Last activity: 11 hours ago
While we all know that Biznik is the best community to grow your business, I'm curious what other sites people spend time on to either learn about business, get support for their business, connect with other indie folks, etc.
If you haven't heard yet, I'm excited to report that I've joined Biznik as an employee, starting this week, under the title of "Community Catalyst". Thanks to each of you who've sent a congratulatory or encouraging note -what a fun, vibrant community to be a part of!
Most of you found out the basics from last week's Biznik blog interview, but if not, give it a read if you want to know more about me and how/why this has come about.
There's a number of details not covered in the interview that some of you may be wondering about, so I thought I'd post a few notes here:
First of all, this position is 'beta', meaning it will evolve over time.
I also want to also make it known from the start that I believe that the real 'community catalysts' are each of you Biznik members. Its your unique energies that makes this community such a powerful, fun, authentic, creative online and offline community. I'm just taking the title to give a few areas of Biznik a bit more focused time and attention.
While I'll be taking on a number of roles and projects with Biznik, my main focus is to expand and enrich the biznik community --both online (this site and external sites) and in real events. Like you, I love and believe in Biznik's manifesto, and want to see our membership grow globally and exponentially.
This means you'll be seeing me much more active in discussions on the site, as well as more present in live events. Don't worry (or do), I'll still be my same silly self. Biznik is not the kind of place I'd need to hike up my 'image-management' now that I work here.
Any tips for enriching community on this site, or suggestions for external indie biz 'hubs' I can spread the biznik love to, are totally welcome. I plan to also share about Biznik through new social media tools and popular social networks, as well as spark some fun 'attention getting' schemes. Stay tuned...
If you're new to Biznik, please feel free to ask me publicly or privately any questions about how to make the most of this site or how to connect more deeply with the biznik community.
Lastly, for those who have been trying to catch me in real time, I plan on being in Seattle Mon-Wed, probably shifting down to Mon-Tue after Sept. I'll usually be working from Dan & Lara's in Fremont or Office Nomads on Capitol Hill. I look forward to finally seeing many of you face-to-face more frequently, and coming to events on Mon or Tue nights!
I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve Biznik, as well as for each of your friendships and professional support. Let me know, here or privately, if you have any other questions about my new role as Biznik Community Catalyst.
Warmly, Leif
I don't know about you, but my default forum for posting and reading in biztalk is this one -'Community-wide general discussion'.
I'm curious, do you like having a general forum like this to catch 90% of the discussions, or would you rather there be more (or better defined) forum categories?
I've heard a number of people express a wish that the mechanism for accepting/rejecting network connections was a little more effective (and it is coming soon). At core, the complaint is that once you deal with a network invitation, the original comments sent along with that invitation are then lost (unlike regular messages).
So, my tip until this is remedied: (Its really simple, but wanted to spell it out as members vary in their tech experience).
When you first get the invitation:
Now you've got it in your 'Sent' box in your messages ;)
Hey Biznikkers, I'm here in Seattle for the rest of the week (though Thur is mostly full) and would love to see some of you. If you've been wanting to get together and talk about social media or sparking fun/connection in other ways, please give me a ping and I'd love to get together.
Current plans: Tue: Hanging out in Ballard Tullys, busy 3-4 Wed -I'll be spending the day at Office Nomads, but with time to meet Thur -Mostly busy Fri -Mostly free
Hi guys, for those of you who have time and the tech capability to watch a 1 minute video -- check out this little teaser video I just created (feel free to respond here or via video, if you can...)
Also, I thought I'd share my basic outline for those who are wondering what I'll be covering in relation to 'online community' and business.
I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow at Bizjam in general, and at my session on "Raving Fans: How to build rich online community that supports your business" in particular!
As a social media consultant and developer, I had the 'duh' idea a couple months ago of using my business site as an example of how to create an online community that supports your business, and as a way of showcasing various social media tools. (We'll talk more about this at Bizjam.)
Until today, I've only allowed folks to see the welcome page and first page, after that --to see videos, enter discussions, and access other resources, you had to become a member. (Part of the reason is that I wanted to get some activity going there first). Well, today I've decided to experiment by opening access to the whole site.
Questions:
Anyway, I'd LOVE to have some more bizniks there, and especially if you could join in a start or reply to a discussion thread to warm the nest there.
Check it out at www.SparkSocialMedia.com
Thanks!
I considered posting this in my 'confessions' thread, but as its still a live issue (thus not yet funny) and I have a hunch a convo around it could benefit me and many others, I'm starting this new thread.
Confession: I probably 'waste' 50% of my work time during an average week.
