Category Archives: Sharisax Is Out There

. . . a blog re-do is similar to a New Year’s Resolution, but in my case, I hope this intention sticks.

My previous post suggested that sincere commenters send me emails, and I received two:

A) Shari, I am glad you are blogging again. Also, I am pleased I signed up for your RSS feed long ago, because this post popped up in my reader. Look forward to future posts. Hope this comment works, since you seem to think commenting got eliminated? – Leora Wenger Web Designer and Developer

[Leora was one of the first great people I met online through my blog in 2009]

B) From: John Hunter
To: sharisax
Sent:Fri, Mar 27, 2015 02:12 AM
Subject: can’t add a comment
I tried to add a comment on http://sharisax.com/2015/03/22/how-to-re-do-a-blog-and-why/ but I just get a failure message “Requested Range Not Satisfiable”

What I wrote:
“Good luck. Paying attention to old content is important and something people overlook almost constantly. I do occasionally make adjustments to categories and occasionally go back and add those to old posts (but most of the time I don’t get around to it, still I think doing it is wise).”
John

On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 5:45 PM, <sharisax@aol.com> wrote:

John, thanks so much for your comment. I will be adding comments like yours to future blog posts. There are actually TWO things going on regarding comments:
(1) apparently one of my plug-ins has caused a problem and so, in addition to going through my posts and categories and tags, I will need to check all the plug-ins AND figure out which ones I really need.
(2) Secondly, however, is the current conversation about commenting in general. Many bloggers have discontinued comments because they receive too many value-less spam messages AND there is the belief that the online conversation should be broader than simply with one person’s Blog — and if people have deep enough feelings about a topic, they need to post on their own sites and reference the “inciting” article.
Now, in direct reference to what you said — which I will begin my post with — when I do go over those old posts, I plan to re-publish those with particular relevance these days . . . and make the relevant updates.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Shari Weiss

John sent a subsequent comment:
Yes, I certainly see the problem with no-value and spam comments. Good comments though really add value, I think.

Commenters: BRING THEM ON

simply email me: sharisax@aol.com

BTW: You might want to check out my third post about Blog Commenting and how to get your blog noticed — from six years ago

Blogging, Sharisax Is Out There

How to “re-do” a blog . . . and WHY?

March 22, 2015 Shari Weiss Leave a comment

To: The blogosphere and friends and family

From: Shari

Re: Re-doing . . . and re-newing my blog and my blogging

Date: March 2015

Following the Oxford Sandwich format, I’ll be “telling you what I’m going to do, then telling you, then telling you what I told you.” So this paragraph is my intro and includes a little of the WHY I’m doing this. I started my blog in 2009 and learned while I was doing. After a few years . . . and some significant life changes, I “kinda” stopped. But now I’m restarting and redesigning and rethinking and redoing. Continue reading How to “re-do” a blog . . . and WHY? →

Sharisax Is Out There

Top Ten Terms to get you Tweeting [redux]

July 23, 2014 Shari Weiss Leave a comment

follow me — Follow me on Twitter @sharisax

Sometimes more is more, but often LESS is more.

That’s one of the reasons Twitter is so powerful and popular, and it’s also the reason why this post will include only Ten Twitter vocabulary items.
You can find dozens of twitter words and definitions in the wiki Twictionary, and in my earlier article Twitter Basics — Workshop “Cheat Sheet” where I defined 12 common twitter jargon words. This post, however, is designed to provide a deeper understanding of the terms you really need to “work” Twitter and make Twitter “work” for you.

Here’s your “Annotated” Word Introduction to Twitter

1 – TWEET – The 140-character post on Twitter. It is also called a Microblog, i.e. a condensed and concise statement that often links to blog articles. Live Tweeting is practiced at events — both face-to-face and online — where participants contribute an ongoing report of the proceedings. You can even find Live Tweets at events like actual hospital surgeries.

2 – FOLLOW – You follow people to read their tweets — to keep up with the latest news, trends, entertainment, and happenings of friends, celebrities, and knowledgeable people. Unlike Facebook where you must be accepted — and where there is a limit to how many friends you can have — you can follow anyone you want to. See previous posts for tips on Whom to Follow.

