You may be surpised to know there are some rather famous Social Media folks who also happen to be Ryzers. Let me bring a few to your attention. I also encourage you to get to know them. If you know some folks I have not mentioned, please add them to this thread.

1) Ernesto Sirolli. Here is the man who spoke to the United Nations about enterprise facilitation and is revitalizing small business communities around the world through private enterprise initiatives as opposed to government-funded bailouts.

2) Alf Nucifora. Here is a nationally-syndicated small business columnist who speaks to Fortune 500 companies all across the nation. When he first moved from Atlanta,GA to Sausalito, CA he actually ventured north to Middletown and spent a day talking with and encouraging the local merchants.

3) Donna Fisher. This Texan is one of the best-selling authors and professional speakers concerning business networking you will find anywhere. She has even co-authored books with another well-known Ryzer, Scott Allen.

Well, I think we need more people like those folks here on Ryze. Who would I like to see join Ryze? Here's a brief list:

A) Robert Scoble - former Microsoft evangelist, FastCompany photographer, videographer. Robert is THE most popular person on Foursquare and among the most popular on Twitter.

B) Jason Womack - internationally-known business coach, efficiency expert and profesional speaker. His father is the former CEO of Sharper Image. As you might expect, Jason grew up surrounded by all the latest gadgets and gizmos Sharper Image had.

C) Dan Hollings - Chances are you have at least heard of a movie that had its debut online called "The Secret." Well, the secret to "The Secret" is Dan Hollings. He's the marketing genius behind that movie. He's also the man behind the famous "Twitter Toolbar." I challenge you to find anyone - even at Twitter - who knows more about what can be down with Twitter tools than Dan Hollings.

How might you get Robert, Jason and Dan to join Ryze? I suggest you start by looking them up on Twitter and sending each one a tweet. You might be surprised by the results. I did not bring Donna or Alf to Ryze. But, I did bring Ernesto into the fold. And, all I had to do was ask to join. This is not rocket science, folks. It's really quite easy to do...provided you CARE enough to take the initiative. That's really the biggest hurdle. Why not jump over it?

Now, some folks may be thinking to themselves, "Lamar, you're always telling other folks what to do. Why don't you do it and leave the rest of us alone? Well, I am doing it. That's how Ernesto Sirolli ended up being on Ryze. But, what I have found is that one person is nowhere near as effective as a group - even a small group (like a "cluster" of four people). What we need here on Ryze is a lot of little small groups stirring up some excitement.

It should be exciting to Ryers to know that Ernesto, Alf and Donna are here on Ryze. But, if you do not take the time to get to know them, what good does it do you or them? Think and act "better together" and we will indeed be better off.

Lamar Morgan

Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901

Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer

Kurt,

You asked an excellent question - "What does it take to be a 'rather famous Social Media Folk?'" I think the answer is revealed on a first page of a Google search for your name. Indeed, Google your first and last name and see what comes up? Is it even you at the top of the list?

"Lamar Morgan" is not all that common a name. But, when I Googled that name, the person who topped my Google page was not me. Looking down that page, a good deal you see in not me, either. In many cases, it about ideas or concepts that are in some way connected to me. But, Google any one of the folks I mentioned - Ernesto Sirolli, Donna Fisher, or Alf Nucifora and what do you see? You see an impressive showcase about who they are and what they do. This is no accident. This is their design or the design of someone who works for them.

Ernesto joined Ryze on his own at my request. He did not follow through as he should have. He should have assigned his web designer to finish that job for him. But, the web designer did establish his presence on Google rather well didn't he? It's no coincidence you have beautiful website links and pictures being associated with Ernesto Sirolli on the first page of Google for that keyword term. No, that's a good design thanks to the Ernesto's webmaster - not Ernesto himself.

A good first Google page is something I believe every Ryzer can and should have. But, you have to work at it with a design. After all, depending upon the popularity of your name, you are going to have competition.

Lamar Morgan

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Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer

Kurt,

True, Google is not Social Media. However, just about everything - including Social Media - is found on Google. It's not simply that you are able to find yourself on the first page of Google when you do a search for your first and last name. It's also "how" you are featured on that page. Do a Google search for Donna Fisher. Look at how Donna Fisher (the professional speaker) has has presented herself. This is no accident. This is her design. It is no accident that Donna Fisher (the professional speaker) outshines the other folks on that page.

The famous Social Media folks stand out because they know HOW to stand out. They go the extra mile (or makes sure someone else goes it for them) to look impressive online.

Lamar Morgan

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Private Reply to Reg Charie

Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer

Private Reply to John Snyder

Kurt,

You make some excellent points. I cannot say I disagree with your statements. Social Media is not SEO. But good SEO does help those folks who are involved in Social Media in much the same way it helps anyone who has a presence on the Internet.

However, this whole Internet thing seems to be evolving in amazing ways. Time was if you wanted to attract attention online, all you needed to do was get yourself a website. The next thing you know, that is not good enough. You also need a BLOG. Why? So your public can easily INTERACT with what you have to say. Then, that is not good enough. Suddenly, you need a micro-blog, like Twitter. Why? So, you can answer the question, "What are you are doing now?"...quickly and in very few words.

