Want to attract more customers while spending less?  Hear Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends Radio interview me on February 17^th.  As an avid fan of Anita’s writing and thought leadership I am honored to be on her show.  Other interviews I recommend are of Birthing the Elephant author Karin Abarbanel, Toilet Paper Entrepreneur author Michael Michalowicz and Laurel Delaney of The Global Small Business blog. Find more ways to partner here.

Why do Yankee fans flock to their favorite online community, YanksBlog?  Perhaps, it’s because they feel welcomed and supported, as you would want to be at the site for your passionate interest. Patrick O’Keefe is a gracious and savvy host  for this avid baseball fans. He manages several communities including PhotoshopForums, KarateForums and BadBoyForums.

Like Augie Ray, he can help you decide whether to join or build a community.Now, would you like to launch and manage a lively online forum for people who share your favorite interest?  And perhaps make money? Or become more adept at most any type of social interaction online? Then listen in as O’Keefe, the author of Managing Online Forums, describes how to jumpstart and care for a lively, growing community online.

•Work from anywhere.

• Host a popular place for people who share your interest to gather.

From mothering to scuba diving, managers of some of the largest online forums rave about O’Keefe’s advice. Hear how powerful a community can become, ways to set up a community and a content site, mediate squabbling members, develop guidelines and promote your community.

Here are more resources to get you started. As you can tell I am a fan of this generous community-building expert and his book. As both O’Keefe and Peter Block suggest, what makes communities work online is the same as in face-to-face time – –it is the sense of belonging.

You’re strolling down a boutique-lined street. A restaurant catches your eye. You whip out your phone, scan the bar code on the window then go online to peak at reviews. It got raves so why not go in? After all, you’ll get a ring on your phone if your parking meter runs low whilst you’re dining. Then you can pay for more time – by phone. These are just two of the mobile phone location-based scenarios that have launched here in San Francisco. More to come.

We’ve come a long way since Howard Rheingold first wrote about Smart Mobs. The U.S. still lags behind some countries in the proliferation of uses for cell phones. Soon we’ll see a flood of location-based services (and ads?!) for those out shopping or exploring, according to Geographical Sciences professor, Paul Torrens, who is studying crowd behavior.

“Crowds of shoppers, endowed with smart chip credit cards and RFID tagged merchandise are trailed by long-lasting data shadows that follow them ubiquitously. Embedded in urban infrastructure and in the very products we consume, new technologies are emerging to enable cities to think about—and process—the people that pulse through them, with a burgeoning code-space being developed to capture the actions and interactions of individuals within large dynamic crowds.”

Recall soccer fans’ post-match riots? Notice the apparent increase of teen and tweens’ cyber bullying and other tragically belittling behavior via computer, texting and Twittering? Now staging flash mobs from a distance and anonymously, using technology, can create havoc and/or change opinions almost as quickly as inciting a riot at a stadium.

And one can attract larger crowds. People don’t even have to know each other to gather. They can literally take their rage and revenge to the streets faster, armed with the right location-based technology. They can swarm to surround a victim with less forethought and more speed.

In short the stakes are higher, for good and bad location-based crowd behavior now. The flip side of this sometimes lethal, tech-supported action is the ability to swarm to a location to play, protest or even surround people who in danger – a human ring of protection. For buying products, collaborating, sharing opinions – and so much more – the trend toward technology-supported, location-based services will probably touch your mobile life.

That’s why I wanted to interview the far-sighted, thoughtful Howard Rheingold.

Recession coming? Perhaps the best way to keep briefed on your profession is to attend the annual conference of your peers. Yet wouldn’t you enjoy the event more if you had a greater voice in the meeting design and formats, topics and speakers, participation and networking opportunities and ways you could meet online before and stay connected afterwards?

