In the mid to late 1980′s, the international political landscape was undergoing a vast reconstruction. Freedom was no longer a buzz-word, paid lip service by world leaders. It was an expected and deserved right. It was necessary. Predicated by a change in world-wide diplomacy by the United States, which no longer saw a need to tolerate oppressive regimes, and the Soviet Union, mired in economic troubles throughout the Eastern Bloc, the people of oppressed communist lands were finding the courage to rise up and affect change. Years of hard-line ideology were coming to an abrupt end, and it seemed as if those who once sheltered this hard-line attitude were just as willing to see it go as those who had been under its oppressive rule for so many years. Years of intense political battle had placed their scar on the landscape of Eastern Europe, and all at once, it seemed that everyone noticed the wall, the wall that had become a symbol of everything bad, the wall that had assumed all the sins of its broken political past, the wall that needed to be broken in effigy of the oppression that its keepers promoted. It was by this wall, that one man stood with compassionate force and finally spoke what everyone was thinking: “Tear down this wall”.

At the time it fell, the Berlin Wall had come to be seen by the West as an oppressive force, acting against the freedom of the people, holding out prosperity and keeping in its prisoners mired in poverty, hunger, and solitude. However, up until the late 1980′s, little was ever done to bring about its demise. In fact, many historians agree that, at the time of its creation, western allies saw the wall as a an acceptable compromise to the prospect of entering into military conflict with the Soviet controlled Communist Bloc. President Kennedy said of the border wall, “[it] is not a very nice solution but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war” (Smyser, 106). This year, being the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I decided dig a little deeper into the story of the wall. I set out to learn how the wall came about in the first place. More importantly, I wanted to know what caused it to fall. I hoped to find that the will of the people had simply become too great and that humanitarian sacrifice triumphed over the cause of some ideology. I wanted to prove that all it took was the taste of freedom to topple tyranny. In my research, I was presented with four primary and influential players. The first two players enter in the early 1960′s: President of the United States, John F. Kennedy and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev. 1961 was a scary time. People were worried that the United States and the Soviet Union would go to war. The massive and lasting world-wide implications of war between these two superpowers were enormous, and therefore the Berlin Wall was viewed by the West as a necessary buffer between the allied West and the Communist Bloc. The second set of leading players in the life of the Wall entered in the 1980′s: President of the United States, Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. It was these two men, one who brought about a new international call for freedom, and the other who loosened his grip, that finally ended the era of the Berlin Wall. These men changed perceptions that the wall was a necessary buffer, and showed that the Berlin Wall was an inconvenient truth that continually impeded diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Following the 1948 Soviet blockade of West Berlin, the first trappings of the Berlin Wall began taking shape in the early 1950 in the form of a cleared section of the city along the demarkation line separating East and West Berlin (Thompson). However, the physical concrete wall did not come into existence until after the Vienna Summit of 1961. It was during this summit that Nikita Khrushchev threatened that the Soviet Union would unilaterally end the rights of the United States and its allies in West Germany (JFK In History: The Cold War in Berlin ). The United States had made a commitment to protect the rights of the West German people and its allies, and so President Kennedy responded by strengthening America’s defenses both at home and abroad. On July 25 1961, Kennedy said to the American people,

“So long as the communists insist that they are preparing to end by themselves unilaterally our rights in West Berlin and our commitments to its people, we must be prepared to defend those rights and those commitments. We will at times be ready to talk, if talk will help. But we must also be ready to resist with force, if force is used upon us. Either alone would fail. Together, they can serve the cause of freedom and peace” (JFK In History: The Cold War in Berlin).

Not surprisingly, soon after the Vienna Summit, Soviet leaders found that a massive influx of educated East German workers were leaving East Germany for the West. Seemingly spurred on by the benefits of American security and democracy, by August of 1961, nearly 2600 Easterners per day escaped to the West (Blumenfeld). Commenting on this symbolic and timely mass movement, then Vice President Lyndon Johnson noted that,

“Despite every instrument of force and propaganda, despite every asset of German skill and German resources, the Communists have not been able to create a life to which men can commit their talents, their faith and the future of their children” (Blumenfeld).

