Some partial rules are:

• Focus on disaster volunteers for the ARC Cape Fear Chapter (Wilmington, NC)
• Most creative video will win grand prize!
• Video should appeal to a broad audience

We had a spectacular week of training with the local Coldwell Banker franchise. 

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube are buzz words thrown around offices, billboards and celebrities worldwide...but, there is little real life, 'hands-on', one-on-one workshop training that takes students beyond the basics of using social networking and  help them to establish a credible social presence, understand social media engagement techniques that builds loyalty, trust, and social capital that delivers measurable value to your business.  This a no "hype", no "hot-air" social media workshop that isn't about teaching our students whats "new", its about teaching them that this is now, that this is intelligent business.(This went over better than even we expected, so we are doing a second workshop for them next week!)

Don't take our word for it, here are just a few of our students and what they had to say:

A few video testimonials from the 1st Class:

• Renee
• Tricia and Brenda
  
• Sherri
• Ken 
• Chloe 
• Peggy
• Stephanie
  

• Social Profile Optimization 
• Configuring Ping.fm 
• Facebook fan page protocols

 

Want to know more?  Great.  Want us to come to you? Sure. Contact us via email at info@sayitsocial.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

SayItSocial
Tim Moore on Linkedin
Tim Moore on Twitter
Tim Moore on Facebook

After watching this video I could not help but think of how many times I have felt like this little orange & white cat in my own life.  Then I wondered if I have acted like the the fat black cat. (of course I have- I'm not perfect & it might be safe to say- you have as well)  The point is- are we aware of how we come across to others. 

Is our form of leadership one of intimidation, bullying, passive or aggressive. 

A while back Oprah did a show on bullying and the tragic results of "engaging" in such behavior.  Being a social bully in school, at work, online or at home is NOT acceptable.  So if you have the propensity or the leanings of displaying this not so attractive quality- stop it.

How WE interact with one another in everyday life & business is vital for success!  Not just our business success but personal success.  And, if we are entrepreneurs - our business IS very personal!  We have invested a lot into it- so stands to reason that the things we do are close to our heart & soul.

Are we the orange cat that feels awkward and uncomfortable because we allow people to hiss orders at us or intimidate us.  Or, are we the black cat that just bully's everyone around by our speech & conduct?

Lessons learned my online community- lessons learned.  How are we known in our communities - be it online or face 2 face?  Do you really want to know?  Ask those you interact with- just be prepared for the truth.  Hopefully we are surrounding ourselves with people that are not afraid of telling us the truth.  But then - depends on what type of "social cat" we are.  If we are the black cat- it is going to take a pretty honest & gutsy orange cat to stand up and speak the truth.

Lets face it, business, the economy, the world, marketing & human relationships are all becoming very fish-bowl like. (funny- cats & fish)  Anyway- our world is becoming smaller and smaller as technology connects us professionally and personally.  We cant get away from it.  It's happened.  What we do personally effects us professionally & vice versa.

Deny it if you must- but social skills are more important now than EVER!  Let me say it a bit differently - "Social, communication, manners, people skills & writing abilities are VITAL for survival!"

So the next time your interacting with someone - ask them the question- "What kind of social cat am I"?

Make sure you watch the quick video for a great visual:

What Kind of Social Cat Are You?

Follow me on twitter

Kevin Made YouTube video HERE, "Facebooked" & "Tweeted" petitions & articles at least 3 times a day, connected with Lisa Ling, and several entertainers, but most important he was sincere in his approach, he "engaged" people to help build advocates.  He just finished helping Kirstie Alley with a social media buzz campaign for her recent "Charity", and has other projects as a result of his hard work within his social media "Tribe." Take a look at the video, and please spread this link around, and please connect with Kevin!  Kevin On Twitter

When you're younger you cant wait for time to hurry up. Ironically when you reach a certain age - you cant wait for it to slow down.  Funny how we want to hurry our lives up and rush things when we are younger and slow it down as we get older.

Recently- we have lost many high profile people to our enemy death.  And everyday someone looses a loved one for one reason or another.  They are not high profile people- just everyday people that someone loved.  It is at that moment for them- they realize what a gift life really is and can be taken in an instant.

So how do we appreciate our gift of life?  Do we help others with our time, money or our resources? 

