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Zaadz gets Reviewed

Posted on Jan 2nd, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

Check out the review Zaadz recently got!


Weekly Site Review: Zaadz


from:  The Hippodrome

zaadz_ad_2.jpgWith social networks coming in every variety and flavor these days, it was really only a matter of time before the feel good hippies of yesteryear carved out their own niche. I came across Zaadz while working for Calabash Music, and even though I was doing a very specific type of work, I got a good sense of who’s on the site and what it’s all about. What I found was pleasantly shocking.

Aimed at the non-2.0 generation, Zaadz is a genuinely wholesome network that invites each “zaadzster” to explain on how he or she (or ze) is going to change the world. From the marketing campaign that I worked on for Calabash, the responsiveness from users is incredible. There are no mass promotion tools, and virtually no spammers because Zaadz hand approves each user for the site. Of the 300 or so users that I painstakingly contacted about Calabash, the vast majority replied warmly and have since supported the site.

So what does this mean for music? Well, beside the major setback of no onboard music players or mass promotion tools, it means you have a user base of the most creatively inclined (though healthily sheltered) people on the net. Zaadz is more geared toward the individual, but so was MySpace back in the day, so don’t let that stop you. If you’re ready to screw time efficiency and build up a genuine fan base, Zaadz might just be the best way to do it.
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Sally Lasater and the Nicker Network

Posted on Jan 3rd, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

Check out our lastest podcast from In Horse Harmony


Reach Out Welcomes Sally Lasater of Nicker!


icon for podpress  Sally Lasater Nicker: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

In Horse Harmony’s show host, Debra Gehrke along with one of IHH’s best friends, Anna Twinney of Reach Out to Horses team up to host this exciting, informative interview with Sally Lasater, founder of the newly launched Nicker Network!picture-2.png

Sally comes to this new project with a wealth of experience both in the Equine Field as well as the Communications/Broadcasting/Technology Field. In this episode Sally shares her excitement for the launch of Nicker Network as well as the future vision that is held for Nicker!

trail-riding-in-canada-small.jpg

Sally Lasater Trail Riding in Canada

Show Highlights:

  • Nicker provides programming for horse people that they simply can’t find on TV or any where else!
  • Nicker is an all-inclusive horse community that boasts diversity and an “everything under one roof” theme.
  • What you want to watch, when you want to watch, and how you want to watch it! This is Nicker’s tagline promise.
  • Sally shares her intention for Nicker to be a depository of knowledge for the horse person…always growing.
  • Sally’s family is integral to the launch and success of Nicker. Her family along with others make up an amazing team dedicated to creating and producing the finest, most cutting edge, technologically advanced website network about horses, for horse people!
  • Advertising with Nicker takes on a whole new look and feel with a new model for advertising that supports everyone involved.
  • Sally’s passion and commitment are evident in this interview as she shares Nicker, an unfolding dream come true.

Please visit Nicker to experience just what Sally and her team have to offer! Be sure to check out Anna’s Reach Out to Horses training DVD’s in the Natural Horsemanship section , as well as another one of In Horse Harmony’s friends, Franklin Levinson~Training Through Trust in the Trainer’s section.

Thanks for listening! Please tune in again when Sally Lasater joins Anna and Debra to share her life story…no one’s ever asked her before and we’re sure glad we did! This is one you won’t want to miss…Sally is an amazing role model…a successful business woman/entrepreneur, mother, grandmother, and extraordinary horse person.

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Blogging is a Low Cost Marketing Tool

Posted on Jan 3rd, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

For everyone on Zaadz that has a conscious business to promote check out this article.  I realize the example is not necessarily a conscious business but the ideas still apply.  With a little creativity and a bit of media savey you can use Zaadz to promote your business.


Source: Podcasting News

The New York Times has an article today that suggests that “blogging is a low-cost, high return marketing tool”:

To its true believers at small businesses, it is a low-cost, high-return tool that can handle marketing and public relations, raise the company profile and build the brand.

That tool is blogging, though small businesses with blogs are still a distinct minority. A recent American Express survey found that only 5 percent of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have blogs. Other experts put the number slightly higher.

The NYT article is a bit gee-whiz, and underplays the significance of blogging’s social media elements for search engine optimization. But the article is a sign of the mainstream acceptance of blogging as a business tool.

Podcasting Is A Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool, Too

If blogging is ready for mainstream business adoption, podcasting can’t be far behind. Small and medium-sized businesses are already using podcasting in interesting ways.

One of the most interesting examples of a corporate video podcast is BlendTec’s Will It Blend?. The podcast features the slightly deranged, but crazy like a fox, Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson using the company’s industrial strength blenders to destroy everything from iPods to broomsticks.