However, you can block someone from seeing your tweets OR, of course, someone can block you. The difference is that you don’t request permission to follow someone. You just do it. And if you are not a scammer, a robot, or in some other way intrusive, you probably won’t be blocked.

3 – TWITTERSTREAM [or Stream of Tweets] – It you access Twitter via the actual site Twitter.com, then you will see a “stream” of posts from the people you follow. These would be the most recent statements they posted in reverse chronological order, i.e., the newest posts are up at the top. If you select PROFILE from the top menu, you will see your Twitterstream, i.e., what you have posted in reverse chronological order.

This stream of posts is what someone else would see if they searched Twitter for your handle [your Twitter name]. For example, click on twitter.com/sharisax and you will see my twitterstream. If you liked what you saw, then you would follow me by clicking the FOLLOW button below my photo [your photo is also called your avatar].

As stated in the previous post Tips to become a Twitter Pro BEFORE your first post, I suggested that you plan your Twitter strategy before you write your first post: know Why you are on Twitter and What Twitter image you hope to accomplish. Your Twitterstream will be How you accomplish that image, i.e., your “personal brand.”

4 – FOLLOWERS [those who read your Tweets] – Influence and/or popularity seems to be measured by how many followers one has. You can find out the 200 most followed Tweeple [a person who Tweets] on a site like Twitaholic.com: as of this writing, celebrity Kevin Smith has 1.7+million followers.

“So What?” That is a common question asked by journalists when any extraordinary statistic is thrown at them. If numbers are your sole objective, there are automatic, robotic means of accruing a slew of followers. My suggestion, however, is that you grow your follower list organically. That means the list of people who follow you develops naturally, i.e., people either follow you because they like reading what you Tweet OR, in many cases, they follow you back automatically when you follow them. [Hint: that is one typical way to gather followers.]

5 – DM or Direct Message – Once you follow someone and he or she follows you back, you may DM the person, e.g. D sharisax [by using a Capital “D” and a space and the person’s twitter handle]. This is NOT a Tweet to everyone, but a private text message to one person. Personally, I do not text very often on my cell phone, but I do DM lots of my Twitter friends — and these relationships have grown faster and deeper than others because of the ease of communication. Engagement and building relationships is what the Social Web is all about. More than a few technology/Internet pundits have predicted that Twitter will replace much, if not most, of email in the future. [Who likes to read all the previous messages and other extraneous verbiage on emails.]

6 – RT or ReTweet – This is the action of re-posting someone else’s Tweet with attribution, e.g. RT @sharisax Sometimes more is more, and sometimes less is more. [Use the “RT” and then a space and then the “@” sign in front of the person’s handle — all this in front of what they tweeted.] When someone RT’s what you have posted, you feel recognized and appreciated. Many people make it a practice of Thanking those who RT them. Of course, once you are so popular that 100’s of people RT you, then you might not have time for much else other than thanking people if you stick to this practice.

All that being said, the practice of RT-ing is one of the reasons that you don’t need to worry about missing much of the good stuff on Twitter. If it truly is “good stuff,” then it is surely likely to be RT’d.

7 – SEARCH.TWITTER.COM – Searching Twitter [now integrated on the Twitter interface] offers “real-time” results, i.e., What people are Tweeting at the moment you input your keywords . . . unless your the terms are obscure, i.e., no one but you is interested. This is one of the best methods for finding people to follow — by inputting topics of interest and finding like-minded people. Read their streams and then follow them if you like what they have to say. You might want to reply or retweet, so they will have an additional incentive to follow you back. And you might even find someone who becomes one of your face-to-face friends. [I have 🙂 ]

You can narrow your search through operators like these two examples [complete list]:

news 🙁 —– search contains word “news” and with a negative attitude
“happy hour” near:”san francisco” —– search contains exact phrase “happy hour” and was sent near “san francisco”

8 – Tweetdeck.com – This is the desktop application I use to more fully engage with my followers and topics I follow. I will post a complete article explaining how to download and use this valuable tool.

9 – Tweetchat.com – Twitter can be used for chatting real-time. The way it works is that everyone in the chat is using a certain keyword (called a hashtag) in all their tweets. The applications are then grabbing all the tweets with that hashtag (defined below) from Twitter and displaying them for the people who are part of the chat. Be careful though because your tweets are also going out to all the people who are following you.