In this podcast hear about trends and fresh ideas for meetings from respected pros who cover all kinds of meetings for MeetingsNet. Meet The Meetings Group Editorial Director, Betsy Bair and Face2Face blogger and Association Meetings Editor Sue Pelletier. They’d just returned from PCMA’s big conference in Seattle, with fresh ideas on how to “Collaborate, Communicate, Innovate.

Betsy enjoyed a Pecha Kucha session.

For starters, a warped sense of humor helps. When he first came from New York, shortly after college, Paul Geffner began selling handmade leather bound journals, along with a crowd of other street vendors on the sidewalk near The Embarcadero in S.F. Even then people were drawn to him.

Soon, with childhood friends, he started Captain Video. They designed the first video rental display shelves, a style still used today. Video rentals popped up on many street corners back then yet his stores were packed, staff became like family. Some went on to be managers and then part owners.

With Blockbuster looming, he and his partners sold the rental outlets, with money from the sale flowing through to many employees. Along the way, he continued his weekly basketball games, read and wrote poetry, took friends on rock mining trips for Herkimer diamonds and amethysts and more – all pursuits he started in childhood. Longtime partners became friends, split off and invested in each other’s businesses, still staying in touch. Over the years the ones I recall include Amoeba Records, Escape From New York Pizza (pizza and poetry), Purity and (my favorite name) a chicken take-out place in S.F. called Poultry in Motion.

Yes, he’s made money, and deep friendships. He’s happily married to Lisa Bennett. Along the way he’s been a retail start-up helper, owner of several mines, board member, Big Brother, team mate, frequent best man, jokester, – and the rich source of a quirky, soulful life philosophy. He started a “do good” fund called For Love or Money. He launched a holiday that you, too, can celebrate simply by wearing your shirt inside out, an easy way to recognize others who’re celebrating it, eh? I thought of Paul when I first saw The Wire because I knew he’d love the brilliant script, chaotic storyline and true-to-life characters.

This has been a stellar year for him, even by his standards. I thought of him when I read Rita Carter’s Multiplicity and Marci Alboher’s Slash Life.

Paul embodies the spirit, generosity and ingenuity of the Me2We spirit in enjoying work and life – with others. Want an emotional lift, a few laughs and some insights on how to grow your business and live a life that takes in into different worlds, a life you can savor with steadfast friends? As Robin Sharma wrote, Who Will Cry When You Die?

Like to bring more joy to your marriage? Want to increase your income by training others to lead groups, based on your expertise? Learn how  from someone who’s successful at both.

In this interview hear how Susan Page is training therapists and marriage educators to lead “Spiritual Partnership Support Groups”  - an approach she advocates in her newest book, Why Talking is Not Enough: Eight Loving Actions That Will Transform Your Marriage. To attract more trainers she spoke at the Smart Marriages conference. (Hint: as an author, you get more invitations to speak where you’ll meet more of your ideal customers.)

People who wish to lead the groups can get an extensive training manual. In leading the groups (or coaching), they becomes more informed, loyal fans of Susan and her book.  What a profitable, life-affirming way to work with others, eh? Page is a natural at partnering with groups to build a constituency for her books in ways that enable the groups to better serve its members. 

For example, to spur sales of her first book, If I’m So Wonderful, Why Am I Still Single, this former minister launched her own book tour. She collaborated with churches around the U.S. to offer an evening seminar for their singles, packaging the book as part of the offering.  Participating churches gained a fresh way to attract new members and serve current ones.  Page created what all authors desire – a channel for quantity sales of her book while building a loyal community of readers for her subsequent titles.

Saddleback Church’s Rick Warren attracts mega book sales and a large, active constituency with a cellular and a B2B approach (business to business), providing his peer pastors with sample sermons and church programs. Page, too, recognized the power of B2B . With her books “relationship expert” Page “sells” to the church staff, providing a benefit they can offer two niche “end users” – congregants who are singles and couples.

Each time you offer your constituency fresh value through partnerships you spiral up in ability to attract more credible partners.  That’s why Bono approached Warren, for example, to join the “ONE campaign” to end poverty. And Warren’s church is hosting a rare program in which he’ll interview both presidential candidates. 