Not every day, nor every week, yet, red-faced, most often -ouch. It's a Fact (rescuetime has confirmed it) and the only way for me to change is to 'come into the light' ;)
Now, I know that much of my 'wasted time' (social sites, trying new apps, reading feeds, etc.) will end up having payback and is a necessary part of me keeping up in my industry (social media), but the fact is, I am not intentionally doing this kind of learning, research and connecting -and I don't feel good about it. I want to schedule that kind of time, not drift into it by default.
So, I've come up with 'plans' to help --things others have suggested, or I've tried, or I've recently brainstormed. Things like "start the day planning your day, away from the computer" or "no email until early afternoon" or "set up a reward/consequence system", etc. And I think these are great ideas....but I still have to "do" them.
Challenge: When working by oneself, what are some healthy ways to keep accountable to one's work plan when one struggles with self-discipline and is easily 'fuzzified' (distracted, less creativity, zig-zagging, etc.) when in front of the computer? Basically, How to be more intentional?
What do you think? Any empathy, advice and particularly stories of success and transformation in this area, would be greatly appreciated?
(Professional disclaimer: When I'm working for a client, I'm really working and get the job done. It's the 'other time', when procrastinating or needing to focus, find more work, that things go awry.)
Come join me for a full free day of social media, marketing, and other helpful info: http://podcamp.pbwiki.com/PodcampSeattle
I'm hear to report that a very strange thing is happening here at Biznik -member profiles are sprouting humiliatingly bright red clown noses. After reporting this to the Biznik team, they immediately investigated the possibility of viral sabotage to the biznik site. However, when I later looked in the mirror, I saw to my horror that this virus has apparently broken into the REAL WORLD! AAAAAHhhhhh!
But seriously...
If you are in support of:
then please commence clownification of your biznik profile by downloading this clownnose and then pasting it onto your profile picture.
Let's start a Nez-olution!
Last Bizjam was a wonderful opportunity for many of us to engage in business networking, meet new friends and potential partners, learn a ton of useful information, and overall have a super fun day (and night!)
This year is going to be even better with the bonus day on learning about what is arguably one of the hottest trends and most empowering tool-sets available -new/social media (social medi-huh?) After this day, you'll be in the know and empowered with practical steps related to getting started with your own business enriching tools like blogs, podcasts, social networking sites, how to be found on search engines, building your own online community, etc. No need to keep feeling 'in the dark' about all the change thats happening!
So, I'm curious. If you're not already registered, are you planning on coming? And if not, whats holding you back? We'd love to see you there! Here's the sign up link if you're ready.
Warmly, Leif
Come into the light, you'll find you're not alone.
In the spirit of humor, humility and humanness (all of which etymologically grow from the decay of the earth -humus), share with us your business badness (not in the sense of mistakes, like this great biznik post, but more intentional naughtiness).
Recycling Time!
Just read a great post from one of my favorite bloggers and social media guys, Chris Brogan. I think Bizniks could really benefit from it. It's primarily some good social advice about what to do when your in a networking situation --wrestling with insecurity, wanting to make a good impression, etc. The heart of his post is about finding confidence in yourself and being brief. Check it out here. I'm curious to know what you guys think (theres great discussion there as well).
I was just thinking (sorry): Who knows best what an audience wants to hear --the audience or the presenter? The presenter may know best some of what the audience needs to know, but the audience knows best what they want/expect to cover.
And isn't social media, sites likes Biznik, largely about getting good feedback, refining your product/service, connecting with your 'community'?
Well, I'll be presenting during the Social Media day of BizJam, on "Raving Fans: Using Social Media Tools to Build an Online Community for your Business" and what a missed opportunity it would be for me to not ask you, the BizJam attendees, what you want to learn about this subject.
So go ahead and let me know some of your questions, expectations, or whatever you think will help me to make your time worth while. This will help you prepare for the conference as well. I won't be answering here, but I'll be gathering info. The workshop will be divided into a time of presentation, engaging group interaction, and Q&A.
PS I imagine other presenters would love to get some advanced info as well (perhaps that should/could have been part of the Bizjam site?) so poke a few of them (facebook language) to start a thread.
Look forward to seeing you at BizJam -Leif
I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with 'crowdsourcing' using CrowdSpring to produce a logo (How it works: you offer a price and then are guaranteed a minimum of 25 submissions.) Check out my logo options here, I'm curious to see what YOU think.
(*For the record, and in support of the excellent biznik designers here, I should say that I think that developing a long term relationship with a designer you like is the best option. However, if you need something simple, fast or probably cheap (or haven't yet found that person) using something like CrowdSpring seems to be a pretty cool way to go.)