10- 109 Slang Terms for Tweeters

PS I just remembered URL shorteners like bit.ly. Most people use a site like bit.ly to reduce the number of characters in the URL. This site also has functionality to track your shortened URLs to report on how many times people click on them.

PPS How could I forget to define Hashtags? Tweeters use the number symbol # in front of a word [e.g., #journ65] to identify a topic that makes it easy for people to (a) search for and (b) contribute to the discussion — whether the discussion is happening real time or just “over” time. One example of a real time hashtag discussion would be live tweeting during a webinar. The hashtag could be as simple as the name of the moderator; George Kao happens to be one of my mentors, and when he holds one of his Q&A sessions, I would tweet using the @georgekao hashtag, so people can follow the discussion and add to it.

Which terms would you add to this list, and what would you say about them?

Sharisax Is Out There

8 Ways to Maximize Business at a Meetup

August 27, 2011 Shari Weiss 90 Comments

From Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Meetups are popular social gatherings usually organized around a particular business topic or hobby or other special interest. There’s a meetup.com site where you can learn if there are any events in your area (though many events happen without being facilitated through that site).

Here’s how you can do business at meetups

1. You can connect your online presence with face-to-face humans.

2. Before an event, research for information about who will be there.

3. Check Flickr.com for photos of attendees, so you can recognize them when you see them.

4. Check Twitter for mention of organizations of attendees.

5. At the event, find the people you most want to meet — earlier, rather than later.

6. It’s not about how many business cards you hand out, but how many useful ones you collect.

7. Be conversational and polite and do not monopolize any one person’s time.

8. After the event, send brief notes to people whom you want to build a relationship.

Don’t forget that you, too, can start a meetup group to gather together like-minded individuals.

FURTHER READING:

Chris Brogan’s primary blog

Chris Brogan Nails a Universal Truth

Networking DO’S and DON’TS

Beyond the Hype: Roadmap for Social Media

Why social media is like a day at the beach

Sharisax Is Out There

Who’s using Google+ and why? Who should get on now and why? Who ought to wait?

July 14, 2011 Shari Weiss 98 Comments

It’s not like we all need yet another social network site to add to our online plate, right?

That was my first question when I began to hear the buzz surrounding Google+, the new social network platform that’s reportedly aiming to kill Facebook.

If you check out my article on Simple Answers to 6 Basic Social Media Questions, you’ll note I suggest newbies concentrate on five basic places when they are getting their feet wet in a teeming sea of social media sites. [Start here: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and blogging.]

Google is such a huge influence on our online behavior that you have to wonder if the omnipresent search engine could be wrong. Will we soon “wave” goodbye to the latest Google “buzz”?

I read a lot of social media pundits who are devoting time and blog space to their experiments with Google+ and so I have to wonder if it’s time for me to follow suit . . . or wait.

That’s why I relied on my trusted adviser LinkedIn Answers to post the following:

Who’s using Google+ and why? Who should get on now and why? Who ought to wait?

The question obviously struck a chord. In less than two days, I have received 16 answers. Here are some of them:

Depends on your business industry and marketing model. Does every business need a Facebook page? Does a HVAC systems integrator need a Twitter account? Customer demand will lead businesses to the technology. If there are no customers using the feature, a business is not going to spend the time investing in it.
Your early adopters are going to be personal blogs and tech-savvy businesses first who need to adopt every piece of new marketing technology in its infancy because its niche customers are primarily early adopters already. —Matt Rygelski

I’m just starting to experiment with Google+ and like it so far. Of course, one reason I like it is that it’s still in the “early adopter, just us geeks here” phase. The main reason I like it is that it’s NOT FACEBOOK, and I detest Facebook.
If you’re not a geek, wait a bit until Google has worked out some of the kinks. If you are a geek and want to help with the beta testing, come on in.
Oh, and if you are a company or brand, your employees can join, but Google hasn’t finished setting up its brand pages yet, so you should wait.
It’s nice to be able to organize connections. The group video feature is a little buggy yet, but it’s free, whereas someone has to pay for Skype’s group video. The ability to decide which of your circles a chat post goes to is nice. And chat in as many characters as you want is also nice.
As with Twitter, I suspect it will take some time before people discover all the things they can use it for–the uses that the creators never imagined. There will always be people who have to wait until those uses appear to use a tool. And people for whom a tool is just not the right tool, because it doesn’t help them accomplish their goals. If you aren’t someone who likes playing with new tools for fun and can’t see a business application yet, then wait until you DO see a practical use. — Sallie Goetsch

