I am calling BS on the RT & the Like button.

You and I are hiding behind the guise of someone who cares, when the reality is that every time we hit the like or RT button we don’t give a shit.

Social media is full of bullshit, this isn’t news to you I know.  But it didn’t hit me until today when I realized I am full of it too.  I was reading an article (skimming) when I clicked the RT button and added a the note “a good read” when in fact I hadn’t truly read anything, or for that matter even enjoyed it. Then it hit me again when I was watching the latest episode of WLTV, which was about beer, and I was wondering how a good comment could help me promote my site.

At that moment in kind of just hit me. I all to often am nothing more than the spammer / douche bag that just replies to get recognition. In fact it made me realize that I don’t even consume content, that many times I am just looking at things wondering how I can use it to help myself.

I know that average Joe Facebook user doesn’t look at it as an opportunity to promote himself, because he isn’t using the internet to promote anything. But in reality the RT, the Like, the Digg, The Stumble, all of it is just screams look at me I care enough to do something, but not enough to actually take any time to read your content, digest it, and formulate a meaningful opinion on it.

So what caused the downfall of these social media applications? Was it jackasses who only care about themselves (me), was it because often a like, RT, etc is being done as a favor and not because the content was good, was it to gain a link or recognition? Who knows?

I am not sure what it is, but for me it is time to change the game. To go back to why I originally posted blog comments and RT’ed good tweets, because they were worth commenting on. Until then in my book the RT & Like are worthless.

Creadiv TV is really becoming about my business experiences, and how I am learning from events that occur every day.

In today’s episode I talk about going through the proper channels before starting a project. If you don’t you may end up in trouble, looking foolish, or putting the people you are working with in an uncomfortable position.

Another important part of your project is the scope. I talk about how I recently thought I had my project scope ironed out, but didn’t and how that affected project development. Time is money so don’t let scope creep creep up on you.

Until next time…I will see you later.

Everything in the world has a perceived value attached to it. Whether it is your reputation, the company you work for, the car you drive, it is being judge by people.

This means your perception is worth a great deal if you are in business.

In this video I discuss how a company’s attempt to make a sale at any cost has change my perceived value of them and how they have lost any chance of having my business ever.

As for my perceived value I want to show you that I am serious about what I do. Join my community and I will be there to ask and answer questions with you.

A quick video from my brand new Flip UltraHD camera. The wonderful folks from http://www.salesforce.com sent 2 flips to my office.

I don’t know how they found us over at cdsindiana.com, but I am forever grateful as I have wanted a flip since the moment they came out.

The Flip itself is labeled salesforce.com, but the packing shows it came from Bob Rourke at Printing By Design. So big thanks to him as well.

Adam

So be sure to take the time to go to their website and check them out. It seems like they have really got it going on, and I am not just saying that because they sent me a camera.

It is time that your business starts reacting to market trends. Watch as I use the USPS as an example of how 1 company missed the boat on big money and is paying the price.

Tell me what you do, what industry you are in, and where and how you are going to react to the market.

Yay! My first ever vlog post.

In today’s episode I talk about the importance of the follow up. Don’t write off those that don’t contact you. Be sure that no matter what you follow up with them. Even if it leads nowhere it has affected you in some way.

Leave comments to let me know what you thought about my topic and my first vid.

Hey Creadivs,

Commerce -> That-a-way

With my networking buzz still going strong I attended the 5th Annual Health & Interest Fair at the Towne Center in Merrillville last week, and it was quite a fun time. I never really realized how much I enjoyed just getting out of the office and meeting new people. In the name of commerce and company visibility that is.

With the goal of handing out some cards and expanding my network I walked into my first ever health fair/ expo thingy. It was a lot of fun. I got to meet some more amazing people that had some really cool products and strong ties to the medical field. I gained a new potential lead and a really cool opportunity to help a new RFID company do some data collection.

If you don’t believe the adage “it isn’t what you know it is who you know” then you are a ball in high weeds. Social networking gives you an absolute amazing advantage in business. Building your personal brand is a hot topic for me as I read Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk and I am absolutely dumbfounded by the success of this guy. He has made himself a brand by doing what he does best, meeting people.

