icemanbaldy

How I'm Becoming a Trust Agent on the Web

2010-03-06T20:40:10-05:00

I just turned off my Kindle after finishing another great book on about using the internet to optimize my web presence by becoming a person of influence and trust in the way that I operate online and in the manner that I'm using the web to further my business relationships. The book is Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith and it's full of some outstanding advice for the new online marketer and truly resonates with seasoned marketers like myself who have been online for several years promoting our products and services through innovation and effective social media tools. It's one of the best books I've read on the subject and I made a few notes that you may find helpful to improve your own marketing efforts.

The book is focused on the core competencies inherent in any individual who wants to be a trust agent. I'm working to build my capabilities and what I offer my audience in each of these competencies with every action that I take online. Consider what I've been doing with my own sites as a result of reading Trust Agents and reflect on how you might use what I've learned to improve your results.

Be a game changer. I've decided to make my own game in the black online entrepreneurship niche. Using my blog, my forum, my network, my online newspaper and my contributions on a variety of social media networks and other platforms, I'm working hard to become a recognized expert--if not THE expert--on all things related to black online entrepreneurship.

Be a member of the community. I am an active member in many of the communities related to my niche while also making an effort to reach out to others who share my interest. I'm eager to help and although I have my own products and services for sale to others, my primary interest is in freely helping others to reach their goals through understanding how to use the tools available so that if they need additional, focused support, they can make an informed choice to use my expertise or suggest my services or products to friends.

Be willing to accept help. I've learned the value of leverage is using tools that are already available in new and innovative ways in order to better reach my targeted audience or build effective communities of black online entrepreneurs. I also understand the value of connecting with and utilizing the contributions of others to multiply my own efforts to magnify the influence I have throughout the internet.

Be a relationship builder. Relationships are everything online. Gone are the days where static webpages rules the internet and advertising or news was served to web users who simply visited sites to consume content. Online consumption is still high but based on a principle of interaction where each of us can comment, link, and share what we consume with our network of friends and online relationships. Business credibility lives and dies on the basis of our relationships and I've been working to connect with others by being helpful and connecting my connections with others who can help them to further their goals.

Be an effective communicator. Key to solid relationships is an understanding of how to master the nuances of online communication. Without the instantly physical cues of body language and not being able to hear tones or vocal cues, what you type or post online becomes a full representation of who you are subject to the subjective interpretations of the individual. I'm constantly aware of my message and I strive to maintain a consistently authentic presence if all of my work, my comments, and everything that I post on the wide variety of sites that I frequent or maintain.

Become the community. I've managed to build some fairly solid networks of folks who I follow and folks who I'm honored to have following me. Whether on Ning, my forum, my RSS subscribers, Twitter, Facebook, MyBlogLog, FriendFeed and everywhere else I have some significant presence, the goal is to build an army of connections who support and affirm the expertise and assistance that I provide online.

Demonstrate trust. I've also made an effort to provide evidence of my trustworthiness: my design is straight forward, clean, and it reinforces my brand identity; my site has been around since 2002, so longevity isn't a problem; there are a lot of great posts--over 700--so the volume of productivity is good; my domain name reinforces a professional identity and emphasizes the Iceman Baldy brand; and I've included an About page with links to all of my other social networks to include my Twitter and Facebook profiles.

Trust Agents provides a solid map for become a person of influence online. With everybody calling themselves a social media expert these days, it's great to read an excellent piece of work that actually defines what it really means to have an online reputation that speaks for itself and truly defines that kind of internet expertise worthy of our time, attention, and trust.

The Deafening Hum of Google Buzz

2010-02-20T09:10:35-05:00

In kind of a blend of Twitter, Facebook, blogging and email, Google Buzz is hoping to become your first choice for social networking across all of your platforms. By linking social updates directly with Gmail, Google Buzz has a headstart on most other platforms because all of your email contacts instantly become friends that you follow and who follow you. There are some privacy concerns because this assumes that your email contacts want to be contacted with greater frequency about whatever you decide to post, but it's a tremendous convenience for those who prefer this email integration to expand their social networking circle.

There's a lot at stake for companies whose focus is on user interactions. Twitter and Facebook are certainly taking notice. This point is made clearly in this Mashable article about the good and the bad about Google Buzz. Google Buzz has become a serious overnight threat based on size alone: 38 million Gmail users in the United States (versus 25 Twitter users worldwide) just became friends with one another using a clean and simple system that will take time away from the attention spent on other platforms. Google Buzz is positioned to become a deafening hum in very short order.

For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots

2010-02-19T23:09:00-05:00

via www.forloveofliberty.net

For Love of Liberty is a new movie supported by the US Army that chronicles the story of African American servicemen and women who have fought for and and protect the freedoms upon which our country is founded. This website is a great tribute and digital headquarters for information about the movie.

Black Social Media group | LinkedIn

2010-02-19T23:04:50-05:00

Black Social Media group | LinkedIn

Did you know that there was a Black Social Media Group on LinkedIn? I follow their tweets at http://twitter.com/blcksm and if you're on LinkedIn, the group is worth checking out.

