I  got a call today from a friend of mine who was going to the seminar and wanted me to accompany her. She couldn’t answer my simple questions like “what is the agenda?” and “who are the speakers”, but she was completely excited about the event. The only thing that she was repeating as mantra was “IT’S FREE”. At that moment I knew that I was not going anywhere, but I’ve decided to give it a chance and asked her to email me a link to the guy who talked her to attend this seminar. I was simply curious who is this hero who can make people attend seminars that have no agenda, nor a list of speakers::)). Well, I am not going to post his name here as I guarantee that you never heard of this person before. From marketing point of view, he is completely “invisible” online and has not proven records of accomplished projects. So, the question is: “Do I want to spend 2 hours for listening a person who obviously has less experience in marketing even if it’s FREE?” I simply refuse to be involved to anything that does NOT move me closer to MY goals. I learned to be selective and learn from people who are able to help me become more than I am, people who are able to help me to step up to a new level of success. It always surprises me when people follow bad role models. They very often follow “exuse makers” instead of accomplishers, they follow people that know less, broke and need a great life coach themselves. These people always SOUND good, LOOK good, so ask for credentials, ask for proof and a history of results. Who am I following these days? These people are on my list and thanks to Twitter I am always updated on what they do and what they are inspired by

#1 Jack Humphrey

#2 Tony - Zappos CEO (I am a big fan of this company and they are a successful model of online ecommerce store that is always one step ahead)

#3 John Reese

#4 Brad Fallon (Stompernet guy)

#5 Pete Cashmore (Mashable)

#6 Michael Arrington (founder of techcrunch)

#7 Evan Williams (CEO of Twitter)

who’s on YOUR list?

Tuesday’s federal election in Canada called for an Internet blackout due to the size of the country. With the first polls in Newfoundland reporting three and a half hours earlier than the last polls in British Columbia, it was necessary to legislate the flow of information across the country.

According to Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act the transmission of election results from any electoral district where polls have closed to districts where the polls are still open is not permitted. Therefore any broadcasts, Internet sites, and satellite had to be very careful not to release any results of the polls that closed on the East Coast before the West Coast polls closed.

However social networking sites were well underway with posting election results hours before the last polls closed out West.

In March 2007, a Charter of Rights case went before the Supreme Court of Canada based on the argument that modern technology made Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act obsolete. The Supreme Court didn’t agree and voted 5 to 4 to uphold section 329 which is claimed did not violate the Charter of Rights but provided informational equality.

Section 329 is a 1938 piece of legislation that has been outstripped by technology. Paul Bryan, who took the case to the Supreme Court last year was backed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the National Citizens Coalition, and large Canadian media groups including The Canadian Press, CBC, CTV.

Bryan not only lost the case but was convicted and fined $1,000 for his activities during the 2000 federal election. At that time he posted results from the East Coast on his website before the other polls closed.

Keep an eye on the news because social networking has burgeoned over the past couple of years to the point where it is becoming almost a law unto itself. In 2000, when Bryan broke the law, social networking wasn’t even a glimmer in the eye of the Internet. How will Canada managed to enforce section 329 in the face of the power of social networking?

“There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich” - Marlene Dietrich

I would love to learn this difference first-hand::)), how about you? When enough is enough? At what point would you consider yourself as a rich person?

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As you probably noticed, I have recently took more actions in order to monetize this blog. I have noticed that the approval process from Linkshare’s advertisers takes less time these days, which makes the whole process even easier.