Keenan 411

Jim Keenan is a Senior Sales Executive, Enterprise 2.0/Web 2.0 Connector, an Entrepreneur still trying to get it right, and a PSIA Certified Ski Instructor for Vail Resorts. Husband to Big E and father to four great kids. In a nut shell, I'm a Sales Guy. Life is good!

How Much Is Your Name Worth?

Ten years ago I tried to buy my last name, keenan.com Another Keenan owned it. He refused an offer of $5,000. I wouldn’t pay more for it. He has since sold it to a company called Keenan. I suspect I will never own my last name. That bums me out. Jim Keenan is also owned by someone else, although it’s an individual. I suppose, for the right price, I could have jimkeenan.com.

I don’t own my name and I don’t like it.

I think it is critical we own our online brand and that includes our names. I have bought my two daughters names and will be buying my, soon to be arriving, third daughters as well. I am securing their Facebook pages, their Twitter accounts and more. Will they use them? Who knows? But if they do, they will have their names.

Names are becoming a market. We can share names offline. We can’t share names online. User names and web domains are acquired on a first come, first serve basis. Once gone, they are gone forever. Depending on your name it could be very expensive to get after the fact. If your name is John Williams, expect to pay big. Deshawn Breznican, on the other hand, will probably be available for a while.

In a world were our online presence is the biggest asset we have, owning our names will be one of the critical investments we’ll need to make.

Have you invested in your name yet? The longer you wait, the more expensive it will be.

I wonder if we will see more Deshawns, Chantels and Matravius’s in the coming years. That would certainly solve the problem.

If I can’t get jimkeenan.com maybe I’ll change my name. How many Matravius Keenan’s can there be?

March 11, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Web 2.0/Social Networking, What I Think! | Comments |

25 Reasons Your Social Graph Will Matter

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know what I think of an online presence.  I believe it will be the most critical asset a person owns.  It will be the asset of the future. It will be worth more than any other asset you have.  If I haven’t convinced you yet, maybe this will get you there.

Your online presence will matter because;

  1. Social media creates social capital.  Social capital is a predictor of income and wealth
  2. Gen Y will out number baby boomers by 2010, 96% of Gen Y has joined a social network,
  3. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the web
  4. There are over 200,000,000 million blogs, at least 100,000,000 million of those bloggers tweet or blog daily
  5. 33% of all internet users read blogs,
  6. 33 Million Americans have rated a product, service or person using an online rating system
  7. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations – only 14% trust advertisements
  8. 80% of employers use social media to find candidates
  9. 45% of Employers use social media to screen or vet potential candidates
  10. 35% of employers decided NOT to offer a job to a candidate based on information uncovered on social media sites
  11. 18% of employers HIRED a candidate BECAUSE of their social presence
  12. 25% of college admissions use social networks as part of the admissions process
  13. 43% of people in the US Google (doogle) a first date
  14. 12.5% of all couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
  15. 42% of all adults have said they or someone they know has been helped by following medical advice and health information found online
  16. At lease one person, using social media, avoided highly invasive spinal surgery
  17. Those with lower social capital, have a higher mortality rate -they die earlier
  18. There are over 1 Billion Internet devices
  19. There are 6 billion internet searches on Google a month
  20. 1.6 Billion people access the web via their mobile phone – that’s 1.6 billion people a click away from info about you anytime anywhere
  21. The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the total population of the planet
  22. 355 Million users on Facebook
  23. Avg. time spent on Facebook: 20 minutes a day
  24. 19 Million people on Twitter
  25. 83 Million people generated some form of social media in the US

BONUS reason- Since 1985 our “core networks”, our offline networks of friends and family have shrunk by 1 person.

Personal networks are moving online.   Social capital will be created and leveraged using social media.   Social capital correlates heavy to someones overall success.  Without social capital, there is little success.   Developing and managing their social graph will be the most important thing someone can do

An online presence will be the most valuable asset a person will have, worth even more than their home.

Are you convinced?

UPDATE: Made a mistake on the statistic “50% of employers HIRED a candidate BECAUSE of their social presence” I’ve changed it to 18%. Thanks to Marty for getting me to double check stats.

December 7, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Web 2.0/Social Networking | Comments |

Social Media, a Trend?

Most of you know how passionate I am about the increasing importance of social networks in our lives.

Social networks and our online presence will be the at the center of everything we do in future, we won’t be able to escape it.

These are some compelling numbers.

Social graphs are making a huge difference for people and companies.



The individual “Brand” will be as important and valuable as the corporate brand. How much time are you investing in you social graph?

December 5, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Enterprise 2.0, Web 2.0/Social Networking | Comments |

Social Capital: Use It Or Lose It

Researching for my book, I came across this quote:

“Unlike other assets social capital doesn’t depreciate with use. It depreciates with LACK of use.”

– Adler, Kwon

It’s absolutely true and it’s getting even truer with the rise of social media.

A friend of mine was telling me the other day that since getting married and having children she’s let her network get away from her. What prompted her to tell me this is she is ready to change jobs and realized she has very few options. She said she doesn’t have the social capital she once had. She’s struggling to find opportunities. When she does, she is just another number as she has no relationships or contacts with in the company.

