Japi's Blog

Network Marketing Recommended by Robert Kiyosaki

I recently read the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki.  I highly recommend the book since it opens your eyes to strategies that can help you learn to make (and keep) money.

The book has helped me better understand the TRUE difference between an asset and a liability... it sounds simple enough, but a lot of people will buy a liability thinking it's an asset... read the book, it's great! 

The best network marketing I have encountered is the one I am currently working: Shop To Earn.  I have come to this conclusion for several reasons

1. Shop To Earn offers all the stores and brands you already buy
2. Shop To Earn's structure is simple (no director, diamond, silver, executive, etc...) you grow your network, you make a lot of money 
3. The network is not limited to a specific generation of growth 

Here's a video by Robert Kiyosaki where he suggests network marketing (or multilevel marketing) as a great tool to generate large amounts of money quickly.

Glenn Beck - America's Addiction

I had a the pleasure of meeting Glenn Beck about 3 years ago on a visit to Philadelphia when he was doing his live, nationally syndicated radio show.  The opportunity came about because his radio show was looking to use our Tendenci software.  Glenn was very gracious and sat down to talk for about 10 minutes during a break on his radio show.

I came across an article he wrote called "America needs a 12-step program" which describes how the government used to be afraid of the people... and now it's the other way around.  He suggests a six-step program to get the country back in the hands of the people:

1. Admit we are not powerless.
2. Believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.
3. Decide to take our power back.
4. Make a complete and fearless moral inventory.
5. Admit our wrongs, and our rights.
6. Be ready to remove our defects.

The article is dead-on target! We DO need to take back our government.

Last Speech by Dr. Markin Luther King Jr

40 years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis, TN.  He was a great American who has left a legacy of peaceful resistance against inequality and injustice which is still alive.

His final speech (see excerpt below) sounds prophetic as he mentions that he is not worried because he has been to the mountaintop.  He continues to state that he would prefer to live a long life, but that he's not concerned about that. 

It was a very sad day for the world to lose such an amazing and valiant human being.

Don't Push The River, It Flows By Itself

Ruby Sinreich was the facilitator for a session called "Don't Push the River, It Flows by Itself".  With an interesting name... the idea behind it is to allow social networks to flow and naturally evolve.

Use and organize networks by the power of the individual which can grow to a large wave of support for a particular cause or goal.

What makes a network effective:

1. Strong social ties -personal relationships, trust, awareness.
2. Common story - shared values, collective narrative, language and words that resonate (tagcouds).
3. Dense communication grid - online and offline: blogs, e-mail, IM, phone & SMS, face-to-face, twitter.
4. Sharing culture - Opensourcy: data, information, skills & expertise, money, space (meeting rooms).
5. Network awareness - feeling like a member, knowing what the network is for.

Some of the takeaways include:

1. A better understanding of the different social networking sites and how to use them
2. How social networking can impact the nonprofit world
3. Strategies on how to use this medium for outreach and advocacy

Ruby is a wonderful and confident speaker - she is very active in the social media universe which is obvious in the delivery of this content.

Changing Your CEO from Barrier to Partner

Marnie Webb, David Geilhufe, Michelle Murrain and Steve Heye were part of a great breakout session.  It was fantastic in that Marnie had the CEO's point of view and David had some excellent examples of situations where he presented to his CEO.

The audience was not huge which allowed for great interaction with real-situation questions and comments.

I filmed Marnie for a few minutes where she explained situations where she has eithe shot something down or chose to move forward with a particular project.  She also explained that there are some piece of information that she DOES NOT want to know... for example:

If you need to purchase a new firewall and you present Marnie with all the details of the research you've done and given your recommendation.  If you give her details such as the brand of firewall, she may delve deeper into why you chose that one and not the one that he buddy CEO purchased or the one she saw on the magazine in the plane, etc... there are some things that she prefers not to know... but if she's put in the situation that she has to decide on something, she will use her best judgement based on the information she has gathered.

Some of the other take-aways from this session include many concepts I've heard our CEO, Ed Schipul, mention many times:

1. Bad news must travel fast - if an approved project is going badly, inform the CEO immediately!  This helps them make a decision on where to go from here.
2. Research and SoundBytes - be sure to do the appropriate research and be able to present it in a quick manner so it makes sense to your CEO (ROI, bottom line, etc)
3. Think risks/security first - Be sure to verify the risk factors of this project and how it can affect the current and future situation of your organization.  Even if it's a very risky project, present an objective view of it... your CEO may be willing to move forward in spite of those risks.
4. Succinct Communication - CEO's typically have many different things going on so it's important to make sure you present/talk to your CEO in THEIR language and in the least amount of words necessary.

This panel was very informative - the team of individuals were well-informed and had wonderfully natural presentation skills.

David Pogue at 2008 NTC

David Pogue, New York Times columnist and CBS news correspondent, delivered the keynote speech this morning to officially begin the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference - He was both entertaining and educational.  He even played the piano and sang a couple of humorous songs at the end of his presentation.

David presented some interesting concepts about voice over ip (voip) and how the cellular carriers are trying not to offer this service.  Their primary reason for not offering this service is that the cellular firms will lose a lot of revenue from the "free voip minutes".  I was able to capture most of the speech on video and tonight I will upload it to my YouTube Channel.  I was able upload the short video of David playing the piano and singing, watch it below.

NTC 2008 1st Day

Wednesday at the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans was primarily about networking, meeting new folks, running into old friends, learning about the new technology offered by the organizations marketing themselves at the NTC Science Fair. 

However, one of the events I most enjoyed happened to me by accident.

During the member appreciation luncheon, I ran into several people I've met the last couple of NTC's... including: Corey Pudhorodsky, James Jones, Beth Kanter, Katrin Verclas and Britt Bravo.  When I was talking to Britt, she mentioned that they were having a Netsquared Meetup at a local bar that night.

Just the day before, I had discussed Netsquare with Jessica Rohloff of the Louisiana Technology Council and she expressed interest in setting up a chapter here in New Orleans. 

So I asked Jessica to come out and here's the magic moment captured for eternity <grin>  Britt Bravo and Jessica Rohloff talking about what Netsquared is and the details she needs to set it up in New Orleans - pretty exciting stuff!

Let's hope it DOES lead to the formation of a New Orleans Netsquared group!