According to the latest survey by Hubspot, only LinkedIn has demonstrated the ability to convert traffic to leads for the B2B community that is on par with “traditional” marketing avenues by demonstrating a 2.6% conversion rate. Obviously, given the size of the population on these sites, the ability to effectively convert the visitors to actual leads could be a powerful business tool!

The numbers speak for themselves regarding the challenge and reaffirms the notional information that has been shared by some of Fortune 500 companies that have joined awesomize.me including  HP, Siemens, Honda, Dell, and At&t.

Why Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter have yet to crack the B2B puzzle?
Simple! The genesis of each of these platforms was to share information not generate sales. Consequently, they are naturally geared towards an advertising model. None of these channels have made the transition in understanding and capitalizing upon the fundamental difference between Lead Generation (Lead Gen) and advertising programs. The differences are simple:

- Just because there are over 1 B people on these channels, it doesn’t mean they will pay attention to a company’s specific page or product even after your company has implemented a
social media strategy

- Lead generation programs are focused on promoting your content, not the positioning or messaging that is supposed to drive the demand. I learned that from our past experience with my first B2B startup platform, telezoo.com (1999-2003) that was generating an average of of $300,000 revenue from Cisco and Siemens of the world.

- Since all the existing social media sites are geared toward advertising model, they can only put your message in front of an audience. Capturing a lead requires multiple steps and most the advertising programs offered by the existing social media site include messaging or positioning, but no focus on promoting your content.

Think about it! when was the last time you needed a professional patent service or networking solution or a delivery service, etc. for either personal use or your company and you thought of Facebook, twitter, Google+ or even LinkedIn?

awesomize.me is about to change that

With the launch of the new features on awesomize.me, a solution to this dilemma may be here. Thus enabling companies to crack the code and leverage social media for B2B purposes by:

a) Creating pages that goes beyond a simple company fan page and provides the ability to have pages for each of a company’s products/services
b) Creating a page for the community of current and future customers through blogs and a question page that is integrated into a company’s existing social media channels into each page of those pages you create on awesomize.me
c) Providing analytics that allows you to leverage the power of objective ratings by existing clients to acquire new ones

A simple conceptual graphic showing the awesomize.me ecosystem and its ability to solve the B2B challenge is below.

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more news and forthcoming developments including awesome blogs and awesome leads as awesomize.me will empower your company to finally get the ROI you have been waiting for from social media. Meanwhile, to provide you with maximum sales & marketing exposure to your business and solution offering, we encourage you to continue …
a) creating a pages for each one of your products and services on awesomize.me
b) adding as much content as possible in each one of your pages. They will be found by others every time they being searched either on awesomize.me or even the major search engines like Google and Bing.
c) getting more engaged using awesomize.me awesome question feature

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

Its awesome landing over Potomac River to Reagan National  was part of the six-month world Dream Tour that Boeing has scheduled for their awesome dreamliner Boeing’s 787 .

eel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

If you are still not sure what the bill is all about and what it means to your business, the bill classifies startups as “emerging growth companies” that can turn to online investors to raise startup capital. Those companies would also be able to sell up to $50 million in shares before having to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and have up to 1,000 shareholders which is double the current limitation.

The conference next week hosted by CrowdCheck  will include experts from the US Small Business Administration, Capitol Hill, think tanks, startups and the securities industry at the conference, entitled “The Wisdom of the Crowd.” Topics will include how small businesses across the country can successfully use crowdfunding, and steps that entrepreneurs and investors should take to avoid fraud in the emerging market.

Speakers and panelists include: Sean Greene, Associate Administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation at the US Small Business Administration; Brian Appel, Legislative Aide to Senator Michael Bennet; Lauren Oppenheimer, Senior Policy Advisor, Capital Markets Initiative at Third Way; Sterling Raphael, President of Avectra Labs; Maurice Lopes, President of EarlyShares.com; and, David Marlett, Executive Director of the National Crowdfunding Association.

The conference will be accessible to investors large and small and business people from the nation’s capital to the heartland and beyond. It will be livestreaming here.

