Social Entrepreneur Forum

A New Perspective on Will

Feb 3

Tonight I participated in a “Think and Grow Rich” mastermind class to generate some new ideas for my social enterprise, Xtreme Business International. Now, I know many people with the word social in front of their title have a problem with anything that has to do with money or “getting rich” and I will address in future articles how negitive beliefs about money can derail your entire operation…Ask me how I know.

Anyway, for now, I would like to share that the most fascinating idea I took away from the class was a new perspective of will.

In this class will was defined as a state of conscious that allows you to hold on to your goal to the exclusion of anything or anyone in opposition to it. Will was said to be distinctly different from will power. Will power is a counterproductive use of the will as it has more to do with forcing something into existence.

A perfect example of someone using will power would the desperate friend we all have that is always trying to get a date. They are on every dating website, they are involved in every singles group. They beg everyone to hook them up on blind dates, yet they never experience a happy relationship. Why? Because they are trying to muscle a new partner into existence as opposed to simply maintaining a clear focus on their goals and objectives in life, have an open heart, and being present to the opportunities for love when they show up.

I think almost everyone can relate to this example.

Will is the conscious application of focus and can be used effortlessly with practice.

As social entrepreneurs we do not need to find will because it is not lost. Instead, we must focus on the task we set out to accomplish without regard for opposition. This does not mean stepping on people to reach your goal. Instead, acknowledge the obstacles that exist and give no more energy than that to them. Stay focused, do the work, and allow your goals to deliver themselves to you.

Tags: goals, social entrepreneurs, Will power

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How use Social Media to Support Statewide Causes

Feb 2

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

protest
I am currently working on a few different statewide initiatives and I thought I would be fun to share how I am using social media to support these causes. One cause is a political race and the other is a campaign to ensure the Governor and legislatures of Arizona don’t eliminate the adult education program (I know…why do I have to convince our political leaders that even adults deserve an education? Who knows and I’ll spare the details. However, I will share some things to keep in mind when supporting a statewide cause.

1. Only choose to support a cause that inspires you and has lots of motivated people behind it. This is critical. You will get swamped and tired very quick so it is important that you have something other than “I really feel bad” about this situation to keep you going. Additionally, you will have more influence when people see how passionate you are.

It is also important to choose a cause that is in alignment with your business and you feel you have a reasonable chance of succeeding with. Winning is not everything, but everyone loves a victory party.

2. Make sure you identify your goals and make them measurable. Is your plan to get massive exposure; If so, how much? Influence political leaders; which ones? Raise funds? How much? For each of these questions it will be imperative that you identify the online groups and communities where the people you want to influence hang out in. You should be where they are to create positive conversations that lead them to supporting your efforts.

3. Identifying your time line is critical. Will your campaign last 4 weeks like I’m expecting the “Save Adult Ed for Arizona” program or will it last 6 -9 months like a political race? The amount of work and how fast you do it, will be based on knowing your time line.

If you have a longer campaign cycle it will be important neither to overwhelm people with too much content nor to wait for the last min. A steady pace of 2 – 3 post a day on Facebook with many people posting as much as possible to a Group or Fan page is perfect. 10- 15 tweets a day on twitter is also a good goal.

4. Social media is powerful but don’t limit yourself there. Become friends with media personalities on social media sites before you need them. Comment on their work or their post and weave your cause in when the timing is right (i.e. when the opportunity presents itself in chatting or a post. Bombarding someone you don’t know well could get you blacklisted super fast. You will also want to make plans for your team to write letters to the press, their representatives or host a rally. You can easily use social media to spread the word about these things.

5. If you are using your business as a tool to the support the statewide change you would like to see, make sure you choose a position on the team that will allow your business to really shine. What platforms are you or your employees good with, e-mail campaigns, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogging? My strength is Facebook but I also took on blogging for the “Save Adult Ed Arizona” program. I soon became aware that getting certain parts of the blog to work was an unexpected challenge. To overcome this, I quickly asked for help and shifted that task to someone more capable. It is also important to remember that how well your business performs becomes your brand forever in the community. Always go the extra mile to deliver a brand worth talking about.

