Time is precious, don't waste it.

Many friends and contacts often comment that I am the busiest person they know. They wonder how over the years I have found time to manage a challenging sales and marketing career, works side projects, raise two fantastic children with my amazing wonderful wife and make time for personal endeavors aside from entrepreneurial and work related tasks.

I wanted to blog for a moment about time management and taking time for yourself. You can't make time, you must take time for yourself.

I have met thousands of professionals across a wide spectrum of professions over my fifteen year career. Many of them are type "A" personalities who as business managers and leaders must focus much of their time on day-to-day responsibilities at the office. But yet many of them find personal time to delve into the space within to grow as professionals and people regularly.

Although time in the office serves to progress projects, focus team and drive revenues it does little to enhance life and experience aside from work. The truly exceptional professionals I have engaged who most impress me have found time for themselves as well as their families and career. It's a challenge yes, but the rewards far exceed the challenges in my mind.

So what, you may ask, am I referring to...? Life, worldy endeavors, well rounded experience, challenges above and beyond those that impact your pay check and career. I'd like to highlight a few executives I have encountered who may focus away from the office on running marathons, road racing or mastering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or other physical endeavors. These select individuals take personal development to physical and mental levels few experience.

Did you know that .001% Americans completed a marathon in 2007? (http://www.marathonguide.com/features/Articles/2007RecapOverview.cfm), of just over 222,000,000 adults as of 2007 one one thousand of one percent have even completed a 26.2 mile race. No wonder most of us lose our breadth running to get the phone when it rings. ;-) But one of the most impressive CIO's I have ever met takes time out annually to challenge himself for a personal best in Marathon.

The number of participants in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments if we estimate 100 tournaments held nationwide per year with 500 participants (50,000 total) each we get .0001% of 296,410,000 American's as of our 2005 census. Or just one ten thousand of our population competes annually in this style of competition.

It's no wonder so few earn so much in America. The greatest leaders I have met in business, those who have obtained the highest office and manage the greatest number of subbordinates usually focus some time weekly on endeavors aside from their career. They spend time at the gym, doing Yoga, teaching or learning martial arts, competing or creating.

So what does that teach us of leadership and great leaders? I would suggest it tells us many leaders endeavor to first master themselves, to challenge self before challenging others. They strive to be the best person they can be to help others do likewise.

I recently had a conversation with a networking contact who shared a story regarding his CEO of a Southern California based tech firm. This leader routinely joined his employees in physical endeavor. Annually he joins a team of three others in a Muddy Buddy run. In which teams of five (5) individuals set out together to conquer just over three miles of extremely hilly terrain and multiple obstacles including the dreaded mud bog to beat out hundreds of teams for the podium. Fun yes, but a physical and mental challenge just the same. The team in question is now ranked fifth overall and has their sites on top honors this year.

I also enjoy thinking on one of my contacts who prides himself on the number of days he spends on the ocean sport fishing in coastal waters, not contracts signed or deals completed. His most precious numbers relate to the largest catch, days out of the office and tournament victories. And yet he is a much needed asset to his company and one of their most talented business managers.

Personally I focus on submission grappling and mastery of martial arts to occupy my time away from family and the office. Some may say that personal hobbies take too much time away from important family duties, it's personal time that could be better spent. But I would argue there is no more important time spent than the time we spend perfecting ourselves. I call my training, therapy. It's gives me focus and allows me to fully relax through exhausting my body weith new physical challenges weekly. Isn't this truly our life, our time our experience? And don't our endeavors make us stronger, wiser, healthier, more focused individuals for our companies, families and friends?

I would encourage anyone who happens upon this diatribe to discover yourself within so that you might share more without. Take up a new art form, learn a new talent, challenge yourself to excel in a new capacity.

Some of the most talented folks I have run across compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu not to be world champion. Personally, at 39 the hopes of me beating 70 or so younger competitors to take tops honors at Mundial would seem an impossible goal, but yet I have competed twice in the World Championships with the simpe goal of improving each time I step on to the floor of competition more prepared than my last year.

Take up a challenge, set a goal. I lost 50 lbs when I took up BJJ just over two years ago. I've placed over six times in competition and placed first recently at a well known tournament just this year.

