Keenan 411

Jim Keenan is Vice President of Sales Strategy and Operations with a Global Technology Company, an 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!

Asset of the Future-Craig Newmark Style

CraigsList founder, Craig Newmark, has a great post up today called Trust and Reputation Systems: Redistributing power and influence.

It’s a great post re-affirming what I’ve been saying on this blog for over a year. I’ve dedicated a page to it. It’s that important. Our online presence will be THE asset of the future.

His quote on the influence of social networking tools is powerful:

People use social networking tools to figure out who they can trust and rely on for decision making. By the end of this decade, power and influence will shift largely to those people with the best reputations and trust networks, from people with money and nominal power. That is, peer networks will confer legitimacy on people emerging from the grassroots.

Our networks are moving online. Our weak-tie networks are expanding. The tools to measure and quantify our networks are readily available. Trust, power, and influence will be at the core of these networks and those with the best networks will be the winners.

Soon it won’t be OK NOT to have a strong online presence. It will be too difficult to compete.

Craig is spot on when he says:

This shift is already happening, gradually creating a new power and influence equilibrium with new checks and balances. It will seem dramatic when its tipping point occurs, even though we’re living through it now.

He’s right!

It will be even more dramatic for those who wait for the tipping point.

Start investing in your online presence and brand NOW! Like any good investment, it’s best to invest early as it takes time grow and have the best returns when you get in in the beginning.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

April 7, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Enterprise 2.0,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

A Day Without Social Media

Yesterday I was off the grid. I didn’t post to this blog. I didn’t have my Tweet stream up. I didn’t read any blogs. I didn’t visit Facebook, or LinkedIn. I didn’t check in anywhere using Foursquare; that’s probably because I sat at my desk all day. I was off the grid for pretty much the entire day. (OK, I did tweet twice)

Being off the grid was strange. I definitely noticed a difference. My day was less interrupted, more focused, and in many ways more productive.

I usually start my morning reading my RSS reader. I then check my Twitter stream and then do a blog post. Throughout the day I follow my Twitter stream, retweet good sales posts and tweets I like as well as keep up on events of the day. I get much of my news from Twitter. At the end of the day, I check Facebook, add a quote or good story to my Tumblr page and read some more blog links I liked.

Being on the grid, helps me stay connected and keeps me informed. I like the flow of information, the relationships and discoveries being online creates.

Despite how much I enjoy being connected and all the benefits it provides, something strange happened in my one day sabbatical. I was more focused. There were fewer distractions. I didn’t feel the stress to deliver good content. I didn’t feel the pressure to share or to “give”. Being online is as much about sharing and giving as it is about getting. It’s what’s best about being online. However, yesterday, for me, I learned it can create a lot of pressure and distractions.

One day off the grid was a relief. It was focused on one thing. I got more done. It was nice.

Despite the relief from my one day sabbatical, I missed being online. I enjoy it.

In the future, I think I will take more days of “the grid”. They are good recharge moments. However, the next one won’t be because of a big project deadline. I’ll do it just because. It sounds nice.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

January 23, 2010 | Filed under: Random,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

Revelation vs Resolution

Everyone is looking forward, making New Years resolutions and planning for 2010. It is the thing to do. I am too. But, as I’m looking forward, I couldn’t help but pause and take a look back. I wondered; was there anything different, unique for me about 2009. The obvious came to mind. I started this blog, my girls had a number of firsts, the economy was rough, but as I thought about it, it occurred to me; 2009 did have a very unique element to it. I made more friends online than I made offline. My network grew.

I have always been a big fan of networking. I believe there is tremendous value in engaging and knowing lots of different people. I have gotten most of my jobs, started businesses, hired employees, acquired new customers, and more all from my network. Despite, my appreciation of networks, over the past few years, mine has suffered a little. I’ve moved, gotten married, had kids, started a new job, and work out of the house. None of these things are conducive to building or managing a network, especially working from home.

In 2009 my network grew. Not in the traditional sense, by handshake and physical meeting, but online.

Twitter, Facebook, and this blog have been instrumental in introducing me to new people. These aren’t just fans or followers, but people I respect for their knowledge, people I enjoy for their person and people who have been helpful. The experience in meeting these people has been no different than meeting people offline. The fact that I’ve never met them in person has had no impact on the value of the relationship.