6. Choose a structure for your team. Will your team be small with one person in charge of social media or will it be filled with masses of motivated people from everywhere, whom you will only need to gently guide to ensure your message gets out?

Will your span of control be centralized and hierarchal, where someone at the top reviews everything and some authority figure or personal disaster puts an end to your efforts, or will your organization be decentralized?

Decentralized organizations have no real leader; people lead themselves and collaborate with others that are committed to an idea in order to get the word out.

If your operation is centralized look for ways to delegate or you’ll burn out. If it is decentralized, make sure its easy for your supporters to get wide access to the content you want communicated. One volunteer saying the wrong thing could derail your entire cause.

7. Stay organized with collaborative tools like Google calendar, Docs, Groups, Zoho or Groupsite. There are many free collaboration tools available. Make sure you identify your needs before hand then choose the collaboration platform that works best.

8. Think big, build alliances, and conquer the counties. This step is paramount. In order to have a loud voice it is important that you build a number of alliances that support your efforts both on and offline. Every organization should play to their strength and organize various aspects of the campaign.

It is also equally important that you have representatives in various counties managing social media efforts in those areas. These representatives can leverage personal contacts and local groups they are affiliated with to spread the word faster than someone unfamiliar with that county.

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5 Social Media Tools for Social Entrepreneurs

Jan 20

Posted by admin in Social Media

For the last two decades organizations like Ashoka.com and the Skoll foundation have promoted and funded social entrepreneurs that work to eliminate social problems in developing countries.

However, as the U.S. economy toughens, and government and non-profit organizations experience budget cuts, American business owners are being asked to subscribe to the philosophy of “doing good by doing well” and proactively step in to make a difference.

Business owners that take on the challenge of using their business as a tool to create solutions to social problems often find themselves building community goodwill, attracting positive press, and gaining a competitive advantage over their competition.

Social Entrepreneurs are innovative thinkers that apply free-market business principles to the challenge of solving social problems. While their efforts are expected to generate profits, their bigger motivation is to transform communities by providing solutions to social problems.

The Annandale Apartments in Tucson, Arizona is an example of an American company applying the principles of social entrepreneurship. This company pays tenants to perform odd jobs around the apartment complex if they become unemployed due to downsizing.

It is important for social entrepreneurs to share their story in many formats in order to keep customers and other supporters engaged.

Here are 5 low-cost or no cost social media tools your organization can use to communicate its message massively and effectively.

Create a Facebook Fan page

Starting a Facebook Fan page is a great way to begin promoting your organization. By setting up a fan page you will be able to strategically promote your organization to millions in the region or demographic of your choice.

Your organization can share information about community involvement, raise money by using the Causes or Chip In application or use the Static FBML application to apply a website-like appearance and functionally in order to increase interaction with page viewers. The Fern Thai Foundation is an excellent example of a Facebook fan page with all of these capabilities.

Meetup groups

Meetup groups make it is possible to take your online activities into the real world by building local communities of people interested in similar topics. There are Meetup Groups established for dog lovers, quilters, and even social entrepreneurs.

Suppose you own a website development company and you wanted to create a stronger sense of family for low-income seniors. You could offer free or discounted internet classes to help bridge the gap between the seniors and younger family members that only use computers to communicate. Since the seniors you’re targeting are not online, it may be advantageous to create a Meetup Group for Gen Xer’s with aging parents.

By hosting this Meetup group your company could build relationships with the family members of seniors, generate revenue from holding monthly events, cultivate new customer relationships with the Gen Xer’s, and most importantly inform them of the courses available for their aging loved ones.

Blogging

Blogging is another important way to share the work your organization is doing. While blogging can take some commitment, it is important to remain consistent and use keywords to increase search engine rankings. Wordtracker.com is an excellent tool for conducting keyword research.

Some of the best online marketer’s blog daily. However, if time is at a premium for you, blogging weekly is better than blogging inconsistently or not at all. Consistent blogs tells the reader that you take your organization seriously. It also causes search engines to increase your rankings because of the new content.

Many successful internet marketers like Derek Alverez, social entrepreneur and founder of Drivetheline.com suggest that you generously share your most valuable content on your blog in order to create a long-term readership.

