Helping friends and Building Influence with Paper.li

Recently I noticed I was featured in a paper.li daily by @morgaine. I went and checked it out, thought it was a pretty interesting site. Being the web 2.0/Social Media tinkerer that I am I could not help myself so I created an account and started playing around with my own dailies. I found some extremely beneficial aspects to the service but I am going to focus on 2 of them for now:

1. Helping Friends
2. Building Influence

Helping Friends

Since your paper.li papers can be about lists, people or hashtags – there is great opportunity to help people. How is that you ask? Well if I make a Joe Hackman daily, it will feature my tweets and the tweets of my followers to generate the article content, videos, etc for the feature. Being mentioned in a daily, or anything, is almost always good for a Twitter user (unless someone is complaining about you!). The other thing it does is build back-links to your sources articles and blogs. We all want to be found, being linked to will benefit your sources SEO. When you start to think through the list feature, hashtags, etc, you start to understand how there are many ways to help your friends achieve the mentions and back-links for better SEO.

Building Influence

This point is fairly simple, people like to be featured in your paper for the reasons above and for another important reason. It is great to have your content recognized and shared. In this case you will receive recognition for following others. How? By following anyone on Twitter they have a chance to be featured on your paper, if they are feature and they actually are paying attention they are likely to appreciate it. This means that if you produce a paper.li your sources on Twitter are more likely to be recognized and recognize you. That is influence. Of course you could also record a cool video and write about it in your blog then direct people to read about it. I think that might add a bit of influence as well.

Be sure to watch the video for additional tips and subscribe to my Youtube Channel if you enjoyed this post. I’d also love to hear your tips about how to utilize paper.li.

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Tags: Joe Hackman, Paper.li, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Tips, Twitter, Youtube
Posted in SEO, Social Media Strategy, Tools, Twitter, Video | View Comments

Joe’s Idea Farm – Proposing a new Web 2.0 Idea

The Idea in a Nutshell

It is a simple idea, I promise. You propose changes to any website, the intermediary website will allow commentary and a preview of what the proposed changes would look like. That content can then be used by the target of the proposed changes.

An Example

For example, let’s say you visit a blog and you read an article and really like it but have ideas how it can be improved. If you provide proofing services this could be career oriented outreach. You use the browser add on for the proposing website and it brings you to an editable version of the page. You make the changes you would like to “propose” then tweet it out to Twitterverse, Share via Facebook, clip via Amplify, etc. The blog owner may notice a trackback, a google alert or some analytics data. They can organically discover the modified version of the article. They can even grab the proposed changes and insert them in the blog, preferably including some citation to the individual that modified the content. This could be enforced via some type of embed option. There could be a social network built out of the proposing website, voting on the best changes, recognition, prizes and awards.

Provide input

Now that I’ve shared the root idea, would you like to propose features to improve this idea? Or maybe you want to ship me chests full of money, armies of interns and great advisers to try it out, either way I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Tags: Idea Farm, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Social Media, Web 2.0
Posted in Idea Farm, Technology, Tools | View Comments

On the Fly Expertise Connections (Idea)

A light-bulb moment creates Web 3.0 idea

I had an idea while driving to a client after hours last night. It was one hour each way and my second trip there for the day. I often do a couple of different things while driving, one of them is make calls and the other is just think or let my mind wander. Last night I was thinking what could we use all these cumulative hours for? Then it occurred to me, the best thing would be something I am good at. During the day that would ideally be something I could get paid to do. Then I considered that others around me probably would have a similar desire and that others would equally have a desire to have access to that information at any given moment. Conceptually the idea could be considered a relative of Aardvark.

Then just imagine for a moment that there was a place I could go to register topics I am knowledgeable about. I would probably include things like:

1. Information technology
2. Social Media
3. Non-profits
4. Community

Of course those topics are a little vague, so let’s add a little more clarity in the form of tags of some areas of experience:

Information Technology

Windows XP, Windows 7, Networks, Gnatbox, Lenovo, Microsoft Office, PC Hardware

Social Media

Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amplify, Twitter, Hootsuite, Youtube, Bit.ly, Google Reader, Blogtalkradio

Non-Profits

Rotary, Volunteering, 501(c)3, Asante Africa, Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotary

Community

Leadership San Ramon Valley, Leadership Programs, City Government, Danville CA USA, San Ramon CA USA, Bonita CA USA, Yuba City CA USA

Information side

So now I’ve built a picture of things I might be able to speak about, teach, answer questions, troubleshoot, consult, coach and mentor about. I know that at any given moment when I am driving in my car, done with my calls, done thinking and ready to either help people or perhaps help people while also earning a few bucks that someone is going to have a great need for that information at that very moment. The app would put that individual in touch with me and say after a 2 minute conversation both parties could agree to continue the discussion for some pre-established fee, points, credit or nothing at all.

