Akoha is a simple card game about paying forward random acts of kindness. In a fashion that can be tracked and shared via social networking tools.

I learned about Akoha from a well-respected friend in Slovenia, recently.
Being an avid gamer myself, I had to check it out.

Here’s my discovery of it, on video:

I purchased a deck, which arrived a few days later. Intrigued, I ripped open the box, and pored over the contents. And then I took action. What followed was two quick “acts of kindness”. It was exhilarating, and quite enjoyable, to pay out these unexpected acts of kindness.

Two simple ideas fuel the Akoha vision:

1. Community is more than a buzzword
   
2. The power of play can make the world a better place
   

If you take the movie “Pay It Forward” (See embedded video below), and combine that with social networking + online gaming, you’ll really start to see the potential for fun. And for positive change in the world. All from a game.

Is this an idea big enough to change the world?

How can you make this idea better?

And what’s your own idea on how you can change the world?
Maybe not the entire world - maybe just your corner.
You never know what old tricks you could combine, to create something monumental like this.

Here’s to your next breakthrough.

Follow Akoha on Twitter

Bolaji Oyejide is an online marketer and word of mouth maven. In his spare time, he explores how to generate passive income via blogging and affiliate marketing.

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Escape the Rat Race, and Find your Buried Cheese.

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Free Prize Inside:
Movie: Pay It Forward:

As a business owner I am sure you fortify your expertise by reading industry-related books. Why not get paid the next time someone asks you to recommend something on your reading list. Amazon.com has made this process pretty simple.

By signing up to be an Amazon affiliate, you will receive a percentage of each sale (up to 15%) made through your targeted link or through an Amazon affiliate store (a-Store, as they call it). In addition to generating revenue, your book listings can add valuable content to your website or blog and strengthen your position as the resident expert in your market niche. I am working toward the launch of my company’s new website and we plan on adding an Amazon bookstore as a resource for clients and followers alike. I will let you know how the launch goes and pass along any tips we uncover for growing sales through the channel.

Until then, if you have set up an Amazon affiliate relationship, share with us (through comments) what you have learned.

Like the majority of the more than half-million people who have viewed the Domino’s Pizza video that’s been circulating the web this week, I was totally grossed out during and after I watched this showcase of employee misconduct at its worst. My fears about what could happen behind the scenes at restaurants had been realized, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

However, consumer gross-out and probably a few felony charges for the employees in the video aren’t the only thing at stake here. Also on the line is a brand, Domino’s, which thus far has enjoyed a solid reputation among consumers. Not a day goes by that I don’t see a Domino’s commercial on TV or a Domino’s delivery car rolling though my neighborhood.

Overall, I’ve been impressed by how Domino’s has tackled this catastrophic issue. They’ve spent the last few days wrestling their brand from destruction by issuing stern statements and press releases, fielding interview requests, posting video responses on YouTube, and establishing an account on Twitter that speaks directly to this crisis (among other things). I think this response and the incident in general has within it several worthwhile examples that small and mid-sized businesses can learn from as we all get used to navigating the world of social media. Here are a few thoughts:

• Recognize the power of social media : The Groundswell is real. Hundreds of millions of people across the globe are engaged in social media every second of the day, and this interaction will only continue. It’s important that everyone recognize the power of social media, and the people who participate in it. After all, it was the online community that brought the Domino’s employee video to the forefront. And, if you aren’t already engaged in social media in some way, now might be a good time for you to jump in.
• Monitor the web : Do you know your Webutation? If not, now’s the time to find out. Monitor what’s being said about you and your brand in the social media realm through vehicles like Twitter,  YouTube, Flickr, and online in general. The best part about online monitoring is that you don’t need a large budget to begin your monitoring efforts. Start off using free tools like Google or Yahoo! alerts and checking vehicles like search.twitter.com for key words connected to you or your company.
• Be Responsive : If you do find inaccuracies about your company online, swiftly respond using the appropriate channels. Like Domino’s, your response mechanisms can range from media and public relations, to posting on social media sites, to using your website, or using an integrated strategy.  Your response mechanisms will depend on the severity of the issue. All-in-all, it’s best to get a grasp on the situation before it spreads like wildfire.
• Education is key : If you haven’t already done so, invest in social media education for you and your employees. In today’s environment, even having basic knowledge of this new landscape can be beneficial to your organization’s growth and vitality. If you don’t have a budget to confer with an expert, follow blogs on the subject, find online presentations/websites/articles, or take a trip to your local library and check out a few books on the subject. It also might be beneficial to establish social media procedures for your organization that speak to how the medium will be used, employee participation, crisis response, etc.

