A New Reason Why Twitter Is Cool

Posted on 12 November 2009 by admin

Twitter: More Than A Social Network, Its A Human Search Engine ( I wrote this on my iPhone while I was stuck in an accounting meeting, playing with Twitter on my phone)

I never realized how much this biggest benefit of Twitter is a big benefit. The ability to connect with anyone anytime or listen to what they’re saying is quite amazing if you think about it.

It reminds me of batman in the Dark Knight, when he hooks up his bat vision to the entire city’s cell phones. It blows my mind how much current technology is almost like a movie.

Anyway…

My best recent Twitter breakthrough was in finding some outsource help for a very specific need with a programming issue.

Twitter is amazing, it let’s you connect immeadiately people and you can solve all your problems with the right people to help you.

TWITTER THE HUMAN SEARCH ENGINE, amazing.

Be An Entrepreneur Not A Social Media Celebrity

Posted on 12 November 2009 by admin

Why most people starting in social media, purely for social media’s sake get screwed.  And how to make a lot more money, gain a lot more followers, faster…

Let me preface this by saying that this will be a rant and a random meshing of several of my thoughts together, but that I think this may be some of the most important stuff you can think about for YOU on social media, like ever.  Because if you’re doing it for business AT ALL, you had better get a real strategy and clearer vision behind what you’re doing and why. ALSO, this is really me figuring out some of my own stuff, I am writing this for me more than anything, but I hope it helps you at the same time.


I realized that my goal is never to be a “social media celebrity” and that trying to be a social media celebrity and focus more on being an entrepreneur, who uses social media for authenticity, passion and fun.

A while ago, I wrote an article called, the “Ultimate Branding Strategy,” while I think that branding is not really the right focus, it’s something we all have to think about and it’s important. Here’s a link to it. I may not still completely agree with everything I said back then, but I think it’s one of my best articles ever.

You may also like my article: How To Build A Huge Following in Social Media

There is also an interesting pattern I have noticed about the people who have the most followers on twitter for example.

They are all famous or important for some other reason, and they used social media to amplify that.  I’ll admit, what we talked about 6-12 months ago with social media and who was doing well was really a pure game because normal celebrities like ashton kutcher were’nt on there yet.  You almost can’t count that because there’s all kind of famous for the sake of being famous, and did it in other mediums.  Even the movie stars focused on being entrepreneurs in a way, they set out to make movies that made a lot of people happy, not to get a million followers on twitter.

THE POINT: Build something great for it’s own purpose and yours and bring all the authenticity, transparency and you and your greatness and uniqueness to the world including social media, but not because of it.  Here’s my two strategic axioms.

Entrepreneurship First, Fans and Followers Second.

Market First, Product Second.

Case In Point:

Our e Commerce company (not going to mention it here because that’s not the point and there’s privacy stuff) just jumped into social media and there isn’t one person that’s the face and we use it and are authentic and all of the other stuff, but our face book page grew from 0 to over 10,000 and generating 5 figures in sales per month just from the links on face book in about 30-60 days.  That’s incredible really when  you think about it.  It’s because we focused on serving a specific need of a large similar group of people, not trying to get a large group of similar people to focus on us.

…It’s because we focused on serving a specific need of a large similar group of people, not trying to get a large group of similar people to focus on us.”

On Popularity and Politics: POPULARITY IS NOT A STRATEGY… Authority may be

Personally I think focusing on this stuff is draining, painful, selfish, and ultimately pointless.

Most of all it’s not strategic.  This whole game is all about marketing.  Social Media allows us to do marketing in ways that create transparency and trust like never before.  You have to remember though that there is only so much space in people’s heads, and that the tighter your niche the easier it is for you to be number 1.

You can build, automate, systematize and own and leverage a business built on the purpose of serving a specific need.  You can do it more than once.  And probably will in your life time.  People change jobs and employment all the time.

Remember Why Steve Jobs or Jet Blue Or Anyone Being On Twitter Was Cool In The First Place…

It was because it was actually steve jobs, or because they were actually and already cool or important.  It was like inside access to the life of someone you never thought you’d be able to talk to and now you can ask them a question! Cool!  You can see what they’re thinking about and doing… awesome!

So, if you want a lot of people to follow you and think that you are awesome, go out and actually BE awesome.

(PS you might be awesome at teaching about social media or marketing or whatever, and that’s my point.  People are interested in that, and therefore you because of your awesomeness in that… get it?)

