Never before has a social network had a greater potential to win you fans AND destroy your business. The viral app, TikTok, has yet to 'age up' as a social network and is the most ageist network I've seen in terms of the userbase's insistence on icing out older people. However, if you're over 22, you still need to know about it or your business will suffer. For more on that, watch the video.

Generation Z are now coming into the adult world. The oldest are in their early 20s. You must understand their way of thinking if you plan to grow your business in the future, even if you don't work with them directly, as they will culturally impact on other generations and will alter the market you already have. The 'OK Boomer' phenomenon is a case in point. 

But first... If you're lucky enough to be seeing this blog post during Cyber Monday week, I have a crazy offer available on personal help with TikTok. If you've missed being one of the first 5, that link will still...

In September last year, I was fortunate enough to be invited into Webtalk's invite-only beta. As someone who has beta tested for everyone from Twitter to Google, I'm used to seeing the insides of new social networks before launch. It has been a LONG time since I've been inside an invite-only beta that got me this excited. 

Rather than reel off all the features and benefits of the network (you can see an over-the-shoulder-walk-through of my account in the first video below, and a bells and whistles presentation on what's in it for business owners in the second video) I'll just give you a few bullet points:

• If you're looking to become an influencer, Instagram's great but it's saturated. Webtalk is brand new. I'm the first influencer there. I'm literally pretty much your only competition right now.
• If you have a business (home business, small business, coaching or writing business, etc) there is no better place than Webtalk to meet and connect with people. You can search...

The Indiepreneur’s prayer

Divine Creator

Source of all I am and all I create

Bless all my interactions today

With others and with myself

Today I will do my best

For you

For others

And for myself

Always using my gifts

For the greatest good.

May prosperity flow to me

As prosperity flows from me

As I invest in myself

May others invest in me

As I honour my gifts

May others be inspired to honour their own

May thy will be done through me

May your divine loving kindness flow through me,

Awakening both the Divine Mother and Divine Father energies within me

So that I may awaken these energies in others.

Today, you will birth the New Earth through me

And help me to help others to birth it too

So that we may all co-create a better universe

For the greatest good.

In gratitude for all I have

And for the boundless abundance that is flowing towards me

I give thanks.

Help me to find the joy in my triumphs

Help me to find the lessons in my challenges

Help me to find your divine loving energy...

I'm running a poll on Twitter at the moment. There are a few hours to go, but it's already pretty clear why people are still gagging for traditional publishing deals. It's always been this way. I'll post a vid below of my response to this mentality the best part of a decade ago. First, the poll. Ready?

Seriously?! Rather than break down all the reasons that 'to make lots of money' is not a valid reason, open my podcast on this subject (it opens in another window) and listen to it when you've finished with this blog post. 

The more important points are the winner and runner-up: "I don't like selling" and "to feel good about myself". I'll present the awards in reverse order...

To Feel Good About Myself

Relying on something outside of yourself to cause you to feel good about yourself is something psychologists call having an external locus of identity or power. If you are dependent on anyone's opinion but your own to feel good about yourself, you're in trouble. 

I speak...

One from the vaults. The videos use my former name. I'm now Rebecca Bardess. 

Recently, I've stepped back into the author world on twitter, after focusing more on helping authors in the home and small business spaces over the last few years. I was quite shocked to find that very little has changed there since I was speaking about independent publishing, years ago. The video below is from a panel on which I sat with publishers and editors in 2011 or 2012 I believe. Can't remember. Anyhow, it was LONG ago. It's still relevant.  

In My Dot Com Days, I Started a Blog

Back before blogging had a name, I asked my tech team to give me a way to hack into my sites remotely, so I could put cool stuff there regularly and keep the sites 'sticky'. Sticky marketing was what we called attraction marketing WAY before attraction marketing existed. 

Once I had a blog, I didn't see why I shouldn't interview celebrities for it, so I did. I got my 20-something butt onto red carpets and into after-show parties. I made chums with actors and singers. Every now and then, I would interview someone who might have an intriguing 'behind the scenes' take that I wasn't seeing elsewhere. One of those interviews was with Christina Aguilera's mum, Shelly Kearns, with whom I then struck up a friendship over email for a couple of years. Here's the interview (typo's and all).

Step back two decades: Christina was a teen and her mum and I had a chat online...

Oh Noes! Facebook's Down! Instagram's Down!

A couple of days ago, both Facebook and Instagram disappeared for hours. Twitter and WebTalk became super buzzy and busy during that time. However, the discussion soon turned to what this means for your business if you're relying on social media to build your business.

Fortunately... I'd already considered this, so I wasn't affected. I am even building my own social networks right now. I've made a webinar for you that will take you through how to protect yourself from this in future, and also how to build your own social network. I'm running it a few times a day, but some of the software's on special offer for the next few days so I'd watch it now if I were you. The webinar's 40 mins.

Register for the webinar 

Rebecca

P.S. If you don't want to wait until the end of the webinar to get the goodies, here's the link you need for the special offer, including getting Brendon Burchard's Experts Academy for free!

You Need a Support System

There are no 'self-made' millionaires. There are no 'self-made' anything. We all get support from others. You're reading this thanks to the fact that we were all helped by Tim Berners-Lee when he gave us the web, for instance. However, day to day, you need a support system that cheers you on and gives you hope. Maybe you don't have that. There are times for most of us when we really need a support system but we just don't have one. So, what should you do if you have nobody consistently supporting your dreams and struggles?

The first thing to do is to think of how to build a support system. If your family aren't on board with what you're doing, can you find a way to get them more engaged or is it best to keep business and family separate for you? If the latter, look for meetups in your area where you can spend time with others on the same journey as you. If you're in home or small business, you might want to go to networking events. If you're creative,...

I'm a little weirdo. That's not an insult. I embrace my weirdness. Do you? I'm a freak. I'm a geek. I'm unique. Are you?

 And They All Type In Little Boxes, And They All Look Just The Same...

If you haven't heard 'Little Boxes', take a listen below. Then think for a second. What little boxes are you putting yourself into, and what are you typing into the little boxes online so that you look 'just the same' as everyone else?

When the Internet first appeared (and yes, I still use a capital 'I' because I was a Dot Com Pioneer and that's what we did. Deal with it. While we're at it, why do spelling correctors change twitter to Twitter, when it's always had a small 't'? Anyhow... I digress) one of the things we loved about it was the idea that we could now make our own rules. 

If you can ever find a Dot Com Pioneer (we're few and far between. Most of us buggered off after the Dot Com Crash, never to return. Some of us still walk among you. Like the dinosaurs of old that hang...