I love Jens. People who have connected with this 39 year old Norwegian gentleman all love him. What you see is what you get. He shares himself so eloquently with the community – his fears, his aspirations, his ups and downs – his darkest thoughts and brightest ah-ha moments.

He intertwines his marketing expertise and business aspirations into his daily life experiences teaching marketing at a college in Norway. He’s also writing his first novel this year and launching his first consulting business in April.

He wraps all this stuff up into inspiring blog posts that have great marketing and business tips throughout.

“I am a strong believer in quality content and that content will change the world and make it a better place. I want to remove traditional ads, and make businesses stop hiding their so called secrets. I want them to share everything, and I will do my best to make people realize that it’s important that they open their doors and invite their enemies inside.” Jens Berget

He’s already secured his first client for his new business too – check it out!

Here’s what he had to say;

“My first client is Grenserittet, one of the largest mountain bike (MTB) races in Norway and Sweden and the biggest MTB Race between two countries. I’ll get the chance to not only make my first client the happiest client in the world, but I get the chance to market the place where I live, the place where I have spent most of my life, and where my parents, grand parents and great grand parents spent most of their lives.”

That’s one heck of a first client! Hearing this makes me anxious to be part of this journey : )

I only share people in this entrepreneur series who are really helping others move toward their goals. If you’re building a business, writing your heart out and desire to move people with your work and make things happen – then Jens is the type of person you’ll want to connect with in the community.

Changing the world on your own is doable; but surrounding yourself with other capable like-minded people who are going the same direction (UP) will get you where you’re going much faster!

You can connect with him on these platforms:

SlyMarketing Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
Google+

Jen’s is quite the character – and one you’ll love and want to see become wildly successful.

Enjoy connecting with this brilliant marketing mind!

Want to meet another exceptional blogger? Kick-Ass Blogging Series: unlockthedoor.net – Stuart Mills

The “A Listers” on the social web got where they are by building an effective social footprint that tells the story of who they are, where they came from and most importantly, where they are going.

People follow them wherever they go. What they say matters.

What the social web has a lot of room for is quality leaders who can contribute to the best practices that are shaping the social web.

Don’t let that scare you. The technology is cool; but that’s not what’s driving the medium. People drive it.

People’s stories, expertise, insights, vision, and knowledge that’s shared daily is why people are showing up everyday and participating in the conversation.

They’re either learning or teaching - one of the two. Playing doesn’t count for professionals and business owners : )

They’re blazing the trail by doing, building, helping, creating, and taking others with them on this wild ride called “The Social Web.”

Here are the main platforms that they’re accomplishing this with:

Blog - I can’t name one social media personality who has risen to top of the game that doesn’t blog. Can you?

They’ve established a home base for their work and you can learn everything you wanted to know about them on their blog. They leverage their social networks (below) to share their work with the world.

Twitter – This is a great place to network to reach relevant communities of professionals and like-mined people who will share your work with the community. It’s a bit easier to get started on this platform with a 140 character limit!

Facebook – with nearly 900 million people populating the network, there’s no doubt that professionals and business owners have a profile here. It’s a bit more relaxed, as this is a place for family and friends; but that’s what makes it great for business networking and getting to know people in your industry who matter.

Linkedin - If you’re a professional or business owner, this is the best platform to network with people you can help or people you can hire.

Google+ - They’ve finally got social right and the platform is gaining huge numbers in adoption and usage by the day. It’s the early adopters playground and being first to the party has great advantages for professionals and business owners.

There are many others, but if you want to know what to do right now to get started building yourself as a relevant resource and leader in your industry, forget the rest and focus on these - they are by far the most important social platforms to get busy with.

Okay, so I’m sure there are opinions on this, please advise the community in the comment section below – cheers!

We are the sum total of our experiences.

Your expertise is a direct result of what you’ve done and accomplished.

Along the way, you’ve dealt with ups, downs, failures and successes – it’s these stories that contain the substance of value you have to offer others.

In fact, it’s the hairball stuff that people relate to the most. In many cases, people who are looking for help are going through the same exact conflict and struggles you successfully overcame.

Answers are what people want and need.

By sharing your stories, the good, the bad, the ugly, people will have an opportunity to relate with you and they can get a good sense of precisely how you can help them.

The most powerful stories come from people who lived them. People can spot a regurgitated second hand story a mile away and if you find yourself having to live up to and deliver that experience to help people out of bad situations, you’ll fall on your face.

That’s because you don’t have the know-how or emotional and mental toughness that is developed through experience.

The moral of the story; keep it real – be yourself – share your own experiences and the capabilities that came as a result.

If you do this, you’ll establish a platform of trustworthiness and integrity that can be built upon for years to come.

It’s these two things that great businesses and careers are built on.

For more insights on social media check out: The 4 Most Important Activities That Lead To Social Media Gold for Businesses & Professionals

“You need to first get your bearings and that is best accomplished through listening. If you’re a business professional and have a good idea of the type of professionals you want to connect with, you can rest assured that there’s a large community of these folks just waiting to connect & share with you. There are search functions (engines) on every social platform out there, including blogs…”

<Read More>

Mark Harai can help you start your business and grow your business by effectively leveraging the social web. To find out more, simply click here!