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these people. They are making a real impact in my life. I’m working with some. I’m collaborating on sales efforts with others. I’ve assisted others in selling and promoting their products. It’s just like my offline network.

My network grew in 2009. Not in the traditional way, but in a new way.

I don’t think this is an anomaly, I suspect next year my online network will be even bigger, not only for me but everyone online and this is a great thing.

Did your network grow in 2009?

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

January 4, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Personal Brand,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

Don’t Follow Me on Twitter

I have 884 Twitter followers as I write this. It’s not a lot, but it’s not a few. I have a very active and engaged Twitter following. They are good peeps. Thanks all!

I follow 324 people. That’s not a lot either. But, it’s a 324 people who have impressed me with their tweets and their online engagement.

I use Twitter for information and to build relationships. Relationships and information are how I determine who to follow, who to RT and who to engage. I don’t fish for followers. I don’t follow people in hopes they follow back.

When someone follows me, I check out their profile, read their recent tweets, check out their bio and their blog and then determine if I want to follow them back. It’s pretty simple.

Lately, somethings been happening that is bugging me. I’ve been getting followed a lot and when I go check out their profile they are no longer following me. There have been times where I liked someone, and followed them back, only to have them have to refollow me, because they stopped following me after they started following me. I don’t like when people manipulate the system like this. It is in authentic.

In social media, authenticity is everything. Trust is paramount. I don’t trust anyone who appears inauthentic. Baiting me to follow you is inauthentic.

Don’t follow me unless you like my tweets, you like this blog, or you find me engaging. I don’t need my email cluttered with follower bait.

I’ll follow you if you tweet good stuff, and are engaging; whether you follow me or not. To me it’s not about the follow, it’s about the engagement and that’s authentic.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

December 28, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |

Things That Matter Now

Seth Godin launched an ebook today. “What Matters Now”

Read it! It’s good. Get it here.

If you need convincing, this should help.

“In a digital world, the gift I give you almost always benefits me more than it costs.” – Seth Godin

“. . . be courageous. the world needs your story in order to be complete.” -Anne Jackson

“Creating ways for people to solve their own problems isn’t just an opportunity in 2010. It is an obligation” – Jacquelin Novogratz

“You are RESPONSIBLE for your own EXPERIENCE” – Hugh McLoud

– “we all need to save the world. But trust me: the world will still need saving tomorrow.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

“There are tens of thousands of businesses making many millions a year in profits that still haven’t ever heard of twitter, blogs or facebook.” – Howard Mann

“When times are tough, vision is the first causality. Before conditions can improve, it is the first thing we must recover.”-Michael Hyatt

“Three guys with laptops” used to describe a web startup. Now it describes a hardware company, too.” -Chris Anderson

“Are you the most of anything?”-William Taylor

“Education has a ripple effect. One drop can initiate a cascade of possibility, each concentric circle gaining in size and traveling further”.-John Wood

“The road to sustainability goes through a clear- eyed look at unsustainability.”-Alen Weber

“Management isn’t natural.”-Daniel Pink

“Everything I know about business I learned from poker:”-Tony Hsieh

“Not many people in our A.D.D. culture can stay FOCUSED, but those who can are on their way to winning”-Dave Ramsey

“There is little evidence that we will solve the environmental challenges of our time.”-Saul Griffith

“We need to embrace {slow capital}.”-Fred Wilson


Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

December 15, 2009 | Filed under: Random,Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |

Keep Up With Me:


Categories

  • ▶Asset of The Future (23)
  • ▶Business Performance (112)
  • ▶Career Development (32)
  • ▶Customer Service (37)
  • ▶Economy (10)
  • ▶Enterprise 2.0 (22)
  • ▶Entrepreneur (14)
  • ▶Hiring/Firing (20)
  • ▶Leadership (94)
  • ▶Marketing (17)
  • ▶My Reading Quotes (8)
  • ▶Personal Brand (26)
  • ▶Personal Development (68)
  • ▶Politics (10)
  • ▼Random (46)
  • ▶Sales Process (68)
  • ▶Skiing (4)
  • ▶Strategy (2)
  • ▶Sunday Morning Blog (18)
  • ▶TalkShoe Events (5)
  • ▶Technology and Products (6)
  • ▶The Chase (100)
  • ▶Uncategorized (46)
  • ▼Web 2.0/Social Networking (72)
  • ▼What I Think! (127)