Barriers and Gate-Keepers Are Being Removed
One of the most exciting accomplishments for me professionally occurred 5 years ago when one of my clients had her blog added to Tom Peter’s blogroll. Mary Schmidt was a marketing consultant who had a common name in a crowded profession, along with the usual limited budget of a solo-preneur. She was also a risk-taker though and pursued the blog strategy we created for her with religious fervor! (Update: I forgot to mention this. Search for “Mary Schmidt” on Google – and see the results of all-organic SEO.)

She found the thought leader in her profession: Tom Peters – a well-respected, highly paid speaker and consultant who already had a blog himself. (That’s part of being a thought leader in this decade.) Due to the simplicity of being able to comment on his blog, she was able to have a barrier-free conversation with Tom.

That would have been impossible in the old days of “find his office, call in, encounter one or more levels of personal assistants whose job is to screen out callers, get frustrated, and probably fail” unless you were wanting to book him or quote him.

To me, this is a profound shift in the spiritual balance of power among humans. When she told me she had earned a place of respect due to her contributions to the conversation on Tom Peters’ blog, I literally felt the rumble of thousands of years of hierarchy crumbling. The gate-keepers are no longer essential and the ability to connect with each other across virtually every barrier – geographic, economic, social status, etc – is now unlimited. The White House has a blog and a Flickr account – we can comment directly.

Everyone Is a Publisher and a Therapist
The invention of the printing press changed the power structures of the time dramatically. We are seeing another round of that, as information continues to provide access to power. Yet as I realized in a talk I gave earlier this week to the Hawaii Insurance Advisory Board, information is also a tonic. People who share, literally are saving lives via chat rooms and Twitter, as well as providing a steady stream of inspiration.

This seemingly built-in desire to share how-to videos on YouTube and share links of useful information on Twitter and share honestly via Facebook when someone is having a bad day is changing how we think about ourselves and about each other. It is changing how we value things – and pricing becoming a smaller part of the equation in many instances.

It is also confusing us temporarily, as our financial systems are so out-dated. What is that tip you shared really worth to me? I could count hours of time it saved me, or pleasure that I reaped, or even products I created and then resold. Of course each metric will produce a different price. Then I must decide to decide, what it is worth, for me, for now.

Is Psychology Starting to Catch Up with Technology?
I have thought for a long time that we as a species seem to advance much more quickly in virtually every arena except human behavior. The most modern artists and programmers still fall prey to school room urges and antics of competition, of malicious behavior, or under-handed practices in personal and business relationships.

Yet on the social web, these behaviors are more transparent. And they are certainly more commented on! We are each faced with a choice every day: do I follow a herd and jump on the bandwagon of criticism or do I seek out alternate points of view? Do I cut someone some slack as I would have them do unto me or do I cast them aside permanently? Do I move my consciousness forward and not sweat the small stuff or do I pour gas on the flames?

I see people reaching across the aisle daily. I see people being willing to respect different points of view. I see people who seek out their opposites because mechanically speaking, that makes for a stronger platform. I see bloggers talking about art, I see spiritual teachers using tech, I see everyone creating in their own ways opportunities to each beyond our known worlds. Leaving aspects of our families or tribes to explore new frontiers.

To me, this is the real value of social media today: it is letting us share our worlds with each other that we may each become not just smarter, but also kinder and more collaborative when that is what is required. I think of myself these days as consciousness coach as much as anything else. Now that we can all be connected, what really is the point of our connectedness and conversation? That’s the juice that interests me! What interests you and how does the social web support you in that?

Aloha,

This is an opinion piece about things I see happening in the social media space, in short Twitter-sized sound bytes. I am imposing that limit on myself as I am short on time today.

With #podcamphawaii & #socialmediaclub we have open tents, everybody’s welcome. (My preference) Attendance is great. Experiences are powerful. Learning is all over the map.

Other events, when “who is welcome” is changing weekly, when “must request an invite” is the rule? Not so cool. (Especially when no reply is then sent.) Ticket sales are s-l-o-w. Is there a connection?

If you want a private event, by all means have at it. You better have a killer list though and enough personal energy to draw in attendees. The Lobby understands this.

I don’t recommend teasing the public to try to get your buzz on when signups to your private event are not happening. Just open it up and the people will come!

When people are vying for attention and excluding peers, IMO that is so #highschool and #oldschool. We’re due for a major shift in thinking in this arena IMO.

Perfectly reasonable people disagree. That is the good news. When it’s your event, you can do what you want.

I hope these points help you figure out which strategy is more fun and less stress for planning your next event!

Aloha,

Remember when you didn’t think you needed a web site because you had a brochure?

Confused by all the hype surrounding blogs, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook?

Then Social Web Bootcamp is for you. It’s a one day program that takes you from the 30,000’ view of how things work all the way down to live demos for creating a blog, a Twitter account, and setting up your social networking identity.

Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Time: 9 am – 4 pm
Place: ING Direct Cafe – 1958 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI

A decade ago when the internet was really taking off, I used to tell people not to feel pressured to get a web site for their business. After all, I said, the internet is not going away and you have time to figure things out.

I no longer say that.

Now, I tell people that the longer they wait, the steeper the learning curve. New interactive web applications are being created every month. Everyone can be a publisher. You no longer control access to information about you and your business. It’s been building for several years, and now we’ve reached critical mass.

If you are still trying to figure out what all this is or what it means to your business, or how and where to get started, we’ve got a program for you. Plus, you receive a $30 discount as a member of the KnowHow Cafe mailing list. Please visit our sister site, KnowHow Cafe to read more about the Social Web Bootcamp and register.

I hope to see soon!
Aloha,

He emailed me today talking about how this impacts social web brand building and I offered to create a poll. So here it is after the jump! Please add your vote and share your comments with us.

Aloha,

I have entered the contest to win a 6-month blogging gig to write about “good moods” for Nature Made and their natural mood supplement, Sam-e. No product endorsements required. Seems like a perfect opportunity to share aloha with the world. Voting is open and I am off to a late start. Can you help me get ahead?

It’s easy! Just vote for me once a day until Oct 30. Please tell your networks too. I am offering you a daily inspiration and email reminder message to help me out. It will come from Bare Feet Studios.

This is a double-opt-in list – so you must click on the link in the email confirmation message you will receive instantly to receive the daily emails!

If you know me at all, you know I am a collaborator. Here’s how I think my winning this would extend to helping others:
Hawaii Tourism – I will be sharing Aloha and featuring videos and pictures of happy Hawaii and the Hawaiian people and attitudes. It will give considerable exposure to our beautiful islands.
Young and Old Alike – I am lucky in that I can easily connect with people of all ages. No need to target just young techies, seniors, or Facebook entrepreneurs as I have demonstrated via Beach Walks with Rox that they all pay attention to my sharings.

Vote here: http://www.sam-e.com/job/profile/219

FAQ here: http://www.sam-e.com/job/faq

Are you a little geeky? You can also embed this badge on your blog..

Aloha and mahalo for your kokua!

Contrast that to a situation this past week. I was approached (via several urgent phone calls over the weekend), to become an affiliate of a new web site and to also have this company make a presentation at our upcoming Social Media Club meeting. Let’s just call him Sammy.

By coincidence, Seth Godin tackles this topic of the tacky techie on his blog today:

...you can see the danger anyone who introduces new technology faces. While you’ll attract Les Paul and the 37Signals guys, you’re more likely to attract spammers, scammers, opportunity seekers and others that will bring our culture down as easily as they’ll bring it up.

• Contacted me via phone rather than via email. I rarely answer the phone if I don’t know the caller. If you have your caller ID blocked, you will never have me pick up live. It’s just a function of how many incomings I get and that the phone is an interruption when I am working on someone else’s project. I reserve the same courtesy for you if I am working on your project.
• Left very urgent voice mails after normal business hours: Fri afternoon, Sat morning, Sat evening, then Mon morning. I know, the web is 24/7, but even though I might be web surfing for pleasure on Sat night does not mean I want your business problem at that time. The more you call me during non-business hours, the less likely I will respond at all.
• Made false and unsubstantiated claims. “We launched our Site 10 day’s ago and according to Alexa Rating we surpassed twitter in 3 days.” That is an actual quote! And it is patently false. I checked Alexa.
• Has no verifiable bio or resume to be found online, nor any links on reputable sites with biographical details. When all I can find about you on Google search are things like message board postings or a one-off weight loss blog offer, then you are not a serious business person IMO.
• Used a Hotmail address when he finally contacted me via email. You may not know this however Hotmail and AOL email addresses do not inspire confidence in savvy business professionals. Get an email address at your domain (the same domain that has your biographical info and references) or get a Gmail address. Because Hotmail and AOL are infiltrated by spammers and force you to wade through mountains of blinking ads to check your own email, no serious business person I know has the tolerance or time for that.
• Had numerous mis-spellings and grammatical errors in the email. The web is very informal in many ways. However, we business folk still get the “nails on chalkboard” feeling when an email comes in written by someone who appears to be using English as a second language while posing as a native speaker.

On the other hand, because it is easier than ever to connect, it makes strategic sense to list verified credentials and facts when you are reaching out to someone, versus dropping names and over-stating your case. It may work on the short term but over time you are hurting your credibility by trying to make your self, your brand, your idea, more than it actually is at this moment in time.

What tips do you use to make it easy for people to tell you apart from the blowhards and scammers who make a lot of noise on the social web? Contact me if you’d like to see an anonymous copy of the email response I sent “Sammy.” I don’t believe in being rude tho I do believe in calling out the facts.

