Why Me? Why You?

In a recent post @dannybrown asked folks to introduce themselves - so I did.  I read his post on Monday, the same day I wrote my "Pay It Forward" post.  One of the questions he asked was about what blog post defines you - Ironically it was the post I wrote that very day.  I live my life on the premise of paying it forward.  If you haven't read it yet - it's a must read!  :)

@ChazAtCaz and I discussed this today in the office as well - it's just too true!  We reap what we sow, I cannot say that enough.

So I ask you this...  Why Me?  Why should you connect with and get to know me?  

Because I care.  Show me that you care and I'll promote the heck out of you.  Show me what you are passionate about and I'll share your passion with everyone I know!

My areas of expertise include internet marketing, project management, web development, living a Christ centered life, parenting (not really an expert, more of a work-in-progress), and am in the process of working my way up in the ranks of the social media arena.  I am passionate about all that I do, and all that I am.

We all have something (lots of things) to learn, and I know that I can learn from you!  What can YOU teach me?  Though there are too many to list, some of my recent "teachers" include @auctiondirect, @dougmcsorley, @markfrisk.  I am always learning from @chazatcaz!  I hope to return that favor one day.  To them I say thanks!  To you I say - thank you in advance!

To build on what Danny did, I say to you - what can we learn from each other?  Please leave me a comment with answers to the following questions:

What are you passionate about?

Who are you favorite Tweeps and why?

What can I share with You?

Where can we connect?   FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, Other?

Using Social Media to get IKEA's Attention

I would definitely LOVE to have an IKEA Store in Western, NY. Rochester would be great, but I would settle for Buffalo as well or somewhere in between.  

Currently the closest IKEA store is in Hamilton, Ontario - which is a few hours drive, accross the border and somewhat a pain in the neck.  When I go to IKEA in Canada, it is an all day trip to get across the border both ways, add in the driving distance, and of course the gas expense (especially now) and the time required to browse at an IKEA store.  Something I have complained about for years - every trip taken to IKEA requires much advanced planning...

A co-worker (@fuyukogratton) of mine has a passion for IKEA, and to that end created a blog and online petition in April of 2008 to try to gain signatures and capture the attention of IKEA so they would pity us and build a store in our area.  This online petition currently has 119 signatures (I was 118), and I have been spreading the word about this through my online social activities and face-to-face.

Time to put my creative social media energies to work to raise more awareness - so I have yet another place to shop in Upstate New York.  I love IKEA!

I sense another social media experiment coming on...  If I can find 300+ artichoke lovers in just a few short weeks, I should be able to connect with IKEA lovers out there to help my friend with her blog and petition!

Take a second to sign Fuyuko's petition!  We thank you, and Western New York will thank you!

Selling Cars Through Social Media

A month or so ago I got a request to follow a blog on Facebook's Networked Blog- it was the first request of this kind I had received on Facebook.  Having my own blog (of course), I was intrigued by this request - as we are all looking for ways to market our blogs.

The request was to follow Best Used Cars Blog.  And why would I follow this blog if I am not in the market for a car?  Well the answer is quite simple - because it's a good blog filled with good content.

Eric does a great job of putting an interesting spin on his content, he incorporates video, imagery, humor, facts and presents at a level that everyone can enjoy and understand.  He gives the consumer very sound advice to assist in knowing how to buy a car and not get scammed.  Given the state of the auto-industry today, and the economy - his blog should be in its prime with the information he is providing.

He also has a few pieces of content that are unique - Car Dealer Confessions, and a Tweet & Greet Interview asking the users questions about their first cars and their personalities related to their cars - it took me 5-10 minutes to complete and I had some fun with it!

Check out this blog - I do reccommend it.  Give Eric a Tweet-Out at @auctiondirect as well!

As a final side-note I have found that 2/3 of my blog traffic is coming from Facebook through profile links and Networked Blogs, and the other third is coming primarily from Twitter - just a tidbit I thought I'd share.

12 for 12K: Passion to Make A Difference

Getting up early on a Saturday is not a usual thing for me.  Today, however, I have a volunteer meeting at church because I'm going to start giving back to the recovery group that I attend twice a week that has given so much to my life in more ways than I can put a label on.

I generally start my day with some powerful scripture or motivational writings that jump start me with the right tone to make a difference.  I like to start my day with passion and enthusiasm for what I can do in other people's lives.