The podcast is low-budget, but extremely effective.


Will It Blend? - Halo 3

 

 

Who doesn’t want to see if you can blend Halo 3? Especially after you play it too long and it fries your XBox 360?

BlendTec’s podcast is a viral hit. On YouTube, the show is one of the most-subscribed channels of all time, with over 50,000 subscribers and millions of views.

What’s that worth to BlendTec? The videos turn a boring kitchen product into a lustworthy gadget for geeks. The videos get people talking about a company that they probably hadn’t heard of before.

Most important of all, BlendTec’s video podcast gets your attention. It puts their name into your mind. You may never have a need for a high-end blender, but if you do, you know where to start.

Making a low-budget video podcast that’s as viral as BlendTec’s isn’t easy - but, then, making an infomercial about blenders into something cool probably wasn’t easy, either.


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What amazes you?

Posted on Jan 4th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 02, 2008:

Life and the infinite ways in which it manifests on this planet.

The connection we have to all things.

The calling that is rooted in my core being to continually evolve.

The universe in all its wisdom.

The power and beauty in this Present moment.

The wonderful being that I am blessed to play with daily.

The abundance that is available when we are open to receive.

The light that flows through all things.

You who are reading this now.
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My Sister Bodhisattva in Zimbabwe

Posted on Jan 4th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark
Hello Friends,

Debra just had an amazing interview with a special person in living a challenging life in Zimbabwe.  "Tessa's" outlook on life is extraordinary.  This is an exerpt from the blog Debra wrote. 


My friend Anna and I interviewed the most extraordinary and courageous woman today.  She lives in Zimbabwe, Africa.
  Her life there is beyond what most of us can even imagine...most of us would have a difficult time believing that the experiences she has on a daily basis still go on in this world we live in.  There she is, living a life that seems unreal for anyone to choose; and yet each day she makes the conscious choice to stay, to live to the fullest, to make a difference, to be in the moment.

To me, Tessa (the name she chose for herself for the interview as it would be too dangerous to divulge her real name) is a modern day bodhisattva.  She is an enlightened being...walking her simple truth every day, without an ounce of blame or judgement.  She is an enlightened being...so very in touch with her humility as she shares her story only to follow it up with her feelings that she’s not doing anything so special and that she wishes there was so much more she could do.

click the here to read the entire blog
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The Divine is Everywhere

Posted on Jan 5th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark


One need not leave the earth to find the Truth, one need not leave the life to find his soul, one need not abandon the world or have only limited beliefs to enter into relation with the Divine. The Divine is everywhere, in everything and if He is hidden, it is because we do not take the trouble to discover Him.

~The Mother
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A New World is Born

Posted on Jan 6th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark


A new world is BORN. It’s not the old world that is being transformed, it is a NEW world that is born. And we are right in the middle of this transitional period when the two are entangled: the old still persists, all-powerful, dominating the ordinary consciousness entirely, but the new is slipping in, still very modestly, unnoticed- so unnoticed that externally it does not disrupt much… for the time being, and that in the consciousness of most people it is even completely imperceptible. And yet it is working and growing.

~ The Mother

from Satprem’s book: The Mind of the Cells or Willed Mutation of Our Species

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A Hearty Yes

Posted on Jan 9th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

“The only question in life is whether or not you are going to answer a hearty ‘YES!’ to your adventure.”

–Joseph Campbell

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Great Circles

Posted on Jan 10th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

Even the seasons form a
great circle in their
changing, and always
come back again to where
they were. The life of a
man is in a circle from
childhood to childhood and
so it is in everything where
power moves. Our tepees
were round like the nests of
birds, and these were
always set in a circle, the
nation’s hoop.

~ Black Elk

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New Moon in Capricorn

Posted on Jan 10th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

This New Moon Missive was written by Margaret Koolman from the UK. Margaret is dear friends with Kay Snow-Davis and their newly co-authored book, “Gateways to the Soul: Heart of Astrology”, will be published sometime in 2008.

I recognized some pearls of wisdom in Margaret’s New Moon Update that may also resonate with many of you. From my perspective it’s so helpful to know how what the planets are up to can be influencing our daily experiences! :0) Enjoy…

New Moon in Capricorn – 8 January 08

Havinig had the Full Moon already on the Capricorn/Cancer axis, perhaps we’ve been introduced to the need to get safely grounded, before we get going with the next bit. Now, with the New Moon in Capricorn, it’s time to get actively started on the work of building what you want to achieve.

Commit to what inspires you, and go for it!

