Just within the past 3 hours, several major news agency accounts and top tech twitter users have had their accounts hacked.  Leo Laporte, founder of Twit.Tv has just had his account hacked.  When the tech giants are being hit, it seems to be that Twitter has a huge public relations issue on their hands.

In the past few months we’ve seen a large upswing in 3rd party services for Twitter, allowing users to make use of Twitter in other locations beyond the website itself.  Great examples of this include Twhirl and TweetDeck.  However, when being required to login using your Twitter login/password on anyone else’s system, the user has little guarantee that this service will not maintain records of the username/password for their own purposes.

Be careful which apps you are using, and consider changing your password immediately.

So - where do you want to post photos to? What system is “THE” place to put them? I’d say, choose a few! Flickr is a great place to connect with others.  Facebook photos are able to be tagged and show up in each other’s accounts.  Syncing Flickr into your Facebook or FriendFeed is also another way to get your content out further. TwitPic is useful if you are using Twitter, as it automatically links the picture to your Twitter post. Picasa can help you create large photo albums with certain sharing permissions automaticaly set.

Whether using your cellphone, or a stand-alone digital camera, sharing your photos to multiple places is a great way to be efficient.  To simplify this process, I suggest PixelPipe from your phone for those mobile uploads, and from your computer for the digital camera uploads.  Check out how to get started with PixelPipe now:

As always - you are doing this to share and connect.  Remember what you put online is there for all the world to see, now and potentially years from now.  This also includes those pictures others take of you, that you never thought anyone would see.  How you show up is up to you.  Choose to interact and comment on each other’s photos.  Post things that humor or enlighten your audience, or flatter those friends caught in action.

Thus far, I’ve found some great connections in Twitter, and am watching this site grow rapidly.  According to PhysOrg.com, “Internet marketing company HubSpot, in a “State of the Twittersphere” report, said 70 percent of the estimated four to five million people using Twitter have signed up in 2008 and 20 percent have joined in the last 60 days.”

Are you in Twitter yet? Are you interacting with others? They key is to participate in the conversation.  Watching others use it without responding or sharing is the equivalent to being a wall-flower at the 7th grade dance. Make some friends, share things with them, and respond to them.  As the crowd grows, it becomes a better resource for learning and networking.

I just came back from the dead.

No, I’m not a zombie.

But, to many people in the internet world, Brother Paul had virtually disappeared. Yes, I am that same Brother Paul who was part of the Staff Of Found Secrets who had critically acclaimed works, such as: Open Your Daily Newspaper & MAKE MONEY! and the sequel: Turn On Your Computer, Fire Over Your Internet & MAKE MONEY!

The list was not growing, and it seemed like there was just no point in continuing in internet marketing. There was little interest in a membership site that we were designing, and the last one I worked on never took off.

So, I figured it was not worth the aggravation, anymore.

And, then, I finally discovered Twitter, because Willie Crawford “twisted my arm.”

And, the very first connection I made was with the creator of Your Social Brand.

Since connecting with Dave and his works, I have accomplished the following:

I have interviewed John DiLemme

I have interviewed Dave himself, of course

I am working on a potential interview with the Barefoot Executive, Carrie Wilkerson

I am working with Dr. Letitia Wright on the launch of Open Your Daily Newspaper & MAKE MONEY in hard copy

(Oops, forgot to mention that I am also putting out Open Your Daily Newspaper in hard copy)

My membership, now revamped as the How 2 Of Wealth membership is now up and running

And, I’m not through yet. I am making connections on a daily basis through Social Media.

Am I independently wealthy at this point?

Well, let’s see. I own my own home in a time when people are losing theirs.

I don’t have to worry where my next meal is coming from.

People are beginning to recognize my name on the internet (and we’re talking some fairly big names)

So, if I’m not independently wealthy, just yet, because of my connections through social media, me
and Miz Kathy will be very soon.

So, I can say, definitely that Social Media has made a change in my life for the better.

(And, this coming from a guy who originally said that all that “social networking” stuff was just mere junk, and when I finally converted, I admitted I joined the “dark side.”)

Make it a great day!

Brother Paul
Webmaster
http://how2ofwealth.com

You can connect with me on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/brotherpaul

I’ve lived in DC as a graduate student from 2004 to early 2008 where I started a band.  The band started as a small project with friends but after securing funding and cutting a major album, most of the friends left me high and dry leaving only myself and my drummer to rebuild a band that could gig and sell the cd.  After several name changes we settled on Black Max (http://www.blackmaxband.com.  We then set about the business of recruiting a new keyboard player and a new guitar player/female vocalist.

And then I had to move to Memphis, TN.

Well the project after two years could have just died right there.  BUT because I had the CD and the support of my social network I started forging ahead now in the town where I attended high school.  Here, I decided to try something novel and use Facebook advertising.

