SBBuzz: Helping Small Biz Get Answers

Disclosure: I’m co-founder of sbbuzz with Pamela O’Hara and Michelle Riggen-Ransom of BatchBlue Software.

A few months ago, small business owner Whitney (@wald12) came to Michelle and Pam for advice on how to get started with technology and social media for her business. Brilliantly inspired by #journchat, they created a chat for small business owners weekly on Twitter.

SBBuzz not only covers the blogging, Twitter and social media efforts of small business owners, but has had some interesting guests to talk about business plans, small town small biz and cashflow. Every week, more small business owners join in the conversation to find out the answer to their questions.

If you are a small business owner looking for answers on anything technology or you already have a lot answers and can share them with a great community of people, please join in Tuesdays at 8 pm EST. You can find out more about how to participate at http://sbbuzz.biz

8 Ways @jnswanson Influences Me

1. He writes.  And writes (he does this a lot).  Jon doesn’t know this but he’s the first person of faith I’ve felt comfortable talking to in a very long time.  It all started with What I Mean When I Say Pray.

2.  He also writes about ways you can hurt yourself.  Including getting angry, depressing yourself, increasing your stress, and ruining your day.

3.  Then he turns it all around to tell you how to keep your tank full, to be thanked and how to explain web 2.0 to your 0.0 parents.

4.  He likes chocolate milk.  He likes to offer chocolate milk to the people he cares about and invests time in conversation with you because he wants to know how YOU are doing.

5.  He hates peas.  So do I.  I can admit that without fear of embarrassment.

6. He sits with you quietly.  No, we’ve never actually be in the same room together, but he offered his support when my grama died earlier this year and it felt as if a friend was there beside me for a few moments of warmth.  Thank you, Jon.

7.  He keeps giving me ideas.  And I keep following up on them to try to make a difference in the world.  The way I see it, if he’s going to keep being brilliant, I’m going to have to keep listening and doing.

8. He’s a good friend.  As a good friend he sets an example to do more, to be more, to help more. Will you help honor him on his birthday by doing something good in the world?

I know you don’t want another social media birthday, but Jon, with the many lessons I’ve learned this year from you, I couldn’t let it slip past without saying how thankful I am to know you.

Happy 50th Birthday!

Photo thanks to Becky McCray.

Good People Day

There’s this pretty cool guy GaryVee who came up with an idea to spend a day talking about good people instead of the next rumor to hit the mill. I’ve been pretty thankful to a few people who have rocked my world, but that list keeps growing!

So listen, I know I’ll probably leave someone out, but I gotta put a few people out here.

Neil Bearse - Keeper of good moods. He puts a good amount of time in with independent musicians, either with his ideas or crazy kick ass video editing skillz. He randomly takes a moment to brighten my day with a crazy thought or a new song.

Christina Greene - Gentle soul with a sassy touch, she’s always looking out for others and listening to crazy ideas. She’s good people who always got your back if you fall. I know, because she caught me and put me in a safe place.

Kim Chapman - I’m really thrilled to have gotten to know Kim and enjoyed her friendship. She’s a person who genuinely cares about others needs so much so that she’s putting herself towards a profession that will allow her to show her goodness to many other people.

Christopher Penn - He’s not only the Financial Aid Podcast guy, but he’s always willing to use his powers from the Dark Side of the Force for good. No nonsense, take action and make things happen guy. If you need help, he’ll try his best to give you the tools to make it happen. New media needs more people like Chris who take in the knowledge of how to make things happen and shares that knowledge with other people.

Whitney Hoffman - Warning: this woman will awe you with her goodness. She’s always dropping things to help other people. She has a heart of gold that inspires you to do good but isn’t a pushover either. Whitney loves her community and works hard to make it a better place. Her recent fundraising efforts for Ma Chen austistic school shows just how MUCH she loves community and helping others.

Matthew Ebel - Musician who’s songs lift and inspire people to great lengths. His music has lifted me up more than once and given me peace lots of other times. Sometimes you just can’t beat what music says to you. Listens, pushes in his own little way while inspiring too.

Bryce Moore - My Wordpress teacher/mentor and superhero. He’s the greatest ever family guy and always lends a hand to people in trouble. No sweat and no fuss.