My friend is finding out the hard way, what happens when you don’t maintain your social network and manager your social capital.

I think the importance of a social network is becoming increasingly important to success. In the past, networks consisted of the people we worked with, our clients, our school buddies and our neighbors. Those who were really smart extended their networks; they joined clubs or associations. The difference between then and now, however, is networks of the past were heavy. They had a lot of friction. Information moved from person to person via phone or in person. It was slow and lumbering and had to forcibly be put into action. Information stayed locked in the network until it was actively released.

Networks were an advantage in the past, but they weren’t critical. Today, they are quickly becoming critical and they will be online social network. I think those without online social capital will be at a decided disadvantage.

Everything is online today; the jobs, the people, the information. This is creating tremendous velocity. Information moves from tribe to tribe and person to person with little friction. Recruiters are finding potential candidates without ever having to place an ad. Companies are hiring their fans and followers, those who participate and engage with them long before they need to hire. Companies Tweet an opening and receive hundreds of responses. Companies and hiring managers are no longer comfortable without online information to vet candidates. They look for candidate’s blogs, tweets, LinkedIn profiles, forum participation etc to get to know them. Not finding information on people is becoming less acceptable.

Traditional networks just can’t compete. The old network is quickly being moved online and it’s changing everything.

If social capital depreciates when you don’t use it. I can only imagine what happens if you don’t have any social capital at all.

My friend has learned the hard way. I wonder how many others will too.

December 1, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Personal Development, Web 2.0/Social Networking | Comments |

How Has Social Media Affected You?

Many of you know I’m writing a book with co-author Leslie Poston based on a post I wrote a while back; Online Presence – Asset of the Future: Why Your Social Graph Will be Worth as Much as Your Home

The web and social media are fundamentally changing the way we interact and connect as a community. Most notably it is changing how we network. Peoples network has been a valuable component of our lives for years. It has helped us get jobs, get movie recommendations and even set us up on blind dates. As social media grows and our presence online increases, our off-line network is quickly being replaced by an online network. This new online network is going to be far more influencial and life effecting than anything we’ve seen to date. Our online presence is quickly becoming the center of our world and will impact the most important and sensitive aspects of our lives.

Leslie and I have come across some amazing stories of how social media has impacted peoples lives. We have found compelling medical stories where peoples lives were saved and unnecessary surgery was avoided because of social media. There are those we’ve found who have met their soul mate. We’ve found stories where people have gotten their dream job. Then there are the stories of those who used social media to help others in need. We are coming across amazing stories, stories of average, everyday people whose lives have changed because of the power of social media. Some changed in monumental ways, others in small but impacting ways.

We are excited to share with you the powerful story unfolding in social media and the Internet. There are millions of people who are asking why? They are asking why do I care about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging and the rest. They are skeptical, they are hesitant, they don’t see what many already have and that is social media is changing the way we connect, and the way we network. Social media is quickly moving from being a nice to have to a must have and our book; Online Presence-Asset of the Future: Why Your Social Graph Will be Worth as Much Your Home is going to share how and why social media matters in our lives.

Tell us your story. We want to know how social media is changing how you think, work, share and engage. If you have some research you’d like to share or a great story send us an email to onlinepresence@assetofthefutre.com

Don’t be shy, we know there are more good stories out there. We’ve just begun to scratch the surface.

October 25, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future | Comments |

The Healing Power of Your Social Graph

Sarah Cortes lay on a rock, unable to move and speak. When she hit the water, she knew something was wrong. The sharp pain that ran up her spine, was not a good sign. She felt comfortable she could navigate the 50 foot cliff jump, but once she hit the water confidence quickly turned to fear. Able to slowly swim to shore and drag herself onto a rock, Sara lay there waiting for paramedics.

An hour later she arrived in an enormous trauma center. After several tests, MRI’s, and CAT Scan’s it is determined Sarah has a fracture of V12 and surgery is recommended. Uncomfortable with the recommendation and more importantly, if surgery is the only option Sarah wanted to be in Boston near her home, Sarah requests a transfer. That is when her ordeal accelerates from bad to worse.

In an effort to defend their position and their recommendation the hospital staff begins to feed her inaccurate information, denies her access to Dr’s outside of the hospital and do everything they can to make sure she has surgery at their facility. Fearful, confused and frustrated Sarah turns to her Twitter network for help. With in 1 hour she is able to find an “accepting neurosurgeon” in Boston (the requirement to be transferred) and demands to be released. Despite finding an “accepting neurosurgeon” she still struggles to gain the hospitals support for a release and transfer.

With the help of Twitter and Text Sarah final wins her release. The result, her Boston physician determines surgery is NOT needed. The new treatment; 6 months in a brace with full mobility. Sarah barely averts an operation requiring 6 months of bed rest and total immobility.

Our online presence is an asset. I’ve said this before and will say it again. It will be the most valuable asset we will have, worth even more than our home. It will affect our offline social status, where we work, the jobs we have, the people we date and even the medical treatment we receive.

Like any asset, it is more valuable when you invest in it. Are you investing in your online presence? You should be.

September 26, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Personal Brand, Personal Development, Web 2.0/Social Networking | Comments |

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