Understanding Consumer Awareness and Attention
Published May 25, 2010 | 
Social Media has made information and tools readily available to anyone seeking enlightenment on just about any subject imaginable, and the use and assimilation of the information has been directly associated with greatly increased consumer awareness as people become more comfortable with the Web and knowledgeable about their particular individual interests.
In the past, most businesses either just bought the awareness or attention of the consumer market niche, or used public relations from different media to reach the attention of the consumer, and even bugged the consumers with direct mail, phone contact or some other forms of working the market niche one at a time, and now there is a new way of gaining, and even more importantly, keeping the awareness of the consumers that businesses and organizations have set their sights on in respective market niches.
Most organizations and corporations have developed a culture over the years based on one of these methods that have been viewed as the best tried and true methods of generating much coveted consumer awareness, for example, there are some that primarily create attention through advertising, lots of advertising, others through focusing on public relations, and many through working the market one individual consumer at a time to produce sales.
More times than not, the type of culture is determined by the point of view developed during the career of the Entrepreneur or CEO, and the type they experienced and have developed a strong point of view about, so if an Entrepreneur comes through the marketing and advertising track, then what is considered problems are most likely to end up with more suggested advertising solutions and ideas than others.
You must develop the complete understanding that in today’s world of Social Media and Web Marketing and Networking, that you can quickly earn 
valuable awareness by simply creating something interesting and valuable to the consumer, then publishing and providing it online for free, for example, a YouTube video, a Blog, a research report, photos and images, a stream on Twitter, an eBook, a Facebook page, and many others that will help you maintain important value in the eyes and minds of your consumer market niche, and since today’s market presents us with a host of connected, interconnected, and overlapping networks and social graphs, the value can be maintained and easily grown with additional valuable information and insights you provide on a regular basis, as the expert you will grow to be recognized as.
Understanding Your Market Connections and Relationships
Published May 24, 2010 | The Social Media (R)evolution has created an unprecedented level of engagement between consumers and business, and shifted how customer service experiences is viewed by all parties directly involved in shaping the experience.
I think it is safe to say that consumer connections and relationship building is quickly becoming the norm in 2010 and beyond, and the brands that fail to recognize or adjust to the new and changing realities presented by the market will be quickly left behind and out in the cold, not because they aren’t good at what they do, but because they either fail or refuse to understand the importance of building lasting connections and relationships with the consumer market, that places great value on creating and maintaining strong connections and relationships.
In the world of Social Media and Social Networking your understanding of content creation is critical, as many times it is the main reason for the initial contact and engagement with your customer, and when you are perceived as transparent and engaging, the result can be powerful, especially if each subsequent occasion you have for direct engagement is as rewarding an experience as before. 
It is difficult for some to fully understand the dynamics at work with the concept of providing free information and online content such as videos, access to articles, and even eBooks, which actually adds great value to the consumer relationships and experience. So when it is time to sell your book or service the customer gladly pays, keeping the “value” of what they have already received for “free” in mind, and more times than not, they buy more product or additional services because of the “value” you have created in their experience.
Social Media” facilitates direct engagement with consumers to levels never seen before, causing a fundamental shift in the concept of customer service in the markets, where before, no one expected CEO’s to call or ring their doorbell on their birthday, because it wasn’t feasible. But Social Media Technology provides the tools, and greatly reduced the cost of direct interaction, which has plummeted to the lowest levels ever seen, as business 
leaders text simple “thank you” messages from cell phones, or hang out on video streaming platforms or chat rooms to answer questions, or send @ replies on Twitter, and all at very minimal cost.
Every CEO and business must recognize that customer service is now their primary business and focus, and what “was” unreasonable becomes essential, as the empowerment of the individual consumer through “social media” affects every brand and businesses value to the consumer, which directly translates to business success now and in the future.
Understanding Timeless Principles of Communication
Published May 21, 2010 | 
There are three timeless principles of communication that will be just as important years from now as they are today, and the principles include Passion of the Heart, Simplicity of Brand Story, and a Compelling Story.