These are just a few basic takeaways from the Domino’s case. As this story continues to play out, I’m sure that there will be more lessons that we all can and will benefit from. Are there any other lessons that should be added to the above list?

————————
About Kristina Hill

Kristina Hill is the owner of MarComm Creative Group, LLC, a marketing communications business that helps small and mid-sized companies tell their story.

What is #followFridays, anyways?

For those of you who like to hit the bars or the clubs on First Fridays… it’s kind of like that.
Except, it’s virtually… virtual.

#FollowFriday (or #FollowFridays) started on January 16, 2009. And has become an International phenomenon (spilling into the prior Thursday, and the following Saturday, because of different time zones.)

Micah Baldwin started this trend. It works really well, and is so viral, because of three main factors:

1. It’s easy. It takes little effort to send a tweet, something people do dozens of times a day.

2. It’s participatory. You don’t need to be part of the “Twitterati” to participate. You can suggest one person or 100 people. You can get endorsements from one person or a hundred people.

3. It’s karmic and it feels good. It’s a great feeling to simply say, “I think this person is great. You should follow them.”

— Micah Baldwin

And here’s a very good blog posting about how FollowFriday works, from TwitterPowerSystem.com.

So here’s who I’m suggesting you follow today. Hop on into Twitter, and recommend a few of your favorites on Twitter yourself. And then get ready to let your hair down. After all, it’s Friday.

@AlexisNeely,
@DrMani,
@pacesmith,
@JonathanGunson,
@justparker.


@CoCreatR,
@rahuldeodhar,
@betsywuebker,
@badmsm,
@johnfurst

Want to see the word of mouth power of #FollowFriday?
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=#followfriday, and

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=#followfridays.

Follow me on Twitter

There is a fine line between being persistent in pursuing a sales opportunity and becoming a pest.  Tenacity will always win out but not if you upset or annoy your prospect during the sales cycle.
Like most sales problems – prevention is better than cure.  Too often we lay ourselves open to becoming a pest by not setting the expectation of what we are going to do in the sales process, and how we are going to work, with the prospect.  In most sales processes it’s not a one step process, follow up is needed.  Perhaps the prospect asks for information, a call back or maybe later in the sale you have submitted a proposal – there are many scenarios where we have to “get back” with the prospect.

Whenever your sales activity requires a next step you need to be assertive with your prospect in agreeing the follow up.  “Can you call me back next week” – should be responded to with “certainly, let’s put a date and time in the calendar for that now” and get the prospect’s commitment that they will be there, they will take your call and they have it in their calendar too.  Otherwise why are YOU agreeing to call back?

What happens instead is that you loosely agree to call back / follow up.  When you do, the prospect doesn’t take the call or they are out or you leave a message.  You don’t get a call back, so you call again.   A few calls and messages later and you have still not spoken to the prospect but you have (in perception or reality) left so many messages your prospect thinks you are a pest – and now they definitely don’t want to work with you.

Don’t put yourself in this position, book follow ups assertively and always think twice before you leave a voice mail message.

I celebrated a birthday a few days ago and was surprised by all of the happy birthday wishes I received not just from family and friends, but also via email messages from organizations like my church, almamater, and even my dentist!

I have to say that I was impressed that these organizations would take the time to put a system in place to remember my special day. I know that these types of things are pretty standard nowadays, but I took note of these efforts nonetheless. For me, these “simple” birthday wishes went a long way in strengthening my connection with these organizations and increased the likelihood that I would continue my affiliation – whether it is attending and supporting the church, being an active alum, or sticking with my dentist – for the long run.

My birthday emails caused me to think about how important it is for business of all types and sizes to develop new ways to show their appreciation to customers. This is especially true in today’s business and economic climate. Customer appreciation outreach can be as simple as:

• Starting a birthday club or rewards program
• Hosting a dinner meeting with customers to get their feedback on products and services
• Writing a thank you note to customers just because
• Featuring customers in blog posts or newsletters
• Or even hosting a networking event to connect key customers/clients with new business opportunities

This list could probably go on and on. Just think about things that would be beneficial to your customer base and add to the list. Developing and implementing sentiments like these can go a long way in attracting and retaining a responsive, growing customer base that will stick with your business through all of its ups and downs. And that’s worth a lot of appreciation, right?

