So is social networking a numbers game? I suppose it depends entirely on what you want to achieve. I have never been one for measuring success by how many people hang on my every word. In fact, I would be a little worried if the rest of humanity had little better to do than listen to me. So why do I ‘do’ social networking? I will make no pretence about the fact that I do it to raise awareness and interest in WeCanDo.BIZ. There, you have it. Call it corporate ego if you will but certainly not personal ego, I learned long ago that that is something which turns people off in droves.

My interest in collecting followers and friends is two-fold. To hope that we have something which people will find useful (more about that later) and hopefully to learn some things from others.

Thomas Power of Ecademy posted an interesting blog a while back on the subject of what he refers to as ‘connectedness’. You can read it here http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=137541 the title was ‘When you have a giant network things happen by accident faster’. Well I guess you have to accept that as a truism. The more people you are actively connected with, the more chance there is of ’something’ happening in the same way that, the more lottery tickets you buy, the greater the chances of winning are. I would suggest though, that the simplistics of just ‘connecting’ are not enough. You need to do some stuff. Get involved. Speak to people, interact and share. I know that from reading Thomas’s articles and speaking with him that he would not disagree.

Below you will see today’s Twitter Top 5

What interests me the most is that this list (and most of the rest of the top 200) comprises celebrities, news shows and entertainment. And very many of the ‘most followed’ are not great followers. There is an argument of course that these people are tweeting because they have a huge fan base or readership who want instant snippets of news or celebrity gossip. That is perfectly reasonable but for those of in the business world, it means little to us and it is unlikely we will benefit from knowing too much about what Ashton or Britney are doing today.

Facebook yields pretty similar results in terms of ‘most friends’ but I would argue that it is much lower down this tree of connectivity that most of us operate and where most benefit can be derived.

Having long lists of people you connect to is only the very start. If you are in any form of sales, marketing or business you already know that the most important thing is not how many people’s names you have but what and how often you do something with them. It may seem like I repeat themes in my postings but I retain the firm belief that networking in and of itself is not an end-point. As with anything else you do in your business life, ask yourself ’so what?’ And by that I mean,as an example, ‘I have a lot of friends on xxxxxxx, so what?’ Now this could be read as a very negative way of thinking however, if you accept that the ’so what’ is simply a challenge to your own intention, then my point may become clearer. The question may just as easily be read, ‘So what am I going to do with them?’ Or in the world of social media, perhaps, ‘What am I going to do for them?’

Be very clear that people can switch off from your lists as quickly as they switch on and with the emerging world of Social CRM and truly permissive marketing, you need to do your utmost to retain interest and currency with those for whom you connect and interact.

Think in terms of valuable advice, maybe some relevant humour (remember, the web persists and so do your comments) and interesting messages. Equally don’t be afraid to get your sales messages out there. I say this guardedly however because no-one appreciates mass ‘get rich quick’ Twitter campaigns or email blasts. It is an absolute fact that you are likely to be received better when offering something if you routinely ask for the things you need to buy via your networks. People love having the opportunity to say, ‘I sell what you need, can we talk?’ and what better way to build real connections and to have the opportunity to talk about what it is that you do. Ask for endorsements and be happy to give them.

So go out and network, but as you do, be very aware that you will get what you give. Ivan Misner’s famous BNI tenet of ‘Givers Gain’ is never so true as with social and business networking.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

I always enjoy reading the tweets of Thomas Power of Ecademy, not least of all because we are both strong advocates of social media and yet seen to have so many contrasting views on its value!

Thomas tweeted yesterday on something I found interesting and here is a transcript of our brief Twitter conversation (Thomas in the pink shirt, me in the Smart car!):

it is #connectedness we are all seeking not #connections #ecademy #BlackStar

@thomaspower Really? I see networking as a means to an end. I still have bills to pay!

@WeCanDoBIZ no I really don’t think we are, at least not anymore, things have changed

Thomas followed this up by forwarding by via e-mail another comment he’d received: “Not sure I agree @4_Walls w/ @thomaspower thoughts on being connected. Surely it’s not @ numbers but quality of relationships?”

It’s a contentious point.  I don’t see the value in randomly picking up contacts left right and centre if you’re not doing something with them — and by “something” I mean a task other than leveraging from your connections connections to reach a new audience to your burgeoning list.

I’ve always said that networking is a means to an end.  A big database is useless unless you are doing something with it; and for most businesses this means cultivating those contacts into customers.  This, itself, involves doing something with those contacts rather than just being there and sharing thoughts; it means helping to create a need and position youself as a supplier to meet that need.

My view on social networking is the same as it is for website marketing: you coun’t pay bills with clicks or connections so keep focused on what keeps your business healthy.

But there are others that don’t share this view.

Please add your thoughts to this topic by adding a comment below.