I don’t know a lot of people who take out individual ads, but it’s a ripe landscape for finding bandmates if you don’t mind taking some time and money to do it.  Facebook, because of its social networking genius, allows you to make incredibly targeted demographic choices about how you are going to advertise, so in searching for female singers, I could simply ensure that my ad maximized the bang for the buck by targeting only women, between the age of 21 and 29 in Memphis TN who were interested in a number of music related keywords.  It kept my sample size small and my click through high.

By the end, Facebook advertising anonymously attracted one of the most talented female singers I’ve ever met, and the big twist?  We’d actually known each other since freshman year in high school but had no memory of the other until Facebook brought us back together!

Now we are approaching our first gigs and are getting things ready to roll out.  Social networking is the only thing that has kept us alive where other bands often times fall flat or people lose the will to keep finding players.  Social networking has let us mix and match, bring people and let them go without ever losing sight of the band as an entity itself.

~Keenan Sloan

Boston (September 25, 2008) – Sixty percent of Americans use social media, and of those, 59 percent interact with companies on social media Web sites. One in four interacts more than once per week. These are among the findings of the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study.
_____________

Please Note: Clarification on below. The following results refer to the 60% of Americans who use social media.
______________

According to the survey, 93 percent of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media, while an overwhelming 85 percent believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media. In fact, 56 percent of users feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.

“The news here is that Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media,” explains Mike Hollywood, director of new media for Cone, “it isn’t an intrusion into their lives, but rather a welcome channel for discussion.”

When asked about specific types of interactions, Americans who use social media believe:

* Companies should use social networks to solve my problems (43%)
* Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%)
* Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%)
* Companies should market to consumers (25%)

Hard-to-reach consumers
Men, a much sought-after target in the online space, are twice as likely as women to interact frequently (one or more times per week) with companies via social media (33% to 17%, respectively).

“The ease and efficiency of online conversation is likely a draw for men who historically do not seek out the same level of interaction with companies as women,” says Hollywood.

Likewise, of younger, hard-to-reach users (ages 18-34), one-third believe companies should actively market to them via social networks, and the same is true of the wealthiest households (household income of $75,000+). Two-thirds of the wealthiest households and the largest households (3 or more members) feel stronger connections to brands they interact with online.

“All of this is great news for marketers,” Hollywood explains. “Men and younger consumers are traditionally the most challenging to reach, while the highest income households are typically very desirable; here they are saying ‘Come market to us and interact with us online.’ This is really a license to put more energy and resources into this medium and do it effectively.”

About the survey:
The 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study presents the findings of an online survey conducted September 11-12, 2008 by Opinion Research Corporation among 1,092 adults comprising 525 men and 567 women 18 years of age and older. The margin of error associated with a sample of this size is ± 3%.

About Cone:
Cone LLC (www.coneinc.com) is a strategy and communications agency engaged in building brand trust. Cone creates stakeholder loyalty and long-term relationships through the development and execution of Cause Branding, Brand Marketing, Corporate Responsibility and Crisis Prevention and Management initiatives. Cone is a part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, interactive, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

When Michelle Price, Social Media Expert and Internet Community Strategist, suggested that I do my face reading skill on video for the Facebook community, I have to say I wasn’t excited about it. It took several months for me to warm up to the idea, and she re-suggested it at least three times. By the third time, I decided to set my learning curve aside and embrace the opportunity. I decided to create Face Reading for Facebook, where I would use face reading to review people’s Facebook profile photos to help them understand their own natural energies so they could use them in their marketing and optimize their social networking results.

I broke out the new webcam, determined to record a three minute video. That took me five hours. I had to upload the software, make all that work, figure out what I wanted to say, then record it without flubbing anything up, but realized I had to record another more general video so people would know what face reading even WAS, THEN I had to figure out how to make the video I took into a movie. Since I’m a closet techno geek, it wasn’t too bad of an experience, but it did take some time, focus and commitment to get all that done. Then I had to figure out how to start a Facebook group, upload the videos to it, and let people know about my new group.

At first, I chose clients and people I knew, and then I focused on my mentors and people I’ve paid to work with… and that’s when the viral marketing part of this kicked in! People whose faces I “read” started putting my videos on their blogs and websites – and THEIR people started discovering me! Then I got multitudes of requests from all kinds of people to do videos for them… and people started requesting to be my Facebook friend. I added nearly 400 people to my friends list in about 30 days.

More than that, I got new clients as a result of these videos! People liked my energy and how I approached the information I was sharing, and, after visiting my website, hired me to do face readings and sessions to work with them in growing their businesses!  After about 45 days of being the “Facebook Face Reader”, I learned that people knew who I was when I went to events (‘oh, YOU’RE the Facebook face reader!!!’). Further, I discovered that I had generated approximately $4000 in new business, and more people are being attracted to working with me both in terms of new relationships AND my new friends wanting to promote my work.