Ed Roberts - Awesome guy that believes in free hugs and puts his support behind great independent and podsafe artists and services that will benefit them. His spirit seeks the goodwill of others. Never fails to listen when someone needs him.

C.C. Chapman - If there’s ever anyone I’ve seen that is the embodiment of passion, it’s C.C. He works and gives and supports thoughts, ideas, and ventures across the new media community and beyond. No matter how busy he is, he’s always got time for a quick question or helpful advice. At the end of the day, he’s one of the best good people I know, full of warmth and laughter.

Sooz - Best ever conspire partner. Will plant your butt down and say anything you need to hear, bluntly but she’s good at it. Another person that would drop everything and help out. This makes her very GOOD people.

Since at the time of this writing I’m currently in the midst of a project *and* am terrified of missing someone that really is GOOD people, let me just shoutout to a few more people here:

Connie Reece, Pistachio, Susan Reynolds, Jay Hathway, Thomas Beckett, Jon Swanson, Becky McCray, Dayngr, Brian Polensky, TheDiva Rockin’, Grant Roberston (he’s NOT a douchebag, I know, I work for him ;), and 2 million other people who rock the world on a daily basis.

Thanks to each and everyone of you for sharing your goodness with me and the rest of the world. YOU’RE awesome!

Adobe Photoshop Express

I heard about Adobe Photoshop Express and thought okay wow, great, something for the casual user to use and edit photos online quickly. Right?

A friend made me very aware of this wee tidbit under the Submitted Materials section of the TOS:

By posting or otherwise submitting Images, you grant to Adobe and all other users of this Site permission to use your Images in connection with their use permitted by these Terms of Use (including making prints and gift items incorporating such Images), including an unrestricted, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free and fully paid up license under all Intellectual Property Rights to copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate, transmit and reformat your Images, with or without having your name attached to such Images, in any manner or form and for any purpose, with full rights to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of distribution. You will receive no compensation with respect to the use of your Images.

Adobe, I hate the buzzword, but this is most definitely a FAIL. Creative Commons licenses for users are the way to go. Check out Flickr to get your head on straight and fix your TOS, stat.

(Edit: Oh no they didn’t! I completely got bogged down by Adobe and didn’t realize that all of the other users of the site receive the right to use the photos too.  @chazfrench just pointed this out to me.  Thanks dude!)

blogstring

Two bloggers set out to write about new sites that make their appearance on the web. Nathan Burke started a blog that reviewed beta web applications, social media and more. He brought Sarah Wurrey onto the blog to mix it up. It jokingly (or not) says on their about page that she brought a new prespective to blogstring making it less random.

Both of their writing styles keep me entertained while including some great insight into what’s going on around the web and social media.

For example, Sarah recently wrote a post on resolutions and this little gem turned me onto blogstring.com:

Considering I get home from work and almost immediately sit down with my laptop (oh, new discovery at Best Buy tonight for my Geek Gift Guide that I never did finish writing but maybe will someday, like next Christmas: a contraption for your laptop that is rigged up with a fan that cools your thighs! Do you know how hot my thighs get? Do you? Okay this post is going places I did not intend, moving forward…), I feel like I should really be expanding my horizons beyond our little circle. It’s a good niche, a great niche, but…what else is out there?

Okay, so while that isn’t strictly social media, it engaged me and made me laugh and immediately subscribe to blogstring. Sarah writes with a great sense of humor that leads me to point out her post on I Do, Now I Don’t (a social media site built around women selling their engagement rings).

Both writers are willing to rethink their conclusions on beta web sites, after Sarah’s initial post on I Do Now I Don’t, there was an interview with the co-founder on blogstring talking about what IDNID is about.

Nathan in his own brilliant writing style constantly hits the nail on the head, posting questions about various social media topics recently asking if it’s possible to be yourself online.

Impression management, to me, is one of those things we do without thinking. It’s a completely unconscious activity that seems absolutely natural. The interactions you have with your boss are different from those with your significant other. You have different intentions, therefore you present yourself differently. It’s just common sense, right?

This site is full of great reviews and great opinions on happenings in the socialmediasphere.

So head over to blogstring.com and enjoy these two great bloggers!

(I’m posting this as a way to spread a little love via a request from Chris Brogan. I’m not looking for an invite though, I just really wanted an excuse to blog about blogstring :D)