There is very little there TBH…I got invited, signed up and 5 mins later had seen the whole thing and left.
That’s not to say it isn’t going to be good….just way to early to tell yet. If you haven’t seen it, you are not missing anything i assure you. — Scott Linklater

I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks and overall it’s very good, but I’d caution businesses or ‘collecetive entities’ in general from doing too much on the platform just yet. Google has said that branded pages will be available soon, and has taken steps to remove some early branded accounts that have sprung up. I’d reccomend signing up for personal use and exploring, possibly publishing some content there and beginning to build contacts, but I wouldn’t throw too much investment at it just yet – the platform will eveolve as more gmail users get involved, and it’s nly then that the usage norms will start to appear and make it a truly valuable channel.
I wrote an article on Econsultancy recently about this, if you’re interested, I’ve added a link below.
http://ecly.co/q5ErI9 — Matt Owen

Glad you asked this question, because I’m curious why I should blithely hand over even more personal information to Google. That Google is facing a major FTC investigation indicates a wait and see attitude to me. Overall, I think they’ve devolved from search engine to omniscience. — Elektrish Media

People who are involved in Marketing, Promotion, Social Media, Advertising, and Technology related fields should jump onto Google + immediately in order to establish their credibility in speaking about it, and other current trends, and also to become “experts” before anyone else.
This of course adds value to them as individuals and companies, and also means that they will be in a position to influence others about this product/technology.
Who should wait? Everyone else. There is no business or monetary value to being involved with Google+ yet for anyone who isn’t in the industries I stated above. They can wait to get involved with this.– Roberto Blake

I’m currently using Google+, but I don’t think it really compares to other social networking platforms (at least not yet). I think it will be much more innovative when a Google+ app is available for the iPhone or Blackberry. Right now I’m really only associating with business contacts, friends, and blogger connections. Some of it seems to be a bit of a spam; lots of Asian dialect and inappropriate pictures. I’m not too sold on the idea of switching over to it and haven’t used any of the functions yet (group chat/video), but I think once it’s available via mobile devices it might just be a game changer! — Molly Dixon

I think Google+ is worth watching because Google seems to have finally moved away from knee-jerk efforts at “social” to thinking through how “social” might work within the context of Google’s core business and the Google-sphere.
While it is far too early to tell how successful Google+ will be (or which elements will really take off), I like the concept of Circles, the serendipity of Sparks, and the potential of the Hangouts. Plus the fact that (hopefully shortly) there will be integration with Google Reader. — Daria Steigman

Seems “clear” to me: If you’re an SM geek and/or techie early adopter, then you need to be there, i.e. Google+

To Google+ it OR To wait. — Which is it for you?

Sharisax Is Out There

8 Ways to Generate Sales from your Website

June 19, 2011 Shari Weiss 29 Comments

“Unfortunately the vast majority of websites do not do a good job converting visitors into paying customers. The key is to plan strategically BEFORE designing your website.” — Patrick Schwerdtfeger

Patrick is a passionate and dynamic speaker who focuses on delivering valuable content and highly practical strategies people can implement immediately and see actual results. His programs consistently get strong reviews and leave attendees burning to put their new strategies to work.

I first met Patrick when he discussed social media basics to a group 0f 70+ San Francisco Bay area consultants. He was so popular the group invited him to return to talk about How to Win Social Media Victories. You can view videos from both those talks by clicking on the links.

Patrick’s easy-to-read and implement strategies have been outlined in his book WebifyYour Business Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed in which one chapter offers an 8-step action plan for using your website more effectively.

Here is your 8-step Website Action Plan

1. Understand that your website is your Sales Department.

2. Generating website traffic is Marketing.

3. Think about first-time visitors to your site.

4. Identify exactly what you want them to do.

5. Answer the following three questions for your site visitors in five seconds.

6. Why am I here? Tell them what you do.

7. Where do I look? Offer a few clear choices.

8. What do I do? Tell them what to do next.

Think about all the steps BEFORE you start building your website. It’s a lot easier to build a new site than fix an old broken one.