All in all, I have been really blessed to be a part of the Facebook community. I confess I’m still learning a lot about it, but I’m a big ‘thumbs-up’ for people to take a chance and make the investment of time and energy to get their face out there! (pun intended…) ;+)

Bio/Sig Line:

Lynn Scheurell is an authority on helping soul-driven entrepreneurs to create a living from who they are by creating a business that is the expression of their life purpose. She helps people get dramatic results quickly through intentional innovation, extreme clarity, focused action and she supports entrepreneurs in understanding their own processes for problem solving and how they create what they want in their lives and businesses. After identifying the soul’s calling of such entrepreneurs, she then translates that into practical, personalized structure and systems to help her clients create businesses that are aligned with their higher purpose. Download a free report to learn “The Seven Deadly Mistakes That Keep Soul-Driven Business Owners from Making Money” at www.mycreativecatalyst.com.

Knowing that people are using the LinkedIn search capabilities to find service providers, should illustrate how important it is to fill out your LinkedIn profile completely. Use the summary field to its fullest to describe how you are able to help others. Also, make sure you have plenty of connections to increase the size of your referal network and also to make sure people don’t see you as an anti-social troll with only 2 connections.

Last week I participated on a panel for The Boston Club, an impressive professional group of women business owners. As the room filled to capacity at Turner’s Fisheries in the Westin Hotel in Copley Square, I realized that there was a huge need for education on social media topics.

The program “Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging…Who can any of this help me with my business?” was the second on this topic in so many months offered to the membership. After introductions, hands shot into the air asking questions like, “What is Twitter and why would I use it?” “What is the one thing I should do for my business?” How do you find time to do all this stuff? “How do you know how to use these tools?”

The discussion turned to the value of these tools and it was posed “Why would I use LinkedIn? Do you know anyone who has ever benefited from it?” Of course, being shy and all (ha), I hesitated about 3 seconds to pull the mic forward and explain that the reason I was invited to participate on the panel, the reason our business grew 30% last year, the reason we have a successful advisory board, is because of LinkedIn. The audience did one of those simultaneous “oooh”s and so I explained how it happened.

I was looking for a CFO consultant to solve some financial issues with the business. I did a search in LinkedIn and came up with a name that looked familiar, Susan Hammond. Turns out she was connected to me through my neighbor down the street so I asked my neighbor Marnie to introduce us over LinkedIn. Within a few days, I had a meeting with Susan and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today I used LinkedIn to find a call center for a client and got 12 responses within two hours. I searched for graphic designers for our firm and found 5 that fit our needs. Having said this, it is important to know that these tools do not replace the face-to-face personal relationship, they extend it.

In our intense world, it makes good business sense to find ways to develop and cultivate relationships. LinkedIn is just one way that helps us do that.

Yep, this is certainly off the beaten path of what you might be expecting to use social media for and that just goes to show what’s possible.

The key to a successful disaster response is to have relationships in place before an event occurs. If you see people exchanging business cards during a disaster you know the response will not go well.

This then is the challenge for emergency managers, since they have a responsibility to touch every segment of society to have them become better prepared as individuals and organizations. Making a community disaster resilient requires good working relationships between governments and with nonprofits and the private sector.

Information sharing is part of the culture of emergency management. This is found more so in the public sector, but it also exists in the private sector too. Social media provides an opportunity to share information with a broad base of people and organizations.

Previously I had sent numerous informational emails to a long list of email addresses sorted by category. Four years ago I started a blog “Eric’s Corner” that I used to communicate a wide range of information to individuals and organizations. One feature of it was the establishment of a list serve (actually run on another government’s servers) so that people could elect to get information “pushed” to them via a weekly update. Another element used was a weekly podcast that provided commentary on the topics of emergency management and homeland security. I also used government cable television to reach a wide audience of people and organizations. Hosting a television talk show called Project Impact, we did over 60 shows that were close captioned and broadcast repeatedly on a network of 33 government cable channels in Western Washington and also streamed on-line.

One should not forget the power of the internet to provide information to people on demand. In King County we used it to allow multiple jurisdictions to collaborate on disaster preparedness information messaging and on disaster public information. In order to reduce turf battles, we developed what I call a “non-denominational” web site (RPIN) that now encompasses three counties and over 100 public agencies who can post their individual jurisdictional and agency information to, pushing it out to citizens and the media.

Because of a job switch I now blog at Disaster-Zone and continue to provide weekly updates to about 900 people who subscribe to the blog.

In the last two years I have joined LinkedIn as a way to have a professional profile posted and to link with other professionals in the disaster field. LinkedIn also provides opportunities to network with people with emergency management interests. Additionally, I now Twitter as a way of micro blogging on the topic of emergency management, but also on other personal activities and interests like motorcycles and gardening.

Lastly, I have a personal web site Eric Holdeman.com as a repository of my activities to include professional writing, speaking, media interviews, all on the topic of emergency management and homeland security.

Whatever the next social media innovation is that becomes available; we need to capitalize on it as a tool for protecting our communities, states and nation from disasters that threaten people’s lives and our collective economic wellbeing.