At least that is what I am going to focus on doing more of…

 

How To Make Google Love You

Posted on 11 November 2009 by admin

(or the lame academic sounding title)

“Dimensions of User Experience: SEO, PPC, and good Marketing”

If you want a lot of traffic, i.e. REAL PEOPLE WHO WILL GIVE YOU MONEY FOR STUFF,  there are basically two groups of people you have to please.

1. The Google Gods (who are now increasingly pressured by the FTC, but we’ll leave that out of it)

2. The holders of wallets and credit cards ( i.e the cool people in  your market that you actually provide a lot of value for and who give you money)

DO these two things and you go to marketing heaven, with tons of traffic and cash.  Get it wrong and you’ll get slapped hard.

The Google Gods Only Real Commandment

“Serve my searchers great user experience, and ye shall be given traffic”

On User Experience And My Lack Of Expertise, And Ultra Scientific Credibility To Teach It

Recently, I got accounts with google adwords suspended.  Not a big deal and mostly a misunderstanding that looked bad.  There have been after all, a lot of changes recently with google, adwords, etc.  I guess what I am saying is I am going to talk about the effect of user experience on marketing in general, and why you should pay attention to and think about it, but I just want you to understand this is kind of just the stuff that I have been able to pick up so far.

So, getting blacklisted sucked, and luckily me and my google rep were able to have a nice chat and all is now well.

I frankly, was pissed.  A few of my friends can attest.  Pissed.

Then I turned my brain on and realized that those people over at google were actually super smart.

I’ve also realized that google is starting to almost be able to just tell if you’re being legit or not. And it seems that the more real and authentic you usually are, the more google trusts you and the more people will trust you too so word to the wise just shoot straight.

So, that takes care of the fact that this is neither comprehensive nor super scientific, it’s just my observations, but I should also note… The BIG IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER: it’s not just about pleasing google it’s about actually giving a unique, better user experience and helping REAL people.  Luckily, google will be the judge of that, more and more. 

Remember the first and only commandment of the google gods.

Dimensions Of User Experience:

So here’s what I came up with, it’s a short list.  Not comprehensive but interesting to think about and probably just about everything…

1. The highest and most important dimension is… RELEVANCY.

RELEVANCY, RELEVANCY, RELEVANCY.  MATCH THE CONTENT TO THE SEARCH, EXACTLY. Period. (that’s like 2 periods)

Remember this is what made google so good in the first place.  I remember back when we used to ride the bus home from school and ask each other if you had AOL yet and whether or not you were allowed to chat online yet.  And when you had to do essays and research reports it was super hard and teachers didn;t like you to use the internet because the search engines usually just coughed up garbage.  Then google came along and it was like “whooa this is soo cool, I search and it actually brings up stuff that I am looking for… AMAZING!”

Yes we used to be so easy to please.  Now people get mad if the WI-Fi on the air plane goes out.  (another story)

As If I haven’t expounded on the first point in my “numbered list” enough..

The fact is relevancy is the thread through eveything else I can come up with…What is google’s job really, anyway?  Match the webpages to searches that are most likely to give the person what they want and therefore… a great USER EXPERIENCE

2. Authority/Credibility

This is just kind of part of how google figures it out.  I see two peices these days.

1- In bound links, i.e. the math driven and measured popularity contest, how many people link to you?

2- Social Media, you can argue that they are one in the same, don’t matter or are the only things that matter.  I don’t care, all I know is google is too smart not to care how influential a lot of REAL people think you are in social media, so they’ll use it.  It only makes sense, they want to give the highest number of people that are searching what they are looking for, and usually most people are looking for the best most popular person.

3. Popularity: google is super smart. And that’s why they don’t trust their own opinion. Google fundamentally seeks to validate their guidelines on a point by point basis by leting humans, the real users vote for themselves on how the experience is going using their actions

yep.  1 example.  If you have an image that ranks in the image search listings, because you named it something like… I don’t know, “brown puppy”.  And no one clicks on it, google tracks that click through ratio and decides it isn’t relevant and it gets pushed down in the rankings.

4. SPEED: this one is actually why I wrote this whole post…

It really is the idea that made me write this at all to begin with.

I realized:

The best marketing has nothing to do with convincing, persuading or talking to people.  It has to do a million times more with matching the right person with the right thing, and as smoothly as possile take away all the obstacles between that person and the check out.  Improvements almost always come from stripping away the irrelevant and unecessary, not from adding tons more stuff.  In some situations this is completely wrong and opposite and should not be trusted under any circumstances.  But usually, it’s true.  Get out of the way so they can buy!”