FURTHER READING:

Simple Answers to Six Basic Social Media Questions

PatrickSchwerdtfeger: Author and Speaker

What’s the Future of Social Media: How many of these FAQ’s can you answer?

Website Designers in Demand even with the ease of blogging software

Business will rebound when firms learn new marketing resources

10 more easy ways to improve your website

Sharisax Is Out There

“This” Telemarketing Thing Has Gotta Change [Briefly Stated]

March 1, 2011 Shari Weiss 8 Comments

Don’t you just love those telemarketers trying to sell you stuff you didn’t ask for and don’t want?

NOT!!

This morning “Joe” called me from Whatever. He told me he’d called and left a message the week before. He told me I’d signed up for some webinar a month ago. He told me that he had a great product that would help me grow my business.

“Do you know who I am?” I asked. “Do you know what I do?”

No, he answered.

“Well then how do you think you can help me grow my business. How do you know what I need. Why are you wasting both of our’s time?”

I’m sorry I wasted 2-1/2 minutes of your time, he said and hung up.

Sharisax Is Out There

So you want to GET STARTED in Social Media? Here are 7 Steps:

February 28, 2011 Shari Weiss 17 Comments

In honor of the new students beginning a 12-session Social Media Basics course with me, here is an article with information on What to Do First:

This post is designed for those of you who ..

a – Understand that there is a New Normal.

and/or

b –Have profiles on one or more social media sites and don’t know what to do with them next.

and/or

c – Want to find out where to begin their training in social media sites, strategies, and tools.

and/or

d – Are giving up their resistance, so they can RELAX and ENJOY the Revolution.

My recently re-posted article Simple Answers to Six Basic Social Media Questions answered these six FAQ’s:

Where can and will social media take me?
What makes social media so important?
How much time do people need to spend online?
What is a blog?
How safe are social media sites for private, confidential information?
How many social media platforms do you really need to know and use?

Seven Steps to Starting To Do Social Media the Right Way

STEP ONE: Baby Steps

Too often people attend a social media presentation and begin getting excited, but end up intimidated by How Much there is out there. The key here is to recognize the fact that you must go slowly, i.e., master one site/strategy/tool at a time. Once you have learned that one, the rest will be easier. Be happy with every minor rewarding experience whether it is simply posting or a mention or a real interaction.

STEP TWO: Don’t Expect Immediate Results

I’ll never forget one of my first clients who had just opened a Twitter account and wanted to know if she could expect five new clients in two weeks. NOT! Social Media strategies are long term, i.e. building relationships with trust, consistency, sincerity, and patience.

STEP THREE: Be Deliberate

Imagine that someone ONLY sees One Post or Update or Comment. What is the impression you want to leave with him or her? Think about that every time you write on the Global Whiteboard. What you post is there forever.

STEP FOUR: Listen

My university students regularly hear my 3 Rules to Business Success: (1) Listen Carefully; (2) Read Carefully; and (3) Follow ALL Directions. Without that critical first rule, you will miss vital information to plan future strategies. Communication is not a solo activity. Write a diary for that. With social media you want to listen to what people want and think. Then give them what they want. Remember that marketing, especially social marketing is not about you. It is about people you want to do business with, so find out how you can help. Everyone really does want to be heard.

STEP FIVE: Collaborate

This is one of the beauties of the Internet and its communication channels –social media: i.e., the ease of finding people to help answer questions, solve problems, supply materials, and team up with you on projects. Collaboration follows naturally from engaging online.

STEP SIX: Play

Too often forgotten, but social media should be fun. Social media play follows Margaret Mead’s suggestion from her work with the Samoans, i.e. Work should be Play, and then Play is Work.

STEP SEVEN: Be the GO-TO Source for Information

Here is your ultimate direction: Who you are online. This reminds me of a favorite saying: “We do not go out looking to find ourselves. Rather, we create ourselves.” Social Media provides you the opportunity to establish a yourself as a powerful influencer in your area of expertise. Take your passion and turn it into an opportunity for helping the world. Social media has that reach.

JUST DO IT!

Did I forget any beginning steps you would suggest?