Seeking to abruptly stem flow of intelligent refugees, popularly known as “brain drain”, communist leaders imposed a ban on travel from East Germany to West Germany, and revoked registration papers of most Easterners who currently held jobs in West Germany. Finally, on August 13, 1961, the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany’s Soviet controlled form of self-governance) began construction on a concrete barrier dividing East and West Berlin. Along the wall, they posted guards with orders to shoot anyone who dared traverse it without permission. Later, after finding that one wall did not adequately serve to deter free emigration, the Soviets built a second wall 100 yards inside the original, creating a “no man’s land” guarded by armed men, dogs on runs and even land mines. This area quickly earned a gruesome and murderous reputation. In all, 263 people are known to have lost their lives attempting to cross this zone (JFK In History: The Cold War in Berlin).

While public outrage over the wall never simmered, the Cold War took the attention of the two leaders away, and soon the Berlin Wall was no longer in the public spotlight. Successive summits were held between successive leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union, however U.S. policy on the Berlin Wall didn’t change, and therefore very little diplomatic ground was made on the issue. That is, until the early 1980′s when President Ronald Reagan turned his attention not only to the human rights violations occurring at the Berlin Wall, but to the vast human oppression occurring throughout the entire Communist Bloc. With his predecessor’s memories of Khrushchev and his successor Leonid Brezhnev very clear in his mind, Reagan made is opinion clear in his remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in 1982;

“In the nuclear era, the major powers bear a special responsibility to ease these sources of conflict and to refrain from aggression. And that’s why we’re so deeply concerned by Soviet conduct. Since World War II, the record of tyranny has included Soviet violation of the Yalta agreements leading to domination of Eastern Europe, symbolized by the Berlin Wall” (Remarks in New York, New York, Before the United Nations General Assembly…).

Reagan backed up his sharp rhetoric by seeking no diplomatic advances with the Soviet Union until after Brezhnev was out of power. In 1985 however, the newly appointed Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev seemed to be a rational leader with clear intentions, and Reagan saw that the political climate would now allow effective diplomacy. In the summer of 1985, Reagan noted in his diary, “Gorbachev has passed the word that he’d like to establish a private channel of communication. We tried to get such a thing with his predecessors & couldn’t make it. I gave the word to proceed” (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, 343). Reagan knew that the Soviet economic crisis and the resulting domestic pressure was beginning to mount on Gorbachev’s regime. During his 1982 dealings with the Soviets, Reagan wrote,

“I suggested that yes we could negotiate a long term grain contract with the Soviets but shouldn’t we get some concessions re Latin Am., Afghanistan, etc. The Soviets are, after all, in deep ec. trouble & need our help desperately” (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, 74)

Reagan knew that the time for talks had come. Speaking about the President’s choice to invite Gorbachev into talks, national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane said, “In the past four years here in the United States, and more broadly in the West, we have experienced a political, economic and social renewal of historic proportion, America has regained its moorings, it is leading, and peace is more secure” (Cooper).

The stage was set for an epic clash of superpowers. A media fueled exchange of propaganda preceded the overdue meeting. At the heart of Gorbachev’s agenda was Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space based defense program, dubbed “Star Wars” by its opponents, aimed at intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles using a network of satellites orbiting the earth. SDI was expected to cost nearly $33 billion dollars in the first six years and Gorbachev planned to use it as his bargaining chip (Cooper). Gorbachev claimed that SDI was not a defensive weapon, and therefore research alone violated the terms of the previous SALT treaties signed by Presidents Nixon and Carter. Gorbachev contended that SALT was the only arms neutrality agreement observed by the Soviet Union, and as such, its violation meant that neither party had any obligation to adhere it. As a result the arms race was back on. Further, in an attempt to turn the tables, Gorbachev offered that he would agree to a 50% cut in both sides’ nuclear weapons, a greater reduction than was initially negotiated, if Reagan would give up on SDI (Cooper). Reagan, knowing that Gorbachev’s only response to SDI was to embark upon a costly research program of his own, quickly dismissed the offer. Reagan focused his agenda on the human toll. Reagan insisted that regional conflicts in which the Soviets were actively involved as aggressors, be resolved. Using Western trade relations as the dangling carrot, Reagan worked to introduce capitalism into the Soviet controlled Communist Block knowing that a domino effect would result in one state-controlled economic collapse after another. Now Reagan only needed to find the first brick to topple.

