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via money.cnn.com

Great summary of the last 10 years — CEO of the decade according to Fortune.

Posted via web from Tom’s posterous

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The question in coming years will be where were you when Michael Jackson died?

You cannot dismiss Michael Jackson’s impact to music. He was incredible. He was a triple threat with his voice, his dance and his charisma. There are alot of summaries now available of his discography, accomplishments, life.

Which now makes this post a little different - Perez Hilton - talk about a rough week - first he gets assault for running his mouth, now in a rush to report the ‘news’ Perez Hilton ripped into MJ before knowing he died.

Blogger Perez speculated that MJ was either lying or making himself sick, with a hint of curiosity to see if he’s able to still go on.

Micheal Jackson ripped into by perez hilton

The post was updated later in the day

Over the past month or so, Perez Hilton for sure realized that reporting the news is different than being the news. But if I was to bet, Perez will continue to be the person that has earned millions of fans.

npbyvh8rme

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Twitter is big news at the minute. The “Race to 1 Million Followers” between Ashton Kutcher and CNN made a splash on all the mainstream media channels, while Oprah Winfrey has just joined the micro-blogging service.

So after more than three years of life, why is Twitter so hot all of a sudden and how can you get started on it?

1. What is Twitter? There have been numerous descriptions of what Twitter actually is. It’s a micro-blogging site; it’s a chat room; it’s an Instant Messenger. In truth, it’s a little bit of everything.At its simplest, it’s a space where you can share your thoughts with other like-minded people using just 140 characters. It can either be used for personal conversations or business use – finding new clients, connecting with possible customers, and more. Twitter’s use and benefits is really down to you.
2. Your Profile. Because Twitter is such a short attention span tool, getting to the point is key. You have short messages to share your thoughts – think of this mindset when setting up your profile.Have a short description that offers the most information about you as possible, and then use the URL option to direct your new connections to somewhere they can find out more. This could be your blog, your LinkedIn profile, your website, or even something like MeeID that allows you a portal to all your online spaces.If you have design skills, you can forgo the standard Twitter background and have your own personal one. Sites like TwitBacks offer free personalized background tutorials so you can create your own unique design.
3. Watch, Learn, Explore. When you first start using Twitter, it can be a scary experience. The amount of constantly changing information can seem overwhelming. However, because you’re always in control of the medium’s use, you can tailor the noise and information to how you want to be informed.Have a look at how other users use Twitter. Compare their conversations with how you’re looking to utilize the service. You don’t have to jump in immediately – get to know the ebb and flow and what works for you and what doesn’t. Then you can jump in and start to tailor your needs.
4. Tools of the Trade. Because Twitter is web-based and on a single screen, it can be difficult to keep up with the conversation. This is where a host of third-party solutions come into play.Applications like Tweetdeck, Tweetgrid and Seesmic Desktop allow you to set up different ways to monitor certain conversations. They allow you to set up replies just to you; conversations of friends; business targets and more.There are also a few Twitter account management tools that help you keep your account up-to-date. Tweepular and Twiping are just two. Using these tools will ensure you don’t feel overwhelmed with information.
5. Business or Pleasure? The only real decision you need to make about starting out on Twitter is how you’re going to use the account. Will it be a personal approach or a business one? Perhaps a bit of both?If you’re looking to use it primarily as a business account and a way to connect with customers new and old, you’ll need to be more careful about the messages you send out.There have been plenty of examples where employees and brands have shared personal views via a business account and landed in hot water. The best way to counter this is ask yourself if you’d say the same thing in public, offline.

This is just an introductory guide to getting started with Twitter. Future posts will look at ways to integrate it into a business, use it for non-profit fund-raising, build your expertise and more.

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Here is a little experiment - how would you describe your blog in 120 characters or less?

Now, here is the reasoning behind this experiment - Twitter!

Twitter is forcing people to become more succinct in their communication habits given all you have is 140 characters to post about yourself or to carry on a conversation.

Lets take it one more step - within Twitter you have a concept of a Retweet.  The significance here is lets say you would like to publish a piece of content and hope it becomes ‘viral’ in your community.  You need to post with less than 120 characters so people can repost your thoughts to their community while still giving credit to you.

Here is the crux of this little experiment — > ‘pitch’ your community on why we should read your blog.

