I recently received a phone call from a salesman selling credit card processing. I usually tend to say we are all set and get off the phone as quickly as possible. (I know that is so wrong since I also do sales. I promise I am making an effort to try and give people a chance.) Well, there was something about this guy that made me listen. He focused on saving money and that caught my attention. After a quick call going over some numbers of our current rates and what we are paying, he informed me that he could save me $600 a year. He definitely had my attention. We set up a meeting for him to present a proposal to me. I was ready to sign on the spot…

The morning of the meeting he called to inform me he was running about 15 minutes late. I told him I had only scheduled 30 minutes for the meeting and asked him if we should reschedule. He said 10 minutes was all he needed and he would see me soon. Almost 45 minutes after the time of our meeting was suppose to start he showed up. I was already in another meeting. He rudely left the information with one of the girls and complained to her about traffic and parking. Later that day I reviewed the proposal and gave him a call. I got his voicemail and left him a message. Over the next few days he kept calling my office and harassing whoever answered the phone. He was rude and demanding.

Today, I called him back and told him thank you, but no thank you. While his $600 savings was great, I didn’t think we were the right fit to work together. I then posted a message on my Facebook account asking for recommendations. I have already spoken with several new people and not only can they save me money, but they have been respectful, friendly, and someone I would want to work with.

The Good:

The other day I put up a blog post about geolocation sites.  I microblogged the information out to Facebook and my other social networking sites.  I wanted to know what the community thought about the new Facebook Places.  One of the responses I received included:

Frankly, there are many good reasons why one should NOT provide geolocation data to third party feeds and archives on a regular basis. The data can be aggregated and correlated with other information with undesirable results. This is not to… say that I do not announce public events; but moment to moment movements are a different species altogether.

I made note of this class of concerns in a blog entry the other year entitled “Micro-blogging and Personal Self-Surveillance” at http://www.rlgsc.com/blog/ruminations/micro-blogging-and-personal-information.html

This was signed by Robert Gezelter, a Facebook friend I met at a seminar I gave nearly a year ago on social media.  After that post, I got a note from an old client, Brad Stern who said:

Hi Hil! Yet another reason I love you!  I read your FB posting about the whole geolocation thing and noticed that one of the responses came from Robert Gezelter. I recognized the name right away as someone w/ whom I went to elementary school in Woodside, Queens. He was actually one of my best friends. I moved to Stony Brook in 1967 and we traded letters for a short while and that was it. Well, I sent him a message via FB and, —- years later we re-connected! He not only remembered me, but he also remembered that I had moved to Stony Brook! We’re going to get together for coffee. All because of you and your post!

That made me feel good to help people connect via social networking.  I’ve been connecting people my whole life and now it gives me another outlet to use.

The Bad:

The other day, I found out that a client and friend, Mike Sullivan, passed away from a heart attack.  He was only 60.  I also learned that Mrs. Muirhead, a neighbor down the block from where I grew up, also passed.  I’m friendly with her children on Facebook and it was very upsetting to hear this bad news on Facebook.

The Ugly:

Right after that, a woman called my home and asked my son for my cell phone number.  She told him it was a dire emergency.  He thought that something happened to someone so he gave it to her.  My cell phone rang moments later with a blocked caller ID.  I picked it up.  (You never know it could be a client!)

“You better take that post down on Facebook,” she screamed into the phone.  I was shocked.  I didn’t know what hit me.  What post? What are you talking about? In any event, she was referring to a blog post that I put up and took down about someone I knew 30 years ago.

The woman was so upset and really didn’t even know the facts.  But I didn’t want to upset her so I took it down.  I also was a little afraid that a stranger could call my home and get my cell phone number.  I was afraid for my kids and I was afraid for myself.

Facebook and all the other social networking sites have good, bad and ugly… Tell me your FB story…

I am always intrigued when a Youtube video goes viral.  Anyone and everyone has the ability to make a Youtube video, which could potentially go viral. You don’t have to be a professional film producer. You just need to know what will grab people’s attention.    Youtube, like all other social media, are consumer generated.  The piece needs to be transparent and real. It also should be shot from different angles, not only straight on.

The other day, someone sent me this video, which had more than 450,000 hits.

So how do you make a viral video?  It needs the following characteristics:

* Make it funny

* Make it interesting and different

* Make it visual

* Make it short (no one wants to sit there for several minutes watching a boring video)

* Write and sing a creative song (This reminds me of the story of a guy who had his guitar damaged by United Airlines.  He wrote and performed a song on Youtube and the airline managed to reimburse him for the damage.  He had more than 9 million hits.  Check out the video:)

* If you are doing a series, make them have some consistency

* Finally, have fun!

Share some other successful Youtube videos with me.  I would love to see them!

Do you remember the book, 1984 by George Orwell? Written in 1948, the book is about a totalitarian state where every citizen is under surveillance and the government knows exactly what they are doing all the time.  That’s where the phrase, “Big Brother is watching you,” came from.

Although the government may not be watching every move we make, Big Brother is still a reality especially with location based social networking sites or what they call geolocation sites.