Three Simple and Powerful Ways to Use Facebook to Grow a Following

2010-02-13T15:48:42-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

How many of you are not on Facebook? Consider the following statistics from the Facebook Stats page:

Company Figures:

More than 400 million active users
50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
More than 35 million users update their status each day
More than 60 million status updates posted each day
More than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
More than 3.5 million events created each month
More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook
More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day
Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

Average User Figures:

Average user has 130 friends on the site
Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
Average user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month
Average user writes 25 comments on Facebook content each month
Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month
Average user is invited to 3 events per month
Average user is a member of 13 groups

That's a lot of eyeballs and opportunity to capture attention for your products and services IF you know how to use Facebook effectively to grow a following and market to your targeted audience.

Facebook is about creating relationships by sharing helpful hints, links, videos, and photos while being yourself during the course of casual conversation. It's not about hard selling and peddling your wares to people who haven't asked to be attacked with your marketing messages.

Here are some easy ways to generate some good will and create an environment where people learn about your expertise, become interested in learning more about you, and click on your contributions to learn more about your products and services. You don't sell anything and people become sold on you.

Set up a Facebook Profile. With 400 million people actively using the service, there are bound to be some folks on the network who share your interests and who are great matches for your target audience. Once you've set up a profile, populate it with your picture, your links, your interests, etc. and then search for some groups that are of interest to you where other like-minded individuals are also members. Use your profile to give others a sense of what you do and who you are in a way that is interesting and intriguing enough that they will want to connect with you. This way, when you make updates to your profile (status, pictures, links, and more), your friends can see this activity in their own profiles and share it with their friends or interact with you and further enhance a positive relationship.

Contribute but don't sell. You've got to get involved and contribute to conversations by making friends and commenting on their updates in addition to commenting in discussions and groups. As you post links and create relationships with others, their friends will see your interactions and other interested individuals will want to become your friend. "Friends" on Facebook can be as casual and simple as people who see your profile and think that you're neat or as important and endearing as family members or life-long friends who use Facebook to stay connected to you and what you're up to. All of the friends you make on Facebook should be supportive of what you're doing and not just people who are trying to gain as many friends as possible in the fastest time. Focus your friend activity on people who may become customers or supporters within your market and not just associates who have nothing to do with your business.

Establish a fan Page for your business. In the same way that individuals on Facebook have profile pages, a business that you run can have a Page. Your Page is linked to your profile page and acts as an entirely separate place to showcase your business and provide updates about your products and services. This place is more of a sales & marketing location and people who like your Page become fans. When they become fans, a message is broadcast across their network of friends that they have become a fan of your Page and others may become interested and decide to join the Page creating another broadcast message and so on. As you post updates about your business on the Page, just like updates on your profile, individuals may comment or share these updates with their networks and create a viral effect.

With the average number of friends (130) and Pages (4) each Facebook user interacts with daily and monthly, you can see there are tremendous opportunities to enhance your online presence with Facebook. Even if you're already on Facebook, hopefully this short article highlights some of the ways you can become an even better user by taking advantage of Facebook features to their fullest extent.

Feel free to use my profile page and fan Page as examples of effective Facebook marketing:

Iceman Baldy Facebook Profile

The Hustletown Chronicle Fan Page

28 Days of Diversity

2010-02-10T19:22:58-05:00

via 28daysofdiversity.com

Instead of trying to keep up with each person featured in Wayne Sutton's 28 Days of Diversity, I thought it would be better to feature the new website dedicate to all of these outstanding individuals. I hope you enjoy the series as much as I have and visit it each day during Black History Month to be exposed so someone new who is doing great things as a media influencer.

Kiss My Black Ads

2010-02-04T22:44:19-05:00

via kissmyblackads.blogspot.com

If you're into Black Business, then you have to be into Black advertising and marketing. Few are more invested in how multicultural advertising has evolved and whether current efforts are truly effective than Kiss My Black Ads. It's a nice blog that will keep you up to speed on how to take your message to the people.

The Best of BlackTV247.com - Episode 1

2010-02-02T21:20:53-05:00

If you haven't heard of BlackTV247.com, this is your invitation to check it out:

Best of BlackTV247.com: Episode 1 from BTV247 on Vimeo.

It's Hulu FUBU.

Announcing 28 Days of Diversity: From SocialWayne.com

2010-02-01T20:33:49-05:00

Announcing 28 Days of Diversity: People of color impacting the social web. Day 1: Angela Benton

Wayne Sutton is One to Watch. Check out his blog at SocialWayne.com. As a salute to Black History Month, Wayne will feature a social media influencer of color for each of the 28 days of February. If you're trying to figure out how best to use social media in your business, this is a series you won't want to miss.

Want a PDF of any URL? Try PDF My URL

2010-01-28T19:55:05-05:00

I'm Just Sharing » Blog Archive » PDF MY URL

Props to Mitch Mitchell for his post which gives credit to another for tipping him off to a really simple site that allows you to easily print a fully-formatted complete website page as a PDF file that you can save or take with you to read later. It's a great tool and if you read the comments, there's even a Wordpress plug-in that you can add to your blog to provide the same functionality to your readers for any of your posts or pages.