The end result of the summit was a new, more open, dialog, but Reagan knew there was still more ground to cover. Upon returning from Geneva, President Reagan warned a Joint Session of Congress,

“I have made it clear to Mr. Gorbachev that we must reduce the mistrust and suspicions between us if we are to do such things as reduce arms, and this will take deeds, not words alone” (Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress…).

Two years later, under an air of impatience, the President made a historic trip to Berlin on the city’s 700th birthday. It was there, at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin that the President addressed a world-wide audience and leveled with the Soviet leader;

“There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” (Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin June 12, 1987).

It would be another three years before the two leaders would sign a lasting agreement, finally putting an end the arms race that embodied the Cold War. However, Reagan’s pointed words that day showed that the era of the Berlin Wall was coming quickly to a close. Reagan’s strategy of trust and openness led to a trust between the United States and the Soviet Union that only comes with predicatability. His direct, plain spoken communication style helped him build a relationship with Soviet leaders, ease mistrust between the Communists and the Western Allies, and ultimately ease the tensions of the Cold War. Reagan sensed that he was leading an entire ideology on an excursion through uncharted waters. Together, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbechev engineered a new era of lasting peace between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Works Cited

“Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Following the Soviet-United States Summit

Meeting in Geneva, November 21, 1985″ The Public Papers of President Ronald W. Reagan. Ronald Reagan Presidnetial Library. 3 Dec, 2009.

<http:// www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1985/112185c.htm>

Blumenfeld, F. Yorick. “Captive East Germany.” Editorial Research Reports 1961. Vol. II.

Washington: CQ Press, 1961. 637-654. CQ Researcher. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.

<http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1961090100>.

Cooper, Mary H. “U.S.-Soviet Summitry.” Editorial Research Reports 1985. Vol. II. Washington:

CQ Press, 1985. 821-840. CQ Researcher. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

<http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1985110100>.

“JFK In History: The Cold War in Berlin”. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. 3

Dec. 2009 <http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/The+Cold+War +in+Berlin.htm>.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, The. “The Reagan Diaries”. New York : Harper

Perenial, 2007.

“Remarks in New York, New York, Before the United Nations General Assembly Special Session

Devoted to Disarmament June 17, 1982″. The Public Papers of President Ronald W. Reagan. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. 3 Dec, 2009.

<http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/61782a.htm>.

“Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin June 12, 1987”.

The Public Papers of President Ronald W. Reagan. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. 3 Dec, 2009. <http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/061287d.htm>.

Smyser, W.R. “Kennedy and the Berlin Wall: A hell of a lot better than a war”. Lanham Maryland :

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2009.

Thompson, Elizabeth M. “Harassed Berlin.” Editorial Research Reports 1953. Vol. I. Washington:

CQ Press, 1953. 179-197. CQ Researcher. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

<http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1953031200>.

Many people don’t know that my professional career began in direct marketing.  More clearly, commercial door-to-door sales.  For 5 years I scratched and clawed my way to the top of the pyramid, only to leave once I got there.  I don’t regret my days as a direct marketer … I don’t regret leaving either. (Everything for a reason.)

So, why revisit?  I recently came across a snippet from an instructional video that posed the question; “How successful can your business really be when its entire marketing strategy is based upon soliciting people who never asked to be solicited?” … the narrator’s answer was “not very”.  My answer: VERY!  I’ve done it.

To start, I must say, there is no group of people, demographic, interest group or otherwise that is truly asking to be solicited.  So, this leaves you with a bit of a conundrum, either go out of business, OR start selling your products and services to people who aren’t looking for them.

