Social Midas – 15 Golden Keys to Stellar Social Media Success, lead by Guy Kawasaki and Mari Smith, begins tomorrow – but there is still time to register. I’ve just read the orientation material and am very impressed. Tuesdays and Thursdays we listen to a pre-recorded session with either or both of the presenters answering questions in the chat area during the session.   Impossible for these two to be live together twice a week so this is such an ingenious way to have organized instruction while one or both presenters are available within the chat.

Each session last for 30 minutes then afterwards students schedule 30 minutes for homework with downloads and assignments to prepare for the next session.  Don’t be fooled by the thirty minute session.  You must maintain discipline to keep up as you want to immediately implement what you’ve just learned.  Thus the reason for scheduling 30 minutes afterwards to go through downloads and transcripts to get the most from the information.  Believe it when I say if you don’t implement right after the session, you will not be prepared to absorb the next session.  Great educational experience.

Those who’ve not experienced this type of course before are not aware that preparation prior to the event is essential.  I learned this during Mari’s Extreme Fanbase Growth course in February.  I was skeptical at first.  Would I get full benefit from just “watching” a taped video session?  I soon learned that Mari Smith was not only watching us learn but simultaneously contributing by answering questions during the video session.  Double access – brilliant!  Add the energy of Guy Kawasaki and you best hold on to your seats!

Social Midas – 15 Keys to Stellar Social Media Marketing -promises to be exciting and fast paced. Check it out here:  http://bit.ly/HCQTLf  or click the banner above.

Brian Solis – no secret – is one of my favorite authors.  He writes prolifically about marketing but often his research and analysis speaks to general audiences as both consumers and business people.

This information is specific, in my opinion, to every real estate agent that “thought” they knew about generational marketing.  Learned either from National Association of REALTORS® designation course – I’ve taken and taught it –  or from a book that made them an expert in communication with ALL the generations, forget what you think you know and study this article – times have changed through technology. “Nowadays, age ain’t nothing but a number.” is one of my favorite quotes and there are many.

Meet Generation C: The Connected Consumer is packed with information you need so take advantage of the knowledge and research offered.  If it doesn’t make you think twice about what you’ve been taught in the past, you may be doomed to die on the real estate vine.

When generational marketing first became popular, it was cool to know the cultural differences in age groups that influenced their buying process.  That has all been clouded by technology and you should update your information.  Sadly, that update is not coming from your industry sources, real estate or otherwise.

Fortunately we have Brian Solis and we all should pay attention. Enjoy his new post and learn from a genius.  2015 is only three years away.

Meet Generation C:  The Connected Consumer

For those of us who need a step by step guide to Mari Smith’s webinar and course offerings, I’ve placed descriptions of each here with my own comments. I urge you to check them out if you are interested in strengthening your social media presence properly and with confidence.

Mari Smith, well-known as the Pied-Piper of Facebook, has authored several books – most recently The New Relationship Marketing - free webinar accompanies purchase of the book. She is also well-known for producing fantastic free webinars covering Facebook strategies and today’s new marketing techniques.  There is truly no one like Mari Smith in this space.  I follow others, but she is always in the know and presents information with such enthusiasm that no one denies her place at the top.

Now Mari has teamed with Guy Kawasaki to develop a new dynamic course Social Midas – see link below.  Guy is a leading content curator with his Alltop, an expert at Twitter and has now published What The Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us. The free webinar listed below – Seven Hottest Social Media Business Trends – with these two giants is solid.  Take the time to watch it.

Note: Many of these links are Social Web Learning affiliate links. Social Web Learning does not recommend (affiliate with) any paid courses, books or webinars without experiencing the product first hand.

In January, I attended Mari’s free webinar Facebook 2012 – What You Need to Know, fantastic webinar!  Then I attended the paid course Extreme Fanbase Growth which was rigorous training with assignments outside the course. In February I committed to the follow-up course Facebook Money Mastery available to me as a graduate of EFG.

Recently I attended the free webinar with Guy Kawasaki,  The Seven 7 HOTTEST Social Media Business Trends, great webinar!  These two together can only be experience but not accurately described.  I’ve heard Guy many times, but as he says “Mari brings out the best in me”, and he’s right!  I anxiously await April 17th when I begin to learn from both in Social Midas – 15 Golden Keys to Social Media Marketing.

I highly recommend viewing the free webinar replays to get all the information Mari, and now Guy, offer and to get a feel for their presentation style.  It may not work for you . . . but it certainly works for me.  Registrations for Mari Smith webinars run not in the 100′s but 1000′s so we all can’t be that misguided

Content description of replays and upcoming courses

Extreme Fanbase Growth – focused exclusively on *growing* your Facebook fanbase and increasing your engagement levels using 21 different methods. Available in replay – most popular so far. Graduates of this course have a fantastic private group on Facebook with lots of support by Team Mari.  The depth of knowledge among the participants is staggering.  We are affectionately known as the EFGers or EFG Group.