The conference will be held at the Hotel George, 15 E Street, NW, from 9:00 a.m till noon on May 14th and is open to members of the media. To attend the conference, you need to RSVP to CrowdCheckRSVP@skdknick.com.   You can read more about the event here.

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

If you are a Washingtonian Persian, “Ganje Gharoon Nemikham” is a fantastic musical comedy for you to see.  The show directed by Farzan Deljou starring Anthony Shams  aka Eslam the Comic,  the Farglish (Farsi + English) standup comedian and actor who used to be a Washingtonian himself till the late 80′s when he moved to Hollywood to pursue his dream.

The show is full of laugh from the beginning to the end! I saw it last month in LA. It’s in Farsi.  So, you have 19 days to learn the language

When: Saturday May 19 2012 @ 8:30pm
Where: George Mason Center for the Arts
4400 University Dr
Fairfax, VA 22030 map

Ticket Prices= $29,$37,$47,$57 and $67

Purchase the tickets online here or by call 1- 888-945-2468. For more information, call703-517-4343

You may also purchase tickets at Persian Stores around DC metro listed below

IN VIRGINIA: Assal Market, Iran Sara, Mash Hassan Bakery, Mediterranean Cafe, Shiraz Market, and Yas Bakery

IN MARYLAND: Caravan Deli, Caspian, Dorsa, and Zam Zam Market

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

Top 5 Awesome Question Categories:

1. Social Media 
2. Politics – Europe & Russia  
3. Mobile Wireless
4. Mobile Apps
5. Philosophical

Top 5 Awesome Company Categories:

1. Software  
2. Real Estate
3. Social media
4. Internet & Web
5. Retail

Top 5 Awesome People Categories:

1. Information Technology
2. Advertising
3. Arts
4. Journalism
5. Environment

Top 5 Awesome Product Categories:

1. Social Media
2. Fashion Design
3. eCommerce
4. Information Technology
5. Publishing

Top 5 Awesome Service Categories:

1. Search Engine Optimization
2. Facebook Apps
3. eCommerce
4. Government
5. Computer Security

If you want to crack the Top 5 or stay on top of the mountain, you know what to do – make sure your information is up-to-date.  I need to reiterate the importance of your engagement with our Awesome Question feature.  The more you use this feature, the more and higher your pages will be indexed and displayed on Google and other search engines, the more exposure you bring to you and your business via awesomize.me.

Also don’t forget to get your pages awesomized  by your trusted peers including your existing clients. The greater level of interaction people have with you and your products, the higher the rating – it’s that simple.

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

Top 5 Awesome Question Categories:

1. Social Media 
2. Politics – Middle East & North Africa  
3. Health & Medicine
4. Politics – North America
5. Mobile Apps

Top 5 Awesome People Categories:

1. Information Technology  
2. Internet & Web
3. Media: Online
4. Fashion
5. Entertainment

Top 5 Awesome Company Categories:

1. Internet & Web
2. Information Technology
3. Social media
4. Health
5. Telecommunications

Top 5 Awesome Product Categories:

1. Mobile App – Android
2. Web Development 
3. Mobile App – iPhone
4. Publishing
5. Information Technology

Top 5 Awesome Service Categories:

1. Social media
2. ecommerce
3. Facebook Apps
4. Mobile App – iPhone
5. PR & Marketing

If you want to crack the Top 5 or stay on top of the mountain, you know what to do – make sure your information is up-to-date.  I need to reiterate the importance of your engagement with our Awesome Question feature.  The more you use this feature, the more and higher your pages will be indexed and displayed on Google and other search engines, the more exposure you bring to you and your business via awesomize.me.

Also don’t forget to get your pages awesomized  by your trusted peers including your existing clients. The greater level of interaction people have with you and your products, the higher the rating – it’s that simple.

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

Thanks to the secret organized crime industries: the pharmaceutical, the booze, the tobacco, and the fast food industries  aka “Mafia”,  as well as the advertising industry promoting these killers  since 1970′s, cancer cells have become so smart these days – smart enough that they can hit you with no warning sign.