Go for it! Spend your time wisely and wreap rich reward from discovering more about yourself than the fact you can type 90 words per minute with two fingers. ;-)

Here's to you and your greatest challenge, perfecting self!!!

Best Regards,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Corny yes, but viral just the same. I love it. Me for President!!!

Wanna be on the news. Check this PalTalk project out. Very cool viral campaign that really sells the idea you or a friend are being written for President of the United States during an election year.

Nice work here people form PalTalk and the great coders behind this nifty little trickery.

Enjoy!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp
For President!!!!!

CLICK THIS LINK to check out my media coverage from today;'s news report:

www.3NewsOnline.com

Your Future is NOW!

A close contact of mine just posted a full time job opportunity available today in Southern California for a social community developer. This is an advocacy role as much as a business development or culture development role. I am told passion for Web 2.0 and social networking is key.

The main reason for my blog post today is this community development position is exactly the position my above video discusses. Full time jobs can now be had for folks who love to work social networks, meet friends, connect, contribute, promote and share. Along with developing content in support of the brand and cause of this social network the key role of this new hire will be; steadfast advocate, advisor, contributor and monitor of the social network.

Wait I get to be message board GOD! And get paid for it! Geez most of the folks who I have known who ran message boards or social networks did so as a hobby, part time, for fun or to build their personal rolodex.

So now is the time to leverage your passion for SN, Web 2.0, Widgets, RSS, SEO and put it to work to GET PAID!!!

Want more details, hit me with an email and I'll give you the skinny.

Best of luck,

KK

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

LifeChangingBox - Great application of social media and contest!

A contact of mine Chris Abraham has been marketing a very cool social media marketed campaign called Life Changing Box. I'm sure most of you have been invited to it via FaceBook or other social platform Chris stalks. But if not consider yourself invited...

One aspect I really enjoy about this game is if you invite a friend and that lucky person is selected to win randomly by a LifeChangingBox you win too. Pretty sweet concept if you ask me. And the LifeChangingBox chooses you. You simply touch the box during a specific game timeframe that could last minutes or hours. Totally random. I love it!

Rewarding social behavior at it's finest. The prizes seem pretty substantial as well, multiple flat panel TV's of varying sizes have been awarded thus far. Might look nice on the wall this Summer. :-)

If you haven't played the game then check it out (http://www.lifechangingbox.com/) and sign up. It's free and easy to play. Look for other social media marketing applications and share them via comment with me here. I love seeing and interacting with great ideas.

Oh ya and let me know if any of you lucky folk out there win. I'd love to know if my blog had a hand in it.

Best Regards,

KK

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Interesting concept - Let's test it to see if it works.

What would you say if a company offered to split 80% of their revenues with you the social network user????

What if it were FREE and you would never be charged to use their platform or service?

What is all you had to do as a user is log into the website 30 times in a month?

Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?

Well.....

Check out ZenZuu.com

The one thing members are asked to do is invite their friends to join. The official launch of this company happens in August so now is the time to stake your claim to future revenues.

I don't know about all of you but if I can get paid for doing what I love anyway, I'm IN!!!

I hope you will all join me on ZenZuu.com. Just search for "socialFIEND". See you all there.

Best Regards,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Twitter! In Plain English What a Video!

For those who don't twit, don't care are are utterly clueless please enjoy this video by Lee LeFever at CommonCraft.com/show. Thanks Craig Shoemaker for commenting on my post "Do non-socialnetworking types Twitter???".



This is truely a helpful video your non-techno types.

Enjoy everyone! Thanks Craig.

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Niche Wiki!?

By now you've visited, searched and read Wikipedia. So have you thought about developing a Wiki for your business, hobby, club or school? Check out: http://www.mediawiki.org, to host one of your own. Here's an idea of what a Niche Wiki can look like: http://valuewiki.com.



Think about asking all your friends, strangers, experts and fans to share everything they know about specific topics, host a Wiki and start posting!



What about a Wiki on Hip Hop, culture; clothes, dance, poetry, rap. Detailed lessons on movement, writing, lifestyle, history etc... Deep knowledge collected from all corners of the planet. How to kids in Japan embrace hip hop? What's a swipe? How do you egg roll? What defines old school?

The power of the Wiki is the same as the power of social networks. The content is the people, the power comes from activity and involvement.