Information Seekers Side

On the “need” side, an individual could access the website/install the app or whatever else made the most sense. Put the information or expertise they are seeking and be connected to the resource that fits the criteria of timing, cost, experience, and other variables.

Application Summary

Overall this could be built as a purely social chat roulette meets vark to a robust commercial platform. It could easily start as one extreme and morph over time to encompass more.

Closing thoughts and Questions

This has gotten my gears spinning a bit, anyone know of an application (that wasn’t already mentioned) that does this or something similar? Am I going out on a limb here calling this a Web 3.0 idea or would you argue it falls under Web 2.0? I am curious also what people think, please share your thoughts. The most interesting responses will be featured in this post and I’ll link to your blog, so people can also check it out.

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Tags: community, ideas, Information Technology, Non-Profits, Social Media, web 3.0
Posted in Amplify, Facebook, Web 3.0, community | View Comments

The statistical importance of Social Media

I am not a statistician but I am guessing that I observed a fairly unusual statistical event today. While browsing my feed on Facebook to see what my friends have been up to I came across a couple of similar posts. Two of my friends from different “networks” in different states both posted that their kids were having a 10 year old birthday today the exact same minute, check it out (and I’ll get to the importance part near the end of this article):

So statisticians out there, am I exaggerating the significance of this or are these Lottery type odds? Here are some of the unique and similar aspects of the event:

1. These two friends are from completely different groups of people.
2. They are in different states.
3. Both of them have children turning 10 today.
4. They posted the news within the same minute.
5. I had 1,429 Facebook Friends at the time of the posting.

I’ve come to view the world as much smaller and the connections between people a lot closer. I really enjoy finding in particular that people from completely unrelated groups know each other. It also is really rewarding when I see unrelated friends become friends without an introduction, just by being mutual friends of mine. I know that lots of people bang the drums about social media being good and bad. If I make as few as one good friendship from it the rewards for that are long lasting and well worth the investment. Needless to say it has definitely been a good investment for me, in many ways. It is events like this that make me think about that, noticing something unique and uncommon. Speaking of unique and common, I have also learned things about friends via Social Media that I am not sure I ever would have IRL (In Real Life). It has definitely brought me closer to people who I was acquainted with.

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Tags: Facebook, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Online Communities, Relationships, Social Media, Social network, Statistics
Posted in Facebook, Lighter Side of Things | View Comments

Lessons on Brand Monitoring and Article Titles Ivan Misner BNI

As most of you know that follow my blog, I am fairly active on Amplify.com. Periodically throughout my day I use Amplify to clip interesting news and articles that I come across, the tools are so effective I can maintain a presence and keep conversations going without investing a lot of time doing it. Yesterday I happened across a post entitled:

 

The headline pulled me in. The quote was attributed to Dr. Ivan Misner the Founder and Chairman of Business Networking International (BNI) and New York Times best-selling author.

In the “clip” of the businessweek article it included this:

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Karen E. Klein: Most entrepreneurs know they should be using social media, but beyond establishing a Facebook page and a Twitter account, they’re kind of lost. What are they doing wrong?

Ivan Misner: There are three problems. They’re spending too much time on it, they don’t understand how to leverage their time, and they anticipate immediate results, which they’re not going to get.

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I am familiar with BNI but not intimately so. I came to the conclusion between the article title (which was intended to pull me in, of course) and Dr. Misner’s position at the head of BNI that his stance was related to the threat that Social Media represents to this type of organization:

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During my Blogtalk Program last night I noticed a message notice in my Outlook popup that Ivan Misner had posted a comment on the post at Amplify.com. I was pleased to see that he had found his way to the site and looked forward to reading his response. After my program had concluded I went to see what Dr. Misner had said:

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Ivan Misner  Re: http://amplify.com/u/6t4l @ALTALOMAN Interesting Comments.

