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Do you care about the people you are doing business with? I mean, do you really care about them AS A PERSON and not just as another rolodex in your card file? Inversely, do the people you network with care about you?
Networking is not just about making connections and getting referrals. If you think that is all it is, you better go find yourself a book on human interaction and relearn how to talk to and treat people. If this sounds harsh, it might be because you need the book. I won’t apologize for the bluntness in this post and if it is found offensive, methinks it is because it struck a sore spot. Those that are ever evolving and refining their people skills will stop and take a look at what is said here and ask themselves, “Do I do that to people?” “Is that why I’m not getting as much business as I could have?”
There are few better ways to discover the value of your networking than in how people interact with you – especially when there is a crisis. People are mirrors held up to ourselves, and they can be brutally honest, whether we want them to or not. So, instead of taking offense at the networker who treated you like less of a person and more like a source of income, learn from the experience. We as a specie are so quick to take offense and so slow to learn. Don’t be stuck at the dead-end of the evolutionary chain with no sales and worse – no friends.
Remember, when you’re old and retire, or move on to another line of work where you no longer network, the friends will stay with you.
The networkers will leave.
This day’s Facebook News Update is courtesy of PC World. See the full article at: http://www.pcworld.com/article/229870/facebook_photo_tagging_a_privacy_guide.html .
Ah, Facebook is at it – again. When will these people learn that their network (all of us who use Facebook) HATE CHANGE and especially BEING TRACKED, like some weird scenario out of the book “1984″? They are really caught between a rock and a hard place. Their users and fans demand they stay on the cutting edge of technology, yet anything implemented immediately elicits the response of putting up a, “I Hate the Latest Change Facebook Has Made to My
Page” fan page. Who needs t.v.? It’s as entertaining to watch the users react as it is to watch Facebook react to the reaction.
This week’s trauma & drama comes courtesy of the Facebook Gods decreeing there will be an easier way to tag your photos via facial recognition. Should you be afraid of it? Should you react like a cobra who reacts to being stepped on – with hissing and spitting and biting back the hand that enables our world’s largest social network? Uh, no. And here’s why:
If you are afraid of this newest tool, you could be an escaped convict on the run and shouldn’t be playing around on Facebook in the first place, so do us all a favor and go quietly turn yourselves in to the police already.
Or you could be an overly paranoid person, in which case you might want to go take some courses on self-esteem. They can only do you and your friends a world of good.
If you are neither of these, you are probably a pretty well-balanced person who just doesn’t want your ex-husband or boyfriend to find you. In that case, turn off the Facial Recognition option and go back to your business. You see, that’s the problem with this implementation because, like everything else Facebook had done, they have turned this damn option “on” for everyone instead of “off” and letting people decide for themselves whether they want to utilize it or not. Maybe it’s a limitation of the software platform they use, but if it is, they should find a way to remedy that before they get into trouble with someone big enough to do something about it like, say, the Gods of the Internet or the U.S. Government.
And if you think the government isn’t watching them, check out this little factoid in an online article amusingly called, “The Paranoid’s Guide to Facebook”: “Congress recently sent Facebook an open letter asking the company to explain the disclosure of user identities to third parties (as originally reported by the Wall Street Journal), and how the
company plans to address this issue.” Yeah, that’s the ticket, now we’re really getting Orwellian on their hinies!
If I were you (or me) I would be MUCH MORE WORRIED about the utilization of Facebook “places” for as this same article continues, “Using Facebook Places has its benefits, but whether you’re using a mobile device or a desktop, telling the world where you are has major disadvantages. When you broadcast your location, you’re exposing vulnerabilities for an ill-intentioned person to swoop up. And your iPhone or Android-based Smartphone can broadcast your exact geographic coordinates down to a few feet.”
Yes, there is a lot to be paranoid about in the world, people, but we can only keep track of so much of it. Pick your battles and win them so in the end you really can win the war.
Article also cited:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/210859/the_paranoids_guide_to_facebook.html%23tk.mod_rel
This day’s Facebook News Update is courtesy of msnbc.com’s Technolog
Facebook attacks scam spam with new security tools
Facebook has the never-ending job of protecting its users from their own curiosity and it isn’t easy. Big events such as Osama Bin Laden’s death are always potential tools for people to prey on the unsuspecting Facebook user. In this case, it was the promise of satisfying a morbid curiosity to see photos of Bin Laden’s bullet-riddled corpse.