Having a centralized repository of knowledge developed, maintained and edited by all can be not only be useful, practical and powerful but necessary. In sales logging best practices, company methods, history, project timelines, product knowledge etc... is incredibly important. So why does my company maintain an archaic FAQ when a Wiki is the answer?

Create, involve, share, maintain and archive. Niche Wiki... Who's got one!

Share some comments on successful Wikis you know about. Who's doing ti right?

Kenneth socialFIEND Knapp
Founder EyeBalls, Inc.

What's so cool about 1,000 Followers on Twitter?!!!

Today I received a tweet from a truly genius social media and technology tweaker, Nate Ritter. The guy can hack, crack and code with the best of them and he truly sees long tail applications to the technology spinning all around us.

Today Nate announced he is very close to topping 1,000 followers on Twitter. If you're ask what the heck is www.twitter.com check it out and setup and account.

For marketers Twitter is an application that allows you to quickly alert followers (friends, contacts or perfect strangers) of critical information, meeting spots, events, ideas, concepts or whatever ideas you can relate in 140 characters or less. Don't worry if you spill over (I do all the time) the system will create a tinyurl link to allow your friends to read the rest of your mission critical info online.

Some really cool things can be accomplished using Twitter such as tracking RSS feeds and alerting follower bases of information critical to their job, life or safety. Want to know how to change the world: http://twitter.com/makechange. Want to know when an earthquake strikes join: http://twitter.com/whatsshakin. Want CNET news: http://twitter.com/CNETNews.

These are simply a sample of real time alerts automatically publishing critical tweets to interested followers. But it gets better. Twitter is community. Think of it as a blog in your pocket but your readers can churp back ideas, inspiration, ideas or comments in near real time.

Ideas are more timely. Thoughts can shared to massive diverse social segments. Readers can know what's in your mind now, whether you have time for a phone call or email.

Communicate, share, get social TWITTER!

Take a look and if you really get crazy hit Nate up for some superior code support. The guy can build anything? http://twitter.com/nateritter.

Thanks Nate for making Twitter an info rich environment in more thna one way.

Enjoy!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

The best application or project you have experienced using social media.

Hey gang this is a shout out to my readers and visitors. Share some knowledge and improve social marketing for us all.

Think back and recall the best use of social media you have witnessed to date using social media likw twtitter, flickr, podcasting or other Web 2.0 solution you love.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about think about marketing in general. Try to remember a time or place when you received/downloaded an email, podcast, twitter, SMS or pop up that instantly made you change your behavior and act.

In Web 2.0 terms I am looking for a social media, a direct one-to-one dialogue or platform access point that allowed a marketer the opportunity to get in your ipod, face, in your mind or in your pocket and spit an idea in your ear and then like magic you jumped, clicked, visited and bought, read or voted simply because the idea moved you.

Here's one. Did your friend recently twitter you and let you know they were heading out for drinks or eats at a local hot spot. They mentioned the time and place and like clock work you and a handful of your faithful friends showed? That's one app of social media work, there has to be millions of others so let's get sharing and create the longest running dialogue concerning use of social media in marketing and relationship management.

Can you think of something??? If you can... Cool social media is among us. But if you have not been moved to action by a personal note, message, or prompting through a cool application like twitter, your phone or mobile device then perhaps we all need to be thinking of betters way to get in consumers pockets.

This is the reality of YouRelations as I call it. We get into people's lives and heads like never before. And we let others into our lives and heads like never before.

Happy sharing,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp
Found
socialFIEND.com & Eyeballs, Inc.

Do non-socialnetworking types Twitter???

I've often wondered... do non-socialmedia types Twitter?

If you have an example of a non-social media Web 2.0 advocate using twitter please post a comment to this blog.

Your feedback is critical if we are to discover if others are among us. Or are we simply a bunch of techno freaks playing with gadgets we dream up in our sleep?

Just wondering out loud.

KK

How's this for niche?

So I've been putting time, energy and thought into special events of late. Some professional time spent and creating launch events for my employer as well as personal time planning fundraisers for worthy causes in my local market.

I have found over many years in my career I have affinity for creating visions and taking action when a good idea is shared with me. I'm big on helping the greater good and focus attention on taking appropriate actions that support my desire to aid people in need and children especially. This is one of the reasons I donate my time to teach children Kung Fu San Soo. I love to teach and I want kids to be safe. Enough said.

