Whether it’s congressmen Twittering during presidential speeches, parents connecting with high school flames on Facebook or empty-nesters planning group outings on grown-up sites such as Eons.com, Baby Boomers are speeding up the Web’s ongoing metamorphosis from limitless void to global watering hole. Read the USA today article.

Whether it’s congressmen Twittering during presidential speeches, parents connecting with high school flames on Facebook or empty-nesters planning group outings on grown-up sites such as Eons.com, Baby Boomers are speeding up the Web’s ongoing metamorphosis from limitless void to global watering hole. Read the USA today article.

One of my pet peeves is receiving broadcast emails from people who neglect to use the “bcc” line in their communication, thus leaving all email addresses exposed to everyone else on the list.

If you are going to use standard email versus a program for email marketing like Constant Contact then please hear me when I tell you that you leave the window wide open for that unscrupulous someone who will push out a sales pitch to people that YOU know, but THEY don’t. Well…until you gave out everyone’s email address that is.

This happened to me earlier this week.

The email was an announcement about a business endeavor a friend had recently put together, and I was glad to receive the information. Unfortunately, he used email for the message and put everyone on his list in the “to” line exposing all of us to potential spam.

And you guessed it…minutes later, David – who needs a few netiquette lessons – “replied all” to the message and tried to sell us his interviewing products. Sending unsolicited sales propaganda without securing permission while trashing my friend’s network at the same time is really tacky. The guy lacks an integrity gene in my opinion, and I would NEVER buy from anyone like that. And the worse part is that he didn’t care one iota about how it might affect my friend’s reputation. All he cared about was himself!

Tips to avoid this happening to you…

• Unless you are positive that everyone on that list knows each other – use BCC (blind carbon copy) to hide the information.

• Use an email marketing system like Constant Contact. Not only does it resolve the thorny issue of exposing your network accidentally, but email marketing systems are designed to handle the opt-out stuff required by law.

• Communicate your spam policy to you network. Let them know that you are not giving them permission to sell to your network and that if they do they become “persona non grata”.

Always remember that your “network” is a precious asset that must be protected. Make sure that you do!

Conversation continues about the economy, the economic stimulus package, people losing jobs, higher taxes and on and on and on. Frankly, it’s depressing, and I don’t want to engage in the discussion.

I am a huge fan of Wallace Wattles and his landmark work -The Science of Getting Rich. He reminds us that “We must guard our speech. We must never speak of ourselves, our affairs or anything else in a discouraged or discouraging way.” The starting point for success begins with minding our attitude. Are you aware of what you are thinking and saying? You need to be! Energy flows where attention goes and negative thoughts and behavior will draw those same results to you.

So what can you do, in addition to keeping a lock on your thoughts? Take right action.

Right action is an essential ingredient to achieving what you want. It starts with a clear vision of where you are headed, faith that you can achieve your goals, gratitude for knowing you’ve already achieved them coupled with taking action NOW.

Far too many people sit around wishing and dreaming but they do absolutely nothing. I’m a Law of Attraction believer. I believe that we create our own reality, but notice that the last 5 letters of attraction are ACTION. Even if we don’t know “exactly” what action to take, it is important to do something.

I often encounter people who stop themselves from achieving success because they don’t know HOW it will happen. But our job isn’t to necessarily know HOW something will unfold. We just have to get moving. As we do, more will be revealed.

Moving forward in faith that you will achieve success leads to a chance meeting, a phone call from someone you’ve lost touch with, an article shows up that is related to your desire…you just never know what will come your way when you get into action.

Get out of the “gloom and doom” mindset! Remember that taking action will lead you in the direction of our goals. Stay open to new possibilities, have faith that success will happen and stay out of your own way. If you do, success takes care of itself.

Mention Twitter and you’ll hear a number of different reactions. Out in the mainstream business world a lot of people have heard about Twitter. Most of them don’t know what it is or understand the business implications. Often, I hear people say “why do I care what someone had for breakfast”, because they believe that’s all that Twitter is about. And while that may be how things got started…telling friends and family what you were up to at that moment…it has evolved considerably.

Twitter has exploded in size (up 10x during 2008 alone). Co-founder Evan Williams talks about how Twitter came to be and some of the unexpected surprises that have led to where Twitter is today.

Even if you don’t get it now – you need to pay attention!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n_EitPb7BU