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Facemail? E-mail As We Know It, Is Dead.

E-mail as we know it is dead. It’s too slow, and ineffective.   There was once a time ( back in the early 90′s) where people actually thanked you for e-mailing them. In the 1990′s spam messages were far and few between and people actually read 99% of their e-mail.

Today, ask any internet marketer and they will tell you that e-mail as an effective marketing medium is losing its value — fast! Marketers are now turning to a more receptive audiences with RSS (Real Simple Syndication).

So, what does Facebook have to do with all this? If your not aware, a few weeks ago Facebook launched a feature in its messaging system that allows you to message friends that are not currently on Facebook.  You can now put any e-mail address in the to: field and Facebook will e-mail them. Your friends will also be able to respond to the e-mail without having to sign-up for Facebook, pretty cool eh?

Facebook will even add previously used e-mail address to your “friend selector” so you don’t have to remember everyone’s e-mail address all the time.  And if you happen to enter a friend’s e-mail address who is already on Facebook, Facebook will forward it to their Facebook inbox.

I messaged Facebook Engineer Luke Shepard regarding this new feature. I wanted to know if Facebook had any plans to allow us to enter our  current e-mail address and have facebook fetch our mail from the server. I’m awaiting his response. This is a feature I’d like to see — it would be nice to be able to have a one-stop-shop.

What are your thoughts?

Facebook Is Missing Two Important Features.

It has come to my conclusion that there are a few things that really piss me off about Facebook. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be getting upset — but I feel the following two things could radically improve the service and enhance the my experience, dammit!

1. Unique Easy To Remember URLs

I recently tested out multiply.com — its another social networking website that is focused on the 30-somethings niche. It touts itself as being a “grown-up” social networking website. Whatever they call themselves they do have a feature I’d like to see on Facebook. On multiply.com when you register you are given an easy to remember URL you can use offline to direct your friends or new found friends. It looks something like yourname.multiply.com. If your using Facebook to network and develop your social circle having an easy to remember URL could be printed on yoru business cards or some sort of new “social card”. Just a thought, but I know I’d like an easy way to have someone connect with me.

2. Facebook ‘Verified’ Seal

Facebook does confirm the persons e-mail address when they register for an account, but what good is that. I could easily create multiple e-mail accounts and create multiple profiles. Heck, my brother’s dog, Lola May, has her own profile on Facebook. (she’s one heck of a cute English Bulldog) But, it is ridiculous — people are setting up profiles for their pets, babies, and celebrities. Is there any way Facebook could implement some sort of verification process similar to Paypal, that would, after validating ones identity, post a “verified” seal on the person profile page. This would add a level of security and credibility that would be unmatched.

In the meantime, you can use this application to make a somewhat easy to remember URL to direct people to your Facebook profile, it’s called Profile.to – check it out!

I have decided to message the Facebook Engineers and see if they can implement these features, I’ll let you know when I hear back from them.

Mr Watson, Come Here – I Want To See You On Facebook!

On March 10th, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell described in his notebook entry the first successful experiment with the telephone. Today, the telephone has greatly evolved from landline, to mobile, and now VOIP based phone systems. No matter what form it takes, it still has one main purpose — to connect people to people.

I want to share with you an Facebook application I found today that merges Skype (skype allows you to make calls to other skype users for free or a landline or mobile for a small fee through the Internet) with your facebook profile.

The new application is called Skype Me. Skype Me adds a “call me” button to your profile page allowing your friends who have Skype to call you for free via the Internet. It also has an option to show your friends your status allowing them to call you when you are free. You can also see which of your friends are using the application and you can call them as well.

It’s a nice little application that help you to stay in close contact with your friends. I’ll be using this new application in the following weeks to interview people within my network about how they are using Facebook to grow their social networks (musicians, developers, marketers…etc) and record it into a Podcast that will be available for free on this website. Stay Tune.

What do Facebook & Your Mom Have To Do With Your Finances?

Yesterday I talked about a new application called Kyle.tv.  I discussed how you could use the application to create and distribute valuable content to others, thus making you more socially valuable and indirectly increasing your social networth.

As you begin to view Facebook as a valuable tool to network with others rather than some hip social networking website with some fancy widgets, your goal should not only be to create value for others in the form of sharing information freely, but to also develop a better social circle for yourself. (Mom always told you to choose your friends wisely)
If you’ve been on Facebook for 6 months or more, you understand what I am talking about.  About once a month I go through my network of friends and actually purge my list. What!? Yes, I clean it up, I get rid of people that perhaps are not bringing me any value or that I am not providing value to them — you know, you get a friend request from someone who you haven’t seen since grade 3, you add them, and they never message you and you don’t really care to message them – to that I say PURGE!. Your goal should always be to surround yourself with smarter, richer, healthier people than you. Or a better way of putting it is, surround yourself with people who you admire and would like to become one day.

My friend and mentor  Bob Dignard-fung once told me that my annual income was the average of my 10 closest friends. I didn’t believe him until I sat down one day, made a list, and discovered that it was the truth.

Are you satisfied with your current reality ( finances, health, relationships, etc)?  If the answer is yes, than this post won’t provide you with a single ounce of value, but if your not, I challenge you to conduct a mini experiment. Are you game? *c’mon slugger*

I’d like you to conduct a mini experiment in finance. Don’t worry you won’t need any special skills or have to know the 27th number after the decimal in pie. What you will need is a Facebook application called Top Friends and a calculator.