You, too, could reach out to the club, civic group or other member-based organization that serves your kind of readers and/or clients. With each new value-building partnership it becomes easier for you to recruit other organizations to cross-refer, co-create or otherwise collaborate on services, events and products that benefit all partners – and the people served by them.

As Page did, you can start with a first constituency-building partnership. For example, I introduced a store designer to a ghostwriter who’s writing a book for him on how to create the storefront that pulls more people in off the streets. When the book comes out at the end of 2009, he is partnering with local chambers of commerce and business journals to present a seminar to members and readers in their communities. 

To promote these seminars-as-book events, the store designer will provide his local partners with customizable promotional templates for print and online invitations. The partners cover his travel costs and profit from the seminar fees they charge.

And they buy the books in bulk from the publisher. You could adapt this approach to your kind of expertise to increase your credibility and in your profession or industry, perhaps becoming the favorite subject matter expert to your key media. Contact me if you’d like an ebook on SmartPartnering.

Start now to grow your constituency. In this interview hear Susan’s proven relationship-building insights for your life and your work. As Fred Small said, “”Susan Page is like the Buddha channeled by Ann Landers!” .

That irritating co-worker you’re stuck sitting by (again!) sees a decidedly different side of you than your best friend does. That’s because you have many people inside of you (no they’re not imaginary). That’s what veteran science writer, Rita Carter discovered as she began reading about bi-polar personalities for Mapping the Mind. Emerging research shows that several, “personalities are made and kept separate in the human brain” … of everyone. Want a glimpse of how many you have? Depending on the situation and who you’re are around, different people pop out and speak for you. If it is of some comfort, you do play one main character, much of the time, in the unfolding movie that is your life story. Discover Yourselves At Last.

Yet even the argumentative or otherwise darker personalities are in your life for a reason. In Carter’s newest book, Multiplicity, you can get to know your “people”, the one who plays the most likeable role and the one who keeps getting you in trouble.

In a conversational style, Carter describes the research on our multiple personality brains. In the second part of the book, find exercises to understand more about the multiple you. As a quiet child I’m still surprised at the diverse personalities that appear out of me in my multiple, overlapping careers, as a high tech exec, journalist and, perhaps most peculiarly, public speaker.

Imagine doing these exercises with a spouse, best friend of co-workers at a retreat. It would be a vulnerable time – and an opportunity to explore ways you can bring out the best side in each other more often.

Combine this self-discovery and how you relate to others with the fascinating work by Steven Pinker, Helen Palmer, Dan Pink, Marty Seligman and Marcus Buckingham and you may find that you become happier, get along better with others and get more done with less stress. (I’m stumbling along in my own practice here.)

Possible Side Benefits

• You can design a more satisfying work and life.

• You won’t let somebody else determine your behavior. With heightened self-awareness of your many roles, you’ll be more aware of your hot buttons and the type of people and situations who set them off. You can protect yourself from being “primed” to react.

Instead you’ll have a better chance to choose how you want to act. Hear more in this podcast interview with Rita Carter.

 … even when you have few resources. Or to make your small donation matter more.

Want to launch a campaign to spruce up your nearby park?

Like to share your expertise with others, for the greater good?

Like to track the success of a project you supported?

For your cause or club, like a user-friendly way find the best ways to accomplish more with social media tools?  No matter how small or large your “do good” goal, hear how to accomplish more with less in this interview with micro-philanthropy, social fundraising guru and Social Actions founder, Peter Deitz. “Our mission is to put actions in front of people who are most likely to take part,” says Deitz.  Rather than creating cause campaigns, he’s “aggregating campaigns where people connect around “actionable opportunities. Deitz told Beth Kanter, he’s creating  tools that “will assist in planning and implementing a peer-to-peer social change campaign.