Last week scammers tried tricking Facebook users into spamming their friends accounts with a link supposedly from the BBC showing Osama’s body after U.S. troops got through with it, but all the link did was let a virus into their address book that spread the obnoxious message to everyone connected with the user.
“Clickjacking”, as it is known, tricks a person into accessing links and/or “Like” buttons by hiding the code underneath content that piques your interest — such as a video of that thing Justin Bieber did to that girl that “YOU WON’T BELIEVE”. Facebook claims it has fixed the hole in their system that let this particular virus run rampant through their community, but that never means we should drop our guard and think it’s safe (or wise) to click on the next implausible link that comes our way.
It is always in human nature either to ignore the advice to be careful or to say, “I’ll never forward anything or like anything else on Facebook again.” Let’s take the smart and cautious middle road, people, and just use a little common sense instead of either being cavalier or paranoid.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. “Like” and “Share” items of interest to your audience. If you are doing business and networking, stay away from the taboo subjects of sex, politics and religion (unless you are either a politician or a nun, of course, and that IS your business). Some family subjects are always safe to share such as a new child or grandchild in the house, but don’t go overboard. Let your audience gush over the news and give you a reason to gush more and upload more of those baby pictures.
CHECK SNOPES.COM FIRST! I can’t emphasize this enough! People either don’t know about snopes or forget to check before their itchy trigger finger hits that “send” button. Snopes.com gives you the lowdown on all the urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation out there that is or was circulating. Typing a few keywords into their search engine will bring up articles that either prove or disprove that incredible story you can’t wait to share. Remember the tired old, but reliable phrase, “If it is seems too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS.”
MSNCB’s Technolog tells us, “Facebook’s new ‘Self-XSS Protection’ is meant to prevent spam spread by users tricked into cutting and pasting malicious code into their address bars. According to the Facebook blog, ‘Now, when our systems detect that someone has pasted malicious code into the address bar, we will show a challenge to confirm that the person meant to do this as well as provide information on why it’s a bad idea.’”
They will also be providing free tools for “safe surfing” by Web of Trust, so be on the lookout for them and they won’t take you by surprise.
My favorite tool so far has been the new “Login Approval” system implemented last month. I had hired an East Coast social networking promotion company to take care of promoting my jewelry and design business in the hours of the day either too early for me or while I am busy offline creating new designs. A great idea, but a surprise when I received an email of an attempt to log into my Facebook account from somewhere located in Maine. I knew who it was, called them to confirm they had attempted to login in to begin my campaign, and then verified the attempt as a valid one. It was a minor delay to my time and I appreciated it because it showed that Facebook was on the ball and now had a way of further safeguarding our internet accounts. You will not hear me complain ever about this new tool and the next person whose account is compromised by a hacker won’t complain either.
~ synopsis provided by Kristine Cherry, an internet guru/social networking junkie who will gladly help you if you ever have a question about a suspicious email or Facebook notification you get.
?
(This scares the heck out of me)
When social networking fledgling giant Twitter began to pick up speed and gain popularity last year, all I heard from clients was, “I don’t want to get on it because I couldn’t care less when someone goes to the store, sees a good program on t.v. or is sitting on their porch doing nothing.
I couldn’t agree more.
But then we all started hearing how staggeringly useful it was when a hotel was bombed by terrorists in Southeast Asia – the “tweeters” getting the story out to the world before the media could comprehend what had happened. Again, when unrest hit Iran and their government imposed a media blackout, Twitter was asked by the U.S. government to delay their maintenance cycle so that the flow of information from that beleaguered country was not impeded. I myself used Twitter to warn locals of a water main break and to avoid that area like the plague and recently to warn my clients of the health warning of a salmonella outbreak in eggs across the United States.
What does all this tell us?
That Twitter is a force for either good or evil, depending on who you follow in your network.
It is easy to blame the other guy for their tweets, but since we cannot control the actions of others, doesn’t it make more sense to take the responsibility of harnessing Twitter’s power for good and choose who we follow more carefully? Take a few seconds when considering whether to follow someone or not and do a quick scan of their last few tweets…are they garbage or are they useful, inspiring, uplifting and motivational information? Choosing to association with people that tweet with care will also reflect better of our character to others who choose to follow us. No one with a busy networking schedule wants to follow someone who follows gossipers and time-wasters, or worse, someone who constantly swears…if you really need to follow people like that, get a private Twitter account and follow such people anonymously. You will find it will make life a lot easier.
Follow me at: http://twitter.com/civicsitedesign . If you tweet responsibly, I will gladly follow you back.