Aloha,

Keep in mind, that just about all of us can be defined as “celebrities” when it comes to the internet. (Insert smiley face here.) In case you want to catch up on the back story:
Paid Bloggers Get Google Downgrades
Mahalo Mr. Solis (for talking about blogger payola)
Social Media Ethics: A Glossary

From the FTC Filing:

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act. The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

I’ve posted a link to the actual filing after the jump so you can read it for yourself.

It will no doubt be a challenge to enforce this but the FTC recognizes what many of my blogger associates resist: that receiving compensation does affect coverage. At the very least, without compensation or freebies there is far less likelihood that said blogger would be paying attention to said marketer. And in today’s Attention Economy, attention is a most valuable commodity.

I am all for co-creative collaborations between brands and bloggers. I have a long record of encouraging brands to work with new media creators for the better bang for their buck than with traditional media. But we’ve got to stop thinking that just because many of us brought ourselves up by our boot straps, that we are somehow immune to influence. If anything, all of our free contributions to brand awareness makes us more vulnerable to seeking compensation and creating blurred lines of coverage IMO.

View the FTC legal filing on Scribd. I think it is up to both bloggers and marketers to develop their policies and share them publicly as applicable. What do you think?

Aloha,

I often get asked which blogging platform I recommend, combined with “what about Blogger, Squarespace, Movable Type, etc?” I am a “WordPress hands-down, no question, no doubts” kind of person. The admin interface is a dream, the range of design themes and plug-ins that extend its functionality are best in class and far exceed what is available for all of the other blogging platformscombined, and now, there is word straight from Matt Cutts himself that WordPress plays best with Google.

Matt Cutts has worked at Google since 2000, and knows as well as anyone how Google ranks web sites and how web sites can better interact with Google to get positive search results. Here’s the money quote from his talk at WordCamp in San Francisco this past May, 2009:

WordPress takes care of 80-90% of (the mechanics of) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Check out his entire slide presentation here. The money quote is on slide 12.

So really, you can stop wondering now and go get yourself a WordPress blog! By the way, it’s not that Lorelle is against SEO, she is just a very pro-active proponent of the conversational and connecting strengths of blogging first. The SEO comes second or third in her priorities.

Aloha,

The meetings and events industry has been slow to adopt social web practices, so I think they are going to be ecstatic when they see how many tools exist that are perfectly made for helping them do business and support their clients!

UPDATE 11:15 pm, 9/15/09: The slide deck is now posted at the sharing site, SlideShare.net; I hope to add the audio track shortly and Tess will be sending over her slides too. Here is a link to the Social Media Revolution video I shared with you also.

For now, here are some of the sites we discussed:
Eventbrite – Event registration and management service
Meetup and Upcoming – Event calendars made for sharing
Wordpress.com – for a free, hosted every event should have its own blog!
Wordpress.org – to get the free software to install on your own web server, plus themes and plugins
Twtvite – Managing events via Twitter
Social Media Club Hawaii Chapter – professional association for business use of social media; meetings are free and open to the public (hosted for free on Wordpress.com)
KnowHow Café – our sister site with training programs; join our mailing list and get a free eBook on Online Identity (use promo code “event”).
Podcamp Hawaii – the free unconference I produced last year by, for, and with social media
Socialize Your Event – Social media ideas for event management (our site too)
Flickr – the photo sharing social network
Bit.ly – the URL shortener I use that tracks click data for you
Email List Management with Social Features – Vertical Response, iContact, Constant Contact
Robust Email Management for large lists and complex auto-responders –  aWeber
Share This – the tool that lets you share web content in one click to other social networks

Plus the usual suspects, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Regarding our tag: #mpi-aloha. If you look on Twitter, it only adds the automatic link to ”#mpi.” I learned too late that Twitter ignores everything that follows any punctuation in a hashtag. So as an organization, you may want to have a more linkable tag tho less readable tag as #mpialoha. Or, leave as is, knowing that your tagged events will also show up in the feed for #mpi. You can still search for the full phrase though. Filed under “Learn something every day.”

Here is the PDF I showed to explain the structure and function of blogs.

Thank you very much for inviting me and Tess to speak to your organization. Please let me know if I forgot anything here – there are lots of links for you to explore! We look forward to seeing you on various social networks soon! Now leave a comment and tell me what you learned and/or use the “Share This” link immediately below to tell your friends and colleagues about this post!

Aloha,

In a nutshell, here’s what we’ll be covering:

• Understand how conversation and interaction are changing everything from brand management, to customer relationships, and search results;
• Learn how to create your personal and business online identity, including how to find out what names are available on numerous social networks;
• Discover the power of blog software, and why you will never want a “regular” web site ever again;
• Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Twitter and how to spend less time and get more results.
• Bring your laptop if you want to participate hands-on, or just sit back and relax. I’ll have a PDF available for all attendees with links to the sites we visit.

Aloha,