Sharisax Is Out There, Twitter

Is the New Technology the END of Marketing? Just ask Owen

February 25, 2011 Shari Weiss 44 Comments

“In a world that is moving from PC-centric to a world completely mobile, it’s hard to keep up,” wrote Owen Greaves in a recent post. Owen is a Futurist, who loves making this paradigm shift less painful when it comes to media and commerce on the Internet.

While many people may say that the world’s problems come from a lack of education, Owen states that this is a Listening problem:

The listening problem comes from an insecurity in my humble opinion, business owners don’t want to look stupid, or be seen as if they don’t know what’s happening in their business and or around them.
I can only tell you this, it is impossible for any one person to know everything there is to know about everything, including your business.
If you are a business owner, try to listen more, grow bigger ears, and then turn your business into a platform that people will find useful. People always return to what is useful. And become a likeable, lovable brand.

Owen and I met online two years ago when I was just beginning my journey, and we was one of the the Experienced Ones. It was on the site Friendfeed, which had been highly touted [at the time] by Robert Scoble, who spoke to my marketing classes at San Francisco State.

I’d been trying out that platform when I stumbled upon Owen, who must have seen Robert comment on something I’d written. At the time, I didn’t really understand the significance of that.

So Owen and I became “friends” on Friendfeed. One day I asked a question, and Owen simply “liked” it. I posted back, “Why did you LIKE my question and not Answer it?” And here is the answer which should help a lot more newbies out there:

When someone “likes” what you have posted, then their entire network gets to see that post. You don’t even have to comment or answer, all you have to do is LIKE, i.e., the Power of Liking.

So . . . that was helpful.

So . . . I started to follow Owen more and more, especially on Twitter, which had just started to explode in 2009. Of course, I like lots of other Twitter newbies, at first thought Twitter was Stupid — Who wants to know where you went out to eat? Well, actually, after I got to know Owen online, then when I’d see him post something like dining out or speaking somewhere or attending a conference, I could “engage” with him, and let him know I was listening.

Owen has been a continued online supporter, and now he’s even joined the gallery on our Facebook group for the students in my online course Social Media for Journalists. I’ve wanted to interview Owen for ages, so Students, Subscribers, and New Readers:

Here’s Owen Greaves

1. Explain your “love” for Twitter . . . and can you give some advice to small business people on why they are missing out by not understanding and using Twitter.

Owen: I love Twitter!

Mostly Twitter fills the need for real-time responses, research, and website traffic.

Twitter acts as a broadcasting channel, but also as a place to do research. TNN = Twitter News Network,

I can search for any keyword in http://search.twitter.com and find results, I can finetune those results as well.

The biggest reason I love Twitter, relationships.

I have met more incredible people on Twitter than I have in my entire life shaking hands, and I have met a lot; I’m 53 years old so I’ve been around.

The best piece of advice I can give is this [and this holds true for all Social Media Networks]:

You can’t have a Social Media Presence and not be present.

You must be there, LIVE! I don’t automate my Social Network Updates.

2. What are the biggest mistakes that businesses make when they get started with social media?

Owen: The biggest mistake…hmmm….I think the bigger problem is before Social Media, they don’t understand the changes in the business landscape on a global basis.

That creates problems for businesses when they try to execute a Social Media Strategy. Most businesses don’t look beyond the transaction —

if you fly at 50,000 feet and look for patterns, you will see we are becoming very Mobile and very Social, that data needs to be studied on a business by business case, especially by what service or product a business offers. I know, I’m opening a can of worms here.

3. How did you get started in social media?

Owen: Social Media is not new, it’s just gone digital.

I’ve been online since the early ’80s so I have seen much change on this incredible thing called the Internet. I started taking Social Media seriously in 2007, about a year later than the early adopters. I used to run a BBS (Bulletin Board System)back in the ’80s and then I used to market a Newsletter back 1995.

4. What’s your definition of social media?

Owen: Social Media to me is simple really: I used to go around town in my business sphere of influence and have coffee or go out for a cold one; today I do the same thing online. The benefits are almost the same. The big difference is I can’t see your body language unless I use Skype or a Camera.

It’s much easier to connect people in Social Media than it is in real physical life; that’s the BIG plus, connecting people matters more today than ever.

In fact, having more connections will determine your influence, your following, and your ability to earn money in some circles. Read my Blog Post from Jan 4th called – 3 things 2011 will bring and you will get a snippet of what I’m hinting.