UPDATED 28 Oct 2009: I’ve just received an interesting and relevant article from Jackie Groundsell at the 1230 Women’s Network on this topic.  I think Jackie would want me to quote her, so I will:

“There’s no getting away from the fact that face-2-face networking is an essential part of any business’s marketing strategy – businesses ignore that fact at your peril!

I suspect that Thomas Power’s recent statement ‘You should not have to look for work if you are well connected’ was set to cause discussion.  So let’s see.

As to large networks….   2 things here.  Firstly, time and effort generate a large worthwhile network.  How do you define ‘worthwhile’?  Well, that’s the thing…  In making contacts through networking you’re reaching out to a far greater network than the person you are talking to.  Who do they know?  And who do those contacts know?  and so on.  So you never really know who is ‘worthwhile’.  Or do you feel that you do?  Let me know.

Secondly, are we talking about meeting large groups of people at say a conference or exhibition?  My experience is that all ‘events’ are worthwhile.  It’s what you do with the contacts you make after the event which are important.

In answer to Thomas’s statement is he implying that we just wait for our contacts to knock on our door?  If so, then I would suggest that this is foolhardy.

All things worthwhile take effort, not least our businesses.  BUT if we are well connected with good networks ie contacts, then we have some tools to work with and we can continue to make the effort, maintain our contacts, arrange meetings to get work, grow our businesses.”

What does anyone else think?  Do you agree with Jackie?

If we speak specifcally about Thomas’s statement as Jackie describes above, it is tantamount to saying that you don’t need a sales team if you rmarketing is good.  This might be true ideallistically — I’m a ‘classicly trained’ sales professional who believes if you do your job well then you’ll create the need so people come to you rather than you have to ask them for the order.  But it still requires you to know they have a pain point or a developed need.  It isn’t just a case of  “build it and they will come”.

Why not share your thoughts below?

We should file this article under “Competitor Watch”… We learned this week that Ecademy’s top flight BlackStar membership has just been slashed in price from £140 a month to just under £40.  What’s happening?

It’s a move that bucks a well established trend.  BlackStar membership has always been sacred on Ecademy, with Life Membership costing nearly £9,000 and a fairly regular inflation busting hike a regular feature on the Ecademy calendar.  But as WeCanDo.BIZ increases the annual cost of Pro Networker (although making it possible to now subscribe a month at a time), so Ecademy has surprised everyone by slashing the price of BlackStar by over 70%!  Why?

I’ll be speaking with Thomas Power, chairman of Ecademy, next week so will be able to ask the question then, but the messages on the Ecademy website supporting the move suggest a desire to substantially grow their current base of top tier BlackStars from the estimated 600 – 700 members of today.

But is Ecademy likely to see the four fold increase it needs to achieve that objective without impacting revenues?  Even if it does, does it makes sense with the decrease in margin that is inevitable when processing four times the number of membership applications?

We’d love to read your thoughts, so post them below.  We’d also love to read your view if you recently upgraded at the previous price.

Easily import your Ecademy contacts into WeCanDoCRM: our Social CRM add-on enables you to easily import and manage your Ecademy contacts, alongside contacts you have in your email address book, on LinkedIn and in customer databases. Try it here!

The following is a copy of my response to a blog post by Ecademy’s Thomas Power which asked the question, “Can Social Networks provide Emotional Wealth?“

It is an interesting question on many levels that surprisingly finds its elemental roots as far back as 1916, when L.J. Hanifan first talked about social capital and “social potentiality.”

Having been released this past week with considerable fanfare in the UK,  author and Ecademy Founder Penny Power’s new book “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me” observes a number of  Hanifan’s key principles through a current day lens (and in the context of emerging technologies).

While some may lament that social networks have negatively and irreparably undermined the very relationship between an individual and his or her community that was so valued by Hanifan, Power’s adept ability to maintain in her writing the humanistic sensitivities that are normally associated with personal contact would cause one to reconsider that view.

For this reason, Hanifan’s core principles and Power’s book “transcends both time and technology.”

On this basis alone, Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me is a “Must Read.”

In 1916, L.J. Hanifan defined the concept of Social Capital as being, “..that in life which tends to make these tangible substances count for most in the daily lives of people: namely good will, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse among the individuals and families who make up a social unit… The individual is helpless socially, if left to himself… If he comes into contact with his neighbor, and they with other neighbors, there will be accumulation of social capital, which may immediately satisfy his social needs and which may bear a social potentiality sufficient to the substantial improvement of living conditions in the whole community. The community as a whole will benefit by the cooperation of all its parts, while the individual will find in his associations the advantages of the help, the sympathy, and the fellowship of his neighbors.”

A 2006 Forrester Report about social computing used the term “groundswell” to refer to “a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience, and get what they need-information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power–from each other.”