Joe, I do not see social media as a threat. I highly recommend social media. This article was about things to keep in mind to make the most of your social media efforts. To me, social media vs. face-to-face networking is not an “either/or” situation, it is a “both/and” scenario. Both types of activities can help businesses. The face to face networking organization I founded, BNI, has grown from 500 groups to over 5,700 groups since the inception of social media. It has not taken away from our efforts. <truncated>

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I was pleased to see this posting for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost because I knew that Dr. Misner was truly monitoring his brand in Social Media. A lesson that anyone can learn from. There were also some side thoughts and benefits. I was glad that the conversation had brought him to Amplify.com a site that I consider to be extremely under-hyped. I was also reminded of the importance of article titles to draw people into a conversation. These are fundamentals in the world of Social Media and Blogging. So I responded back to Dr. Misner:

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Joe Hackman   Ivan – I agree with your position of both/and completely. You also obviously monitor your brand very carefully which you should be commended for. I feel a blog post coming on this one. Thanks for joining the conversation and providing clarification.

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I wanted to blog about this example because there are several great take aways from this experience. I have a story to share when I talk to any members of BNI and I know a bunch of them. These are also some great real world examples of both brand monitoring and using effective article titles.

Dr. Misner – I know there is a good chance you are reading this because of your incredible brand awareness, thanks for the interesting experience. I think BNI provides a valuable resource to many small businesses and entrepreneurs. I would suggest that you have if not the most recession proof businesses it is among the top five. Has your organization grown faster the last few years than it has in the past?

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Tags: BNI, Business Networking International, Ivan Misner, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, New York Times, Social Media
Posted in Amplify, Blogging, Social Media Strategy | View Comments

Why Sources are more valuable than Followers

I originally intended to include this in another post. When I realized the list was going to get very long I decided to split it off. This is a part of my #appreciationfriday that I replaced #ff on Twitter with. Partially inspired by a recent Chris Brogan blog post but also part of my dedication to the Amplify community. I want to let you know, please do not feel bad if you are a friend of mine on Amplify and not on my list. I am starting on the last page of sources which were the first people I followed and picking people that are active and influence me as I work backwards on the list. If the title of my article was confusing I think this will help:

If your name is here, I am paying attention to what you are doing because you do something that helps me discover new ways to do things, inspires me or sometimes entertains me. I hope other people benefit from your information as well:

Dave Grossman – Incredibly personable and part of the Amplify.com team. One of those guys you just want to meet for a beer after reading a few of his posts. Very genuine and fun, I suspect also a good friend of Eric, am I right? One of the very first people I followed on the site.

Flamplog – my Italian friend who never ceases to amaze me with his posts about Social Media, Mobile Phones, Marketing and Web 2.0 apps. He also has some extremely funny posts with a very European tilt.

Eric Goldstein… Inside my head – Eric is the CEO of Amplify.com and definitely the heart of the site. His passion, intelligence and appreciation of conversation are inspiring. He is a must follow and big up and comer in the Social Media industry as the leader of the talented Amplify.com team.

Danielle Ricks Productions – Video Producer, Social Media consultant, aspiring novelist, and blogger living life for the joy and laughter. I really enjoy Danielle’s perspective on many subjects.

Shashi Bellamkonda – Thoughts, Learning & Serving. Shashi’s top tag is “business” and it fits. Shashi is a great guy for business people to follow and plenty of others.  Great posts on PR, Social Media, and much more!

Shonali Burke – Great insights on PR/Social Media. I appreciate her distinctive insight on issues that often have a great angle with regards to gender. Informative and enjoyable material.

Delilah Jones – I know Delilah is in marketing/PR but I know her more for her work with Peace4Missing with someone else who will soon be showing up on the list.

Dave Yankowiak – another genuine easy going guy. Extremely talented and capable, Dave was one of the first people I hired to do work from me through social media (unless you count IRC back in the 90′s). I always enjoy Dave’s posts and look forward to working with him on more projects.

There are so many great people on Amplify, I will be adding many more! I would be happy if others did this as well, I am really curious who people follow and why. This really helps me find more quality sources in a world where your sources matter a lot more than your followers.

Updates 8/6/2010

Paul Simbeck-Hampson – Paul is a personal and engaging fellow, he is also a very long standing Amplify.com user that was one of the first people I followed when I joined the site. Paul’s content can be a little eclectic and I enjoy that. Some times you just don’t know what you will find. Visit Paul’s website at simbeckhampson.com.