My day today starts with an email on Facebook from @dannybrown about his 12 for 12k Challenge.  You wanna talk about passion?  Here's a guy who had an idea to use the power of social media and the internet to raise money for charities and do it in a manor that pretty much no-one can say no to!

Watch this video and DONATE - $10 is all he's asking for!  That's one movie (at today's prices) with a soda, it's 3 lattes at Starbucks, who can't give up 3 lattes to make a difference?

Watch this video and visit 12 for 12k to learn more and donate!

I'm in... Are you?

At the very least... if you are unsure - visit 12 for 12k.org and/or follow @dannybrown on twitter to learn more.  There is MUCH to learn.

LinkedIn Networking Group

LinkedIn Groups... Useful or Useless?

Just a short post to share my insight...  

LinkedIn Groups if properly managed can be a very effective tool for sharing information and insights on a particular subject matter.  Within these groups, you can network with folks, post related jobs, invite group members to events, share blog posts and discuss relevant topics.

The other thing you can currently do is post spam in group discussion boards.  This drives me absolutely batty!   I have been spending endless hours digging in to Facebook as viable tool for marketing businesses online and additionally - what toolset and features are available to business owners, and how to appeal to demographics, etc...

So I turned to the Facebook.com group in LinkedIn thinking I could gather up some useful morsels of information - only to find spam after spam after spam post - and sprinkled in there was a post to the effect of "Does anyone at all post anything related to Facebook on here"?  As I read through the thread on that post, I found the answer to be... well... "No".  So along comes my next experiment...

Social Media Experiment #2

I have created a new group in LinkedIn called Facebook Information Sharing Group.  I have enlisted the help of a new contact whom I have made through my networking in recent weeks.   He has graciously agreed to help me manage this group.  It is my intent to gather up all kinds of people from all industries who currently use Facebook for business or who want to use Facebook for business - and start sharing revelent information. 

I hope you'll check out this new group - join it - connect with me and others, and share real and viable information and experiences you have had related to doing business and networking for business through Facebook.

FYI... If you are not on LinkedIn - you should be!   Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Artichokes & Social Media

Artichokes!  I could eat them every day of the week and never get sick of them!  

I am passionate about artichokes and will eat them no matter how they are prepared.  (Though my favorite is simply steamed and served with lemon butter.)    I must brag... I make a mean artichokes french!

I even have artichoke plates - and I don't believe in single-use appliances or things that are frivolous and take up too much space to be used twice a year.  And - I do use them often...

Social Media Experiment:

So... I got to thinking - I've been working with Social Media a bit and expanding my knowledge on ways to network - so I created a silly page on Facebook dedicated to Artichokes.  It was really just something I tried for fun, and I just created it last night.  

But I'm interested in testing out my networking capabilities and expanding my network of friends through a common interest.... artichokes!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Artichokes/46316484818?ref=nf

13 fans in 24 hours!  People really do love artichokes, and they are finding my new page!  How exciting!

Not really a work related post, but it will be a great exercise in the power of social media and how people with common interests find each other.  If you know someone who loves artichokes - then pass it on!

Bon Appetit!

~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been about 48 hours since I created the artichoke page (not quite yet), but I'm averaging about 1 new fan per hour which is cool.  Hope to keep it up.  Connecting with folks all over the world.

Here are the 3 ways people are finding the page so far:

- Through the game applications I added to my page that I know are high traffic applications (Hatchlings and Scavenger Hunt) - Since my Artichoke page is just for fun, I thought this might be a great way to drive some traffic and hit a few artichoke lovers along the way.  (I was right!)

- People are seeing it on their friend's walls after they become a fan and coming and checkin' it out!  (And I'm making new friends left and right!)

- And... believe it or not -people are actually searching in Facebook for "Artichokes".  Well how many people would really do that?  I did, and all I orginally came up with was a band called "The Artichokes" - so I decided to create my own.  I guess there are other people out there as goofy as I am about this unique food.

I am enjoying this project - it's a nice diversion... and something fun to test out.

7 Minutes of Awesomeness!

This is probably one of the coolest YouTube videos I have ever seen.  Wanted to share it and hope you'll pass it on.  It's just over 7 minutes of awesomness and really demonstrates the power of YouTube combined with the power of passion and humanity.  I'm suprised Oprah never caught on to this...

Imagine if everyone in the world did a project like this...