Speed is the unsung hero of unique and optimal user experience. It’s why google so proudly displays how long it took them to find all the stuff you’re searching for. And it’s why Twitter is 140 characters and dominating the soial media scene right now… It’s why commercials are 30 seconds, why YouTube videos are usually short and why most men despite what theytell you Saturday afteernoon after the 5 hour of college football, would prefer to just eTch the highlights in sports center. (they will never ever admit it but it’s true ladies)

THE WHOLE REASON WE SEARCH IS BECAUSE WE WANT TO SOLVE PROBLEMS OR ACT ON OPPORTUNTIES FAST… Search engines are ultimately about speed.

Is google right or wrong?

Well they are kind of like NASA but with the interneb and computers

“My Astounding And Resounding Answer After Rebelion And Adolescent Defiance”
Yes.

Look I realized that if google just wants what people like, then it’s best to think that way too…

After battling with it and whining and thinking how frustrating it is to get google slaped and they were black balling my industru and after much crying like a baby, I realized that they just want whats best for all three parties.  Website owner, searcher and google.  And actually if you will start to be creative about creating an amazing unique user experience, (which will help you sell more) GOOGLE will actually love you more and give you more traffic.

(P.S. HERE IS GOOGLE BACKING UP WHAT I AM SAYING AND ADDING MORE TO IT: http://www.google.com/corporate/ux.html

Have you ever noticed how quick and to the point and specific each and every page of their help sites are?  Proof, they like specific, short, and spot on.)

The key is to stop thinking you have to be a direct response, mail order- infomercial on a web page.
“BREAK THE FREAKIN RULES AND JOIN THE FREE GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT IT FAST AND GET PAID BILLIONS FOR IT” movement.

NOW COMMENT OR TWEET THIS OR DIGG IT OR SOMETHING SO I KNOW YOU’RE NOT DEAD

Time Management For Entrepreneurs Kills Dreams And Cements Business Owners In Their Business Never To Have Real Freedom…

Posted on 08 November 2009 by admin

You Have TO Be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY Careful with time management, if you’re an entrepreneur…

Here’s my point, so you don’t have to wade through everything.

An entrepreneur is someone who solves problems at a profit. In essences, like peter Drucker said it’s “innovation and marketing.” SO basically, all an entrepreneur really does is create something that provides value to people that they are willing to exchange money for, and builds a system to serve that value again and again.

” The problem with time management is that you get efficient at doing things you shouldn’t be doing, when you should be focusing on building systems (either people systems or machine/technology systems) to do that work.”

-Andrew James (that’s the quote)

I believe focusing on becoming an effective person, manager of energy, and creative person is really the key.

Everything I have Said Has Basically Come From The Books Or People + My Own Thinking:

  • The Power Of Full Engagement
  • The E-Myth
  • The 4-Hour Work Week
  • Eben Pagen
  • Rich Schefren

Rich taught me something extremely simple, yet profound.  Here are the two on going jobs of an entrepreneur:

1- Managing Projects (a small number of specific, high leverage projects)

2- Creating and optimizing systems (which is usually the project)

So there you have it.  You don’t need to become efficient at doing most of the work.  Yes there is stuff missing from this list.  My point is, start thinking in terms of VISION (which is the creative awareness find the problem and fix it stage), Projects (the set it up and make it work the first time stage), Systems (the get other people, processes or whatever in place to run it for you stage), and Optimization (continual incremental improvement around your greatest constraints and/or opportunities)

I know this was super short, and not very in depth.

If you want more information like this, or IF YOU DISAGREE WITH ME (that would be cool, really I would like a good conversation to ensue) then comment below and I will for sure do a video, podcast, or more posts to talk about it… And respond for sure!

Andrew James

Can You See It? How To Cure Purpose Blindness

Posted on 05 November 2009 by admin

“Are You Blind? Your eyes may work fine but are they helping or hurting you achieve you dreams and fulfill your purpose? Kevin Hall, Answers The Question In A Super Special Interview With Andrew James…”

 

I had the special opportunity today of listening to Kevin Hall teach me amazing principles about vision, leadership and purpose.  The best part of it all is that you can carry all of that wisdom and knowledge in just a few words, once you understand them.

In this interview Kevin Unlocked:

  • How seeing your goal may make the difference between success and failure
  • Why vision is actually a multi-faceted skill and what top CEOs, Olympic athletes and elite authors and trainers he has coached all have in common…
  • Two simple phrases you can use to immediately eliminate dis-empowering beliefs in yourself and feed the beliefs that will make you achieve anything you want…
  • The simple one word answer to the question: “does your purpose find you or do you find your purpose?”