5. Can you list any of the grossly misunderstood paradigm shifts?

Owen: There are some 14 paradigm shifts I talk about on my Blog, but there are far too many to list actually. If you were to talk about Nanotechnology alone, there are many shifts there.

But let’s just look at some of the simple shifts in the future of business, primarily online.

1.) Web-native Business Model (Open & Free)
2.) Network to Networked
3.) Social & Mobile
4.) Open Platforms – FaceBook, Twitter, Linkedin
5.) Control to Trust – building relationships
6.) Egosystem to Ecosystem
7.) Walled Gardens to the Jungle
8.) Shift to the Cloud
9.) Friction to Engagement – Control to Collaboration
10.) GUI to NUI
11.) Yes / No – Maybe
12.) Linear to Fuzzy Logic
13.) Denial to Foresight

6. You like to inspire creativity. How does one person inspire creativity in others? Do you have a definition of creativity?

Owen: I love to make people think, if that’s creative then yes I like to inspire creativity.

My way of inspiring people is for them to take their eyes off of themselves and put it on others. What I mean by that is, it’s not about you, it’s about those around you. Look at your business, or look at your passion(s), and see how they line up with the needs of others.

I often recommend this in my workshops: take a drive through your community and look around, ask yourself one question….what’s missing? If your business or passion can fill what’s missing, you may have something you can research and possible launch.

My definition of creativity is more of a process: if I can get you to stop thinking about your own needs, get you thinking about others, help you find your passion, teach you how to participate in an Open & Free Business Model….that’s the Future of Business. I can’t put desire in someone, but I can inspire creativity on some level.

7. Do you have any tips that you would like to share on any of the following:

a – How to blog?
Owen: Just do it. I recommend running a Self-hosted WordPress Blog with Headway Themes. you have all the flexibility you could ever want without ever having to write a line of code.

There are many steps on how to blog. The 1st one is knowing the core of your business, if that’s what your blog is for, the rest will come through your day-to-day efforts, just write, or should I say share. As you know I run my own webhosting company so I have considerable experience helping people get set up.

b – What to Tweet
Owen: I Tweet about everything, I share links, I talk to people, talk about good stuff and bad, I Tweet my life, I Tweet my work, I Tweet my findings…Tweet it all, within reason of course. I don’t want to know how many pimples you have on your butt.

c – Questions to ask at a networking event
Owen: I would suggest asking yourself why you are attending the networking event, if you are there to sell….don’t go!

I go to networking events to meet new people, to find out what problems they are up against, I’m always listening more than I’m talking, unless I’m the guest of honor and it’s expected of me to chat my head off.

You need to be the best you can be, have a genuine love for people and make an effort to be interested in them. I love people, I love helping people, but that should be your normal mode of operation if you run a business.

8. In your version of the perfect Future, what would be the Top Five Features of that World

Owen: There never will be a perfect future, I know too much.

I have always said, I want have a nice quiet life, leave a legacy of helping others, and spend as much time as possible with my wife & kids. If I become popular or famous so to speak, I’ll leave that to the rest of the world to handle, it’s not my primary goal, but I’ll do my best to handle it if it happens.

Well, friends, What do you think? What did you learn? How will this help you? And don’t forget to read more at OwenGreaves.com

Guest Post, Journalism, Sharisax Is Out There, Twitter

How NO INTERNET is Re-Defining the News

February 5, 2011 Shari Weiss 25 Comments

The beauty of our Social Media Revolution is that every one of us can become a publisher . . . and spread our opinions, insights, and wisdom.

Though we’ve only had two weeks of classwork for the online Social Media for Journalist course, several of the students have shown their passion, intelligence, and leadership in helping us all co-create the New Normal, i.e., the way to communicate, learn, interact, and act — Now, and in the Future.

One of the outstanding students has been Suzzanna Matthews, who grew up in Boston and studied English Lit at Goldsmith’s College in the UK and at Mills College in Oakland. She currently resides in Oakland and is studying Journalism and Social Media. Here are her thoughts on the explosive situation in the MidEast and the role of social media.

The Internet Shutdown in Egypt:

How the Definition of News is Changing

GUEST POST by Suzzanna Matthews

On January 27th, 2011 – after days of disruptions in internet service, most internet connections went down in Egypt. This shutdown targeted social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. This was an unprecedented event in history, a country in protest and a government shutdown of all major social media communications.