If you’re a banker, then don’t worry.  People are already searching high and low, turning over every stone, looking for your product.  If you’re not, then it may some day become evident that you’re going to have to go out and find some buyers.

Pitching a product to people you don’t know is hard.  There’s no doubt about it.  Pitching it people you DO know can be even harder.  You’re essentially telling your prospect “Please judge me”.  If you have a hard time with this, then I suggest you stick to advertising your business in the newspaper or simply work for someone else who will filter this judgment for you. (I don’t mean to imply that there’s shame in working for someone else.)

Now you stand with your hands thrown up in frustration wondering, “Why is 3 foot rule not working for me?”  The short answer: you lack conviction.  The long answer: it’s a dance and you’re out of step.

You see, if you truly believe in what you sell, if it truly makes you happy, then your natural reaction is to “share” it.  That’s what the 3 foot rule really means, engaging those around you in meaningful conversation to determine if this person would like to share your happiness.

It’s true, not everyone is your prospect.  However, the unfortunate reality is, you’ll never know until you ask.  If people are running from you, or worse, shouting “NOT INTERESTED!” before you finish your first sentence, then they have seen through YOU … NOT your product.

Direct marketing relies on more than just a few simple rules.  You must truly understand how people make their buying decisions.

Don’t “fake it till you make it”.  People see through fake.  They learn quickly that you’re looking at them as a commission check.  Buyers need to see genuine concern.

We’ve all heard the cliche “You catch more flies with honey …”.  There’s a reason people say this.  People like happy people, and they are pre-programmed to surround themselves with people who make them feel good.  So start making people feel good, and you’ll start having more success in the sales field.

You must have genuine concern for the buyer.  The buyer must feel like you like them.  So, what if you don’t like them?  In short, too bad.  Get to like them, your paycheck depends on it.  How do you show people that you like them?  Listen to them.  Ask them what they like.  Once you have this information, make sure to repeat it back to them.  This will keep the conversation AND the transaction moving.

There’s an order to it.  Buyers like to be drawn through their buying decisions.  It’s entertainment.  The buyer’s first decision is “Do I like YOU?”.  Their next decision, before they decide to part with their hard earned money, “am I in good company?”.  The buyer’s logic is simple; “If others view this as a good decision, then I’m making a good decision.”

Blaze trails.  Talk about others who love what you have.  “In fact, I just left so-and-so’s, she got three of these things and she said” … add product claims here … “you couldn’t get a ” … something … something … “for the price”.   Now you’re drawing a picture.  Buyers don’t actually consider your product until these decisions have been made.

Remember Ron’s break down fishing pole?  That thing knotted up every time you looked at it, and it was a problem if you hooked any thing bigger than your shoe … BUT, it was the only fishing pole you could fit in your lunch box.  ‘Nuff said.  So, don’t worry so much about the product.

To be successful as a direct marketer, you have to assume the close.  I know; we’ve all heard that assuming only makes an “ASS” out of “U” and “ME”.  People who use this phrase have never made a living in the sales field.  You have to assume that people want, and are going to buy what you’re selling.

Watch Vince, the now famous Sham-WOW guy.  He tells his prospects a dozen times “I know you love it.”  He doesn’t really “know” you love it, he’s assuming you love it and that you’re going to buy it.

My goal is not to insist that direct marketing is the only way to get people to buy your product or service.  There are plenty of other ways.  However, if you understand how people make their buying decisions, then direct marketing will prove to be one of the most effective marketing processes you can employ.

Racism is real, but it isn't the only reason people get arrested.

Regardless of your political opinions, it’s clear that our President is an important part our Nation’s credibility.  When our President is uninformed, we look uninformed.

The President’s latest comments regarding the arrest of prominent Harvard professor Henry Gates are just another example.

Obama said: “I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately,’’ the president said. “That’s just a fact.’’