Use the “Share this” widget

Once you have created a loyal readership for your blog, you want to make sure that reader have the opportunity to share your content with others who may be interested. A simple way to make it easy to share your information is to install the “share this” widget on your blog.

According to wisegeek.com, a widget is a piece of self-enclosed code which can be embedded into a website or program to perform a specific function. The “share this” Widget is just that. You can create the code for your widget in a matter of seconds at Sharethis.com and embed it into your blog. This widget will allow your readers to click the icon of their favorite social networking or social book marking site and instantaneously share content from your blog with their entire social network.

Promote your social media channels everywhere

Applying social media tools to any business model can be time consuming. However, the return on engagement from the content you share can mean the difference between success and failure for your enterprise. A simple way to remind customers, partners, donors, and venders to stay in the conversation about the good work you’re doing is to include links to your social media sites on your business cards, brochures and in your e-mail footer.

Tags: fbml application, internet marketers, meetup group, social entrepreneur, Social Media

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Socialpreneur Leadership Course Intro in Tucson & Across America

Jan 6

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

slclogo30pt1

The Socialpreneur Leadership Course Intro Event will take place on Jan 13, 2010 in Tucson, and nationally via teleseminar on Jan 14, 2010.

Register NOW!

At this event you will learn:

- How Social Entrepreneurship is reshaping business

- Why“social problems” represent the greatest source of economic opportunities for our time

- How to use your existing business to take advantage of these problems to make a difference as well as a profit

- What it means to be a sustainable non-profit

- How you can partner with a team of people to help your organization create lasting results in the world

WHEN
Jan 13, 2010 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm (Wednesday)

WHERE
Ward 2 Office (map)
7575 East Speedway Blvd (Speedway/Pantano)
Tucson, AZ

Live Teleseminar Event
Jan 14, 2010
Complete Form above for Call information

EVENT VALUE $197
Cost: FREE

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Business Plan Competitions for Social Entrepreneurs

Jan 5

Posted by admin in social entrepreneurship

Name	Web site	Next Deadline	Entry Criteria, Prizes, Notes
Investor’s Circle Call for Applicants	http://tinyurl.com/IC-call-for-applicants	January 13, 2010	Companies at early or expansion stage whose businesses address significant social or environmental issues.
Global Social Venture Competition	www.gsvc.org	January 20 (USA Entries)	One team member must be a current or recent (2 years) graduate business student. $25,000 grand prize.
Brigham Young University Social Venture Competition	http://socialventure.byu.edu	January 22, 2010	Applicants must be currently enrolled at Brigham Young (Provo, Hawaii, or Idaho). $50,000 in cash and prizes.
Business Environmental Awards	www.acterra.org/bea/	January 22, 2010	For existing companies in the San Francisco Bay area. Some Non-profit organizations are eligible.
Tufts Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition	http://tinyurl.com/tufts-competition	January 25, 2010	One member of each team must be a Tufts student. $100,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
Florida International University (FIU) Entrepreneur Challenge	http://fiuchallenge.com	January 30, 2010	Open to all FIU students. $5,000 grant.
Harvard Social Enterprise Club Pitch for Change Competition	www.pitchforchange.org/	January 30, 2010	At least one team member must be a current graduate student. Cash prizes totaling $7,000.
Tulane University Business Plan Competition	www.tulanebusinessplancompetition.com/	February 1, 2010	Open to students. All business ventures must be seeking outside equity capital. Cash prizes totaling $40,000.
Seattle Pacific University Social Venture Plan Competition	www.spu.edu/depts/sbe/svpc.asp	February 9, 2010	At least one teams member must be a SPU student. $7,500 in prizes.
Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES)	www.yesatyale.org/y50k.php	February 9, 2010	At least one team member must be a Yale student, staff, or faculty member. $55,000 in prizes.
Duke Start-Up Challenge - Entrepreneur Competition	www.dukestartupchallenge.org/	February 10, 2010	At least one team member must be a full-time student at Duke. Prizes totaling $52,000.
Stanford Social E-Challenge	http://tinyurl.com/social-ebases	February 17, 2010	At least one team member must be a Stanford student or recent alumni. $50,000 in prizes.
Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship (SASE)	www.skollfoundation.org/skollawards/	February 17, 2010	Organization led by social entrepreneur with at least a 3 year track record. Mezzanine funding available.