While Facebook has dominated in the area of user growth and time spent on the social platform, one of the biggest contributions the network will contribute to very soon is financing their competition.

They’ll create hundreds of new millionaires, some billionaires who have the entrepreneurial spirit.

Lets face it, people who work for startups and live in that part of the world are entrepreneurial by default – and many of those folks who love working for startups and have aspirations to do their own thing at some point in their career.

Putting a cool million+ in the bank will certainly make those aspirations viable very soon!

The Facebook IPO is about to initiate one of the greatest startup periods in history – thanks to technology, the social web, the mindset of the people who got them there and an economy that is due for a boost!

Buckle up your seat-belts folks, we’re about to go on an incredible ride!

Check out this article that dives deeper into this next wave via CNET.com:

Startup opportunities abound in wake of Facebook IPO

Facebook may dominate the social media landscape today with 845 million users. But experts say that instead of consolidating around the market leader, the social media landscape is fragmenting, leaving big opportunities for startups, especially those targeting mobile users.

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For more startup tips – check out: “5 Tips on How to Create the Best Work Environment for Your Startup”

Team Work – a team environment will get everyone on the same page and working for the same goals. It makes everyone accountable for victories as well as defeats and will help drive a winning attitude throughout the organization. Beware of knuckleheads and who think they’re better than everyone else – they’re only interested in looking good, many times at the expense of others, and can thwart the success of the team.

<Read More>

Mark Harai can help you start your business and grow your business by effectively leveraging the social web. To find out more, simply click here!

Photo by: Christina Pomoni

For professionals and business owners, social media provides a way for you to communicate “who you are,” “what you do” and “why you’re the best person for the job” to the marketplace.

In order to do this you’ll need to:

1.) Connect With Potential Customers

The best ways to reach eyeballs in your industry is research your competition and leaders in your industry on the web and connect with them on their blogs and other social media platforms.

They’ll already be populated and engaged with your audience and here you’ll have an opportunity to build relationships, display your expertise, add value to conversations and eventually win business if you go about it properly.

2.) Don’t Sell, Build Rapport

People hate to be sold online or otherwise. What’s the first thing you say when a sales person approaches you in a department store most of the time? “I’m just looking!” In other words, “Get out of my face.”

Casual conversation takes the walls down. Your motives shouldn’t be to sell something – they should be to connect with interesting people (your potential customers), share ideas, share interests and be irresistible. You need to attract people rather than have them sprint the other direction when you show up to the party.

After you’ve connected with people and shared a few laughs, gotten comfortable with each other and realize you like each other, where does this typically lead to?

“So, what do you do?”

It opens the door to talking about your business or professional life and if it doesn’t lead to a sale right away, it can in the future. People buy things from people they like and trust and recommend them to their friends & family.

Don’t you do the same thing for your friends when they are in need of something? It’s very helpful to provide a recommendation to a trusted source knowing they’ll be treated right!

3.) Building Trust Takes Time

So many folks just fire up a Twitter, Facebook, or blog and start selling the crap out of their stuff. They don’t take the time to build relationships and establish trust and rapport with the community they desire to serve. This can actually hurt your reputation in the long run.

You need to think through what kind of presence you want to establish on the web and what you want to be known for by the marketplace – AND NOT BE KNOWN FOR!

Spammers and doucebags don’t get very far on the social web!

Don’t do or say silly, stupid, embarrassing things when you’re online either. If you’re a professional or business owner, this can hurt you for the rest of your life. Everything you do is literally like fingerprints you can’t change or get rid of. They follow you everywhere you go!

When you approach your social media efforts in this manner, you’ll have a voice and a platform to build on for years to come. Even if you change positions or get into a different business, your efforts and labor of love will stand the test of time.

Your activities on the social web will either build you trust and rapport with the marketplace or disdain.

Which do you prefer?

Mark Harai can help you start your business and grow your business by effectively leveraging the social web. To find out more, simply click here!

Photo by: eadertisemybusiness.com

There’s a big difference between casually following people and making meaningful connections.

Only the latter can lead to productive relationships. It requires that you proactively reach out to at least ONE person everyday that you can help, learn from or support in the community. It builds mutual respect & trust with others and contributes to productivity and getting things done with the time you invest on the social web.

It sure beats the heck out of talking to yourself!

There are risks associated by doing this. Not everyone will respond in a favorable way, or respond at all for that matter.

But it’s worth the risk to identify people you’re interested in and reach out to connect in meaningful ways. No risk, no reward.

If you’re not trying to build a brand, get exposure for your professional services or make money online, then you can stop reading here.

But if you are putting forth an effort to make your social media efforts pay off, then you need to be connecting. Period.

The article below delves a bit further into the subject and provides ideas on how connecting can take your social media efforts to the next level.

“Forget Networking. How to Be a Connector”

“I like people and am genuinely curious,” says Banikarim, 42. “I like stories and want to make connections. But I didn’t know the word for it until my husband read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and said, ‘I finally have a word for you — a connector.’ ” Maryam Banikarim, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Gannett, publisher of USA Today

For more social media insights, check out: The Reality Is Opportunity Is Smacking You in the Face

Mark Harai can help you start your business and grow your business by effectively leveraging the social web. To find out more, simply Click Here!