Interview with Kevin Hall, Author Of “Aspire: Discovering Your Life’s Purpose Through The Power Of Words”

LISTEN HERE:  

Here’s The Link TO Kevin Hall’s Book On Amazon (Only Place You Can Get It): “Aspire: Discovering Your Life’s Purpose Through The Power Of Words”

If you’d like to download the interview to take with you on your ipod, right click THIS LINK and choose “save target as” and you can save it to your computer.

Kevin Hall’s Official Press Release On Aspire: Discovering Your Life’s Purpose Through The Power Of Words”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Lindsay Fredricks

Salt Communications

203.428.4512

lfredricks@saltcomm.com

INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER KEVIN HALL UNLOCKS THE SECRET MEANING OF WORDS IN GROUNDBREAKING NEW BOOK

Hall’s ‘Aspire’ takes readers through a unique journey of self-discovery and purpose

(New York, NY, November 5, 2009) – Highly sought-after leadership speaker and business coach Kevin Hall releases his widely appealing and highly anticipated inaugural book, “Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words,” which guides readers on a journey through inspirational encounters that individually reveal the inherent power of words.

Hall made publishing history for a first time author, when he entered into a co-publishing agreement with HarperCollins Publishers after an intense two-day auction with three other major publishers. And, while the book will be available in stores on January 5, 2010, thousands of passionate followers have already driven “Aspire” to an Amazon.com “Top 100” bestseller ranking.

“Aspire” is designed to appeal to all audiences by emphasizing Hall’s unique groundbreaking discovery of a language of leadership and self-discovery. The book deems to understand what words mean in their purest sense, while revealing a new purpose-driven vocabulary.

Hall breaks down this secret vocabulary into 11 key words, which he creatively serves to his readers through a series of enlightening and sometimes heart-wrenching stories. Beginning with an encounter with a shopkeeper in Vienna, Hall discovers that one word, “Genshai,” could change the world for the better; and from here, the journey begins. A quadriplegic on a race to set a world record introduces Hall to the deeper meaning of “Passion,” and Michael Jordan’s famed mind coach, Dr. Gerald Bell, unlocks the power of a “Pathfinder.”

Part inspirational text and part self-discovery workbook, “Aspire” challenges readers to discover their own true purpose by actively participating in the journey – essentially creating a register of individuals who have enriched their life by embodying the outlined words in “The Book of Greats.”

“Words have tremendous power for good or for ill. They can inspire or expire. The choice is ours,” declares Hall. “Using words and language that lift the human spirit creates a new paradigm in thinking. Instead of “What can I get?” our mentality shifts to “What can I give?”

“Aspire” and Hall have already received immense acclaim from renowned leaders in the industry, including Stephen R. Covey, bestselling author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, who provides the foreword in this book.  “Just as I broke new ground in human development over twenty years ago by uncovering the habits that make for a meaningful and effective life,” states Covey,  “Kevin is breaking new ground by uncovering and revealing the true intent and meaning of the words that make up those habits.”

About Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall is a highly sought-after business consultant, speaker and coach. He was a partner in Franklin Quest, makers of the Franklin Day Planner. As vice president of Sales and Training, he helped fuel Franklin’s worldwide growth. Kevin is co-founder of the Statue of Responsibility Foundation envisioned by Dr. Viktor Frankl, author of “Man’s Search for Meaning.” He has been recognized for his groundbreaking approach to uncovering the hidden, and often secret, meanings of words. Kevin is also credited with wordsmithing and trademarking the original slogan for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, “Ignite the Fire Within.” In its national distribution, “Aspire” is being published by industry giant HarperCollins. Visit Kevin Hall online at www.powerofwords.com.

Don't Buy This Book…

Posted on 04 November 2009 by admin

I have a great friend and mentor, named Kevin Hall.  He is an amazing guy really.  And he just wrote a brand new book called…

Aspire By Kevin Hall

(The actual title is “Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words“)

BUT PLEASE DON’T READ THIS BOOK UNLESS:
- You want to be inspired to aspire

-You want to understand what true leadership is all about

-You want to grow, be better in every way.

Now, on the other hand, if you’re into that becoming more kind of thing, I

almost demand that you read this book.

Seriously, one of the best books I have read in a long, long time.