Social actions will recommend platforms to use and best practices for spreading the campaign through social networks. It will also feature an after-action survey covering the tools used and the strategies implemented.This information will feed back into the system that recommends platforms and best practices.”

Like artificial intelligence, he’s creating a system that will get smarter as more people use it – a true Me2We approach.  That’s powerful support for person-to-person fundraising.

Like Micro Credit Enterprises, Social Actions reflect the new model of low-cost, all-virtual operations. His start-up site enables you to invite others to join you in supporting very specific social action.

Every part of his tiny, virtual organization exemplifies how you can leverage free or low-cost social medial tools to launch an active, powerful service. For example, his social network uses the free Ning service.

Fractured Atlas manages the group’s non-profit status. And, via an introduction from AspirationTech, the site’s capacity is being strengthened by a worker-owned and operated technology collective called The Brattleboro Tech Collective.

Funding sprung out of a NetSquared conference.  Perhaps these resources can support you, too, in helping your cause.

Want to ask your colleagues a question as you research a project or when you need a recommendation? Have a strong aversion to the spamlike behavior that can happen at Facebook and other social media sites?

Find over 100 tips for tapping the Wisdom of the Crowds (people you know) – using LinkedIn – a “professional” rather than “social” site. Of course, the tips were collected in the same way.

LinkedIn and networking expert, Scott Allen recruited others to share their favorite methods in a group writing project he called “Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn.” Ideas poured in.

My favorite is Guy Kawasaki’s Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn. Here’s others I found especially helpful. Andrew Shaindlin discusses the Pros and Cons of LinkedIn for Alumni Groups. Diane K. Danielson offered ways for “Getting More Than Just Answers.” Jason Calacanis and Loren Baker describe how to use it for market research.

As a former journalist I appreciated Penelope Trunk’s 10 Ways Journalists Can Use LinkedIn. Elsewhere Leo Babauta shows how it can help your productivity. Allson Doyle notes it aids job hunting, and eHow shows how to create a great profile, find people you know and more.

There’s even way for public officials to use it. See the blog and brand new book, “I’m On LinkedIn – Now What? by Jason Alba. It was only last December when LinkedIn opened up to partner with other firms to generate more value for members.

How? By allowing companies to add LinkedIn features to their websites.

Here’s reassuring news. If people in your network do not live up to your values you can break the connection. How do you use LinkedIn? In this podcast hear Scott Allen offer fresh ways to succeed through partnering.

Bluntly speaking, we are more likely to cooperate in a group when those who don’t get punished. “Darwin had a blind spot. It wasn’t that he didn’t see the role of cooperation in evolution. He just didn’t see how important it is.” Little has changed until relatively recently.

We were raised to compete because we were taught it was a matter of survival of the fittest. Yet, as David Brooks noted, even today, some believe in upfront combat and some in consensus.

Speaking of working together (or not), in many situations experts are not as accurate as a large group can be. “In fact, large groups, structured properly, can be smarter than the smartest member of a group.”

Want more insights on when and how we will act to accomplish something better together than apart? Explore The Cooperation Commons, a project co-sponsored by The Institute for the Future and today’s interviewee, the ever colorful, Howard Rheingold.

Last February this somewhat unconventional Stanford professor won a MacArthur Foundation grant to create a social media virtual classroom, “to show use how and why to use social media. What’s worked and what hasn’t, so far, in this experiment – and how can we learn from his experience, to hone our use of social media? Unlike many other academics, as Rheingold has written, “Talking about public opinion making is a richer experience if you’ve tried to do it.”

A veteran commentator on participatory and social media, he covers Second Life, flash mobs and group swarming that inspired Improv Everywhere, our instinctive desire to participate in a compatible group, ways the faces of political candidates influence voting, civic participation and the proliferation of uses for cell phones to riot, buy, protest, protect and play together.

Following up on how cell phone use is changing us, read the new book, by sociologist Rich Ling: New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication Is Reshaping Social Cohesion.