Social Networking: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It took me a long time to even get interested in social networking. However, many people I respected in both business and politics were telling me I was way behind the curve. Furthermore, it gets a little old to have your kids constantly call you a "dinosaur" because you are not up to speed with this or that current trend. This is all the more so the case when it deals with the Internet.

I started my MySpace and Twitter accounts a couple of years ago, but did very little with any of them. I started a Facebook account later, but sat on it for months as well. Today, I use Facebook more than any, Twitter is catching on, and I have no idea how to even log in to my MySpace account. That is okay though, because my kids keep assuring me that MySpace "is so high school." Who wants that?

Facebook

I update my Facebook account several times a day. If it is midday and there is a few hours between my last update, I get a little stressed out. I have to find something to post! I often go to Fox News and other websites and glance at the headlines and try to give them my own unique spin. I also post articles of mine from BizPlusBlog.com, AmericanDailyReview.com, Reuters.com, ChicagoSunTimes, or one of the many other sources that are out there. Placing those articles on my Facebook "wall" leads them being found all over the place after that. This is one of the strengths to Facebook.

Facebook has enabled me to fast track relationships and find new friends all over the country. It allows me to test ideas before they become an article or give me some feedback that I use on my radio show, the Price of Business. If my 1,000 plus friends didn't like it on Facebook, why force the thousands who listen to my show to be subject to it? Many new people who have become my friends on Facebook have told me they have done so in order to influence some of my content on the radio and else where, which is great.

Twitter

Twitter has been harder for me to warm up to. I understood the value of Facebook almost immediately. You can place your articles, promote, your ideas, do more detailed searches for friends and potential friends, and more. This is not the case with Twitter or, it was not nearly as easy to ramp up.

One of my biggest concerns is that I am a writer as well as a radio host, and it is so challenging to put anything of interest or value in 140 characters. Who are they trying to kid? To me, I get paid by the word, so the type of word economy I am learning is amazing.

I have, however, seen Twitter work. The circulation value of events, interviews, ideas, etc., is amazing. I have just over 200 followers at this time, so when I write something and it is "Retweeted" to others, you enjoy the multiplier effect. My friend Felicia Cravens, who is one of the more sophisticated individuals I know at the art of the Twitter (and a leader of the Houston Tea Party effort) has over 2,000 followers. Once she gets hold of something I write, it flies from there. I have had a few questions answered to news stories or people have given me sources for shows or articles. I am beginning to see the power.

To sum up...

I enjoy Facebook and Twitter and even see their practical value. My use of both, I am sure, will only grow. On the other hand, as a writer, I find it a little distracting. The pressure to convey a powerful idea in 140 characters, has made me economize in words, even when I should let it out a little. I will have to learn to balance Facebook and Twitter with my other media responsibilities, but I feel confident that social networking are here to stay.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business says that Price’s Blog “is very influential and moves the blogosphere.” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Chuck Grassley Provides Signs of Life for GOP

For months, and maybe years, Republican rank and file have been seeking signs of life from a party that has been limping along for ages. The GOP has become the "me too" party, or "the light" version of the Democrats, or many other cliches that can be used for a party that has become dysfunctional.

Every once in a while, we see signs of hope. Many were excited when John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate. Gimmick or not, it was nice for the dominant moderate force of the party to recognize that conservatives still matter. The latest cause for excitement has come from an unlikely source, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

I've known Grassley for decades and almost worked for him back in the 1980s (instead I worked for Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire). He was then, and still today, anything but an "activist" Senator. He is very soft spoken and not particularly sharp witted or sharp tongued. He is a fairly typical "middle America" personality. Subdued, soft spoken, and matter of fact. He is one of only 28 Senators in history to have made more than 10,000 votes, something he wears as a badge of honor (something that I deem a little suspicious). The 75 year old has been in the Senate since 1981 and in the US House for six years before that. In other words, he has almost 35 years of working in DC behind him.

This unlikely hero for Conservatives is getting attention for taking President Obama on in a way that we are not use to seeing these days. Politics is too genteel for my liking and the US Senate even more so. This very elite club is known for treating its colleagues and the President with "kid gloves." Meanwhile, millions of Americans are looking for someone to speak up. Enter Chuck Grassley.

The Senator, in his 70s, has used an unlikely vehicle for getting the message out as well. Pulling a chapter out of Barack Obama's book, his platform, of all things, is Twitter. Today, the Senator gave the following status report, ignore the grammar, the Senator is taking typical Twitter liberties:

"Pres Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us 'time to deliver' on health care. We still on skedul/even workinWKEND."