I most recently created a social network and LinkedIn Group called SEVEJ - Special Events Junkies. It's a group created to help people develop large to small events together. The goal is to connect professionals who create, plan and develop special events for good causes or simply to support their local marketing/PR efforts. In the end all we do is alter opinions or change behavior in support of a goal why not share great ideas with like minded professionals? Thus SEVEJ was born.

I think SEVEJ is a perfect example of a well defined social network niche. Special events planning takes time, talent, passion and drive to pull off successfully. I am hopeful this niche SN will draw attention from worldwide professionals much like myself who have a passion for sales and marketing and have found they love to take action to create events around good ideas in support of larger goals.

This is an open invite to anyone who reads this post and wants to learn how or why marketing PR professionals use special events to support their causes. Join us!

http://sevejmembers.ning.com/ or http://www.sevej.com

Welcome!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

One way to use social networking in sales

I like to provide simple and effective methods to leveraging social media in my everyday work habits. I feel by showcasing one example it gives my readers a focused task to apply in their lives and see if it works for them. this is simple, effective social marketing.

So here's one way I gain fast account penetration while prospecting using a couple of my favorite tools.

I've spent over twelve years as a national and global accounts sales manager I and my team work to penetrate large commercial accounts in a short time frame. To that end churn happens, people change, projects and budgets come and go. So in this ever changing landscape a sales professional must have current actionable intelligence and contacts to derive interest for his/her product or service and close meaningful business.

When prospecting new accounts such as Fortune 500 accounts let's say. First I visit my LinkedIn rolodex to see who I know working in and around this account. My first goal is to find consultants and other enterprise sales professionals working around this account. You would be surprised what lunch or a cup of coffee will buy in the way of business intelligence (human engineering is as important as online networking). Also give first then ask for for advice on working the account. Always allow your contact to teach you what they would like to. A few guiding questions during this process will allow them to share their knowledge and flex their influence muscles a bit while you glean as much constructive information as you can. Be sure to listen and remember their guidance. If the consultant is close to the account they may be your only way through the front door, so get to know this professional as well as they will let you.

Next if enterprise reps and consultants cannot be found I go straight to the IT and C Level chain of command. You would be very surprised how relevant a snap shot you can glean from a few minutes spent searching your pervasive LinkedIn network.

NOTE: realizing of course the fewer level 1 contacts you have in LinkedIn the less powerful this strategy is as names will not be shown for contacts more than three levels away from you...so grow your network now! I also like to take a look at Hoovers.com for account 411 as well, note their competitors and contacts listed to compare with LinkedIn findings.

Sift through the contacts and titles until you have a strong understanding of C Level down structure. Create a list of these contacts in your contact management software and then pick up the phone and make a call. Focus on getting a meeting. Use the names on your list to circumvent the gatekeeper with ease and be ready to sell your meeting not your product. Don't waste their time and prepare well in advance to hit salient points to gain a meeting time and date with your important contact. And stand up while your on the phone with you contact, attitude is everything in sales and strong posture will evoke a stronger voice.

In addition once I know the names of my prospects I can then try to figure out email accounts to simultaneously catch their attention for a meeting. One sure fire way to get noticed is using a simple title on your email such as: "Meeting Request". Also keep your email to the point and very brief.

Here is an example of a message I have used quite effectively to land meetings with my prospects:

Dear Josephine:

I'd like to share some exciting news regarding *** Inc. They recently signed a $3,000,000 contract with my firm. This relationship saves *** Inc. $35,000 per month over their existing solution provider and offers redundancy and diversity in their WAN that never existed before.

Can we pencil a few minutes in the next week to review why *** Inc. selected my firm to manage their mission critical networking needs?

I look forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

KK

This little email gets better than a 60% response rate. Typical direct email campaigns only net less than 1%. Pretty good when you think about it.

So use LinkedIn to find professionals you wish to speak with. Know them, their company and their competitors. Then hit them with a meaningful dollarized message that has "VALUE" written all over it.

Go try it out and let me know what you think. There are over 100 ways to use LinkedIn. If you want to know more just check out this link. Thanks to Christian Gray in my LinkedIn network for sharing it with me. It's great stuff.

http://www.linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin/

Happy Hunting.

Kenneth Knapp
"The socialFIEND"
949-294-0403