This of course raises the question, is Hanifan’s 1916 definition regarding social networking a reflection of its true intent that is best achieved or realized through a face-to-face interaction, or does our current technology driven mediums, while lacking in the realm of up front and personal contact, deliver greater business and social value to what has become a global community? This is “The Psychology of Social Networking.”

As you know Thomas, the above is an excerpt from my opening remarks from the June 4th PI Window on Business segment in which Penny was joined by bestselling author Patrice-Anne Rutledge and social media guru Andrew Ballenthin to talk about areas such as the one posed by your question today.

The short answer would be yes. However, the journey to that affirmative response is largely dependent upon the attitude of service and value one brings to the medium.

In a recent series of interviews which included Blog Talk Radio and long time media industry veteran Philip Recchia, who amongst his many accomplishments created and produced “CNBC Student Stock Tournament,” an educational program for grade school and high school students that yeilded $3 million in sponsorship revenue in its second year, and won a Beacon Award from the Cable TV Public Affairs Association for Best Use of a Web Site in Cable Programming, and “Twitterville” author Shel Israel it is clear that traditional broadcasting, and a shout out of “look at me” does not work. Like Recchia’s Student Stock Tournament which first provided the promise of increased knowledge and yes, even entertainment and then delivered, success on multiple levels including emotional wealth begins and is therefore an extension of a giving individual spirit.

The “social potentiality,” and the “tangible substances” which include “good will, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse,” is a community achievement based entirely on an attitude of making a tangible and positive contribution on an individual basis.

Given that Hanifan’s observations were made in 1916, long before the concept of social media was even a faint glimmer in society’s collective consciousness would tend to indicate that the core principles transcend both time and technology.

That said, and in the spirit of the old hymn which goes “it only takes a spark to get a fire going,” social media and in particular Ecademy is that spark in our present era.

By the way, use the On-Demand Player below to access the June 4th segment “The Psychology of Social Networking” in which Penny Power was joined by bestselling author Patrice-Anne Rutledge and social media guru Andrew Ballenthin to discuss the impact that social networking has had on us from both a business as well as personal standpoint.

I got to know Ivor Kellock at Thomas Power’s 2-day Ecademy Media Retreat, following which this conversation took place on Ecademy.

I reproduce it here because it is key to the development of Tag Tennis.

Ivor: Have you met the right geeks yet to develop your mobile scoreboard?

Sally: My first session at the Kingston University Enterprising Graduate Award business incubator has got me thinking: the question is not “have I found the geeks?” but “what exactly needs to be achieved?”. Once I have answered this question I will be able to bid for a pot of £1,000 to finance the work that needs doing, and the geeks will appear.

Thanks for the question – answering it helps a lot to clarify my thinking …. keep asking!

Ivor: I will happily keep asking!

From what I remember you want to simply score games as they occur in real time at the court.

You want to be able to score the game without human intervention.

You want to be able to post the results of these games straight to your website so that not only is the result kept for posterity it also creates a league and a results table.

??

Sally: score games as they occur in real time at the court – Yes. Score the game without human intervention – No. Players and/or officials press a simple on-off button at the end of each rally according to which team and player won that rally. The device needs to be programmable as to time-limit or score-limit to end each ‘game’. The number of ‘games’ in a ’set’ is programmable as is the number of ’sets’ in a ‘rubber’ and ‘rubbers’ in a ‘match’.

You want to be able to post the results of these games* straight to your website so that not only is the result kept for posterity it also creates a league and a results table. – Yes, * and sets, rubbers and matches.

Ivor: You pretty much have it!

A simple flow chart of all required outcomes with yes/no/and gates will give the geeks/proof of concept people all they need! And clarify in your mind what you want so that nothing is forgotten!

Uploading to the web is the easy bit – its all just a simple database really ………..

Built so that it can be expanded and or changed simply (without huge expense and relying solely on the original programmer in case they become unavailable – for whatever reason) as developments occur and your concept evolves……

Switch gear for physical scoring and how it looks and how the scores are delivered on court is an interesting thought process………..

Thanks, Ivor – awesome business coaching!

UPDATE: I’ve become a Safe Networking martyr!  I thought the article below was old news but it seems not.  Ecademy user Nick Gendler reported this article in his blog earlier today and as a consequence… I HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM ECADEMY!

Now this shouldn’t really come as a surprise — I knowingly breached their Terms of Use.  But as I pointed out to Ecademy chairman Thomas Power in an email today, someone HAD to create a fake account to prove that the verification system worked (or doesn’t as it happens).  I admitted to it at the time and the fake profile was deleted the next day.  It has taken TWO MONTHS for me to be punished via my “real” account for bringing the shortcomings of the system to people’s attention.  Presumably without me having taken this sacrifice Ecademy users would still be lulled into believing that the Safe Networking Account Verified badge protects them against fraudsters; and fraudsters would still be registering “verified” accounts and running amok on Ecademy.