These days, the most popular geolocation based site is Foursquare.  It’s received a ton of publicity and notoriety among small and large businesses and retail stores. Foursquare’s biggest break was when Starbucks partnered with them to offer their customers badges every time they check in.  Foursquare is also great with retail and restaurants.  For example, every time someone checks in, they can receive a discount or a freebie from the location.  This helps the location because everyone on the user’s network sees where he/she is at any given time, giving shops and restaurants an opportunity for free publicity.

I like Foursquare.  I don’t use it all the time, only when I’m in interesting locations.  I may use it more if where I check in offered me some type of discount or coupon code.  (The other day, I was with an owner of a social media shop.  We met at a local diner in New York City. As soon as we sat down, he pulled out his Blackberry and checked in on Foursquare.)

There are many other location-based sites.  Brightkite has been around since the early 2000’s. They don’t offer coupons or discounts now, but I’m sure they will in the future.  What is nice about Brightkite is that in a business sense, it gives you the opportunity to locate your sales people, staff or even clients, which could be helpful.  One of my social media buddies was telling me that he was in Chicago at an art museum.  He checked in on Brightkite and found that an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time also checked in at the same location.  After that, they met up, had lunch and were able to catch up!

Twitter has also added geolocation on its sites, which can be used for nightlife, discounts and more.  What’s interesting is that you can turn it on or off while using Twitter.

Facebook just launched Facebook Places.   Since it’s kick off this week, there has been rumors about Facebook buying Foursquare, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen.   Facebook Places works on your mobile device and will let your friends on Facebook know where you are at any time.  There are privacy settings that you need to investigate prior to using the goelocation site.

In addition to Facebook Places, another new addition to the geolocation social networking sites is SCVNGR.  This site is a little different than the others.  It focuses more on gaming than some of the other sites.

Other notable geolocation social networking sites include Gowalla, which shows a detailed map of your location along with Looptstar, which also offers discounts and badges similar to the other social networking sites.

There are a lot of privacy issues with geolocation sites, but for small and large businesses (including retail stores and restaurants/bars) and non-profit organizations, these geolocation sites are a great way to advertise and help get repeat business by offering incentives through these geolocation sites.

Are geolocation sites worth the time and effort?  I think so, especially if the user is offered an incentive from the location in which he/she visits.  It’s also especially helpful for small business owners to promote their product or services by giving discounts and coupons to visitors on these geolocation-based sites.

And is “Big Brother” really watching you?  Maybe but you know what?  It’s fun and I think these sites will stick around for a while.

Any thoughts?  Will you be using one of the geolocation sites?  Which one will you use?

Ever hear stories about people who have terminal cancer and beat the odds? For years, people have said to me that you can cure yourself. But I never believed them. When I read the book, The Secret Language of Your Body: The Essential Guide to Health and Wellness by Inna Segal, I was intrigued.

Ms. Segal believes that there are 10 principles for healing, which include:

• Make health a priority;
• Don’t hide your emotions, feel them;
• Be conscience of your breathing;
• Watch what you eat and try to eat healthy;
• Exercise;
• Listen to the clues that your body gives you;
• Use your creativity;
• Put color in your life;
• Be grateful for what you have and not what you don’t have;
• Laugh as much as possible.

What is interesting about the book is Ms. Segal takes each body part and explains why this may be a problem area for you and what you can do to change it. So for example, if your mouth hurts for any reason, it may be because you have a bad attitude and are closed to other opinions and options. Her remedy is to concentrate on that body part and focus on what is going on. After that, she suggests going into a meditative state where you say:

“Divine Healing Power help me… (You add what your problem areas are.)”

Say Clear… Clear…. Clear…. Until you feel something change.

Close your eyes and focus on a particular color. In the example of the mouth, focus on the color white. Once you have had enough of white, you can think about pink, orange and blue. Ms. Segal  says to focus on your breath swirling around your mouth and releasing all the stress. She suggests spitting out the stress and repeating the following:

“Divine Healing Intelligence allow me to be more generous and understanding and have a better attitude.” Also say, Divine Healing Intelligence please heal “my mouth, tongue and teeth to their full health, vitality and flexibility.”

The author has a remedy for almost any physical or psychological ailment, which includes depression, sadness and stress.

At the end of the book, she talks about how colors can change the way we see the world. Each color is detailed out on how it makes you feel. If there is too much of one color, it will make you feel a certain way.

She believes that focusing on color is the essence of healing. When I was reading The Secret Language of Your Body, I kept thinking how caring Inna Segal is. She provided many case studies about people she has helped through this simple process. She also offers meditative techniques on her web site at www.InnaSegal.com. I didn’t feel as though she was trying to sell me anything, I felt like she was genuinely interested in helping people overcome their physical and psychological ailments.

The book is a solid reference book. If you have a discomfort, go to the page and try out her regimen. She claims it works. I’m not sure if I believe it, but I certainly will try her recommendations the next time I have a headache, feel stressed or my back hurts. Who knows… it couldn’t hurt!

This blog was first published in Blogcritics.org at http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-the-secret-language-of/