11th Annual “Taste of Black History” Celebrates Leading Entrepreneurs | thehustletownchronicle.com

2010-01-27T19:51:02-05:00

via thehustletownchronicle.com

The Hustletown Chronicle reports that Chicago area Jewel-Osco stores are having their 11th annual Black History celebration and will honor three African-American entrepreneurs who are important vendors with the company.

If you're not reading The Hustletown Chronicle (my latest creation), check it out and be wowed.

What Do I Think of the New iPad? Not So Much.

2010-01-27T19:18:16-05:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The secret is out, Apple came through and satisfied rumors and loyal fans who have been anxiously awaiting the much debated announcement of the Apple tablet computer now known as the iPad.

Continuing the design trend of black glass and aluminum trim, the iPad has been criticized and praised for looking like a larger version of Apple's popular iPhone--it really depends on whether you like or dislike the current design theme that is also present in Macbooks and the iMac line.

I think it looks clean and is noticeably absent of distracting buttons. It's both high tech and simple. The device is slim, light and feature-rich at 1.5 pounds and a half inch thick packing a 9.7 inch screen. It looks good and is designed to feel good (and work "good" too) for as long as 10 hours.

The device is positioned to fill the space between the iPhone and a Macbook or laptop computer. It will have WiFi built in and, if you purchase a device with #G capabilities for an additional $130, you can purchase unlimited data service from AT&T without a contract for $30 a month. The device is not capable of being used as a phone at this time and I'm not sure if Apple or third party developers will add that capability later.

Accessories will include a wireless keyboard, dock and cover/case and other cables for output connection to your media systems.

But the big question is, will I buy one? The price is right, beginning at $499 (the same price as an iPhone without a contract) and equal to many competing netbook products. It will do most of what an iPhone does (except make phone calls and take pictures--which is a pretty big deal), only bigger and arguably better given the larger screen space, memory and technical specifications. It's not as large as a laptop and perhaps more portable with longer battery life.

But that's just it. If you have an iPhone and a Macbook, as much as you might drool over the device and it's good looks and all that you know you can do with it, will it really fill the space and better yet, does the space need to be filled? It does some of what my iPhone does but it's too big to be a phone and doesn't have phone capabilities. I love my iPhone because it's first and foremost a phone and then allows me to do so much more in a device that fits in my pocket. I'd love the screen on the iPhone to be bigger sometimes but that's the sacrifice I make for pocketable portability.

Since it's not as powerful as a laptop, which is what I use for the majority of my work, I would still need to use my Macbook for heavy computing and I even prefer my 27" iMac for really intense internet and business use that requires me to use multiple screens or applications at once. The iPad looks like it might be a phenomenal device but would I really use it and carry it around so that it would be available any time I needed it? As much as I'd like to think otherwise, probably not.

It could be that I already have too many devices. Between my iPhone, my Kindle 2, my Macbook, and my iMac, I've got a lot already invested in technology that meets my needs and that might be overkill for others. The iPad could replace the Macbook and the Kindle, but at significant sacrifice. It lacks the power I need, the dock and keyboard solution is slick but diminishes portability, and LED e-readers aren't as easy-to-read and are a bigger power drain than e-ink even with the iPad's ground-breaking battery life.

To add the iPad to what I already have would cause significant overlap that I can't quite justify even at the outstanding price point. For those who don't have a Macbook and who want to do more online to a greater extent than what you can with a phone or most notebooks, the iPad may be for you. It's the next best thing to having a personal productivity tool, ebook reader and versatile multi-media device all-in-one in a slim, stylish but not quite pocketable do-it-all machine.

Old school Apple Newton fans will be the first in line to get one as soon as they are released. I'm looking forward to playing with one myself, and who knows what might happen a few months from now when the 2nd generation device is released.

One to Watch: Brother Bedford - Philosophy and Thinking of a Modern Entrepreneur

2010-01-25T22:08:15-05:00

Bro. Bedford.com Black Entrepreneurship-Online Business Building, Internet Marketing, Information Marketing Marketing Strategies

Brother Bedford has been doing his thing consistently on the internet for a number of years and he has amassed an impressive body of work with a loyal following.

He is an authority on Black Entrepreneurship and online marketing whose counsel pays tremendous dividends to those who apply his wisdom to their businesses and services.

Visit his weblog for entrepreneurial inspiration and thoughtful insights.

Hustle Like a Mogul: Diddy, Daymond John (FUBU), and Jay-Z

2010-01-23T14:50:02-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

If you haven't seen our outstanding videos at The Hustletown Chronicle, you need to check out some recent additions that include features from CNBC's The Big Idea on Diddy, Daymond John, and Jay-Z.

MLK the Google Way

2010-01-18T20:02:17-05:00

Martin Luther King, Jr. via last.fm

I use Google almost exclusively as my search engine of choice. I'm always impressed with the way they change their logos to reflect current themes whether holidays or other current affairs. After spending the day at a celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's life and legacy and in fellowship with Fraternity Brothers who love and honor Brother King as one of our own, I logged onto my computer and saw this image on Google's homepage.

Outstanding. If you want to see more of their logos throughout the years, both official and unofficial, check this link.