I thought I’d done Ecademy a service but it would seem they take an opposing view…  Still, I guess I’m a martyr for the cause of Safe Networking!  I will update this post again when I hear back from Thomas though.

How to prove to your children that Santa Claus is real:

1. Sign up Santa Claus for an Ecademy account here
2. Verify Santa Claus’s account with the Safe Networking programme here (warning: roughly equal in cost to a sherry and a box of half a dozen Mr Kipling Mince Pies))
3. Print out Santa Claus’s profile page, proudly sporting an “Account Verified” badge to prove he is real!

I should explain.

You may have seen our post last week on Ecademy’s introduction of a Safe Networking programme to verify accounts so its members can “be more confident that the person they are interacting with through the Ecademy Website has verified that they are the person that is being represented in interactions on the site.”

I didn’t think to test the system when it went live but I was approached by a few individuals who read our post claiming they had verified fake accounts — that is, active accounts for people who are not real.  So I decided to give it a go.  And the results were not what I was expecting.

Fake Michel Souris profile on Ecademy - Account Verified status circled (click to enlarge)

First off, I HAVE been able to create AND VERIFY a fake account.  The Ecademy profile for Michel Souris (translates as “Michael Mouse”) is not a real one, but as you will see if you click the image to the left or visit the profile, the account sports a “Safe Networking Account Verified” badge.

UPDATE: Ecademy has finally removed this fake profile, but only AFTER it took the money and gave it an “Account Verified” badge as you can see on the left and from the confirmation invoice below. But other fake accounts still exist with “Account Verified” badges. The point isn’t that they get taken down; it’s that they should never go up as “verified” in the first place!

Verified in what way?  Well, I paid the £5 for the verificaton using a PayPal account in my name (not Michel Souris’s – he doesn’t exist!) and that was it.  No further checks!  This will explain how it’s been possible for other fake Ecademy users to verify their profiles and get the Safe Networking badge in the same way.

What does this mean for those looking for Account Verified badges for reassurance that they are actually dealing with the person detailed, as Ecademy suggests should happen?

Well, a look through the blurb on the Safe Networking page on the Ecademy finds the following:

“Verification cannot be regarded as any sort of guarantee or warranty given by Ecademy about an account holder, the use of the account, the identity of the account holder or the user of the account from time to time. Ecademy specifically excludes liability for any losses or damage suffered by a person, whether or not a member, by reason of that or any other person’s reliance on the accuracy or truth of any express or implied information available through a ‘Verified’ account on ecademy.com.”

Unsafe Networking?

So, in short, anyone can apply for a Safe Networking Account Verified badge and get it, but a condition of use is that you ARE who you say you are. As you might expect, this is also a condition in Ecademy’s terms of use for the site as a whole:

“Registration details about a member must be true and never be used impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an Ecademy official, forum leader, guide or host, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent an affiliation with a person or entity.”

So is anyone who has breached the terms in the first place likely to be deterred by another check-box saying the same thing when verifying their fake account?

Fake Penny Power profile on Ecademy - Account Verified status circled (click to enlarge)

Probably not.  It just means that Ecademy is asking them for £5 to list their fake account, which was free before.  Deterred fakers, scammers in particular, are not likely to be put off, especially as they don’t need to set up a matching PayPal or credit card account to complete the verification process; they can just use any other one.  I know of at least one other fake account on Ecademy that has a Account Verified badge, although I imagine more may come to light after this post (if you have one, please contact me — anonymity guaranteed!).

After this exercise I am left wondering what the point of the Safe Networking initiative was and what it gives me or any other member of Ecademy as far as the assurances it promised.

Fake accounts can achieve “Account Verified” status so there is NOT the security of knowing that identity of the people behind profiles with a badge are real, as Ecademy actually suggests (although exempts itself from guaranteeing that through the small print).

It does mean, though, that there is likely to be deeper suspicion of members who have NOT verified their account as real, given that it is so easy to do.  Why would someone NOT wish to prove who they are, if real?  Will we find that those who don’t pay Ecademy £5 for a badge get treated as second class citizens, inevitably forcing them to sign up for an ineffective programme in order for their profile to get taken seriously?

In a stroke Ecademy has found a legitimate reason for ALL members of the site to pay them money, even if those members couldn’t previously be enticed to upgrade to Power Networker or Black Star.  Why?  Because they’ll get ignored if they don’t.  Result: Ecademy makes £5 from every previously non-paying member, even though the badge they are buying doesn’t prove who they are.  £5 times “over a quarter of a million members” equals over £1.25million — and for what?