I’ll agree, I’d be angry, but I’d understand, for one simple reason; Yes, this time it’s me breaking into my own home, but next time it might not be. (If you’ve ever been the victim of burglary, you understand.)  Do we expect our Nation’s police officers to go into a situation assuming there’s no crime being committed?  No!  Plain and simple.  We pay our police officers to put their lives on the line for us.  We must allow them to assume that each situation is not as appears on the surface.

Additionally, if the President had informed himself by reading the police report (here), then he would have known that Gates wasn’t arrested for breaking into his own home.  Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct.  Who among us can insult and degrade a police officer in public without having our mugshot taken?  If I were to act in this manner (race irrelevant) I would expect the same treatment (plus a bloody nose).  It goes to show that respect isn’t a native reaction in our country. (Meaning, first we yell, make a fuss and carry-on … then we gather facts and … maybe … apologize, but only if taken to task.)

Of course, the President defended his remarks;

“I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don’t need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who is in his own home,’’

I don’t know if the President has ever been hit by a big stick before, but it is common sense to the rest of us that a cane, propelled at the cranium, can inflict a serious sensation of displeasure.  (Don’t believe a cane can inflict pain? Look here and here.)

I think the President’s latest remarks make him appear to be out of touch with reality.  Our police are paid to protect us from the worst.  To do so, they have to assume that everyone’s lying, and that a man who’s just broke down a door has committed a crime. (Also, it’s important to remember that breaking into your own home doesn’t mean you’re not committing a crime.)

In conclusion, I have a few tips for Mr. Gates and President Obama;

1. Yelling things like “You don’t know who you’re messing with” and “This is what happens to black men in America” are not comments that are going to soften the situation.  Those statements were intended to provoke.

2. If you’re the subject of a 911 call, you’re going to be asked to identify yourself, even if you’re white. You can’t expect everyone to recognize you. (Unless you’re President Obama, in which case you have a reasonable expectation that the media has done a sufficient job of showing people what you look like, what you sound like, and what you and your wife had for dinner.)

3. What you should have said was nothing.

M.

In order to effectively use your social network to your advantage, it’s important to be able to communicate within your network without adding additional work to your already busy day.  Luckily, the social network has provided us with plenty of free tools to do this.  Here’s what I use:

Free Email

Most people have figured out that there is no reason to pay for personal email service.  In fact, many small business owners are finding that there’s no reason to pay for business email either.  Free email services across the internet have become reliable solutions for many of us, and there’s no generational gap to be found.  You don’t need very much experience to set up your own free email account.  Additionally, services have emerged that allow us to share files, calendars and chat in real time.  Google’s Gmail is a great example.  It comes complete with document storage, integrated calendar, instant messaging and Google’s account recognition capability which allows you to link your Picasa Web Album, YouTube account and Google Analytics (along with a few others) with a single username and password. (easy)

Mozilla Thunderbird

Part of the Mozilla Foundation’s open source movement, Thunderbird is a full featured email client, complete with RSS feed reader.  Thunderbird is capable of using both IMAP and POP protocols, meaning you can use it for multiple email accounts and multiple protocols. (for the non-geeks, that means you can set it up to automatically retrieve your Yahoo mail, Hotmail, Gmail AND your corporate SMTP email.)  Additionally, Thunderbird’s new mail notifications are a conveneint feature.  Thunderbird’s feed reader is easy to configure and allows you to stay up with any RSS feed that you wish. (Conveneint, since nearly every web service provides a news feed.)

TweetDeck  &  Seesmic Desktop

Twitter and Facebook have quicly been realized as a legitimate business tools.  So, how do you keep up with your network without leaving your web browser up all day?  There are two options (… well maybe three); TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop.  These two downloads do basically the same thing, allowing you to post messages to your Twitter & Facebook accounts from a single interface.  Both TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop run on Adobe’s AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) which makes updating a breeze.  For me, TweetDeck is the better of the two programs, but please, don’t take my word for it.  Both are offered as free downloads.  So, install both, play around and uninstall the one you don’t like.