What's next? Social location and gaming with your cell phone. It's not enough to have a website, a blog, and a Twitter account. Savvy business people are going to go where the "collective intelligence" goes. Tradition advertising is having a difficult time because a cultural shift is taking place in the way the world works. The Social Media Space is expanding. The traditional marketing space focus the majority of its marketing dollars? In which space should your business be spending its marketing dollars? The real question I think people should be asking is - "How can this collective intelligence shift work for me and my business?"

There are a lot of folks who have websites who are not benefiting at all by having them. The Field of Dreams mantro of "If you build it, they will come" does not apply to them. Yet, other folks, are benefiting. What's the difference? Is it nothing more than good SEO - the right words? Or, are Social Media tools like Twitter and Foursquare really adding something important to a business's popularity? Does Wi-Fi and multimedia "eye candy" within a storefront really matter? Can its effectiveness even me accurately measured? I think these are all important considerations.

Lamar Morgan

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Richard "The Eagle" Motivator

Private Reply to The Eagle: Motivating Champions Around The World

Richard "The Eagle" Motivator

Private Reply to The Eagle: Motivating Champions Around The World

Richard,

Yes, you are well-known here on Ryze. But, I very much doubt that is a "happy accident." No, you work hard at maintaining the reputation you have here. It's not automated. You didn't simply flip a switch and there you are. No, I believe you had a plan and you worked that plan. Your reputation and "Ryze fame" is no mere accident. It is your design.

Lamar Morgan

Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901

Reg,

I do not understand this "Google Squared" thing at all. I did as you suggested and went to the site. I listed the planets and pushed the Send button. What does any of this have to do with my name? I have no clue.

I looked at your list, too. That made some degree of sense. But, what I am supposed to do with it...really?

Lamar Morgan

Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901

Thanks for the Comments. I appreciate it very much. But you are right. It is a lot of Hard work every day to develop a rapport with people. Ittakes comittment to do what you say you will do. I honor my comittment to The Networks I am involved with and it has paid off.

Private Reply to The Eagle: Motivating Champions Around The World

Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer

Kurt,

Once again, you have hit the nail on the head. When you said, "It's the people who've never heard of you that you're really trying to reach via Google." If your target market does not know who you are and you are not SEO'ed quite well with some keywords about what you do, you're really quite invisible on the Internet. This is where Social Location Gaming enters into the picture. This is the third-party referral going to bat for you courtesy of technology.

Social Location Gaming uses crowd psychology from people who DO KNOW YOU. It is these folks who can go to bat for your business. All a person has to do is "check in" with Foursquare and immediately everyone in that person's circle of influence knows who you are and where you are located. How amazing! Foursquare connects locations and rewards people simply for "showing up." While one might not think this has any worthwhile business applications, it really does.

Social Media is an amazing mix of technology and humanity. It is profoundly changing the world as we know it. But, what exactly does that mean? It means the way the whole world works is changing. The Rocky Mountain News went out of business last year. It's public simply was not purchasing enough ads to keep the publication solvent. Meanwhile, the New York Times let the world know its newspaper had to borrow money from a wealthy Mexican just to stay in business.

Why is this happening? It's happening because we have given ourselves so many more options for promotion that the effectiveness of the traditional media is no longer the powerhouse it once was. The days of the traditional media monopolizing the public consciousness are over. Today, even a child can create a video and self-promote himself online. I see it on Youtube all the time. I don't think it is any coincidence many of our traditional marketing resources are incorporating Social Media into their mix to stay afloat. Just try and find a major newspaper, radio or TV station that is NOT on Twitter.

Social Location Gaming is simply an evolution of movement into the Social Media Space. Rather than simply watching this parade take place from the sidelines, why not join it? That's what the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra decided to do. And why did they do it? Simply to play a game? Absolutely not. They did it to increase their revenue. They have the same bottom line as your scooter business. If the orchestra cannot fund its own survival, there is no orchestra. Many other nonprofits organizations are looking to services like Foursquare, Booyah and Gowalla for help. But, you don't need to be a nonprofit to play in this venue. Commercial businesses are taking advantage of it, too.

Various Ryze moderators have suggested that their members share their Twitter address. Well, I suggest you go them one better. Simply visit Foursquare and follow me. Go to Foursquare and look me up. Then, click on all the folks in thumbnail pics who are following me. You will find some well-known Ryzers there - like Paul Stephen Finkelstein, Walter Bebirian and Angie Baker. Through Foursquare, you can also connect with these folks on Twitter and Facebook. So, membership in Foursquare gives you a possible connection with folks in three different venues. But, keep foremost in your mind here, the real magic behind Foursquare - and Social Location Gaming in general - is not online. It's offline. It's about drawing traffic to local businesses. Believe it or not, this may indeed be one of the "magic bullets" for increasing the local tax base so desperately needed by bedroom communities around the world.

Go for it!

Lamar Morgan

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