Daniel Durrant – Daniel is a very erudite individual. He is part of the Open Intelligence group on Amplify.com. I always appreciate Daniel’s perspective on issues and I can count on him to be honest and thought provoking. Visit Daniel’s website at danieldurrant.com.

Ben Jackson – Ben is a real life friend that I am happy joined Amplify.com. I think Ben is a real up and coming person in Social Media, Business, and Life. He’s a great guy to follow and converse with. I am fortunate to work with Ben on a regular basis. Visit Ben’s blog at captainjackson.wordpress.com.

Xan Pearson – Xan was one of my favorite tweeps and I was very happy when she joined Amplify.com. Xan is authentic, bright and produces great quality content. Xan is exceptional at showing appreciation for others and ranks among the most personable people I’ve met via Social Media. Visit Xan’s blog at xanpearson.wordpress.com.

Ramon B. Nuez Jr. I share a lot of interests with Ramon so I frequently recommend and comment on his posts. I get a lot of my #mobile info from his amplog. Also a fellow podcaster, family man and supporter of charitable efforts. You can also check out his companies website at newmediabrief.com.

Warren Whitlock Warren’s posts represent some popular content that I have been missing being less active on Twitter in recent history. Warren is also very passionate about Social Media and offers a lot more commentary per post than most people on Amplify. The extra commentary improves the value of his posts for me. I also know who to talk to if I ever decide to write a book! Check out Warren’s website bestsellerauthors.com.

I didn’t get to everyone I had hoped to this morning, but here are some quick links and expect detail later for: Diane Rayfield, Kathy Jacobs, Tim Southernwood, Svartling, Alcanzarlo, Alex Schleber and many others, hang in there friends I will definitely get you added soon.

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Tags: Amplify, Amplify.com, appreciationfriday, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Social Media
Posted in Amplify, community | View Comments

2010 is a great year to start a business

I started to write a Facebook wall update earlier this week about starting a business:

“The economy may have faced challenges but it seems like a great time to start a business. I would encourage anyone who is out of work to consider pursuing your dreams, reach for the sky. There are so many great tools out there to use. If you need a nudge send me a note about your idea and I will try to….”

Then I realized that this was a great opportunity for a real article. So why is 2010 a great time to start a business? Let me share a few of my favorites:

1. People are receptive to new and creative ideas.
2. There are plenty of problems to solve.
3. The playing field can be levelled quickly via creativity and technology.
4. It’s easy and cheap to start a business.
5. If you’re already out of work, why not try?
6. Small businesses can respond more quickly to changes in an uncertain market.
7. You’re probably going to need to earn more money to live the same lifestyle.
8. It’s exciting and fun to be in business for yourself, your chance to shine.
9. You can get REALLY cheap labor, especially through September.
10. A business model that will work today should pay dividends for years to come.

The market for new Ideas

Lots of businesses and individuals have problems that are not being solved. They are feeling pain and that means there is opportunity. If you can find solutions to the things that are holding them back today you will have a long term customer. As these businesses improve they will feed your small business, it is possible to grow with a few choice customers for many years to come. It really doesn’t take a ton of clients. Find the pain points that you are passionate about solving. When all else fails find out what other people are saying can’t be done, and do that.

A level playing field with lots of tools

Technology is a great equalizer and it can be leveraged in almost any business. Any business can for example leverage the cheap and free web 2.0 and social media applications. With tools such as drop box you can share up to 2GB of files for free “on the cloud”. You can setup a voicemail and conference call number with drop.io for free also. With Skype you can talk to international prospects via video conference and shrink the world. With Amplify.com you can dive in, interact and share information with an astute audience. Using Facebook you can keep your family, business and friends informed about your new venture. There is really an app for just about everything these days, and most of them are free! Being creative and experimental you will find what works and does not work for you, don’t be afraid. These are days that favor the bold and creative. You don’t even need much to get started, any individual can “do business as” themselves and work out of their home, car, Starbuck’s, Peet’s and Panera Bread. Always remember the bigger your competition the slower they will be to respond and adjust, you on the other hand can be nimble and quick.

“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”  ~Walt Disney

Employment Challenged

Depending on where you live un-employment is at historically high rates right now. That’s a fact but not an excuse to sit idly and not do something about it. There are huge benefits to adversity, most people would never see their potential without it. I am actually one of those people, I have set and achieved much higher expectations for myself based on the innevitable bumps and bruises that life has brought me. So ask yourself this. Would you let your current adversity go to waste or would you prefer to improve your life right now? In the future you can look back at these days and think how valuable they were to your personal and professional development. Or you can just continue to feel how you feel right now and wait for something to change. It is wonderful that we have the choice, there is only one decision that makes sense to me.