Here’s how it’ll work:

• Over the next 5 days use the comment section of this post open for you to give an elevator pitch for your blog.
• To keep the ‘pitches’ short - you have to do it in 120 characters or less.
• Keep it family friendly please so no porn, no mlm, and no garbage.
• Sell your blog to us in any way you like as long as it’s 120 characters. Use humor, tell us what it’s about, tease us… what ever you want.
• Feel free to use your blog’s name in the ‘name’ field in the comments section and to leave the URL in the URL section to help you save on characters.
• Please only pitch one blog to us. If you have multiple blogs just pick your best one.
• After the weekend, I’ll close the comments on this post
• There will be no summary list of all blogs submitted.  However,  a few of my examples of your pitches will be highlighted in the 2nd post.
• If you don’t see your comment come up immediately please be patient. All comments are queued for moderation - we’ll get to it. There’s no need to add a 2nd comment.

Next steps after you submit your comments:

– Subscribe to my feed to be notified when the project ends so you can come back and surf the list!

– Follow me on Twitter so you can check out the RT’s of some of the best examples.

– point people to this experiment and encourage them to surf through the list and find some new blogs to read. Also encourage people to link up to the ones they find and enjoy reading.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how you pitch your blog (I think it’s important to be able to sell your blog in a few words so hopefully this is a useful exercise) but also to discovering some great new blogs!

As a thank you, any blogs I retweet, showcase or talk about - I will donate 50$ on behalf of the blog owner to 12for12k this month.  Also, I will send 50$ iTunes gift card to the blog  owner as a token of appreciation for helping out 12for12k.

Thanks all.

ps.  This is a re-purposed post inspired by Darren Rowse of Problogger.net - who is running his own project now —  31 Days to Build a Better Blog - Join 9100 other Bloggers Today!

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There’s a lot being said about social media at the moment, and Twitter in particular. Not all of it is positive. Many businesses and non-Twitter users decry the platform, calling it everything from banal to a fad that will be over shortly.

Most of the criticism from the business side comes from the belief that you can’t measure Return on Investment, or ROI. Where will the numbers and dollars come from?

On the personal side, non-users call Twitter childish and immature, with people discussing their dinners and drinking habits.

While it’s true these conversations take place (and why not – it is a conversation outlet, after all) there’s a lot more to Twitter than meets the eye - something that was proven emphatically on Thursday March 19.

The 12for12k Challenge is an ongoing charity project that’s happening throughout 2009. Using the power of social media for good, the objective is to support 12 different charities and raise $12,000 for each one. One charity is chosen each month as the focus of the 12for12k cause.

The March charity is Share Our Strength, which combats child hunger in the US. In a unique approach, a 12-hour charity tweet-a-thon took place on Twitter to raise funds for the March charity. Organized by leading Twitter user and marketer Scott Stratten, the aim was simple – raise $12,000 in 12 hours.

Prizes were donated by various people to raffle and help the tweet-a-thon toward its target. Beginning at 10.00am Eastern, donations soon started flooding in. So much so that the $12,000 target was reached in only six hours. By the end of the tweet-a-thon, the amount for the March charity stood at $14,546.

What’s amazing about this event is that it was run solely on the platform that so many claim to be a waste of time. As people tweeted about it and urged others to support or donate, the figures and traffic to the 12for12k website spoke for themselves:

•    2,900 visitors to the website
•    100 pages of tweets about the #12for12k hashtag and tweet-a-thon
•    381 people donating raising just over $13,000 in 12 hours

The result is the equivalent of food for almost 14,000 pre-school children, or half a million families in the US benefiting from free meals for kids during the summer holidays.

What the 12for12k tweet-a-thon proved without the shadow of a doubt is that the real power of the Internet has being handed back to the people who use it the most. By raising so much money for a good cause and raising awareness of the 12for12k charity itself, it gave back more ROI in social media than any arguments businesses can argue against.

Of course, the real success will be if this groundswell of momentum for the 12for12k project can carry forward into April and beyond. With multi-city charity tweet-ups planned for April 18 for 12for12k’s next charity, the opportunity is there for people to continue supporting this cause and show that Twitter and social media can make a difference.

So now it’s your turn. You’ll see that there are three ad spots for charities on this blog now. This is to raise awareness for different charities throughout the year and I want you to help me pick them.

Leave your suggestions as to which charity should be highlighted in the comments and I’ll happily look at each one and offer free ad placement for the ones chosen. Over to you.

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There’s a belief in a lot of circles that you shouldn’t come outright and ask for business. Or at the very least, not ask for it in a way that’s full-on sales pitch and “Give me your money!” in tone.