£5 spent to confirm I am Mickey Mouse (click to enlarge)

I’m reminded of the old Ecademy membership of “Green Star”, where a small fee (I’m fuzzy on this but I think it may have been £5) was required of ALL Ecademy members.   This was then dropped amid much publicity announcing that Ecademy membership was becoming free (upgrade to Power Networker and Black Star optional).  Since then we’ve seen the ability to message other users taken away from the free membership option; and now the effective re-introduction of Green Star.  OK, it’s now a green tick rather than a star; and yes, it is optional — that’s how Ecademy can continue to say the site is free.  But don’t expect anyone to trust you if you don’t go for the green tick at £5 (putting aside the irony!).

All in all, I am disappointed that the claim Ecademy is “setting the standard for safe networking in this industry” (Thomas Power to me on Twitter) hasn’t amounted to something that actually supports that statement.

I’d be interested to read your thoughts.  Just post a reply below.

Ecademy Power Networker and Black Star members: CLICK HERE to easily import your Ecademy contacts to our Social CRM system, helping you to build and manage your online relationships.  If you haven’t previously registered you can just sign straight in with your Twitter, Facebook or Google ID!.

You may remember we posted some weeks back about networking site Ecademy’s plan to “verify” users of its site for a fee in order to get a “Safe Networking” badge on their profile.

Ecademy Safe Networking

Along with a website refresh the programme has now gone live and reveals the fee for proving who you to be £5.00.  The aim is, to quote their website, to “allow members to be more confident that the person they are interacting with through the Ecademy Website has verified that they are the person that is being represented in interactions on the site.”

Ecademy Safe Networking page (click to enlarge)

Would you ever doubt it?  Ecademy has a history for banning people from its site, one of the most recent high profile ones being Sarah Arrow who, before her expulsion, was a very regular and valued members of the networking community.  Sarah’s crime was apparently using someone else to masquerade as her; allegedly her mother was signing in as Sarah and contacting other members.  Ecademy felt they needed to terminate the account for the very reason this scheme has been introduced –  members were being contacxted with someone “passing off” as Sarah.  Sarah refuted the claim and has stayed away from Ecademy ever since, finding a new home on WeCanDo.BIZ and BT Tradespace.

If we can put this incident down to a mix-up, previous bannings have not been so ambiguous.  The Powers have their enemies, a community of former members who’ve clashed with the founders on various views and reacted badly to a “heavy handedness” in how they were expelled; some have organised into guerilla groups that often reregister under pseudonyms across the whole web to criticise the management of Ecademy, including the Ecademy site itself.  Perhaps the Safe Networking iniative is as much about keeping these people away?  All members sporting the badge will be required to submit the £5.00 payment with a credit card or PayPal account in their own name, which will doubtless make some of the typical acts of sabotage harder to do.

Whatever the motivations, we’d love to read what you think about the programme: whether you think it’s fair to pay to prove who you are?  Whether you’re pleased to have the confidence such a scheme will give you that you’re dealing with who you think you are?  Also, what you think will happen to Ecademy’s quoted membership figures, which vary in quotes from the team from 170,000 to “over a quarter of a million” once only a number of those will be verified as real people?

Let’s have your opinions!  Just add a reply below.

By the way, watch out for our Ecdemy import tool to enable you to bring your Ecademy contacts to our WeCanDoCRM Social CRM solution next week!

- woke up itching to write;

- writing up “Tag Tennis Scenarios” now;

- planning to marry these up with “Tag Tennis Organizer’s Manual”,

- to create “Tag Tennis video scripts” for marketing videos.

Thanks to:

Tom Evans, @thebookwright for “Blocks” and “Visualizations”;

Edward Canfor-Dumas, c/o Paul McGuire, for “The Buddha, Geoff and Me” ;

Penny Power with Thomas Power for  “Know me, like me, follow me”;

Mark Tavani, Senior Editor at Random House Publishing Group,  publisher of Timothy Gallwey “The Inner Game of Stress”;

everyone in my life who is encouraging me and/or leaving me alone to get on with it;

and

Having been awarded an Enterprising Graduate Award by Kingston University where I studied for a Sports Science degree 2004-7, I am using the next year to really focus on the goal of developing a viable business model for Tag Tennis.

Never having run a business before, I am taking baby-steps on a journey into two new worlds: Social Media and Business. I am using the idea of developing Tag Tennis as a game / sport / product in its own right as a spring-board (or shallow beach / paddling pool?) and practical teaching guide (water-wings?) for that journey.

Everything feels very chaotic to me right now – I am trying to tame Twitter, trying to link to everyone, doing everything on my own. It is nice to have the safe havens of conservative and trusted places such as LinkedIn and Ecademy to have ’serious’ conversations.

At the moment, my aim for connecting is to spread my connections net as wide as possible. This strategy is, I am told(1), the most effective way of finding exactly the right team / partnership / strategic alliance.