Facebook Money Mastery – Currently for EFG graduates only – this course is designed as a natural progression for Extreme Fanbase Growth where the focus is now on monetizing your fanbase. Mari is teaching a 4-step process showcasing each of 8 different case studies and how you can apply the same process to generate profits from your Facebook marketing – starts June 5th for four weeks.

Social Midas – with Mari Smith and Guy Kawasaki – this course begins April 17th and during the four (4) week course walks you through 15 sequential steps to successful social media marketing, including branding, business models, content marketing, community building, systems, tracking and monetizing, too.  You can expect a lot of tactics in this course from both Guy & Mari.  You get to see the exact day to day actions they both take without being at their desks 24/7!  Plus, in terms of platforms, they cover primarily Google+, Facebook, and Twitter and a number of ancillary tools.  This will be packed and, of course, I’ll have my review here so stay tuned to Social Web Learning.  Sign up for new posts via RSS or email form – upper right corner of site.

Both Mari Smith and Guy Kawasaki, separately and without knowing me or each other, hold a warm spot in my heart.  The extended connection still amazes me.  But that’s another story – post for another day.  For now stay up to date on these educational opportunities.  They are affordable and absolutely necessary in today’s fast paced social media arena.

Banners below are links also so enjoy, do your research and come join us if you find yourself so inclined.

~Sheila Hensley  April 2012

No Banner for Facebook Money Mastery – coming soon for Extreme Fanbase Growth graduates!

Watch Mari Smith’s FREE webinar replay Facebook 2012 and then decide . . .

1.  sign up for Mari Smith’s FB2012 Free Webinar replay! 
2.  consider investing in the Extreme Fanbase Growth Course!
3.  do the home work!!!

Mari’s takeaways in the Extreme Fanbase course equals more value than the cost of the course – and we’re only going into module 3 next week! You’ll find yourself understanding Facebook and genuine ways to increase your income. Great free webinar replay and extremely good course.https://marismith.infusionsoft.com/go/fb2012/a2722/

Facebook 2012 – Instant access webinar with Mari Smith.

www.marismith.com

Would you like your Facebook fans, subscribers and friends to become your BEST customers and clients? Learn from Facebook marketing specialist, Mari Smith, and discover how to dramatically increase your visibility, engagement and GROWTH!

The Free Facebook 2012 webinar held January 31, 2012 had OVER 12,000 registrations, at last count, and more than 5,000 people attended the Live event.  Mari Smith did a beautiful job with a new format and outstanding information.  The big announcement during the webinar was her LiveStream webinar beginning February 14th offered twice a week for four weeks -EXTREME FANBASE GROWTH.

There is no doubt that Facebook has changed the landscape of business and further changes happening at the speed of light means you have to use every available opportunity to stay up to date on all changes.  There is no one better to help you do just that than Mari Smith!

I registered for EXTREME FANBASE GROWTH before the January 31st webinar was over.  As one of the first to register, I have a chance to win a 1-1 session with Mari to evaluate my Facebook profile and pages.  Fingers crossed.  3 of the first few people registering for EXTREME FANBASE GROWTH will be randomly chosen for the 1-1 session with Mari Smith – a value I could not afford if not chosen.  Again, fingers crossed.

I’m sharing this with my readers because I think the value of $197 is an EXTREME value.  Please consider elevating your business using Facebook techniques from the respected Facebook Ninja, Mari Smith!

Leave a comment or question below if you need more information.  Thanks!

As I consider backing up my aging computer to avoid the inevitable – losing all my stuff – with an online service, I’m looking at the different offerings, advantages and disadvantages.  A Mashable Google + post referencing this post got my attention.  Megaupload Data Could Be Erased This Week  by Stan Schroeder which led me to Christina Warren’s, Mashable post of January 20, 2012:

What Megaupload Teaches Us About the Cloud SOPA and Backups.

Topics covered: “Could a Service Like Dropbox get TKO’ed Megaupload Style?” and “The Cloud isn’t always forever.”  A must read if you are working in the cloud or are thinking of backing up your valuable data online.  If you do, be sure to have other sources as advised.

I’m off to update my backup system that stays with me and I’ll have another copy at a different location.  Just makes sense if you are in business.  It makes sense if you value your family photos, financials and history as well.

Security issues and the “where’s my data if I need it and who has control of it” feeling is keeping me out of the Cloud.  How about you?

Leave me a comment if you have a strong feeling either way.  I’d love to read your opinions.

Generation Flux (full title below), is a series of interviews and profiles written by Robert Safian, editor at Fast Company which offers the reader a glimpse of our next generation of influential business leaders.

I read profile after profile; so interested in how they got where they are and fascinated by their process.  You’ll find their stories shocking while at the same time refreshing.  You may even be left with a feeling of confidence that the business world is actually in pretty good hands.

Many who are excited about the massive change technology brings to personal and business lives are also overwhelmed.  Trust me, these men and women are not overwhelmed!  They are locked in overdrive and focused. They embrace change as their sustenance.