Has your business implemented any customer appreciation programs lately? If so, what did you do and what was the outcome?

————————
About Kristina Hill

Kristina Hill is the owner of MarComm Creative Group, LLC, a marketing communications business that helps small and mid-sized companies tell their story.

Wondering why your online networking efforts aren’t yielding business results?  It could be that your networking partners are incompatible. By this I am not suggesting your associates are “bad” people but if the goal is business growth your networking partners should possess some specific characteristics.  In this, the first in a series on the fundamentals of online networking; I want to help you better recognize a compatible industry partner.

What is a Compatible Industry Partner?

A compatible industry partner is one whose products or services compliment your own.  Symbiotic relationships like these have the potential to exponentially increase your referral leads because customers will be naturally inclined to ask your cohort about the services you provide.

An Example

If you plan events for a living a compatible industry partner might be a contact at your local visitor’s bureau.  These people get requests all the time from visiting organizations looking to plan events in your back yard and if you have a trusted relationship with the bureau contact, you will be getting lots of calls.

The Bottom Line

One of the keys to generating regular referrals is being remembered.  This task is made simpler when your referral partners’ customers are compelled (vs. prompted) to make the ask. A stronger focus on incorporating compatibility into your online networking strategy just might keep you from participating in current and future recessions.

Okay, now fire up your browser, visit the Twitter Yellow Pages and locate some compatible industry partners. Subscribe to our blog updates to stay on top of this series.

There has never been a more appropriate time to look at using an Interim Manager - CxO For Hire, VP of Sales for Hire - whatever term you are using in your market.

I don’t normally blog about “me” but this interim topic keeps coming up.  I have 30 years, international sales, marketing and general management experience including board and non executive (advisory board) posts, doing start ups and turnarounds.  Many companies especially SMEs, simply do not have the budget for the salary that this level of experience commands.

However, if they looked at an interim CxO - even a few days a month - they would get the experience they desperately need but not the salary bill. Furthermore, an experienced interim will fit in and pick up the reins quicker than you would believe. I have being doing interims for 20 years, I can bring experience of succeeding in market conditions that many of today’s “younger” managers and business owners have simply never seen before and don’t know how to handle.

The added bonus of an interim (that people forget) is the up to date, market intelligence that your interim brings - it is priceless. I ran a sales team for a Fortune 500 during a merger, I managed the team 3 days a week, I was out in here market the other two days and bought an invaluable view that an internal person would not get. I also delivered $14m in sales against $12 target in a down market.

Don’t dismiss interims and CxOs for hire - you are missing a big opportunity.

“What are you buying?” is a question that every customer answers daily.  Members of the Twitter and Facebook community have been webnotized to update their chosen community with an answer to that great rhetorical question of the moment…”What are you doing?”   This question produces conversations that engage, motivate, and capture attentive audiences.  Is there a clearer example of what trusted ears can mean to an enterprise?  There are infinite takeaways from the rise of Twitter and Facebook that I’m still trying to wrap my head around.  The ability to extract great customer intelligence from the skilled process of open dialogue with your customers is something that I, as a customer, intuitively get.  In other words Mr. Owner, just ask me, “What are you buying?”

Use my answers to assess whether your customer delight plan is in synch with my reality.  Here are two ideas that businesses should use to increase their traffic (potential fans and supporters) and motivate their fans to random acts of support and evangelism for your cause:

1. Ask us our story…incorporate techniques for listening to your customers within your customer delight process.  Having just participated in a local Non-Profit’s volunteer phonebanking drive, I was impressed by their ability to collect, listen, and create engaging productive conversations with their customers.  If your customer’s are not giving great testimonials and encouraging you to “follow them” your Enterprise could be “NOT LISTENING!”  Great customers see ourselves in your product and we trust your solution…find out why and remind your customers of why they are brilliant.  A business with a true “Facebook..What’s on your mind?” mentality is ready to digest the response to that question.  Listen with an empty slate.  Be one with the empty box on Facebook.  Be ready to receive your customers input.  Be quiet and let us tell you our needs and our wants. Demonstrate your organization’s mastery of listening by reciting “the takeways” that your customers wanted to impress upon you.  Incorporate our takeaways in your innovation process.  Let us hear our story in your solution. 
2. Grow a Trusted Ear…A Trusted Ear relationship garners you more opportunities to command the attention of your customers.  I am attracted by enterprises that creatively and consistently demonstrate their listening ears.  Loyalty programs, robust open online customer communities, niche enhancements, and the “Were they reading my mind?” innovations are great indicators of a business with Trusted Ears status.  These types of customer delight initiatives remind me, emotionally, that I am listened to and valued.  Trusted Ears status positions your customer as CEO.  Empower your CEO to implement their strategic wishlist.  Sound like a big jump…you better believe it.  It is a great reason for reassessing the quality of your enterprises’ traffic.  Use your organization’s Trusted Ear’s status to hire great customers.  Trust great customers to lead your business.  The organization that reminds me of my CEO power is that one that will probably design the solution that great customers are in search of. Grow your trusted ears and watch your traffic explode. They are the, top-of-mind, enterprises guaranteed to make the cut…when the Greatest Social Commerce Question never asked is posed.  

Great businesses listen to gain understanding.  They listen to follow market instructions that will guide them to valuable opportunities.  They listen to capture their customer’s emotional attachments.  They listen to grow their customer’s experience.  They listen to learn the language of their customers.

My great business causes, at their core:  capture my interest (building traffic) and inspire me to upgrade my life with inspired, working solutions (converting traffic opportunities into testimonials).  

LISTEN, RINSE, REPEAT…“WHAT ARE YOU BUYING?”…Comment me your Buyography of ideas and purchases today.

The Features:

The Benefits:

• A re-introduction of American audiences to the joy of football (ahem. The REAL football.)
  
• A reminder that in a world full of conflict, a simple game can cross racial, ethnic, and class divides.
  
• A “butterfly effect” type of movie, with depictions of girls playing with the boys, in parts of the world where girls have lesser status.
  

The Story:

Did the joy of this simple video emanate through your screen?
Did it uplift you? Make you smile? Chuckle?



Did it take you out of your world for five minutes?
Did it make you wish you could play soccer like that?



Or even better,
wish to be part of a story like that?

“When the ball is kicked toward me, I consider the game beckoning me. The game wants me.” - Luke. (followed by laughter from Gwendolyn. tough crowd.)

What’s your story?

12 ways to tell your own story:

1. Frame it for me.
   
2. Keep it simple, stupid. (Not clever, Trevor.)
   
3. Ain’t nobody talking about you. 4 ways to become buzz-worthy.
   
4. Sell blue boxes (like Tiffany.)
   
5. Find your Ness. (and help others find theirs.)
   
6. Find a tribe of rabid fans. Tell their story. Rinse and repeat.
   
7. Keep some tricks up your sleeve.
   
8. Read your customers bedtime stories.
   
9. Be notorious
   
10. Build your legend. (By narrowing your story until you’re big enough to dominate it.)
    
11. A picture’s worth a thousand words. (And that makes video a freaking encyclopedia.)
    
12. (Stop) waiting on the world to change.
    
13. Laugh with your audience.
    

Free Prize Inside:

• Visit The Soccer Project blog
  
• Visit TheSoccerProject.com film web site
  

Two players. 25 countries. One game…

Footplay is the story of Luke and Gwendolyn, two former college soccer stars who couldn’t quite make it to the pros.

Now in their mid-twenties and working 9-to-5 jobs, the two soccer has-beens decide they aren’t ready to quit the game. They take off around the globe exploring the other, less glorified side of soccer: pick-up games.

Impromptu contests that happen anywhere and between anyone.

From prisoners in Bolivia,
to moonshine brewers in Kenya,
from the futevolei tricksters of Brazil,
to Chinese monks who play in their traditional robes,

Footplay follows Luke and Gwendolyn’s adventures around the world and the people they meet through the game.

Bolaji Oyejide is an online marketer and word of mouth maven. In his spare time, he explores how to generate passive income via blogging and affiliate marketing.

Want to learn magnetic copywriting skills?
Complimentary 250-page eBook on Copywriting 101.


Escape the Rat Race, and Find your Buried Cheese.

Follow me on Twitter…