I Considered adding a Question Mark to the title…

However, that would be misleading.

Because, it is not a question of  IF, it is simply a question of  WHEN.

We are fast, and I mean FAST, becoming a Social Culture.

No longer is it enough to purchase an E-Book to entice ‘Followers’ to opt-in and grab that P.O.S.

People want more and we must deliver.

What will make us Compelling?

Big Biz Corps will not do anymore…judge by your own concepts and affiliations with these.

We want to Work and Buy with and from those we Feel we Know and Trust:  ‘Social Business’.

Blogging, in this fast growing Social Empire, has been the catalyst for much of this movement, but reading ones works of glory alone will not do anymore.

We are insatiable creatures and must have more.

We want to feel that we know you.

Sounds insanely cheesy, but I assure you, it is the Truth.

Point in Check:

We had better get our Video On, as that is the clearest path to being socially known and  trusted!

There is no mistaking the power of social media right now.

There is no mistake in Googles new social site and the SEO changes that are being implemented as we speak.

Authorship Markup is the new face of Google, that is, Google is now ranking their authors socially.

You must now become Verified with the search engine to climb to the top of the ranks.

This means that you will gain ranking by your social standing, or rather, your standing out socially.

No, social media is not a phase, is it?  Google has spoken.

I love Blogging, some things are better written than said.

The beauty of words can never be diminished.

It’s just that video has a way of reaching people faster, not just in time but in the heart and mind.

Words alone cannot express the full engagement of another human being. A certain connection comes into play when we view an individual.

There is actually a chemical reaction going on inside our brains when we watch another human being, the ‘mirror neuron system’, that has us feel that we are doing only what we are observing from the other.

Adding to that, over one half of our communications are nonverbal.

We are wired to FEEL about a person.

We purchase items to feel something. We are, in a sense, buying happiness.

We want to do business with those who make us feel very pleased with the purchase, the presenter, and ultimately the personal self.

Business is Personal.

We Buy when we are Emotionally Charged. (forgive the pun.)

I’m thinking we need to get closer to our clients, don’t you?

What is the next best thing to being in someones living room?

VIDEO!

I know some are ambivalent about getting in front of the camera, I was too.

This is something that can be learned and it gets easier every time.

The Biggest Stumbling Block is to put it off.

So my advice to you my darling would be to:

Just Begin.

Here’s How:

I know, I know! It seems we are being devoured by too many ‘Entrepreneurs’.

So many competing with our wee-li-o business that it appears a wise decision to get the hell out, and now!

Not so.

Take a walk out side your front door, how many of your neighbors are in biz for themselves? Go through your day, what do you see when not online?

McDonald’s  burger techs, Walmart checkers, Lube and Filter mechanics, Bed Bath and Beyond reps. Even the locally owned dry cleaners have nothing on you.

There is a time and place for all people, everyone has value. Could you imagine a life without our devoted trash man?

Soooo…how is it that YOU get to be here where you are today? Continue Reading

LOVE

In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was Love.

Love can mean so many different things to us and no two loves are alike.  So, what is this ‘Love’ and how does one define it?  We cannot,  it is the undefinable essence of  life.  It’s the reason the stars twinkle and the sun rises. It is why we breathe and move upon the earth.  It is me and it is you.

To know what love is is to know what life is, there is no separation.  We’ve been trying to define the meaning of life from the beginning, but I’m afraid it is something that cannot be dissected and put under a microscope to evaluate. Life is something we can only comprehend in our hearts, it’s something we feel.

I see love as the sum total of all things, the reason and meaning of all the ‘why’s’ in our lives.  This may seem a bit simplistic but I am convinced of the truth of it.  I have found that my past pains and sorrows  have given me a greater awareness  of  myself and a deepening of  compassion for others. Continue Reading

ticed something interesting since the beginning of this year.

If your Profile were a Menu

Then Groups would be the Meal

Remember when the Profile News Feed was everything?

It was easy to see what everyone was up to and you’d get in and get your gab on.

Maybe I’m a bit naive or too new on the scene, but it’s all feeling so…different.

Have you felt it too?

With the huge influx of Fanpages going up last year and the abundance of new friends we seem to be acquiring on a ‘daily’, our sense of self and purpose is being shifted to another area of focus. Groups.

Am I Right or What?

How I See It

Let me tell you what I’m seeing and tell me if this jibes with you.

Our profile pages are packed with folks and conversations we may not be involved in or may not choose to be.

The fanpages are a more targeted group of people following a system or a personality.

Groups are also targeted but they give us a sense of freedom in not being sold to.

You’ve probably heard the line “People love to buy, but they hate to be sold to”. This is the main objective of a fanpage and rightly so, it’s the appropriate place for selling our stuff.

Continue Reading

Have you ever wondered why some people have a way of pulling you in with their words?…Like a magnet compelling us to listen and respond.

We find ourselves wanting to engage with them, no matter how trivial their statements may be.