Tag Tennis may, or may not, become a viable business or product at the end of the journey, but wherever it leads I know I will be wiser at the end, and I will have a story to tell.

(1)
Thomas Power, Chairman of Ecademy: “Quantity and/or Quality” click here

My mom and my angel, the one person who has given me truly unconditional love my whole life
My dad and his wife Lotte
My sister for being crazy and loving
My family in general. All very sweet people. I’m fortunate to know them
My beautiful pet friends for giving me so much love and receiving mine
Naja Christensen, for always being my best friend through 20 years, and her beautiful daughter Natascha Laumann for always being my cute dotier
Annette Hansen, for great times, great talks and keeping in contact when I was too busy to do it
Pernille & Michael Viehweg, for having some great times
Pernille Svendsen, for always being dear friend no matter how seldom we see each other
Louise Loubu Poulsen, for having some really fun times and keeping in contact when I couldn’t
Lisa Rosdahl for having great times and doing my makeup
Heidi Zadeh, for being my very good friend and a very positive input in my day
Talal Osram & Noor Yassin for being such beautiful souls and dear friends
Samir Cuhtait & Angelina for being sweet, funny and supportive
Mohamed ‘Dany Raï’ Bellajrou for being a kind creature
Faisal Kamal, for sharing some fun times for 12 years
Brian Sode for being such a kind guy. And his new wife for making a nice guy happy
Amer Kamal, for being a wise and kind friend, also during hard times
All my other close friends through time. You have made my life funny, interesting, entertaining, serious and incredible
Kind schoolmates on my different studies through time
School teachers for giving me a lot of knowledge
Kind colleagues on my different workplaces through time
My clients, models and other collaborators who are always kind and nice people
Francisco, EJ and Darla Blanchard for having such a great time during their visit
People who are not so kind, for showing me what I must remember not to become
People who extremely kind and loving, for showing me what I must aspire to become

And all of my great friends on Ecademy and other networks.
I treasure you all.

Roy Krymis
Frank Drake
Kutay f.Helvacioglu
Pamela Mayer
Karthik Tantri
Peter Wolfe
Lindy Wafula
Janne J. Korhonen
Alexander Gerwer
George Joseph
Melinda M. Sorensson
Roger Ings
Mikkel Pitzner
Gerner Petersen
Kenneth Yukich
Mubashar Rashid
Mindy Gibbins-Klein
Bjørn Guldager
Adrian Higgs
Danny Jackson
Les Csonge
Alex Edward George Pedersen
Ron G Holland
Nic Oliver
Barbara Nugent
Sharon Connolly
Paul Joosten
Jason Collins
Jawad Ahmad
Thomas Power
Sir Dr David Menitz
Michael Holm
SUMANT BHATIA
A Wali Zahid
Warren Mason
Will Liversidge
Stephen Payne
Andreas Nemeth
Paul Wigley
Gareth Emberton
Ken Passmore
Chee Keong Lee
Paul Clargo
Andrew Brine
Patricia Tolivar
Chris Calogirou
jet rotmans
Carolyn Williams
Penny Power
John Cassidy

In today’s interview with Ecademy’s Thomas Power regarding social media and business we touched on issues that were thought provoking, stimulating and insightful.

From the demographic breakdown by age of different social network users and the subsequent impact on network growth and business utilization, to the misstep by Linkedin and Facebook to arbitrarily enforce user contact and invite limits, this 60 minute segment is sure to give everyone a collective pause for thought relative to the direction of this exciting new medium.

With Ecademy’s origins going as far back as 1998, before the term social networking was even a rudimentary reference in our general lexicon, Power’s depth of experience makes him a most knowledgeable and engaging guest.  Of particular interest is his vision of how the medium is, and will continue to redefine 21st Century business practices.

Use the convenient media player below to access the on-demand version of the “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me: Your Business and Social Media” broadcast.  Also take a few moments to respond to our Poll located in the right hand section of the PI Window on Business Blog’s main page which asks the question are “Arbitrary Limitations on the Number of Member Connections Necessary in Social Networks?“  Alternatively, you may cast your vote directly through the following “quick vote” icon below.

Also check out the soon to be released book Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me which is available on an advanced order basis through our Book Resource Center, or the PI Window on Business Book Carosel below.

In today’s interview with Ecademy’s Thomas Power regarding social media and business we touched on issues that were thought provoking, stimulating and insightful.

From the demographic breakdown by age of different social network users and the subsequent impact on network growth and business utilization, to the misstep by Linkedin and Facebook to arbitrarily enforce user contact and invite limits, this 60 minute segment is sure to give everyone a collective pause for thought relative to the direction of this exciting new medium.