A lot of this stems from social media’s growing acceptance by the mainstream and its mantra of “old marketing approaches are less relevant”. While this is true to a degree, old marketing and new marketing can still work together.

This is where the art of the ask comes into play:

• You don’t need to be pushy to win business.

• You don’t need to be completely sales-oriented to win the sale.

• You don’t need to throw every sales question at the wall and hope one of them sticks.

Instead, turn the question around and make it a benefit. Instead of asking for the sale, show what the benefit and return will be:

• This is what I can bring you.

• This is the traffic you will see.

• These are the new sales you’ll benefit from.

• These are the people I’ll put you in touch with.

Turning the question around into a statement of intent will still ask for the sale but in a way that’s more likely to get a result. It’s almost reverse psychology, with the difference being there’s no psychology involved, just providing a solution to a need.

Think of the most successful businesses. Apple, Microsoft and Wal-Mart, to name just a few. The reason they’re successful? They fill a need and also show what the result of that is.

You want a great computer that is easy to use, has one of the best GUI’s around and is a designer’s dream? Get a Mac. You need business software that will help your own business grow? Get a Microsoft Business Suite. Want cheap prices without the cheap price look and feel? Shop at Wal-Mart.

Offering the answer to problems has been the tried and trusted way of asking for a sale since selling began. This doesn’t need to change with the increased popularity of newer business practices.

Be yourself and offer a solution to a need, with a product that can fill that need better than your competitors, and you won’t need to practice at the art of the ask. You’ll already be using it.

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While you may not have heard of Twitter personally, there’s a good chance that one of your friends has and uses it regularly. Or your doctor, optician or even close relative. The truth is, while it’s not quite mainstream yet, Twitter is fast becoming one of the more popular online networks around.

Yet there are still a lot of questions being asked about what Twitter is and why it’s taking off the way it is. This, then, is a layman’s introduction to the service.

It’s Good to Talk

At its most basic, Twitter is a way to let you have a conversation with other users, and keep them updated to your current status. The welcome screen for Twitter even asks, “What are you doing?”

To keep things simple, Twitter only allows you 140 characters to get your message across. While this might seem small, it’s surprisingly effective and makes sure that messages are punchier as a result.

There are two message options on Twitter – public ( tweets) and private (Direct Messages, or DM’s). The public tweets can be seen by either anyone who is following your updates, or people that you have directed the message to, using the @ syntax.

So Why Sign Up?

Although there are no complete figures collected for the numbers using Twitter, guesstimates put it at around 5-6 million users. This is small compared to Facebook’s 150-million plus members, yet for such a relatively new web app, it’s a decent amount. And interest is growing all the time, with celebrities joining every day.

 So why should you be interested?

When you have a SMS text message conversation, or Instant Messenger chat, you know how instant that can be. It offers a quick and simple way to speak to someone and can save the bind of having to wade through emails to remember a topic.

Twitter is the same. Just transplant the SMS or IM conversation into the Twitter stream and you have the same quick and easy way of chatting with people. The difference is here you can potentially chat to another 5-6 million people.

If you need information on something quick, or directions to a place, Twitter users offer that to each other. If there’s an emergency, Twitter users in the area keep others up-to-date with what’s happening.

So it’s not only a great conversation tool for meeting new friends and people that share your views – it’s an information portal for all that’s currently going on in the world. It’s also a great business networking platform, but that’s a topic for another post.

So, to paraphrase Twitter’s own message – “What are you waiting for?”

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TechCrunch is reporting that Twitter has raised more funds, this time with a $250 million valuation. Last fall, Facebook was said to have made an offer to buy Twitter worth as much as $500 million.

That certainly would be a boon for Twitter, which until now has not shown signs of a viable business model to the world.  However, it seems the valuation is certainly based on future potential for monetization of its users and that Twitter has managed to show investors enough of a structure of a business model to loosen up the money.

Robert Scoble put the announcement in perspective “That means that if you are one of the six million people on Twitter that you’re worth $42.”  (Jeremiah Owyang was quick to point out “Assuming all six million are active - the valuation is more like $73).  Kind of rich for an open source platform - unlike Linkedin which sells out premium services that allows users greater access to data/users - Twitter has an API and a whole lot of spin off applications (sponsorships, advertising, friend harvesting have all been mentioned as possible revenue streams).

Congrats to the Twitter team - If you’d like to follow me at Twitter -  www.twitter.com/tmaduri

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