Picasa 3

For those that enjoy taking pictures, Google’s Picasa Web Albums is a good tool for the trade.  While Picasa Web Albums will allow you to upload photos via a web browser (no software necessary), Picasa 3 is a download that allows you to do the same and more.  Picasa 3 allows you to sort, tag, geo tag (via Google Earth), email and blog your pics.  All in one interface.  The email feature gives you the option of launching your default email program or sending photos with your Gmail account.  The geo tag feature allows you to tag photos on Google Eearth.  You can also post photos to your blogger blog with a single click.  The movie maker feature allows you to craete slide shows, complete with background music, and when you’re finished, you can publish to YouTube with a single click.  Another useful tool from the Google team.

Skype

Voice Over IP (VOIP) is one of the greatest descendants of the high speed internet connection.  Now we can transfer data faster than ever, including video and voice.  In fact, many phone services are offering VOIP as a low cost alternative to home phone (long distance) service. (the only draw back being loss of service during power outages … but we all have cell phones, don’t we??)  However, if you have a PC, there’s a tool that utilizes VOIP for free.  Skype, available as a free download, allows users to contact other Skype user absolutely free, and land lines for a nominal fee.  Add Skype’s video chat capability, and you’ve got a business class communication tool.  To set this up, you’ll need a built in mic (standard with most laptops), or a plug-n-play mic (usually comes in the box with desktop PC’s).  Skypes camera recognition means that any $30 camera (the cheapest I’ve found) will do the trick.  No set up, just plug it all in and Skype does the rest.

Facebook App for Blackberry

What can I say, I love my Blackberry.  There’s virtually no limit to what you can accomplish with this slick mobile device.  Add to the list; “Keep up with social network”.  For those who’ve sync’d their email to their Blackberry, you can now do the same with Facebook.  The app takes almost no time to install.  However, don’t be fooled … the Facebook app for Blackberry doesn’t give you all the features of facebook.  In fact, there are some important features that are missing, but there are enough features to make it worth the free download.  With this app, you can post photos from your phone to your wall, write on your friends’ walls, answer friend requests and post updates to your own status.  It’s a great tool for keeping up, and it helps give you something to do while you’re waiting for your next appointment.  It’s a pretty cool app.

Get a blog … it’s free.

It has become clear that there’s a difference between the company website and the boss’s blog.  The company tries to keep to the middle of the road, publish often, but stay conservative.  The boss’s blog on the other hand can share some opinions, make assertions and most importantly, disagree with the opinions of competitors, the media and co-workers (respectfully).  But the real advantage of the boss’s blog is the ability to stay in touch with reality.  Yes, blogs can get you in trouble, but face it, so can talking out loud in public.  But don’t go out and blog at random, make a plan.  You don’t want your posts to damage your credibility.  “Street-cred” is important.  If your audience thinks you’re always trying to sell, sell, sell … well, they’re only going to read your posts when they want to buy, buy, buy.  Make your posts informative.  Sure, slip in some marketing, but be tactful and stop short of the “power close”.  Remeber, a good blog should be a useful resource where people can get real useful information.

To effectively network, you don’t have to add hours to your day, you only have to add tools to your kit.

Your business is taking on a new marketing push (much like mine) and you’ve decided that social media is the way to go.  So, now how do you choose which social networking services to use.  Here’s how I do it…

1.  Make sure it benefits the cause.

There are plenty of social networking sites out there, each taking on a different niche.  Make sure that any social networking site fits your niche … or something that can be adapted (massaged, bent, broken, hacked) toward that end.  Don’t waste valuable time with services that don’t fit the audience that you’re trying to reach.  You’re not networking to get dates or to keep up on celebrity gossip, you’re here to search for business opportunity.

2.  Make sure it’s it fun & easy.

This one’ s pretty self-explainatory, if it’s not fun and easy, then it’s work.  In my opinion, it’s easier to succeed when work is fun.  Remember to relay that fun attitude in your posts and profiles.  It’s good to have a personality, but keep it professional.