This 140 characters (give or take a few) has started a social networking revolution and has gotten conservative Republicans excited again. It is time for the GOP to start drawing lines in the sand and holding this Administration and its minions accountable for its arrogance. That is the kind of thing that could revive the dying Republican brand.

This particular issue, the rationing of health care, is absolutely crucial in fighting to defend the greatest health care system in the world (warts and all). If Republicans want to be relevant again, they will speak with force and passion, use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube and every other tool they can think of to win back the hearts and minds of the American people. Our freedoms and future hang in the balance.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business says that Price’s Blog “is very influential and moves the blogosphere.” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Lessons from the Slightly Famous

The pursuit of one’s “fifteen minutes of fame” is easier now than any time in history. No longer do the masses have to live in the shadow of the famous because they have the tools to cheaply make a name for themselves.

YouTube has been a significant driver in this effort. People are battling it out with mattresses in a college dorm, a kid jumps from a second story window on a trampoline (bad idea), a person cries out in defense of an actress taking a pounding from the media. These people become the talk of the web for a least a day or so. There are those who seeking fame for reasons other than ego and entertainment purposes and they are a growing breed of entrepreneurs.

In the old days the media drove information. Occasionally a person got his letter to the editor in the newspaper, he or she would get on the radio as the “person on the street.” Besides such scenarios, there was a huge chasm between the media and the average person. The Internet is changing all of that.

In the book, Get Slightly Famous, author Steven Van Yoder writes about the forces available online for the average person to leave his mark and to get noticed. They do so in order to set themselves apart as the expert and to get the notoriety and recognition of such. This becomes a way to attract new customers.

In the early days of the Internet people simply had a website. These domains were little more than 24 hour brochures. Now there are far more tools available.

Blogging. People create their own web platforms where they tell people their unique opinion on politics, finance, marketing, movies, and more. Whatever their passion, vocation, obsession, or all of the above. Recently an article I wrote had close to 120,000 impressions on one day on Reuters.com. An article I wrote on Neil Cavuto of Fox News and Business led to his office contacting me and wanting to find out if I would be interested in having him on my show. The reach of blogging is breath taking.

Podcasting. This includes video and audio. Audio is cheap to start, in some cases it is even free. Video costs more, but could leave a bigger impression. The web is about the convergence of media – bringing several types of media to one place. Essentially, individuals can create a media network of their own.

Social networking. Twitter, Plaxo, and LinkedIn are just a few of the tools that business leaders are using to tell others about their influence.

But the Internet is not the only vehicle available:

People are writing books like never before. With Print on demand technology, people can self-publish at a fraction of what it use to cost and not fill their garage with books that may or may not get sold. Such books are not typically being written in order to become rich, but to be semi-famous.

People are buying air time on the radio and TV. They are not buying commercials where they can be lost among the many who merely sell, buy are buying programs that demonstrate their expertise as a way to attract customers.

People are giving speeches. Most towns have numerous organizations that are looking for speakers. Chambers of commerce, Rotary Clubs, and networking groups to name a few. When you give a speech to such groups you further differentiate yourself as the expert and find it very easy to find the clients that create more business.

The only downside to such activities is that it is difficult to make your website the place to be found without traffic or to be identified as the person to give speeches. Furthermore, there is an opportunity cost to pursuing such activities. You are trading the thing you do for a living to pursue the opportunity to get more business.

There is a company I am working with that is making this transition easier for entrepreneurs called USBusinessDaily.com. They have a free white paper that is available for the asking at Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com. I strongly encourage you to request it today.

Kevin Price articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

On the Show: Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki of Garage.com was a guest on my recent Houston Business Show and our conversation created quite a stir. Following the program someone sent me a post on a blog in which the author said he was "Dropping Out of School." Why? Because of what he heard on my program. In his post he wrote:

"I’m dropping out of school. Why you might ask? I’ll tell you. Ever since I started the program back in late November, I would ask myself, “Why am I REALLY doing this?”. To be honest, I really couldn’t find an answer. I follow Guy Kawasaki on Twitter and on Friday, February 15, he said he was live on the Houston Business Show. I listened to the show and the question came up about the need for an MBA. To sum it up, Guy basically said and MBA is not needed for entrepreneurs and startups in general. It’s like he was speaking to me. I’m an entrepreneur and I want to start a startup!"

Typically making life changing decisions upon listening to a radio show makes me nervous, but his reasons (seen through out the post) makes sense to him. During the show Guy also discussed how venture capital has been demystified and other interesting topics. Click to hear part one and part two.

What did you think of Guy's interview?

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.