Follow these steps:

1. Install the Top Friends Facebook application
2. Select from your network of friend your Top Ten (10)  friends
3. Estimate how much each friend would earn annually (heck, give them a call and ask)
4. Add all the annual incomes up (including your own) and divide by 10
5. What’s the outcome? (post your results as a comment – let’s get some discussion here people!)

If you want a better life, start surrounding yourself with better people. Start by evaluating where it is you want to go – than surround yourself with people who have already gone. Amazing happen!
I appreciate the heck out of you.

Learn How Facebook Can Make You Rich and Famous?

My mentor and friend David Ledoux from didyousmellthat.com found a mind blowing Facebook application today. It is so interesting that I had to immediately write a post and tell you about it.

However; before I go ahead and reveal this powerful new Facebook application, I want to take a deeper look into a few key questions David asked his readers regarding Facebook and in particular your social network itself.

If your using Facebook primarily for fun than this may not be of interest to you, but if your using Facebook as a means to network with others, share, grow and perhaps promote a business, cause or something you believe in — listen closely.

There is one thing the wealthy people of the world all have in common. It literally separates the poor from the rich. I know what you are thinking, money right? Not even close! They all have a huge Rolodex of contacts and are masters of communication and networking. And because of this skill-set they are people magnets — why? They create so much value for those around them, people flock to them and want to be their friend.

In today’s economic world, the saying “it’s not what know, but who you know” holds more truth than at any other time in history. Your ability to develop friendships, nurture them and provide those around you with tons of value is critical to your success both financial and otherwise. You need to start asking yourself and I quote David:

“how can I give value to make people WANT to be on my social network?”.

This leads me to the new Facebook application David found called Kyte.tv. What is Kyte.tv? According to the application’s website it is an application that allows you to:

“Easily create your own interactive TV channel featuring pictures, videos, music, polls, livechat and much more”.

The application literally takes social networking and tv and merges them into one powerful tool that anybody can use to increase his or her social networth.

What’s the catch? How can you use this new application to grow your bigger asset? Let’s go back to David’s question:

“how can I give value to make people WANT to be on [your] social network?”.

The key word here is “want”. Why would I want to be your friend? What value can I contribute to you and what value can you provide me?

I plan on using this new application to teach people magic tricks (for those of you who do not know me personally, I’m a children’s magician). I will also be using kyte.tv to teach those, who may not be as Internet savvy as myself or David, how to use Facebook and help them increase their social networth.

What will you offer people? How will you create so much value in your profile that others will want to be part of your social network?

There will always be those who will use Facebook for fun — but be forewarned, the novelty of silly applications like “food fight” and “my stripper name” wears off quickly.

Harness the power of this online community and make it work for you!

Facebook ASCII Art – Dragon

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. /./\/.. .. .. /.. /.. |.. .\\..\..\/.. .’@__@.. ..
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\.. \.. .. .~-./_._.. .|.. ..-.;.(..\_._._,. \’.. ..
~.. .~.. .. .. .. .-~-.|.-*.. .. _.. .| .. {-/.. .. .
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Can Someone Xerox This At 200% Please!

Alright, so you been surfing through people’s networks (You know what I’m talking about you Facebook stalker you) checking out who Julie knows and how Andy is somehow connect to her

Than out of no where BOOM…you come to a friend of a friend’s profile who you have no access to. Grrrr damn you Facebook privacy settings! All you can see if a small profile picture the size of a Canadian quarter — Is it Paul? Kim? Eric? Who knows!? The picture is so damn small!

Can Someone Xerox this at 200% please? How about a little Facebook hack, that will make the picture bigger? *mouahahahah*

Step 1. Right-Click on Their Profile Picture and Click “View Image”.

Step 2. You will notice the pictures URL will look like this (notice the “s”):

http://profile.ak.facebook.com/profile6/1030/82/s502082615_2226.jpg

Step 3. Change the “s” to a “n” and press enter to reload the browser watch the picture expand. Or replace the “s” to a “t” and watch shrink.

Funny Facebook Status – TV & Movie Edition

NAME is…

1. Sure he’d feel worse if he wasn’t so heavily sedated
2. A box of chocolates
3. magically delicious
4. made with 10% real juice!
5. a Toys R Us kid
6. the Prince of Belair
7. eating a Chiquita
8. made with calcium. Something your body needs anyways
9. insignificant next to the power of the force
10. dancing with the stars
11. master of his domain

Funny Facebook Status – Sayings Edition

NAME is…

1. the new Black
2. the devil you know
3. the lesser of 2 evils
4. yesterday’s news
5. thinking inside the box because too many people are thinking outside the box.
6. a deadman walking
7. easier said then done
8. his own worst enemy
9. rushing in where angels fear to tread
10. knowing nothing and doubting nothing
11. having his cake and eating it too

Funny Facebook Status – Randoms

NAME is…

1. reading other statuses but your status is important to him. Please stay online and your status will be read in priority sequence. Approximate wait time 17 min
2. very very very slee
3. Right BEHIND YOU! Boo!
4. going around the house and renaming things so they all start with an “i” before Apple does it… such as his iToaster, his iToilet, and his iKids and iWife.all set…
5. Beer, Golf Clubs, Fising Rods, Tackle, shades, Tunes… Casual Fridays here I come!
6. the guy who put the laughter in manslaughter
7. to sexy for this status
8. bringing sexy back… to the store for a refund!
9. hip to your jive talk
10. dy-no-mite
11. wondering what will happen if he touches the red wire with the green wir#*&GB
12. the guy who put the FUN in dysfunctional
13. an undercover cop
14. calculating pi
15. America’s next top model!
16. updating his Facebook status