3.  Find out if it’s free.

Does it need to be?  Well, in short, no. Social networking doesn’t need to be free, but there needs to be a darn good reason to pay.  That’s not to say that social networking services and their developers aren’t deserving of compensation.  Just remember, it’s your content, and in many cases the service is going to post it right next to ads that generate income for the service, not you.  So, my advice is to use free services as often as possible, and only pay for services that help you build a competitive advantage.  Remember, good technology is always worth the price, the trick is figuring out what’s good technology without risking the fee.

4.  Make sure there are there privacy controls.

This covers two aspects.  First, make sure you can choose what type of notifications you receive?  You don’t want to clutter another inbox with  newsletters or monthly/weekly/daily updates.  Try to reduce notices to only those people who are trying to contact you via the network.

Second, make sure you can hide and/or delete content whenever you want.  It’s a catch 22,  you create a profile or account with your business information, then upload some content to test it all out.  Later, if you decide that you no longer wish to continue, you’ll want to be able to delete your profile. (not to mention, this lets you do a some polite internet house keeping.)  A good tip is to use test content when you’re trying a new service.  See how it’s all displayed, and make sure that there’s no objectionalble material within reach of the reader.

5. Make sure it will work well within the network.

The classic “does not play well with others” checkbox.  I’m all for multi-tasking, so for me it needs to do more than just one thing, unless that one thing is pretty darn important.  If a service forces you to go out of your way to interact with it, then it’s missing the point of social networking.

6. Make sure it’s non-invasive.

You spend a lot of time creating internet content.  Maybe this involves graphic design, a bit of technical writing, maybe some HTML & CSS.  It’s frustrating to upload content to a social networking service only to find that the service has plastered it with ads, logos, watermarks or other proprietary marks.  I think a good social networking service deserves recognition, but I also think that good services know how to get that recognition without interfering with their users’ content.

Using these points will help you choose services that fit your project.  Later, I’ll post a list of the services that I’ve chosen using these guidelines.   M.

Many of my friends and collegues will tell you that I’m a “rules are made to be broken” kind of guy.  I don’t like working with limitations, I feel like they stifle my creativity.  But, I’ve learned the value of tempered governance, and I hope to exercize those lessons here.

A successful project needs rules.  These are the perameters that I hope to work within to make The MyPluribus Project a success:

• Time Limits

I’m a pretty busy guy. I’m a dad, a husband and a member of my local community (meaning I like to interact with people in “real life”), so, for this project to be a true success, it needs to fit within my schedule.  To help, I’ll set a limit on the amount of time I’ll spend on this project.  My current time limit is 1.5 hours per day.  With that point stated, this is all kinda fun.  I like interacting with the people I meet here, so on days when spare time abounds, I may spend a little extra time.

• Goals

Any good successful project needs goals.  There must be a starting point, a direction and a destination.  Something must be achieved, and there must benchmarks along the way.

• No Spam

I will NOT be sending any spam out to my network contacts.  Spam is not marketing, it’s not networking, but it IS annoying.  I’ll do my best to protect the members of my network from other spammers as well.

• Regarding Personal Opinion

As we all know, it’s impossible to avoid having an opinion. (I’ve heard that opinions are related to a certain part of the anatomy, in that we all have one.)  On occasion, I will share my personal opinions and views.  This is human nature.  However, in this project I will only provide my opinion within a reasonable reach of my professional expertise.  That means you’ll get my views on software, the internet, marketing, maybe a little politics, and topics related to technology.  You will NOT hear my opinion on religion, the latest pop trends, fashion, drama, or other topics in which I have no interest or expertise.   One of the goals of this project is to help educate my customers, potential customers and those who are following this project in hopes of repeating it.  I’m here to contribute, not take away.

• No geeky intervention (at least very little)

Yes, I like geeky intervention.  It’s what makes the world go ’round for us programmers.  I like to be able to sling out a few lines of code and have something, somewhere do as I told it.  Not to mention, a little geeky intevention in front of a client makes you look like a magician (geeks know what I mean).  However, during this project I will refrain from most intervention.  I will be using services that are available to the public in the manner that I assume they would.  Gadgets that take a programmers notebook to install are not friendly to the general public, so I won’t be using many (I didn’t say any) of those in this project.