(You know the people I’m talking about…they mention on Facebook how their doggie made a doody and they receive 57 comments and more likes than a Sports Illustrated cover shot.)

I was tempted, at first glance, to think it was just a popularity contest and that people just wanted a piece of this individuals pie.

Maybe I was wrong.

About a week ago I had the privilege of obtaining a counseling session with Tricia Karp.

And I must tell you, I will never look at what I say through my words in the same way ever again. You may be thinking…Isn’t she using her words to say what she is saying?

Not so.

An Introduction

Tricia Karp is a phenomenal blog writer. (And I’m a snob, so you can trust me.)  She can pull you into her story and make you feel as though you were there.  She is unconventional and unique in her delivery.

I am most impressed with her unbiased ability to share the beauty of a vast array of real individuals with us.  (Not an easy thing to pull off in this business of staged ‘appropriateness’.)

Somehow even the ‘seedy types’ tend to enchant us through her words and we feel a sense of compassion and understanding that other wise would not be there.

The theme of her writings is  appropriately titled; ‘ The Write Truth- Finding Your Voice’.  Sounds quaint, like one of those super positive ‘You Can Do It Lil Buddy’ blogs.

Wrong.

I found out exactly what she meant by this title when I met with her…and there’s nothing quaint about it…profound would be the word we’re looking for here.

Continue Reading

I’m Not Ready!

A friend of mine, Kimberly Castleberry, skyped me the other day and  told me about this great project she was working on and asked if I’d be  interested in helping her out.

“Hell yea!”, I said out loud.

Then she said, “I need you to make a video of yourself today”.

“Oh shit!”….(I said- in my head.)

Not the dreaded video!

No, not yet, I’m not ready, crap! What in the name of all that’s good am I going to say? I’ve evaded this subject so well for so long I couldn’t believe it was now upon me, right ‘freaking-out’ now!

To Kimberly I simply said, “sure, I can get it done’.

I must be crazy!

What?…am I crazy?…I don’t know one thing about doing a video, I can’t even turn on the camera let alone download it to a PC, upload it on You tube, and then send it to where ever the hell it’s supposed to go!

A tripod…I don’t have a tripod…I have to find a way to prop that baby up.

OK…uhh… lighting! No, not this room, I’ll look like I’m eighty-seven under this glare. This corner has good lighting…no it’ll look like I’m sitting on a toilet.

Where’s that shirt I wore for the blog picture? Can’t find…maybe it’s in this…nope…dammit Cydney !  I know she has it somewhere under that heap in her room. (I use expletives with frequency when provoked by undue stress.)

Continue Reading

I have often stated that ‘Jane Eyre’ was my favorite classic; written by the controversial Charlotte Bronte.

Recently I asked myself why this was… so I took to reading it again, after these many years, to see what it was that was so compelling. Wow! Experience really is the teacher of all things!

As in my youth, I was struck once again by its beautifully constructed orchestration of purposely gathered words; a haunting melody woven within the soul of the beloved narrator, Jane.

Charlotte had a magically poignant way of making you feel what words can only suggest and point to…she entreats  you to experience the inner dwellings of her heroin. (Jane is forever an old friend in the reassess of my mind.)

Now that’s the power of words!

On closer inspection we realize that it is Charlotte that is our dear friend because it is her heart and mind that reaches across the pages and touches ours.

As I contemplate this soul wrenching tale, with it’s dreary delights, I often wish someone would change the script and allow our Jane just a modicum of kindness…but then it would not be the story that I love so well.  Like a part in a movie you’ve seen 20 times and wish just this once he wouldn’t miss that damned train! But, we must endure the long suffering to make the joy contrasting and therefor delicious.

( Blissful, continuously happy people are tiresome anyway, right?)

Our compassion is never provoked to endear them to us…because we know pain in our humanity and desire to be known and understood as such.

You must be wondering …so what is this ‘dilemma’ I’ve referred to?

Continue Reading

Neglect Much?

With everything we have to do to keep our heads above water these days, I’m sure the last thing you want to hear is; “What are you still neglecting?” No one wants to hear about going the proverbial extra  mile.

(Getting tired just thinking about it… huh?)

Did you know that about 3 out of 100 of us will still be in business this time next year? Did you know that it is in the way we do the small things in life that gives us the kahunas strength for the big things?

Great things are peeking out at us from around every corner. These bigger things will elude us if we squander our lives in neglectful living.

Success is the trophy for outstanding attention to our day-to-day disciplines. A little fear right now is an appropriate reaction, however…it is easy to put neglect behind you! In fact, you can do it right now.

“The things that are easy to do are also not easy to do. The primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could, can be summed up in a single word: Neglect”.

Wise words from Mr. Rohn, whom, I might add, knows just a bit more on personal development than the few gathered here today.

Another, from the same; “Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is, simply, neglect”.

Hmm…so what is it we are neglecting? Continue Reading