Business and Web 2.0
The more I learn the more I realize how little I really know. Fortunately for me there are those people much greater then myself who are willing to share with me what they know. Also fortunately for me there is the Internet that allows me to connect and learn from these people. The past few days I have spent some time dealing with things like Motivation to work, Associating with the right people, how to use Social Media and related issues.
My first issue is Motivation. I work a regular 40 per week day job (1st and 2nd shift). Motivating myself to work in my time away from work and on my days off from my regular job can be tough. I work with people who are not motivated beyond coming to work, going home, and spending all the money if not more then all the money they have. These are the majority of my “friends” and the influence I am under all too much. Aside from them I have my family and 1 other good friend that I talk to regularly. The 1 good friend is/was the only solid business contact I have and he is always moving forward and runs his own business. He has been a great help to me, but most other people, outside of my immediate family are neutral at best when it comes to moving forward and helping me stay motivated to grow my business. Here in lies the problem, You Are Who You Associate With. John Chow has expertly addressed my issue here: Guilty by Association. After reading his advice I realized that the motivation stuggles I have been having is due to not associating myself with the right people. I have heard that you will never earn more then 10% above what your 5 closest friends earn. Well for me that means as of a few days ago I was destined to be broke for the rest of my life. LOL. Also, I believe John Chow said that you are the average of your 5 closest friends. So with that enlightenment I realized my goal is simply to surround myself with people greater then myself – From how to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (excellent read IMO).
So I figured Facebook and Twitter were the best way for me to start, but I didn’t really understand how to use them. I mean how do you use Facebook and Twitter and whatever else to create friendships and associate yourself with successful people anyway? Epic fail on my part for not grasping ahold of this before now, but thanks to Gary Vanerchuck who expertly answers this question: It’s not stalking, it’s a darn handshake. Thanks to Gary’s video and a video I watched and blogged about some time ago I finally have an understanding of how to use Web 2.0. It about a hand shake, its about relationships, its what the business world is becoming. I am finally onboard.
So now that I know how to use it, I have to go and do it. Now I am back to the whole motivational factor. I can make myself just do it for a while, but that won’t last long enough for me to be successful. However I decided to start with Twitter. After using twitter for only a few days I had some wonderful motivation that I gleened and am charged up to keep going. This post by Robin Sharma is great: The Fire Inside along with another great video by Gary Vanerchuck: Stop crying, think, wipe your tear and crush it!
Having only been using twitter now for just less then a week, I am starting to learn. I am learning how to shake peoples hand and people are shaking my hand back. Its quite invigorating. I am excited, I know that success is not a skill or a talent, its a result of a grip load of hard work. I will work hard, and I will be successful. To sum it up here is a great quote from @marieforleo on Twitter:
Are you engaging or enduring? In any given moment , this determines your success.
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2 Responses to “Business and Web 2.0”
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This is a confirmation of something I’ve always thought to be true. A few years ago when I first got into blogging I found that ‘you have to give to receive’ so I went out and visited other people’s blogs. I found it was rewarding, not just to work on my sites, but to become a part of these communities of like minded people.
That 10% rule is an interesting one too huh? I’ve always wondered… do our friends hold us back, do we pick up our friends, or are the people we spend time with making roughly the same amound simply because we spend the most time around people who do similar things?
I think your right, its the fact that we spend most of our time around people that are similar to us. They do what we do, and we do what they do. Its a circle that will continue until someone breaks it. Law of attraction.