Discuss: How is the Social Media Tsunami Affecting Relationships?

For better or for worse, I believe that social media have impacted our world as much as the telephone or the electric light.  In particular the ubiquitous phenomenon of “sharing” our lives online must be affecting human relationships in many ways. What are Your Thoughts? Please Comment… (Notice that I use Comment Luv to link […]

Are You Wasting Your Time Making Contacts?

Contacts, Connections, Relationships — ROI Is it possible to have too many contacts? Maybe so! I find myself spending a LOT of time adding “friends,” “followers,” and “connections,” and I am proud of the number I have. I assume that there is potential for value from contacts. Maybe they are assets? The problem is that […]

How is the Internet Affecting Our Brains?

As we enjoy the overwhelming resources of the Internet, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? This is the concern of Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What is the Internet Doing to Our Brains. He documents historical and scientific evidence that our brains change in response to our experiences.

Online and Offline Relationships

Online and Offline Relationships — It Goes Both Ways “Online Building Offline Relationships”  is the title of a post by George Couros in his blog, “The Principal of Change.” George is an innovative school Principal who writes about fostering effective relationships. I couldn’t agree more with what Principal Couros wrote: If I know anything, whether it […]

Old School vs. New School Network Marketing

While attending the Pro Marketing Summit, Buddy Hodges asked Ray Higdon his opinion about old school vs. new school network marketing, online and offline.

Engage and Interact to Build Relationships Online

Relationships online are formed by engaging in conversations and interacting. Commenting on another person’s posts or status updates is just as important as posting your own content.

Old fashioned push advertising or brochure-like web sites are impotent. Paying (investing) attention to what others are saying (writing) online is the beginning of a relationship. It is more effective to be interested than to be interesting!

Persistence and Perseverence: Keep On Keepin’ On…

Persistence Pays.  Winston Churchill gave a famous speech  on perseverance to  students. He said, “The pessimist sees the problems in every opportunity. Whereas the optimist sees the opportunity in every problem” “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to […]

Communicating Love at a Distance

Love is a “many splendorous thing.” Love is best shared live and in person. Non-verbal communication enhances the whole experience. However, there are many situations in which lovers are not in the same location. Modern technology has provided many channels of communication to bridge the gaps. One of the most wonderful new video-conferencing tools is  Google Hangout , which allows […]

How to Get in Circles on Google Plus

Personal Branding and Google + Circles Personal branding may be even more important on the internet than it is offline.  Circles on Google Plus (or Google+), along with SEO and social media profiles, are replacing the old school Rolodex in the internet age.  It was always true that people did business with those they knew, […]

How To Make Friends

Making friends is one of the most valuable activities in life, whether measured by happiness, helpfulness, or financial benefits. Making friends usually begins with finding compatible people. In a previous post I wrote about How To Find Friends. Social networking websites have made it easy to find new friends online, but winning their loyal friendship is an art.

The Practical Value of Social Media Relationhsips

Photo credit to toettoet’s photostream Social media marketing is a relatively new and often misunderstood concept. Adding “marketing” to social media need not horrify those of us who value relationships per se.  In fact, idealists (like me) may actually welcome this new form of marketing once marketers get used to the idea that relationships come first […]

How Are Social Media Changing Relationships?

Social media relationships are impacting our lives in many significant ways. First and foremost, the quantity, diversity, and locations of people we’re enabled to connect with has expanded dramatically. Social media are changing our relationships and including many more “weak ties.” For networking purposes “weak ties” could be more helpful than strong ties, because they connect us to resources and information we would not otherwise know about or have access to.

Social Media Relationships Can Be Powerful

Social Media makes it amazingly practical to form new relationships anywhere in the world. They make it convenient to communicate globally, instantly, virtually for free. This is truly revolutionary!

The vastly increased pool of potential friends made accessible by social media allows us to sort and find relationships that are a better fit than we could find from a much smaller set determined by geographical proximity. Now our exciting challenge is to nurture and cultivate deep relationships with “the vital few among the trivial many,” as in “Pareto’s Law.”

Social Media Strategy

Begin with the end in mind. As a leadership consultant I have always asked “WHY” before “WHAT.”  Intention helps focus efforts in the direction of desired results. Craig Galati wrote about social media strategy in the Las Vegas Sun: Social media is important, but it must fit into a marketing strategy. Social media is a […]

Internet Relationships or Illusions?

What kind of relationships do you really have with Facebook Friends and Twitter followers? How does a virtual relationship differ from an offline relationship? We may get some clues from an article Mayhill Fowler wrote in the Hoffington Post, entitled Taking the Me from Social Media, quoted below:

But the heady sensation of connectedness induced by social media whisks the user quickly past contemplation of the sands upon which these Internet relationships are built.

True Friends Help Each Other

Friendship in real life is a never ending circle of love and mutual support. Friends want to help each other without keeping score. They just care and want to help. Reciprocity comes naturally and without obligation. When I think of all the many things that friends have done for me and that I have done […]