In a world that is full of so much badness - it is nice to reflect on one of the biggest gifts we have been given and that is our life.  Even if we have lost loved ones- we can still celebrate the gift of life they shared with us - even though at times brief.

To all of you that read this- celebrate your gift with someone.  Use that gift to help, encourage, support, love, cherish, embrace & hold.  Never take your gift for granted.

Ok, we all frequently complain about the pathetic service we receive just about everywhere.  With businesses in decline and under more stress than ever before, the financial challenges they face is a difficult one, we'll give them that, times are tough.  Usually the first thing to go though.... is our customer services.

This is nothing new. The growing Buyer-Seller disconnect has been going on for years now and customer relationships have been the casualty that most businesses (behind closed doors) have been arrogantly willing to let suffer for the benefit of the bottom line.  The adversarial relationship between the business and the prosumer (not consumer).  "So what" you ask? I am glad you asked.  True, this is the reality we live in and reluctantly have grown accustomed to it.  True, the divide is still expanding: Companies think all the value is in the sale of their product, and we as customers feel the value is in our anticipated expectation of how that product will perform.  We don't like it, but since there is no inherent loyalty to us from the business or brand, why should we be loyal to them?  Agree?

Here is where I see us now becoming part of the problem.  We are letting the them win.

Those on the frontlines, the sales people, have been effected by this for years.  I dare say now more than ever before.  I'll give you an experience I had the other day that made me scribble it down and it became the seed for this post:

 I was going shopping for a HD video camera for sayitsocialTV.  I had done my due diligence of shopping/comparing online, reading all the testimonials/reviews and felt ready for the final see it/touch it test.  I was on the phone (key part) as I headed into Best Buy, gave the 'what's up' nod as I entered the store to the "Welcome to Best Buy" guy at the front. I went directly to the video section having narrowed my selections to the Flip and the Zi6.  While looking them over (I'm still talking on the phone) the sales person for that area came over asks nicely, "Can I help you sir?" and I gave her the 'just looking, I'm on the phone nod' and off she went.  (I was on the phone another 20 minutes). Around minute 18, I started looking around the store.  That's when this all started to hit me.  As I watched customers walking around the store where I was, they ALL were either on their cell phone or texting. Hmmm.  So, I stepped over where I could see the entrance, and the same thing.  As people were entering the store, they were doing the same thing I did, just giving the 'what's up' nod, basically ignoring the welcome guy - which I do like.  Then, I started looking at all the Best Buy employee's.  They were at their posts, or huddled quietly together, (I even caught one with a blank stare looking at his terminal) -- I thought, how sad.  These people deserve better than this from us.  These could be our girlfriends, daughters, husband, or grandchildren, just trying to do their job.  But, because of the Buyer-Seller disconnect, whenever we enter these stores, our guard goes up, our trust goes down, we brace ourselves for a potential confrontation, prepare our "just looking" phrase (i.e., "OOH - GO AWAY YOU SALES SLUG") and we emotionally disconnect during the experience as our reptilian brain kicks into high gear.  RESULT:  A poor service experience is most likely about to happen to us, and it is partially our fault.

Let businesses who don't care enough about their customers to make service a priority cut their own throats.  Like Circuit City, these companies will be extinct soon enough. But, let's not stoop to their level, let's take charge of  our purchase experiences and make them the best they can be, starting with being conscience of it when we enter a place of business. How would you like it if someone walked into your office on the phone, and walked around your cubicle for 20 minutes, telling you 'just a minute, I'm on the phone' or 'I'm just looking'? (I hear your blood pressure rising and security being dialed as we speak). There is enough stress in life already with out us all contributing more to it. C'mon, let's be the solution and stop adding to the problem!

What say you? Fact..... or fiction?

 
@TimMoore
sayitsocial.com

What? How? Are you kidding?  It is no surprise that considering the housing market today, the majority would answer “yes” to all of these questions.  One would have to be living literally under a rock down by the river not to realize that the economy has negatively impacted a homeowners ability to sell ones home.  Homes are staying on the market longer.  People are being forced to re-locate as a result of loosing jobs & of course the eventuality of some having to foreclose on their home and even declare bankruptcy.  Sadly, some may begin feeling that selling their home may be impossible.

Or is it?  Check these stats out:

During April 2009 all markets except Portland, San Francisco and Salt Lake City had a median days-on-market of 100+. By far, the market with the slowest rate of inventory turnover was again Miami, now at a median of 246 days-on-market or more than eight months. Miami experienced the slowest market turnover in every month since September 2007. Portland experienced the fastest rate of inventory turnover at a median of 82 days-on-market, followed by San Francisco at 96 days.