The good News is you can outsmart cancer by just following the simple rules in the slideshow I put together below that I learned the hard way during my battle. Actually, I wouldn’t call them rules if you put this in your head “The Greatest Power We’ve Been Given, Is The Power Of WILL”, all the tips below become so natural to you. I intend to make four copies and give them to my two monkeys and their cousins like  a children style book next month.

According to the latest cancer study, more and more people will end up having cancer these days. So, one year on, I still believe cancer was one of the best thing ever happened to me last year, because…

a) It hit me in such a young age of my life that my body was able to fight and beat it. Not sure how my body would have  coped with it if I was in my 50′s or 60′s.

b) I learned what to eat, what not to eat, how to eat and how to live so I learned how to keep my body disease free in my 50′s to 150′s

c) It was a wake up call for the loved ones around me including my two monkeys. I hope this will be a wake up call for you and your loved ones too. I took my time to write this for you not for my ass! So, READ IT!

d) My new diet has made me more energetic and prettier. Not to mention, over 90% of the fat around my belly and the fat on my face are just gone!  I am back to my  crazy life style continue with my awesomization of the world minus drinking and eating shitty foods!

Spacial thanks to the Japanese technology for making this capsule sized camera for me to swallow that found the tiny undetectable cancer tumor in my small bowel at its very early stage of its growth. Also, hard to believe how a one inch tumor could have caused such a severe pain.  So,  thank you JAPAN!

To my beautiful Portuguese nurse who put me under anesthesia and never facebooked me

If you end up reading this, It’s me, Elias, the Persian Stallion! I hope you still remember my name at least. I still remember our flirt with your broken English to the last second before you knocked me out for the operation. You promised you would facebook me, but you never did I still remember your blurry face post my operation as you were trying hard to assure me that all went well.  I hope to see you soon again. I won’t forget your beautiful face and dark shiny hair.

Every time,  I look at this painting collection by Ricardo Davila on our site, I think of you. Amazing resemblance. Ricardo joined our site about five month ago. I am certain he joined to remind me of you

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

The most well made with ZERO hype video in Politics ever made! Because of him, another American entrepreneur, that would be me ,  is alive today and covered with his pre-existing condition, working hard to start a new company and to create jobs. So, thank you Mr. President for your work!  FANTASTICO!

As I have worked hard to get the world to awesomize you, I’ll do my best to get America to awesomize you in Nov 2012. Considering the candidates you will be up against, It doesn’t look like you’ll be needing my help anyway  So please, don’t waste a dime on presidential campaign! Invest that on Startups in the Nation starting with mine, awesomize.me  only a few blocks from your house

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me

Getting the companies to leverage the power of social networking to market their solution offerings and get engaged with their existing and potential clients online was something totally unheard of and premature.  Many of them even thought I was on dope We had a good run with it till 2004 though.

Thanks to the popularity of LinkedIn, myspace, Facebook, Twitter and I guess Google+, eight years later, the same companies are now joining my second social media startup,  awesomize.me on their own. awesomize.me is kind of telezoo 2.0 leveraging the power of rating by the community plus a lot more.

Today, I am not even spending a dime on advertising, nor having a single sales person to go after the companies, but over 1000 of them already on it in less than a year since our beta launch. In addition to their company pages, most them have also set up a page for their products and services, including the following and The Huffington Post that just joined.

(Click on their logo to see their company, product, service pages on awesomize.me in action)

As for why are these companies joining awesomize.me now?

There are several reasons, but the one below is my favorite. Take a look at these three company pages as an example – NYC based ita Collection that makes luxury handbags,  at&t, and Mclean, VA based company, microStrategy.  Leveraging the power of awesomization (rating) by the community on awesomize.me, there is a real-time score assigned to each company, their products and services. You as the marketers can easily determine your most and least popular products.  You can also click on each user page who awesomized your brand to interact with them. Such stats will help you to improve the quality of those products in the bottom before they completely go out of favor.

(Click on each image to see them in action)

Next challenge:  Monetization! Any idea anyone?

Feel free to connect with me via awesomize.me