With Ecademy’s origins going as far back as 1998, before the term social networking was even a rudimentary reference in our general lexicon, Power’s depth of experience makes him a most knowledgeable and engaging guest.  Of particular interest is his vision of how the medium is, and will continue to redefine 21st Century business practices.

Use the convenient media player below to access the on-demand version of the “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me: Your Business and Social Media” broadcast.  Also take a few moments to respond to our PI Window on Business Poll located in the right hand section of this main page which asks the question are “Arbitrary Limitations on the Number of Member Connections Necessary in Social Networks?”

Also check out the soon to be released book Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me which is available on an advanced order basis through the Book Resource Center in this site.

We were kindly invited to exhibit at the Business Link London – Work/Life Balance Workshop Last week and met some lovely entrepreneurs. There were 2 excellent speakers and if you missed it. We thought you may want some of our NOTES to stand you in good stead!

The 2 Speakers were Penny Power and Hannah MacNamara.

Here are the notes from the second Spearker was Penny Power founder of Ecademy.com. Notes from Hannah’s session will follow shortly!

Penny Power is the founder of Ecademy, website for Business networking and social networking. She left the corporate world in 1993, then she stared training and recruitment within Schools from 1993 to 1998 and she had two children. In 1998, she started a new venture; Ecademy website. Penny Power and her family lived through very difficult moments because she took risks and doing that has consequences, they lost all their money and they had to live in a caravan for a while. But now, Ecademy has become an international successful website through which they earn money; thanks to connecting people globally, advertising and selling information. They enjoy life by travelling with their children all around the world, according to Penny you shouldn’t separate family from work.

To create Ecademy, Penny Power needed 5 years to develop her website whilst working freelance, teaching and having children. It was difficult to have children and to maintain her previous lifestyle. Financially it was a hard choice – but worth it.

She explains that it’s not easy to make her family understand about running her business and to take risks. Also it takes lot of time at the beginning and we can’t take care and spend as much time with their family as you would like.

The World has changed, The Old World was closed, selective and targeted instead of the New World is opened us. One of the changes is thanks to Barack Obama’a election. There is an openess and transparency that did not exist before. Even if lots of things change, including technology, our needs are the same. At this point, we have to refer to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

- Physiological needs
- need of security
- need of belonging
- need of respect for yourself
- need of accomplishement of yourself

Starting a business is really difficult but you can be successful. There are two different ways to be a new entrepreneur, you can work at home or at the office. The home-worker should be adaptable for their clients, own values and contribution to success and he has to create a personal branding. Whereas a new entrepreneur should understand the world and its generations, so it’s better for him to collaborate on some projects with competitors instead of making ennemies.

For every entrepreneur, you’ll create an online brand in three steps:
- sharing knowledge with strangers and bringing it into the open
- sharing specific knowledge and making new friends
- creating opportunities with advocates

To conclude, I think the most important thing I learnt during this seminar is that you can be successful even if it’s difficult. It’s necessary to live through hard moments, be aware of the pitfalls and you should take risks, because it could be a real chance for your business to succeed. Penny Power, went from living in a caravan to living the millionaire lifestyle through all those good and bad choices as well as the risks: so go for it!

If you think simply having a presence in social media will help you grow your business, you are wrong.   Online networks are the new model for creating connections, so you’d better by ditching your old ways of thinking. Being online is not about technology – it is about people.   Technology is just an enabler.

(From Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me book overview)

Whether you are part of a multinational company or an owner-manager, developing your presence (and brand) in this exciting new medium is no longer an option.

And for this reason the July 22nd PI Window on Business segment “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me: Your Business and Social Media” promises to be both refreshing and insightful with the lines being open to listener questions and comments.

About Thomas Power:

Thomas Power is Chairman of Business Social Network Ecademy founded in February 1998 by his wife Penny Power and now with over 500,000 users in 234 countries.

Ecademy serves the 100 million business people who work from home providing support, contacts, collaboration, opportunities and most importantly a safe environment for people to meet, talk, and network.  There are 500 face-to-face meetings a month worldwide.

Thomas who is 44, and is involved at the heart of changing the way we do business in the 21st Century, has met over 25,000 people since 1982 and continues to hold 1,000 one-to-one meetings per year with new and existing contacts.  His detailed memory allows him to connect people together based only on information learned in meetings and from Ecademy profiles.

Thomas has written 6 books, including a collaborative effort with his wife Penny Power and Ecademy Life Member Andy Coote titled A Friend in Every City (Ecademy Press, April 2006).

Thomas Power Author & Co-Founder Ecademy

The PI Window on Business Program is now a featured Show across the entire Blog Talk Radio Network.

Would you like to sponsor programs such as the one above?  Contact Jennifer Cameron at thesenses@ymail.com or, (819)986-8953.