Read each profile to get the full experience and on the right side of each profile, notice the list of people each person profiled added to the group as Generation Flux pioneers.

This Is Generation Flux: Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) Frontier Of Business is the full article – long but very important that you endure to the end.  But if you just read the profiles of each in this group, you’ll get the feeling I described before.

danah boyd         D J Patil         Baratunde Thurston        Beth Comstock

Pete Cashmore             Raina Kumra             Bob Greenberg

I’d like to know how reading these profiles affected your feelings about the future of business as it changes.  The 41 comments on the original article were for or totally against the representation but most seemed to be written by advanced and knowledgeable participants in the conversation .

Good comments make the article so please leave me your thoughts.  I particular want to hear from people working in their businesses day to day, just trying to stay in business.

Update to my last post Urgent – Purchase Now !

Not to brag here,  but I thought Chuck Wending’s post on Google+ was great fun.  I’ve enjoyed both 25 Things a Writer Should Stop Doing . . .  which has over 350 comments and counting.  I’m continuing to benefit from Chuck’s ebook 500 Ways to Be A Better Writer  but I was surprised and please to see another reference in my Google+ stream today.

——————————————————————————————————-

Chuck Wendig  -  8:18 AM  -  Public

In a sign that the Mayans were right and this is clearly going to be the end of the world, my post “25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right F**king Now)” got linked to by the blog at Oprah.com.

Kiss your children. Say goodbye to your pets. The end is nigh.

http://www.oprah.com/blogs/What-Were-Grateful-for-Today_29

Gratitude Journal on The Oprah Blog – Oprah.com

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Yesterday I attended a webinar – one of four this week. I’m learning to teach through webinars and attend any I can – no matter the subject – to get experience while learning about social media, WordPress and marketing. My hope is to learn all I
can, then teach my subject with my style. The mechanics of conducting these webinars are not as easy as they may seem when you’re attending. However, it must be seamless or attendees will leave in a flash. Webinar attendees are VERY demanding.

There are many webinar presenters I respect and one relatively new source for me is Courtney Engle. She has partnered with Kimberly Bohannan.  Kimberly and Ben Cope began  Go For Your Dream WordPress Training a platform to learn about WordPress and, I’m told constructed a fabulous Dream Theme using WordPress . I use WordPress and started listening to Kimberly and Ben about a year ago to learn how to handle my own websites. Very valuable information. Courtney was featured yesterday.  Courtney is fabulously self-educated (as we all are today) in social media and technology. Her presentation skills are very pleasing so learning from her is easy and a joy.

However during her first presentation as Social Mobile Local Marketing Pros lead presenter . . . the screen froze. Yes, hundreds of people listening to a recorded session and we simply stopped! Dead air time. How impossible was this ??? This had never happened before in my experience and I was totally mesmerized by the incident. How in the world would these two get
out of this situation? No one left!  I think we all were curious how it would end. It was like watching a train wreck and we couldn’t leave!

To summarize, Courtney and Kimberly were champs. They handled the situation the very best they could, made decisions off the cuff, were respectful of their audience and kept us there. Thursday they will reproduce the entire webinar and we’re all invited back for a do-over.   Email Kimberly for an invite and directions to join the replay at Social Mobile Local Marketing Pros or goforyourdream@gmail.com.

This will be my first do-over webinar! I learned so much from the way Kimberly and Courtney and Ben handled this horrible situation. What troopers, what professionals. I immediately went to their new website at SMLMP.com and became a Charter member of their tribe. I have much more to learn from these three individuals and can’t wait to continue my learning experience with them.

I can state that I learned more from the problem they experienced than I ever expected. What a bonus! Thanks Ladies – and Ben who helped fill the dead air time while Kimberly and Courtney struggled to fix the problem and continue the webinar on a timely basis.  Nothing they did solved the problem.  What I learned today was more valuable than the mechanics and details of the session. The capital they earned from handling this situation so well is more valuable to their listeners than they know. Congratulations! See you Thursday.

By the way . . . being a charter member I can say this with authority . . . the training videos Courtney produced are fabulous and extremely valuable. Great Job Courtney. Nice find with Courtney, Kimberly and Ben – Kudos.  Courtney is the real deal!

Are you ready yet?  Are you willing to take a chance and change your thought process?  Consider getting paid for what your do and learn the changes taking place in the real estate market today.  Learn why free is not acceptable any longer for both the real estate professionals and real estate consumers.

Julie Garton-Good championed this philosophy in 2000.  She’d say back then that we were on the “bleeding edge” of the change in compensation structure for real estate brokers and agents because the power brokers would not accept ANY change.  Instead they threw arrows and rejected the suggestion.  But Julie – and her followers - kept going and never gave up.

The association updated to the International Association of Real Estate Consultants in 2011 and Julie spent many hours updated her original course – now offered at Real Estate Success Center.

Watch Julie’s video below to learn why the old compensation model is no longer viable.  Read more about the designation and course here.

Julie Garton-Good Video