Incentives to Hire

Do you know that if you started a business today you could hire eligible employees and get 80% of their salary and payroll taxes paid through the end of September 2010? Not to mention the people you hire would be extremely grateful to join the realm of the employed. This opportunity seems to be one of the greatest hidden secrets of 2010 but it is part of the ARRA and it is conceivable that the benefit could be extended beyond the current expiration date. Check out this article I wrote on this very subject.

It boils down to choice

There are plenty of what are now probably obvious reasons why 2010 is an exceptional year to start a business. What about some of the less obvious ones? It is inevitable that more challenges will face us all in the future. There is a mounting debt to pay off, risks of inflation, and higher taxes to name a few. For that reason there has never been a better time to elevate your earning potential where you are firmly in the driver seat. Whatever you could live comfortably on in the past is probably not going to be enough in the future. This reminds me of a quote by Warren Buffet (From Facebook) in August 2009:

“The people that behaved well are no doubt going to find themselves taking care of the people who didn’t behave well…” ~Warren Buffet

So we all have a choice, we can be a part of the problem or part of the solution. As an entrepreneur you have the opportunity for an exciting, challenging ride. Believe in yourself, work hard and you will live your dreams. Expect challenges and setbacks, use them to make yourself stronger. If you ever need an extra nudge find mentors in your family, friends and business associates that you can get a nudge in the right direction. Social media is a great place to find the smiling optimists, it soon becomes evident who among your friends and peers are those tireless cheerleaders. If you lack that structure you can always respond to “I need your help, tell me how I can help you“.

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Tags: Amplify.com, Facebook, guerrilla marketing, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Panera Bread, Small business, Social Media, Social Media Marketing
Posted in Amplify, Facebook, Inspiration, Jobs, Leadership, SF Startup Business Examiner | View Comments

Farewell Ning Free Another Freemium Site Bites the Dust

So it’s official the new Ceo of NING the social network tool is officially plowing the freemium model under and they will henceforth charge for their service. This is not a wise decision in my view but perhaps they see it as necessary to survive because they failed to monetize. What are some alternatives?

Wild Apricot
Rsitez
SocialGo
BoonEx
BuddyPress
Elgg
Joomla
JomSocial
Tuiyo
WackWall
Crowdvine
Spruz
SocialEngine
KickApps
SocialCast
The Online Family Center
Google Friend Connect
Huminity
I-Neighbors
MediaWiki
Grou.ps
Webbours
Groupsite
Stribe
Imentor
Igroops
SocialSam
MemberWing
Webs
Neeetz
Mixxt
CircleBuilder
Shutterfly

Much thanks to Janettee McCrary for sharing the above list.

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Tags: BuddyPress, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, KickApps, Ning, Social Media, Social network
Posted in #Fail, News, Social Media Strategy | View Comments

Joe Hackman interviews Paul Pluschkell CEO of Spigit (Podcast)

I enjoy speaking with and learning from leaders of innovative companies. My interview last week of Paul Pluschkell, CEO of Pleasanton, CA innovation platform Spigit was extrememly enlightening. I learned how far Spigit has taken the concept of crowd sourcing to foster innovation and solve problems within the private and public sector. I queried Paul on a number of subjects, some of the highlights included:

• Advice to new Entrepreneurs


• Employment opportunities


• Operating a startup in the Tri-Valley Area


• Gov 2.0 and Spigit


• The companies growth and financials

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cisco’s I-Prize – the Next Wave of Open Innovation (cloudave.com)


• Spigit Brings Enterprise Collaboration Tool To SMB’s (techcrunch.com)

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Tags: Crowdsourcing, Innovation, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Paul Pluschkell, Social Media, spigit
Posted in Interviews, Podcasts | View Comments

New Vision of Charitable Groups on Facebook

Tonight I launched on a whim a Charity “Community” page on Facebook. I sought and failed to find a top level organization where all charitable/philanthropic groups could go to promote their organizations, seek support and share ideas. That group now exists and if the need is actually there the page should do really well.

Please join us and become a fan!

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Tags: community, Facebook, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Social Media
Posted in Facebook, Inspiration, News, community | View Comments