The Age of the Social Entrepreneur by @Mark_Harai

Social Entrepreneurs possess a mindset to build strategic relationships with their customers, vendors, suppliers, distributors, stakeholders and anyone who has a stake in the future success of their business.

The definition of a social entrepreneur.

By leveraging social web-based technologies you can strengthen the vitality and health of the “people relationships” that are instrumental to the health and longevity of your business.

Building your organization on a foundation of teamwork and partnerships will benefit both those inside and outside of your organization. It’s this mindset that drives the social entrepreneur.

The social web has established a platform for business owners to influence the future buying decisions of consumers by building strong relationships in the marketplace.

By being helpful, educational and attentive to people your business desires to serve, you can build a bridge that leads to your door when a buying decision is made.

Social entrepreneurs can effectively leverage human capital in ways traditional business cannot.  It’s this advantage right here that big business will never have…

Big businesses ‘buy’ everything they need, while social business can ‘inspire’ people to fill their needs.

It’s not to say a social business doesn’t spend money on filling their needs; but it does lead to connecting with and investing in people in more meaningful ways that aligns interests & personalities, and leads to loyalty & trust.

A social business established on a foundation like this has a bright future, indeed.

Social businesses are driven to make the world a better place for all…

Quote - think your idea can change the world.

Social businesses measure performance and profitability, but they also take into account the impact they are having on society.

A purpose driven business with a vision bigger than itself can align with other like-minded individuals and businesses to effect positive social and economic change in the communities they serve.

I think it’s great that CEO’s rake in millions, hundreds of millions in some cases, in compensation from large organizations they manage. But it really doesn’t make good sense for social businesses.

I’m not against an individual raking in a fortune from the work they do – I just believe it’s good social business to spread the wealth around; especially to those people and communities that are instrumental to your long term success.

That seems like a good investment of money to me :)

Social business goes beyond the boundaries of the past… You’re not bound by territory, you’re not bound by politics, you’re not bound by religion – you’re not even bound by not having a bunch of cash to start your business.

You’re bound only by your own desire & vision and the actions you take to connect with like-minded people across the globe who join your efforts to change the world one relationship at a time.

Social entrepreneurs build worthwhile businesses.

Why Do You Blog?

Seems a fare question.., right?

Let me tell you why I ask:

  • I am wondering if you find it worth the time and effort you put in.
  • I am wondering if you get the responses you would like.
  • I am wondering if you would not like more traffic, more comments, more interaction.
  • I am wondering if you would not like to take your blog to the next level (and the next, and the next).

Why do you blog?Let me tell you why I blog:

  • I like to have a place to share my thoughts on what’s relevant for me.
  • I hope that people benefit or learn something from my posts.
  • I aim to have some side income from my blog (at some point).
  • I aim to generate leads through my blog, leading to actual clients.
  • I like writing.
  • It pushes me to think about my business.
  • I enjoy the interaction, comments, tweets and communities I join and create.

You and Your Blog

Back to the question (and you can leave the answer in the comments): Why do you blog?

Chances are you’d say, because you enjoy it.
You might like/love the writing. You might like helping people or you might just like a place to give your uncensored opinion.

OK, so why this post?

Something that I noticed in some niches, or rather most niches, is people spending quite some time on writing a blog.
But, it seems they do not want to take their blog to the next level. To give it a boost, let it grow a bit.

I’m sure some bloggers are quite content with just writing a post now and again, and that’s okay.
But, I’m sure there are some (maybe even many) among you who want more out of their blog.
Maybe it’s you. And maybe you are thinking about the same goals as I do.

So Why Don’t You?

That is actually my main point.

If you’re writing articles for you blog, and you make it look good, and you like writing and your subject.., then why wouldn’t you spend that little bit more time and effort and give your blog a boost.

And it’s not that hard, here’s just a couple of things you can do:

  1. Don’t be afraid (if you like your posts and your blog, there’s always someone else who’ll like it too)
  2. Buy a book. (“Born to Blog” is an excellent place to start. Here’s a review, it’ll give you a great overview of how to get started and keep going.)
  3. Join Triberr (If you read this blog more often you’ll find I like Triberr, you can read about Reblogging, their great community and how it can help to grow your following.)
  4. Just do it.

This list could be a 1000 points long, that’s how much there is written about blogging. The infinite amount of advice given on blogging is, well, infinite. There is just so much.

I’m helping you out here.., you can even forget about number 4, I added that to make the list 25% longer. But, basically, if you feel you want more out of your blog, step 2 and 3 will give you a substantial boost.

From there.., well.., there are a 996 more things you can do.

So.., why do you blog?

The Right To Grow Your Own by @sowandso

A non social media/business guest post today. And although it might not have anything to do with our social platforms, it has everything to do with our social society. The idea of companies ruling our food supply is a terrifying idea. The pushing of GMO’s is beyond terrifying, it is outright horrific.

In my opinion, it is nothing short of an elaborate form of population control and a very dangerous path where a few mega companies control our food supplies.

Can you think of anything more scary? I can’t.
Something to think about over the weekend.

Grow your own

Can you imagine not growing your own? Not experimenting with different varieties of vegetables and fruit that suit your climate/soil/preference? Can you imagine all those amazing heirloom varieties disappearing and being replaced by GMO seeds that you need to spray with harmful chemicals for the plants to survive?

EU

It all sounds far fetched and I don’t blame you but it could happen if the EU gets its way …or should I say the big corporate GMO companies who have a strangle hold on the EU. Unbeknown to most of us, on 6 May they pushed for a law that prohibits the use of non-certified seeds! Because of countless protests they made a last minute change, so home gardeners are now permitted to grow and swap unapproved seeds, individuals and small organisations with less then 10 employees can supply and sell seeds and seed banks may grow unapproved seeds.

BUT there are clauses in the law that mean that these concessions they so gracefully made can be overturned without the need to vote again. Check out this link for more information on this article: realseeds.co.uk

Garden B&W

Organically

I have never been an outspoken person, I do not like hefty discussions. They always make me feel uncertain, but this news has grabbed me by the throat.

I feel I need to be in the front line of the protests and am outraged that this is all happening behind closed doors.

Growing your own is a fundamental right and over recent years it has become more and more popular. At last people are starting to understand the need to grow your own ORGANICALLY and then they want to take it away from us.

Unethical

And then there is the unethical basis of this all, where big conglomerates have a monopoly on the seed business. No other business allows this and they would certainly frown upon it.

Small, often family based seed selling businesses (like realseeds.co.uk), are likely to disappear and with them the seeds they have grown with such care and consideration for nature in order that we hobby farmers can enjoy the best tasting healthy homegrown vegetables there are.

Garlic B&W

Health

Yes.. let’s not forget our health. It is slowly starting to dawn on people that biodiversity is a necessity, that GMO seeds have proven already to cause damage to the soil, the health of the people who work with them and ultimately our health. Take a look at this infograph which explains why using GMO seeds is a bad idea.

To be honest, I have no idea how to change the minds of the EU people. I could go and protest in Brussels, it is not that far away but I don’t think I would be make much of an impression standing there alone. If however there were more people who agree with me that this situation is ludicrous then please contact me at Laila@sowandso.com.

We have a right to grow our own!