I was attending a non-profit organization’s volunteer meeting last night. This group gets funding from a government agency whose representative made an opening statement last night that should really be taken to heart by many who often make this obvious, yet all too common, terrible business mistake. For clarity’s sake, I will paraphrase the lesson, and then go into what was said and why it was said.
The paraphrase is: “Be careful what you say in emails.”
What was said, “There has been a lot of negativity in the emails back and forth on this upcoming project…many seem to think we are the enemy, but the truth is, we aren’t AND you need us to fund your project.”
My long-time experience with sending emails and seeing the repercussions of poorly-worded/tactless emails made me sit there and silently agreement with this man. He had the grace and tact to word it in such a way as to not make it look like the friendly warning it was, and while I applaud him for his decorum, at the same time I feel sorry for him.
He is fighting an uphill battle against the anger ineffective government has engendered in today’s common people. Whether he or his department is guilty of the all too common funding shenanigans that run rampant in any City Hall, he is still a victim of it, as were the upset constituent, you and I. There is a time and a place for such ventings of one’s anger at officials or the “system”, BUT it is never at a volunteer meeting, or on an email list going to the very people one is accusing. I guess this must be a lesson learned, and not common sense, and of course, when tempers run high, ALL sense and common sense go flying out the window and back into the mouth of the horse who just said it (hence the title of this piece).
What amazed me is the fact that as soon as this official said this, someone spoke up right away (gee, I wonder who sent the email?) and added to the fire by reiterating what was in the emails. Gee, he wasn’t listening, was he? In this day and age in the United States/California, expecting government to have tons of money to throw at small, community projects when their budget is getting cut and their staff is let go is positively ludicrous. But I digress…
…back to the main point, at least in this blog. If you are in business, and I will capitalize this for emphasis, RE-READ THAT EMAIL BEFORE YOU SEND IT! Would you tell that person this to their face if you were face-to-face? I look at words spoke like pointing a gun – if you are going to point it, say it, email it, YOU BETTER BE PREPARED TO USE, DEFEND AND LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT HURLED VERBAL BULLET!!!
Don’t burn your business bridges because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut long enough to rethink that stupid, thoughtless, antagonistic comment you felt it was your God-given right to say. Sure, you have a right to say anything you want, but if it hurts someone else or your business for future, potential business, you better think twice or be prepared to live with the consequences of fewer friends in life and less business.
How do you get better in business? You keep up with the evolving marketplace. Continue your education, for it is truly a life-long process. If you don’t, you will never survive it’s ever-changing pace!
Human beings are constantly striving to learn new things, to move forward, find the newest trend or fashion. They always evolve, and this means you have to, too. Not could or should, but HAVE TO. If you hate education, this is a good time to get over it and accept the fact that it is a must.
Don’t take this advice as being my opinion…it’s a proven fact of nature that creatures that don’t evolve to their ever-changing surrounds get wiped out. If you think human beings are exempt from this reality, you are sadly mistaken. We are as much a part of nature as everything else on this planet that lives, breathes, eats, sleeps, reproduces and dies. And if ANY OF US drop our guard for a moment, we get taken down – whether it be in the jungle, a street crosswalk or in the marketplace.
Now that that statement is out of the way…let’s get to the business of evolving you and your knowledge, not just in business, but in the all-important categories of Wealth, Wellness, Leadership & Legacy…
This was the first, best advice I ever got listening to a Quattro University presentation by one of its four founders, Cheri Tree. I think if people really thought about the advice they got, considered the source, and ran away when it was bad advice, they would be a lot less miserable
It’s always easier, less painful and quite often less expensive to take a look at the bad examples life gives us and learn from them. Why more people don’t do this, I have no idea. Why doesn’t this come naturally to adults? We always never take our parent’s advice during our rebellious teenage years…so ask yourself this important question, “The person giving the advice…is their life messed up?” If you don’t know any personal details about them to be able to answer this question, just ask them outloud (or yourself quietly), “Are you a millionaire?”
It’s like my husband Dennis always said when quoting Solomon Short. “It’s too bad common sense isn’t.”
Think about it and get ready to run TOWARDS some good advice for a change. It all comes from people I know who are millionaires and whose lives are definitely NOT messed up.
My passion and mission here is to relay some of the sales & marketing wisdom I have learned from the millionaires I know. After you digest what is here, what you do with the information is up to you, but remember, again, some of this advice is from millionaires…they are “paying it forward” to help others get out of the rat race and they KNOW what they are doing…don’t you want advice from someone like that?