Tomorrow, I have an interview scheduled with Kevin to talk all about it, and hopefully it will light some fire

under you in a powerful and positive way…


Below Is Something I Wrote Right After Reading The First Chapter When I Recieved An Advance Copy, It Was That Powerful…

My Thoughts On : Aspire Discovering Your Purpose Through The Power Of Words, By Kevin Hall

(PS as I write this Kevin is only about 100 copies away from hitting the Amazon Best Seller List! If you’re at all interested in a powerful read and some amazing insights, pick up a copy and help Kevin reach his goal.  I loved the book and it would really be a great gift as well so maybe pick up two… then they’ll give you the free shipping :)

If you insist on BUYING IT YOU CAN DO SO HERE: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061964549?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwandrewjame-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061964549

May 26th, 2009

Genshai, The Secret Word:

“Never, ever treat anyone in a way that would make them feel small.  That includes never treating yourself small.”

-       The Meaning of “Genshai” from “Aspire” by Kevin Hall

I was recently at one of my very best friends homes.  He and I have always had a special connection in our love of reading and discovering life changing principles through many of the same books, speeches, and teachers.  One of those teachers he introduced me to is an author, trainer and coach, Kevin Hall.  I know Kevin, and have met him only a few times, but have always left better than I came.  When I was first introduced, Kevin was working on a book that was to be titled, “The Power Of Words.”

I have anticipated it for a long time, and have been so excited to read it.  Finally, last night, Brandon told me it was ready and gave me a copy of the book.  I just finished the first chapter and it is truly life changing if I can apply it.  The first word that Kevin teaches is Genshai.  Like I quoted above it means never making another feel small, no matter how small they are.

There are six words that over time have become more potent and powerful to me than any others.

“I Am A Child Of God.”

The deepness and richness of their meaning is so deeply profound to me.

Whatever your definition of belief in a divine creator, higher power or God may be, the deep meaning of these words is enriched by what Kevin Hall calls “The Secret Word, ‘Genshai.’”  For me, understanding and believing these words, makes the concept of genshai come alive.  Because if I am a child of God, the greatest of them all, and you are too, then how could I ever think to treat you or myself as someone… small.

The Greatest Of Them All

All great men, truly great share this same almost sacred trait of practicing “Genshai.”

Some of these men include the great teachers and leaders of religion and people like, Jesus Christ, Budda, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and Muhammad.

Others are great political leaders like Franklin D Roosevelt (I thought of stories about him from “How To Win Friends And Influence People” when I learned this word), and great CEOs and business leaders alike.

The way a great man or woman treats the smallest around him is definitely the truest measure of his greatness.

There are many others in my life who exemplify Genshai in everyday greatness, some of my best friends, my parents, business partners and many others.

Misunderstanding the word

The deepest lesson Kevin taught me in his book was practicing genshai towards yourself.  Actually, it was his friend Pravin a store owner in Vienna, Austria who taught him this lesson.

Practicing Genshai means not only never acting or speaking in a way that would make another feel small, but it means never acting, speaking or thinking in a way that you would allow yourself to make yourself feel small.

Kevin shared a quote from his journal that had profound meaning to me.

“The way I treat myself reflects the way I treat others.”

What does this have to do with business?

Well everything really.  A podcast and a discussion are probably in order to truly express this but just think of it.

As an entrepreneur you are here to serve people.  Business is designed to build what Emerson call the most beautiful compensation into our lives.  It is to make your life more full and more rich by enriching the lives of others.

You cannot serve others if you do not serve yourself.  This is a lesson I am still learning.  But viewed through this lens of genshai, it makes sense.  How can I truly avoid treating others as something other than small if I see myself as small?

Imagine how customer service would change if we really believed and practiced genshai.

Imagine how you would treat and take care of yourself and how productive you would be if you practiced genshai towards yourself.

Imagine how you would approach partnerships, joint ventures and the quality of your products if you practiced genshai.

You can still be competitive and practice genshai, in fact the more I think about it, the more I realize that you almost have to practice genshai to truly be a competitor.

Social Media Is All About Piercing Corporate Veils With Transparency

Would you buy differently from big companies if you knew you could get to the CEO with a problem?

Of course.  That transparency has a power to build brands and customer loyalty in a way and at a speed that is unprecedented by the restrictions of all past forms and mediums of communication.

In a place like twitter, real people from Jet Blue actually care about letting you know where the best sandwich is in the air port your flight leaves from.

Big names on face book actually reply to your question.

Real people at real companies actually care even if you are not a customer yet.

This is genshai.

Well, there is much more to the story and much more that I would love to have Kevin teach us.  I’ll do my best to set up an interview with him so he can more richly explain this amazing word, and some of the others in his new book “Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through The Power Of Words”

Leave a comment with thoughts, input or questions for Kevin and we will discuss it when I am able to do an interview with him.


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