Why? Because, social media sites are viewed as dangerous. These sites were being used as a primary means of communication to rally people to protest. News of these protests was able to reach thousands of people at the stroke of a key.

If an entire country’s government has such a great fear of what social media can do. then you have to concur that it is indeed powerful.

SPEECH is powerful, and these social media platforms are important in letting people’s voices be heard uncensored.

In various articles I have read about the situation, journalists are reporting that there was and is misinformation being reported about the protests via Twitter and Facebook, but that there is also much more information available to them — and many more leads that they are able to follow up on because of Tweets and Posts. Particularly information coming out of locations that maybe unsafe for foreign journalist travel.

The social media platforms also allow us to read the news from Egyptians living in the midst of the turmoil and to get a sense of what is actually occurring without perhaps a government veil or ‘toned down’ diplomatic version of the events.You can see why it would behoove a government with waning power to halt these types of communications that they may view as damaging and, yes, dangerous.

Even with the shutdown, the people’s voices still found a way to be heard on the web with google’s Speak2Tweet. News of what is happening is being reported by the people — most are not trained journalists and many are just expressing their frustration.

Are the voices of Egyptian Tweeters and bloggers less newsworthy as they are not professional journalists?
Does the misinformation being reported via social networking sites outweigh the viable information?
There is no question that the way news is being related has changed, but as we move away from traditional forms of reporting, how do we need to re-think what ‘news’ actually is?

Blogging, Journalism, Sharisax Is Out There

What’s one difference between a blogger and a journalist?

January 21, 2011 Shari Weiss 53 Comments

Bloggers do like I’m doing right now — write my thoughts just after they come to me.

Journalists research . . . and then write.

OK, now that we got my “answer” to the title question out of the way without any introductory fanfare, let’s chat for a moment about the context of this post:

1) I’m pumped up about beginning to teach my online course in Social Media for Journalists this semester.

2) I just got back from a winter break vacation during which I published three posts prepared in advance and one that “came to me” after I’d commented on Adam Singer’s article “The Critical Few”; click on HOME page to see all three [below this post].

3) It’s the new year and I’m trying to publish more often, which is one reason I started “Briefly Stated” posts. Sometimes More is More, but lots of times Less is More.

4) There’s buzz about Chris Brogan’s program to supply bloggers with blog topics, and there’s an equal amount of buzz from bloggers saying they have plenty to talk about, but not enough time to do it.

So here’s some of my thinking:

Long ago in a creative writing course I was told that any writing worth reading can stand the test of time; Homer reportedly taught that one should put away a piece of writing for nine years; if it was still important, interesting, and useful after that hiatus, then one should refine it and publish it.

Blog posts can be “evergreen,” i.e., relevant beyond the day of publication. Many bloggers publish their Best of the Year posts. Book publishers look for works that will continue to resonate with readers. Withstanding the test of time is a critical component to quality.

But what does all this have to do with the One Difference between Bloggers and Journalists?

Well, first off, the only reason for a title like that is to encourage discussion — beginning with the fact that lots of journalists are bloggers. The terms blogger and journalist are not mutually exclusive. The main point I wanted to “put out there” was that when a journalist blogs as a journalist he or she ought to adhere to solid journalistic principles, which include a degree of objectivity; adherence to fact not opinion [unless quoting someone else’s opinion]; and writing that is concise, clear, and as free from error as possible.

What do you think?

Sharisax Is Out There

Category Archives: Sharisax Is Out There

To Comment . . . or not to comment

Commenters: BRING THEM ON

simply email me: sharisax@aol.com

How to “re-do” a blog . . . and WHY?

Top Ten Terms to get you Tweeting [redux]

Here’s your “Annotated” Word Introduction to Twitter

Which terms would you add to this list, and what would you say about them?

8 Ways to Maximize Business at a Meetup

Here’s how you can do business at meetups

“This” Telemarketing Thing Has Gotta Change [Briefly Stated]

How NO INTERNET is Re-Defining the News

The Internet Shutdown in Egypt:

How the Definition of News is Changing

What’s one difference between a blogger and a journalist?

Going BEYOND the Social Media Revolution