• Standards of practice

To ensure that my credibility remains intact throughout this project, I will set out a few standards of practice.  I’m here to build a network.  I’m here to build my business.  I want to make this as scientific as possible.  Here are a few guidelines I’ll use:

1. Editorial discresion will be applied.  Any marketing plan needs a carefully crafted message, this project is no different.  I’m here to showcase my company’s products and my talents as a developer.  The challange is to do it without imposing on the audience.
2. Social networking services will be chosen based on preset criteria.
3. Maintain the contribution.  Good things happen to those who do good things.  This project in intended to be a good thing.  I will maintain this project as a scientific experiment, and its results as a contribution to the community.

These are the rules and regs that I hope will make this project a success, and finally anwer the question: Can you replace (or suppliment) marketing with social networking?

A project like this has to have a goal. It has to acheive something. It has to have a desired outcome.

 

These are the goals of this project:

1. To demonstrate the usefulness of ZenWebkit as a full featured web presence management system … and to sell a few in the precess.
2. To build a network of small business owners and business professsionals.
3. To quantify my social network into rock-solid business opportunity.
4. To have fun.

The MyPluribus Project is a case study in connecting with people. Throughout this project I will be using social networking pathways to create a network of business associates, social contacts and family members.

A few disclaimers before I start:

1. I am not a journalist. Matter of fact, I’m a fairly poor writer, but since I’m the one who thought all this up, I’ll have to do.
2. To avoid wasting anyone’s time, I will be using this project, and the time taken, to demonstrate the ZenWebkit, a web management utility that I’ve built to help small businesses take control of their website.  So we’re clear, I do intend to make money.
3. For the most part, I will use most free services “out of the box”, with very little modification.  Gadgets that take a programmer’s notebook to install aren’t friendly to the general public, so I won’t be using many (I didn’t say any) of those tools in this project.
4. I’m attempting to achieve a complex task, so this could get complicated. There will inherently be some boring “geek speak”, but that’s how I roll.
5. I’m here to have fun. If this gets boring or inefficient them I’m out.
6. I’m not going to reveal all the inside stuff. Remember, this project is real, so there’s some information that isn’t suitable for the general public’s consumption.
7. I will do my best to protect the privacy of people in my social network, however, this is a social network, and I assume everyone’s here to be found.

That’s it for now.  I may add some more goals along the way, but for now, I’m keeping it simple. M.

Hi, I’m Matt.

As a small business owner, I know that it’s (past) time to start finding more cost effective ways market my business.  We’ve all watched the social media blossom, giving average people (meaning NOT programmers) the ability to interact across a broad network using sophisticated technology.  In a sense, giving ownership of the internet back to the people. (This can’t be said about the network media.)

My take: this is great.  But is it useful for anything other than socializing?  Can a social network be quantified into real business opportunity, and then into money in the bank?  That’s the question I pose with this project, and I’ll tell you how I’m going to answer it in pages to come.

Throughout, I’ll detail my efforts, which services I use and which ones I like.  I’ll provide links to where you can find my Company’s products (those which I sell) and where you can find more information about me and this project.  This  hopefully will lead to the answer of another question: What makes you do business with the people you do business with, the company or the person?

Our company’s marketing has always focused on our team, the talented group people that makes it all work.  We have always believed that people do business with people they trust.  We see the company as a tool to be used by those (trusted) people to achieve their professional goals.

To achieve Zen, we’ve always taken great effort to meet with our customers face-to-face and to genuinely become friends with them.  This means long trips, long meetings, and a feeling that you have to get it all done right now.   That’s not always conducive to the process, and it can make talented people burn out.

This social networking initiative is an attempt to bypass all that without effecting the bottom line and without lowering our standards for customer support.

And so it must begin somewhere.  In the coming days and weeks, I’ll detail my portion of the MyPluribus Project, and then some of my team members do the same.  The project aims to be scientific, repeatable, and real. 

This will truley be on the job training, as I have very little experience within the social media.  That’s going to change.

More to come.  M.