it by ZERO the product is still ZERO

Welcome ladies and gentleman to today’s video…….

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Who would have thunk it? 300 million users are now registered on Facebook, holy cow! Now these are not just any old users, but they are actual UNIQUE users for the most part. See you got eBay who reports an estimated 338.2 million users (according to the June 2009 eBay Quarterly Report) which is very inflated due to inactivity or duplication. That is a whole different ballgame.

Facebook users report repeated uses daily and accounts on Facebook have been pretty restrictive to having a real person behind most of its accounts. This new number of 300 million for Facebook is really a pretty huge chunk of Americans interacting via social networking and Facebook is way ahead of the pack.

Also today Facebook says they are now "cash-flow positive". So the world biggest social network has beat the goal of hitting that in 2010. That is another big milestone Mark Zukerberg, who said today on his Facebook blog:

We’re also succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow positive sometime in 2010, and I’m pleased to share that we achieved this milestone last quarter. This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term.

Over time, Facebook will continue to be as strong as all of the connections you make. We’ll continue building new and better things to make connecting with the people you care about as easy and rewarding as possible. We thank all of you for helping us reach the point where we are connecting 300 million people, and we hope to serve you and many more people in increasingly deep and innovative ways in the months and years ahead.

I do not think I could write this out if I had too. My ability to express myself in words and prose is limited to about 140 characters. So now you understand why I love Twitter so much

So here it is, my theory of the most perfect example of social marketing was revealed to me while watching a bee in the flowers. This is by far the MOST POWERFUL analogy of social marketing I have found. And low and behold I found it by watching a bee do its thang!

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In today’s world there is a "hyper-network" taking place. We are all hyper networking thanks to social services, both on personal and business levels. By network I mean people who know you, like you and trust you.

The new issue with this hyper networking is that suddenly people are always trying to "keep track" of all of their networkers, for lack of a better term. What I mean is that suddenly people are now seeing if you re-tweet everything they say. Or did you post a back link to their blog post. How many times did you recognize them on a "Twitter follow Friday". That is NOT networking!

Let go and STOP taking score all the time. Stop looking to always come out ahead in a relationship. The concept of what we know as "win-win" is just a disguised way to keep track. Making constantly sure the we come out "even Steven" When you base your relationships in business or in life on "who owes who" or I scratched your back now you scratch mine. That is NOT being a friend, that is being a creditor.

So ok I just recently wrote the The Social Networking Trinity article and gave my top 3 best social tools. Then comes Google Wave in a demo from Lars Rasmussen, Software Engineering Manager.

Google Wave is a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where users can almost instantly communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

Dude, my ENTIRE WORLD just changed today. Everything I though about being way in the future was suddenly in a 80 minute presentation. Yeah, it is a ‘geeky’ kinda love right now. But the beauty of this platform is that when it rolls out to the public, they will GET IT almost over night!

• The ability to speak to each other in real time, viewing as the person types give a one-up on instant messages and chats.
• The instant chatting gives a one-up on Twitter, Facebook, IM and the others.
• The file sharing with drag and drop from desktop to browser… OMG, I think I am in heaven.
• And so much more…

I have included the entire 80 min presentation, but it does get geek speak pretty quick. If you are like me, you will watch it all. But if that is not your bag, then check out the quick links below…

1. A really cool demo of the spell checker intelligence. The Bean Soup Demo
2. A Twitter extension demo… Click HERE
3. A seriously awesome demo of the translation ability… Click HERE

I will give you 3 guesses for what was by FAR he hottest topic at StomperNET Live this weekend in Atlanta?

Come on, you know it HAD to be Social Media right? Of course it was. Here is my quick update from the floor on what the hype is all about. And do not forget that on MONDAY Night at 8:00 pm I will be presenting on this same topic LIVE…More details to come soon!

Social media and the party analogy was confirmed for me the other day. A guy named Perry Belcher (he’s got like 50k Twitter followers) was on a tele-seminar and said the EXACT same thing that I said in my part 1 video on the Twitter Party!

That was very confirming when a “big wig” social media guy confirms a thought you had. That confirmation made me go even deeper into how I analysis social media. In this Part 2 portion,  I am putting together my research and analysis because Auction Wally and Phaedra asked me to present on Monday, March 16th.

Mark your calendar cause I am doing it live for them on their show on the 16th and I will post more details as they become available.

You know I have a wierd view on many things, right? I am sure you all that follow this blog can attest to that. Well two of my Twitter friends responded to this post that I made…

Here is what these 2 Twitter buddies responded…

Now keep in mind that these are friends of mine on Twitter and NEITHER of them go un-noticed by me, EVER. I know they were just making general statements on the topic and not about me. So yeah, we get that.

However it did make me want to respond in more than 140 characters so I started shooting this impromptu video.

Man, when things go right, you just KNOW IT. When you get a HOT ONE, you got to share it. So I gotz me a hot one baby! Let me introduce you to Dawud Miracle (accent on the miracle for real ), my dude is an absolute genius.

Not only genius, but genuine. I just dig it when you meet smart people without them coming off as “know it all” jerks. I want the know it all, just leave the jerk part out of it, LMAO. You know how you meet people that are so smart, but you just can’t stand them cause they are so full of themselves? That is not a good mix with me.

Today I not only build static websites and blogs, but I also help small business owners understand how to use the full internet to expand their own businesses. I’m doing more and more coaching and consulting where clients are hiring me to help them learn how to use these incredible tools or to help them problem solve a part of their business that’s stuck.

Dawud is on the most successful independent business coaches around these parts and he sat down with your boy here in this ColderICE interview. What transpired on this call will CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS, I guarantee it. If you will internalize the wisdom that he has set out on this call your business will be TRANSFORMED.

Look folks transformation is powerful, Dawud Miracle  approaches business management the way I like it. The progression is natural, organic and explosive. Not only that, it is simplistic but not just simple.  He translates HEAVY LEARNING into digestible nuggets so you can get all the flavor without gagging on the B.S. hype.

Dude, I am loving the “Miracle Man”, and I am sure you will too! LISTEN NOW and start to change your business today.

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