Tags: Harvard, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, William James Foundation, Yale

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Encore Careers turn Seniors into Social Innovators

Dec 17

Posted by admin in Uncategorized, social entrepreneurship

In today’s economy, employers have an advantage. They can hire the best people many times for the least money. However, in the insurance sales industry, an industry known for its long hours and commissions only model, choosing the right candidate is still a difficult proposition.

I was talking to my friend Samuel this weekend. Samuel is a head hunter for a major insurance company and he was discussing the difficulty of finding quality employees.

I asked him if he had ever considered hiring retirees. As expected like most people in his position, the thought never crossed his mind. Why? Samuel’s firm seeks out sharp young people with loads of energy who are expected to give it the good ol’ college try until they burn out 2 years later and quit. Aside from the obvious problem here, many of today’s picture perfect candidates have credit problems because of the sluggish economy. Poor credit means disqualification when it comes to various financial services licenses.

Additionally, limited cash flow, lack of contacts and entrepreneurial skills make the it even tougher for young people to pursue a career where in the first 2 years they can expect to earn a little more than beer money.

I proceeded to make my case that seniors, people over 55 were, were a better target market for the focus of his recruiting efforts.

Here are some reasons why seniors are awesome recruits for the insurance industry…

- People over 55 have years of contacts that trust them and would easily do business with them.
- They are loyal workers
- They are perceived to be wiser because of their age
- They often have a passive retirement income so going without a pay check for 2 years is not an issue
- They have years of work experience and are highly productive
- They like the flexibility of working for themselves but not by themselves.

I could go on but I think you get the idea. Bottom-line, seniors know how to get a job done.

In fact, many seniors are making big strides as social innovators. Each year Encore Careers, a campaign run by Civic Ventures, a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose awards The Purpose Prize, a $100,000 award for social innovators in their encore careers.

Encore Careerist are ordinary people using a new stage of life to do extraordinary things. Some of the winners were:

* A former telecom executive who helped wire an Appalachian county and brought laid-off factory workers back to profitable farming;

* A professor who invented a way to transform toxic fly ash into green bricks;

* A psychiatrist who helps saves soldiers’ lives by offering free mental health treatment;

* A former NASA exec who works to treat alcoholism in Native American communities by reviving old customs and traditions; and

* A couple who honor their son, killed on 9/11, by helping to bring mental health services to countries ravaged by terrorism, violence and war.

These people – and five other $50,000 winners – are social entrepreneurs over 60 who are using their experience and passion to take on society’s biggest challenges. Now in its fourth year, the six-year, $17 million program is the nation’s only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life. To learn more visit www.encore.org

Tags: Civic Ventures, Encore Careers, entrepreneurial skills, Seniors, Social Innovators

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Gordon Gekko’s speech, “Greed is Good” is Garbage

Dec 11

Posted by admin in social entrepreneurship

Time has proven that Gordon Gekko’s speech “greed is good” in the 1987 movie Wall Street, is nothing more that a great movie scene.

The reality of the matter is that greed is the cause of every social problem known to man.

Greed causes companies to forsake their values and the true needs of employees and consumers for a buck. Greed causes Nationalistic corporations like countries to go to war.

Corporate corruption and government fraud waste and abuse is caused by greed. With so many negative images plaguing the business world, entrepreneurs today must rise above the lowly consciousness of greed and consider the highest need of employees and consumers…self-actualization.

Dr. Abraham Maslow first coined this term. And I think he explains it best in this quote:

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. This is the need we may call self-actualization … It refers to man’s desire for fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in what he is potentially: to become everything that one is capable of becoming …”

I would suggest that companies that support their customers and employees in becoming one with their true talents and desires will be the companies that lead in the future.

Time has shown that it is not prudent to put the needs of the corporation over the needs of the people. After all, aren’t the company and the people the same? To not respect this fact is to divide ones house against itself in support of destruction.