Passion of the Heart engages your community of readers from a place of both passion and compassion for your cause, business or both, and you should understand that the facts really matter less when Passion of the Heart is present.
The Simplicity of your Brand Story should make sense to a nine-year-old, or it’s not good and you should work on it until it makes sense, and understand that many times the fewer the words to tell the story, makes it much simpler to tell as well as make sense of, so remember if you can be economical with your words, Simplicity of your Brand Story can be much more effective.
The Story itself should be Compelling enough to the audience that it draws them in to continue reading to completion, a task many of your audience 
endures for only the most compelling stories and related threads, as a video should meet the compelling requirement as well.
For example, imagine the millions that survive without love or home, almost none of them living in silence, with the thread of narrative running and echoing through the fabric of their existence, and each with their own beat, and rhythm of time, and rhythm of life, as the sound of story becomes the ever dominant sound of the countless lives.
Like many good Buddhists I know that believe when the echo chamber of life starts to become too chaotic and complicated, then it becomes extremely urgent for them to find their way through all the noise of distractions that life many times presents, and they begin to once again simplify, and focus in on what really matters, and As Albert Einstein once said, “Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
The great paradox of all this is that in an age of Technological (R)evolution when we have more communication tools at our fingertips, we somehow have lost much of our skills and effectiveness at communicating, but as we examine closer, we remember that it’s in our human nature and DNA to want the latest and shiniest new things, like shoes that make us run faster and jump higher so we can be just like our favorite professional athlete, and finally, we believe that Social Media and Web Marketing will somehow magically transform our messages into something everyone will stop what they are doing and read, watch, or listen to with great amazement, and all of this leads us to one final, and simple question…..…..What would Buddha Tweet?
Understanding the Harmony of Your Business
Published May 19, 2010 | Understanding that the existence of harmony in your business creates a workplace where you and everyone else involved in the business love to be, is an important component in your drive to developing a harmonious 
business environment that encourages the collaboration and openness needed to maximize the success of your business operations.
Now, for you the Entrepreneur to understand and achieve harmony in the truest sense of Karma, you must develop a strong sense of “doing the right thing” with no motivation for any kind of reward, knowing that the ultimate reward is the creation and presence of a great sense of trust in everyone that is part of your business, and once you are able to fully understand this, then efficiencies in the business can be developed and once again, maximized with achievement of the greatest level success in mind.
You should also realize that the task of creating a harmonious environment is not an easy one, for harmony takes time, an openness of the heart, and bravery, along with sleepless nights when any of your staff of employees and co-workers is experiencing a rough period in their life, just trying to think of ways you might be able to help.
Cooperation, Dedication, Contribution, Collaboration, are all different terms that are used to define when you are focusing on harmony, the springboard to invaluable, priceless teamwork, which creates the energy that serves to fuel creativity.
Many Western Entrepreneurs have been successful at reshaping their mind-set to be more aware of the Zen properties of successful business, as they have reach the understanding and become enlightened to the importance of harmony in the business, and that it no longer carries the stigma of not being “macho,” and that although successful people are often lauded for being self-interested and disruptive, as well as argumentative in the western cultures, that set of assumptions is reserved for those that cheer the lone hero that leads with one ambition, as they follow him in their blissful, and harmonious state of ignorance.
A number of Entrepreneurs that have been able to maximize their success, have done so by looking beneath the surface of business in today’s CONNECTED global markets, 
at the opportunities presented by the heightened sense of value placed by the market in many qualities present in Zen like harmony, connection, relationships, simplicity, and other qualities that are very important to the customer experience, enlightenment and well-being, as what has taken place is a permanent shift in market values and perceptions, which has become the driving force in the continued development and refinement of successful Entrepreneurial Strategies.
Biz Success! SunPower – Changing the Way the World is Powered!
Published May 18, 2010 | Team Altman Business Success Video! SunPower!
One man had a dream to develop the solar power used for satellites in Space as an affordable alternative to fossil fuels, here on Earth. Dick Swanson faced huge skepticism from the industry, but 40 years on runs a thriving, billion dollar company, SunPower – Changing the Way the World is Powered!
As always enjoy, and share the SunPower Success!