In the meantime check out our new Interactive Sponsor Pages on both the Procurement Insights and PI Window on Business Blogs.

If you think simply having a presence in social media will help you grow your business, you are wrong.   Online networks are the new model for creating connections, so you’d better by ditching your old ways of thinking. Being online is not about technology – it is about people.   Technology is just an enabler.

(From Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me book overview)

Whether you are part of a multinational company or an owner-manager, developing your presence (and brand) in this exciting new medium is no longer an option.

And for this reason the July 22nd PI Window on Business segment “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me: Your Business and Social Media” promises to be both refreshing and insightful with the lines being open to listener questions and comments.

About Thomas Power:

Thomas Power is Chairman of Business Social Network Ecademy founded in February 1998 by his wife Penny Power and now with over 500,000 users in 234 countries.

Ecademy serves the 100 million business people who work from home providing support, contacts, collaboration, opportunities and most importantly a safe environment for people to meet, talk, and network.  There are 500 face-to-face meetings a month worldwide.

Thomas who is 44, and is involved at the heart of changing the way we do business in the 21st Century, has met over 25,000 people since 1982 and continues to hold 1,000 one-to-one meetings per year with new and existing contacts.  His detailed memory allows him to connect people together based only on information learned in meetings and from Ecademy profiles.

Thomas has written 6 books, including a collaborative effort with his wife Penny Power and Ecademy Life Member Andy Coote titled A Friend in Every City (Ecademy Press, April 2006).

Thomas Power Author & Co-Founder Ecademy

“Can you afford to not to be in a market with 300 million Prospective Buyers?”

That’s the question that THOMAS POWER, Chairman of ECADEMY, asked us at the first #Twalk Twitter workshop recently hosted by Ecademy.

And that’s the question he’s going to answer in a Tele-Interview on Wednesday 8^th July…

Twitter and Facebook are the two KEY markets that are HOT right now and dwarf all the other Social Media sites as the place to win new prospects and build sales.

As @ThomasPower says: “Twitter is growing beyond exponentially, with 1000% growth in the past year and 100% in the past couple of months alone! Projected use should reach 100 million by Christmas and it’s set to explode in the next year, once the school-age generation really catches on.”

And, with 200 million users, Thomas says “Facebook is a huge and active marketplace. So any serious entrepreneur is missing out badly if you’re not using it! You need to get into Twitter and Facebook NOW.”

OK, the older on- and off-line media still work – but they’re becoming more and more crowded with sellers who haven’t noticed that buyers are moving on to the new media…

As on-the-pulse entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki says: “Twitter and Facebook are the best way to market your product today – and both are free”.

Ecademy member @NickTadd notes that “New marketing is about the relationships, not the medium”, so you need to understand how to use Twitter and Facebook the right way – as he says, “ …it’s all about ‘Findability’ in today’s marketplace”.

Thomas Power will reveal the right and wrong ways to use Twitter and Facebook effectively to find prospects and build your network on a FREE TELESEMINAR CONFERENCE CALL hosted by John Thornely, CEO of www.Internet-Tycoons.com, on July 8^th 2009 at 8:00pm UK time (3:00pm EST).

All you’ll need is your phone – you can call from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD – Just call into the conference line using the number and details you’ll receive when you register (your normal call charges will apply).

And if you can’t make the event, you can listen to a recording – but only if you register ahead of the call.

Only 200 lines are available and are likely to be snapped up fast, so please REGISTER NOW at www.ThePowerNetworker.com if you don’t want to be left behind…! It’s FREE!

On the call Thomas Power will show us:

• How to use online networking to find buyers and promote your business
• What is the role of ‘Web 2.0’ technologies in marketing today
• Which online networking sites are the most effective
• Why any serious marketer can’t afford to miss out on the ‘new marketing’
• The ‘golden rules’ of the new marketing
• The crucial mistakes you need to avoid
• Who is using the social media most effectively and how they do it

And he’ll answer your most burning question about using Twitter and Facebook – just enter it when you register.

Thomas Power is one of the world’s most effective networkers, so I’m really looking forward to what he has to tell us about how to use Twitter and Facebook most effectively on this ground-breaking tele-interview!

Go and register FREE now at www.ThePowerNetworker.com and we’ll look forward to speaking with you on Wednesday July 8^th 2009.

Until then

John Thornely

www.ThePowerNetworker.com

www.Internet-Tycoons.com

PS. The Event details are:

“How to Use Twitter & Facebook To Find Buyers and Build Your Network” – Interview with Thomas Power, Chairman of Ecademy.

Tele-seminar by conference call – available worldwide

Wednesday, 08 July 2009 – 8:00pm to 9:15pm UK time (3:00pm EST)

Register FREE NOW at: www.ThePowerNetworker.com while places are still available.

Speak to you then!

John Thornely