Obviously, more is needed to supplement traditional selling in today’s changed market, world and economy.  Just using traditional ("old") ways of doing business are proving to be less and less effective and more is needed to reach targeted buyers.  How? Well, that's where my experience comes in. Selling my house this past week will hopefully help you expand your efforts using social elements and assist you in selling your property.

Now, the juicy part of this is, as a social media consultant, I figured why don't I put my "money where my mouth is" and instead of the usual "hype and hot air" we hear about, I decided to use the real methods I practice and teach my students and corporations. So, I came up with a campaign to sell my house using social networking and out myself under a time limit of 72 hours.  I ended up selling it, for profit, in only 50 hours – NOT days. I did not use a real estate agent for this experiment, because I believe in the power of the social collective, white hat methodologies and if used properly, I believe anything is possible via social media.

Ok, Ok, how did I do it.  Well, I will share a few (I said “few” not “all”) tips or principles here for you to get greater interest in your property or properties. These principles apply whether you are a real estate owner, an agent, franchisee, or even in another field all together.  It's about engaging your social network.  (I will be speaking on this topic soon and going step by step through this in fine detail.)

Obviously, this is a reproducable model that can be used by anyone for any item or service.  At the same time, following these steps with a poor reputation online as a spammer or using MLM techniques will limit your effectiveness dramatically.

Enjoy my expierience for what it is, now get out there and make your own great expierience! I look forward to hearing your ideas and success stories as well, we all need good news in this struggling economy.

With every good wish....

@TimMoore
sayitsocial.com

I recently watched a video of Gary Vaynerchuk live on CNN (VIDEO BELOW-MUST WATCH) and he absolutely reads my mind. I could never put into words how he conveys the power of social media, and how traditional thinking of marketing is gone.  Please, do your self a favor and watch this video.  I will summarize it for you, but please, please watch it…

By the way, he has a new book coming out called “Crush It!”, mine is coming soon!

When asked why Gary has been so successful with his branding and social media, he simply said “I care.”  “The way we communicate changed. Platforms have been re-defined. It’s a Two way conversation today.  People want to touch and feel their brand.  Treat Twitter, FaceBook etc like a cocktail party; you make the rounds but don’t force your business down their throat, you engage people, make friends.

Regarding social media tools like Twitter “Everybody is trying to figure out how to “Game it”… let it be you!  Use these tools to shake people’s hands…If you don’t understand that eyeballs turns to cash, than you don’t understand business. Big business “Traditional” thinking people that have been in business a long time are having hard time wrapping their minds around social media,  that they no longer control the message of the brand anymore.” The idea is you listen all the time, not some of the time.  Got to have passion, passion equals eyeballs; eyeballs translates to brand awareness and sales.

At 8:17 into the video, I love this comment: “Twitter and facebook are just tools, they will change.  They are like crayons, markers, Fax machines just tools! They will change.

They are the only human creation that can give & create life- without women - we would not have the human race.

Women have always spearheaded change.

Women have always forged into new territory. 

They have always been pioneers. 

They have always had to fight for rights. 

They have always been entrepreneurs.

One woman is not afraid of this economy or the unknown. Most importantly, she is not letting those things paralyze her.  As a mother & entrepreneur she is setting things on fire in New England.

I introduce - Pat Paolino Cruz.

Watch out for this rising star and for the release of Southern New England WOMAN.  An EXCITING New Magazine .  It is a 76 page, full color glossy magazine.  If you are interested in advertising feel free to contact Southern New England WOMAN at: (just click below)

SNEWOMAN.com

Enjoy the video.

Box Office Winners For Weekend of May 8th 2009 (USA)

After watching this video I could not help but think of how many times I have felt like this black cat in my own life.

Oprah just did a show on bullying and the tragic results of "engaging" in such behavior.

How do WE interact with one another in everyday life & business?  Are we the black cat that feels awkward and uncomfortable because we allow people to hiss orders at us.  Or, are we the orange cat that just bully's everyone around by our speech & conduct?

Lessons learned my online community- lessons learned.  How are we known in our communities - be it online or face 2 face?  Do you really want to know?

Follow me on twitter:

Kevin DeSoto