Second request for feedback: I've been battling with choosing the best tagline for SSM. Though I do social media consulting and development for a variety of genres (podcasting, blogs, social sites, etc), my focus seems to be heading in building online communities, so which is your favorite:
Spark Social Media:
Notes on words:
Who is my target market? I haven't refined as much as I'd like to, but so far its been mostly small businesses, associations, networks, non-profits, and people who are gathering community around an event/project/hobby/etc.
Thanks for any thoughts or feedback! Love ya, Leif
Wow, 2008 went fast, huh? Can you believe its the end of December already? Tell us, what is your business life like? How did your goal-setting go? Were you overly or under ambitious? What did you learn?
(Spoiler: I am playing off this (I dare you 2) previous post, encouraging us bizniks to role-play as if its the end of the year, sharing how your business has changed. Its intended as a reminder/refresher for those of you who posted goals earlier, an opportunity to slightly change course, or as an opportunity for those who haven't shared goals yet to do so in this unique way)
I had this thought last week.... Wouldn't it be cool if I could
Now, I realize that we have a section in our profile that's called "What I need"...but:
Just a thought. -Leif
During a Biznik event today, a number of participants talking afterwards discovered that the past 6 months have been a little wild, in terms of identity and vocational focus. We talked about the 'ooze' a caterpillar apparently turns into before being changed into a butterfly.
At times we felt it was rough, dark, confusing and yet at other times (particularly more recently) it has felt more exciting and hopeful.
As I write I realize that this time period parallels our fall and winter seasons, yet it is much more than that.
Just curious if others have felt the same, and if you too are shifting towards the excitement of spring for your work (and really, for me at least, something bigger in the world in general).
Looking forward to seeing and flying with your beautiful wings. -Leif
Is your current use of technology, or lack of technological know-how, helping or hindering your business to thrive? Well, you're not alone if you've thought of circumstances in which your experience with technology is blocking your productivity. Come join others wanting to creatively find ways to be more empowered and balanced in their daily use of various technologies -email, web services, cell phones, and more.
For some of you, that might mean becoming more aware of technologies that can help your business become more productive, for others it may mean setting boundaries or discussing practices that have helped others become more technologically efficient.
As this is not a Biznik event, some participants will be focused more on personal use, then business use, but our interactive processes, questions and discussions will apply to all perspectives.
Soul Tech workshops, recently featured in the national section of the LA Times, are a fun, cutting edge way to help you become more productive and balance in your life.
We have recently decided to offer this workshop on a donation basis, with the understanding that nobody will be turned away, excepting we reach maximum capacity.
This workshop is scheduled to be filmed and shown on The Today Show, so participants must be willing to be on national television. There will be a non-filmed section of the workshop, to allow for the option of more personal disclosure. Please only attend if the topic is genuinely interesting to you, and not because of the potential media exposure. We look forward to having some fun, creative biznik energy there!
Call 1-877-I-AM-GAME if you're ready to register or if you have any questions. More information can also be found here at the Soul Tech webpage.
-Leif
"I love talking about this topic – meeting the people who attended, their openness, the group participation. And I am particularly pleased that I learned about the many tools available to help me achieve my goals.” -Jeanne Verville, Part Participant
Is your current use of technology, or lack of technological know-how, helping or hindering your business to thrive? Well, you're not alone if you've thought of circumstances in which your experience with technology is blocking your productivity. Come join others wanting to creatively find ways to be more empowered and balanced in their daily use of various technologies -email, web services, cell phones, and more.
For some of you, that might mean becoming more aware of technologies that can help your business become more productive, for others it may mean setting boundaries or discussing practices that have helped others become more technologically efficient.
As this is not a Biznik event, some participants will be focused more on personal use, then business use, but our interactive processes, questions and discussions will apply to all perspectives.
Soul Tech workshops, recently featured in the national section of the LA Times, are a fun, cutting edge way to help you become more productive and balance in your life.
We have recently decided to offer this workshop on a donation basis, with the understanding that nobody will be turned away, excepting we reach maximum capacity.
This workshop is scheduled to be filmed and shown on The Today Show, so participants must be willing to be on national television. There will be a non-filmed section of the workshop, to allow for the option of more personal disclosure. Please only attend if the topic is genuinely interesting to you, and not because of the potential media exposure. We look forward to having some fun, creative biznik energy there!
Call 1-877-I-AM-GAME if you're ready to register or if you have any questions. More information can also be found here at the Soul Tech webpage.
-Leif
"I love talking about this topic – meeting the people who attended, their openness, the group participation. And I am particularly pleased that I learned about the many tools available to help me achieve my goals.” -Jeanne Verville, Part Participant
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