Now don’t get me wrong you can’t be out there spewing BS all over the place and have success just because you know some people. But if you are overlooking getting out there on Facebook , Twitter, Linked In or even at local conventions you are missing a huge market and a huge opportunity.

I know that I will be attending the Health and Wellness fair annually. What will you be doing to grow yourself?

Social networking tip:

When you get back from your event make sure you take the time to file your business cards away. Organizing them in your binder or entering the info into your outlook contacts folder can take some time, but in the end will leave you better prepared to find and contact that person later on. Also you can leave notes about what they looked like, what they do, how you met them, and what interest you shared that could help create a better network.

Links

Gary Vaynerchuk – The Wine Guy that knows business.
The amazon link in this post is an affiliate link. I am trying to make some money by selling you stuff I like.

Hey Creadivs,

I have recently become quite the busy body on the social networking scene. Building Facebook fan pages, Linkedin connections, and gaining Twitter followers has been my MO for the last couple of weeks.

Why? To gain visibility in local, national, and international markets.

My primary focus is gaining visibility, meeting people, and making contacts within NWI. So I have been searching local #hashtags on Twitter, and connecting with current and former employees on Facebook. Two technologies that are ridiculously popular at the moment. But it occurred to me that no matter how many connections I made and how well I got to know them online, I needed more. I needed high touch as well as high tech. So it was time to get offline.

Yesterday was the first day that I did that. I attended the Northwest Indiana Business Professionals luncheon at Portillo’s in Merrillville. An event that was absolutely what I was looking for, good food, good contacts, and good advice. I met a handful of great individuals that I was able to speak to, connect with, and even add back to my online community. But the best part was that I could see them, I could shake their hands, and I gained the ability to be able to pick them out of a crowd, something that you just can’t get from twitter.

After lunch Kathy Sipple of My Social Media Coach gave a presentation on the benefits of using online communities the likes of twitter and linked in and even shared a couple of really cool tools with our group.

Yesterday was a major success in my book, and I look forward to joining the NWIBP ( Northwest Indiana Business Professionals ) Group as a full fledged member.

The future of my social networking calendar already has a new event. The 5th Annual Health & Interest Fair in Merrillville set for tomorrow make sure you check it out.

Social networking tip:

Make sure you exchange business cards because unless you have a great memory you aren’t going to remember everyone. When you have a second use the back of the card to write down some notes about that person. Some identifiers, some conversation pieces, or any thing that you feel may be of relevance down the road.

Links Courtesy Of Kathy Sipple:

twtqpon – create and distribute twitter Coupons
socialoomph – social networking tools including scheduled tweets

Hey Creadivs,

I finally finished designing & developing the website for Custom Data Services, Inc.  (work work) and I am relieved to say that I wasn’t terribly behind schedule.  I guess being behind schedule at all is bad, but I finished the project about a week after I expected it to be done.  I would love it if you would visit the site, which you can do by clicking on the image above, or the following strategically placed keywords below and letting me know what you think about the design and functionality of the site in the comments sections.

Classic Spammy Link Building Technique —-> Visit Custom Data Services, Inc. a Medical Management corporation.

Now we are really putting our focus into purchasing or building a online patient payment system.   A pretty daunting task because well it will either be really expensive or really developmentally challenging.  There are a lot of rules and regulations that go into storing credit card and patient information for use on the web.  In fact we are even looking to see if there is an insurance policy that covers data theft do to hacking. So if you are an expert in data encryption, credit card standards, or just building web apps drop me a comment with your recommendations on what to do. I would really appreciate it.

For those of you that are into becoming rich then you will want to check out Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It that just came out as well as everything this guy does.  He is a real inspiration and is making a killing doing what he loves.

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

^^^ That is an affiliate link. I try to sell you things I like from amazon.

Later

Hey Creadivs,

I don’t know how many of you read this site anymore, but if you do I just thought I would let you know about Lazy Revenue.

Lazy Revenue is an online marketplace and auction house for websites. So basically if you are a website flipper an alternative to the overcrowded overly expensive marketplace at flippa.com

I haven’t used lazy revenue yet, but might as I am thinking about selling one of my niche sites I will keep you up to date if I decide to do that.

Until Next Time,

Adam