Tags: Abraham Maslow, Gordon Gekko, Greed is Good, Wall Street

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The Power of Persistence

Dec 8

Posted by admin in Inspiration

3dbook_cover_full-1

If there’s anything I’ve learned in the past seven years that I’ve been in the personal development industry it’s that there is one characteristic that, above all, creates success among the most extraordinary people. That one characteristic is persistence.

If we look throughout the world in every industry, in every culture, there’s one consistent trend among every single successful individual, and that trend is the ability to persevere beyond a shadow of a doubt. It’s the ability to stand up beyond everyone else and take a step forward when everyone else sits down.

Before we get started I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge you, because it’s not just anyone who would read an article called The Power of Persistence. It isn’t every day that people decide to do what they need to in order to be successful.

Only the most extraordinary individuals, the top minute fragment of a percent, who actually step up and take action towards creating success in their lives. Simply by picking up this book, you’ve chosen to step up and I acknowledge you for taking on that feat.

The Power of Persistence is available at www.PowerofPersistenceBook.com with over $3,000 bonuses when you purchase.

If we look throughout history at some of the greatest leaders– Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Colonel Sanders, Mark Victor Hansen, Steve Jobs — the most extraordinarily successful people are those who have persisted beyond the norm.

Everywhere we look we see signs of persistence in those that are creating the most challenging and rewarding results. It is not always natural; it’s a learned trait. What this means though, is that success is simply a choice.

There was once a politician who failed at business at the age of 21. He was defeated in a legislative race at age 22, he failed again at business at age 24, overcame the death of his lover at age 26, had a nervous breakdown at age 27, lost a congressional race at 34 and 36, lost a senatorial race at 45, failed to become vice president at 47, lost a senatorial race at 49 and then finally was elected to President of the United States of America at age 52.

Now imagine, if he had considered any of these past experiences as failures and had allowed that to stop him from moving forward, he would never have become one of the most extraordinary Presidents of the United States, Mr. Abraham Lincoln.

There’s a famous story about Thomas Edison: he tried 9,999 times to perfect the light bulb and he couldn’t do it. Someone said, “Are you going to have 10,000 failures?” And he responded, “I didn’t fail, I just discovered another way not to invent the electric light bulb.”

He got to choose how he perceived his previous experiences and whether or not he perceived them as failures.

Mark Victor Hansen, a close friend of mine and an extraordinary mentor and businessman. He is the coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul Series that has now sold over 144 million copies in over 20 languages worldwide.

But did you know that over 110 publishers, in their pursuit to be published, turned down Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield? They went to New York, and it wasn’t until a publisher’s wife got a hold of the manuscript and all night long she was waking her husband saying “Look at this, look at this” Finally the publisher agreed to publish it.

Now here’s a story about another individual. His name was Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was a military retiree and had nothing to his name, except his mother’s chicken recipe. So what did he do? He took his old sports wagon out and began driving to restaurant after restaurant after restaurant.

His intention was to sell the chicken recipe, but he was turned down time and time again he was turned down; 1,007 times before he received his first yes and that one yes is what made possible Kentucky Fried Chicken possible.

The last individual I want to tell you about is Steve Jobs, the President and founder of Apple Computer. Members of his own board of directors kicked him out of his own company. He could have allowed this to stop him, but instead he stood up. It was only because he persisted that he was voted back in as Chairman of Apple. He created the iPod, the iPhone and a new line of Mac Computers. Had he not, we probably would not have ever experienced an iPod or an iPhone.

As you can see the stories go on and on of the most extraordinary individuals creating powerful results, as a direct reflection of their persistence. Because time and time again, individuals are stopped along their journey. Just because they’re stopped, it doesn’t mean that they are failures or that their project will never work. It simply means that they’re one step closer to achieving the result that they desire.

Justin Sachs is the best-selling author of The Power of Persistence, and leading success coach for entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and business owners. His latest book can be found at www.PowerofPersistenceBook.com with over $3,000 in bonuses from leading experts like Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Loral Langmeierfor anyone who purchases a copy.

Tags: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, personal development, power, power of persistance

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Social Entrepreneur Forum

A Conversation For Those of us Who Want to do Good and do Well

How use Social Media to Support Statewide Causes

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