Capricorn is a sign of material achievement – if I follow the rules of material life, I will reap what I sow. The first approach to achievement is to make a commitment to achieve one thing at a time (maximum of two things for those with a lot of Gemini in their birth chart!). Commitment means, making a decision about what to focus on, and putting everything else aside. The things you don’t choose, but don’t want to let go of entirely, can be put ‘on the back burner’ for now. Let your choice inspire you to action. Rather than thinking or talking about doing it, get on with it, because you’ll be working in harmony with the cosmos, and you will achieve much more, and quicker, than you would at another time.

Another quality of Capricorn is perseverance. If you find that things don’t work out quite as you expected, or if there are hold-ups or frustrating near misses, don’t give up. There is always another way to go forward, or it just might be that the way you’ve chosen is not quite ready for you, so try again later, or try something just slightly different which may work. Saturn is in Virgo, and painstaking efforts towards your goal are likely to be supported. It is as though we are going through a time where our choices are being tested – just how much do we want what we have chosen? When you are unsure about what to do, do what needs doing at the moment, no matter what it is. This gives everything time to fall into a place where you can understand more clearly what to do.

Be in touch with your friends within the community

What you commit to achieve could be any of the inspired ideas you may have had during the last couple of months, (while Pluto and Jupiter crossed in front of the Galactic Centre). Or you may have been inspired during the first two weeks of January, (Mars has been retrograding through Gemini, and opposing Pluto and the Galactic Centre).

In the New Moon chart, Mars is supporting the North Node, which is now in Aquarius. During this month, we may find that communicating with others motivates us, and also needs to be an important aspect of whatever we plan to do. Sharing our experience, learning and teaching in groups, is of value to us all at this time, By late February, many decisions will be made, and activities begun, that clearly affect us all, and need to be supportive of community.

Fun vs work

We are likely to find that having fun and getting the work done just don’t go together (Venus in Sagittarius square Saturn in Virgo), so making sure that we put in a good day’s work first, will ensure that our fun is anxiety-free and guilt-free. The other solution to this problem would be your chosen project involving working with others for the greater good. You are very likely to enjoy yourself working on it, and make good friends in the process.

. . . next Full Moon 22 January

The beauty of Capricorn is that we are dealing with the truth, and at the next Full Moon, we should be fairly sure of our footing. Whatever is said and done around that time promises to be perfectly in tune with the ‘right’ flow of life. We will need to accept, and work with, the circumstances we find, rather than fighting against them. This could mean, for example, accepting how you may have contributed to a relationship not working, or that your chosen project benefits only yourself and needs to help others too. As you forgive your ‘mistakes’ and those of others, and endeavour to respond appropriately within life situations, everything you say and do at this time will be blessed.

Contemplation for this New Moon in Capricorn

Accepting, and working with, the truth is the path to peace.

Nothing complicated needs to be done,
nothing needs to be untangled.
Confusion and uncertainty are symptoms of ‘blindness’
and sometimes blindness protects us
from performing a reckless action.
If we want to ‘see’ the truth of a situation,
we first need to develop wise caution, and patience.

It has been said:
‘The only mistake we can make is not to learn from our experience.’
Accept your experience separate from your reaction to it,
so that you can see it clearly and choose an appropriate response.

Accept and complete the task that is in your hand, before moving on to the next.
Be kindly honest with yourself about where you fall short of your ideals –
they are meant to guide you, not to be achieved.
Search for, and love, the truth
because it is the vibration of spirit walking upon earth.

With love,
Margaret

Margaret Koolman
margaret@soulastrology.com
www.soulastrology.com

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New Knowledge Emerges

Posted on Jan 11th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

Every time a new element is introduced into the various possible combinations, what we might call a “tearing of limits” takes place.  Modern scientific perception is clearly much closer to something that corresponds to the new reality than, say, the perceptions of the Stone Age were - without a shadow of doubt.  But even that is suddenly going to find itself completely exceeded, surpassed, and probably upset by the intrusion of something that did not exist in the universe we have been studying.  It is this change, this abrupt transformation of the universal element that will most certainly bring about a kind of chaos in perceptions, from which a new knowledge will suddenly emerge.

~The Mother

from: Satprem -  The Mind of the Cells or Willed Mutation of Our Species

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Boulder Zaangha

Posted on Jan 11th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark

Boulder Friends its...

 Zaangha Time

WhenSaturday, January 12th 2008  from Noon to 3pm

Where


Folsom Street Coffee
1795 Folsom St
Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 440-8808

Get directions - View larger map 

from Kelly

zDETAILS:  What a wonderful opportunity we have to get together, meet each other in person and get a feel for the passion that our community has and the changes they want to create in the world!  I've spoken with Rick, the owner of Folsom Street Coffee, and he has reserved space for Zaadzsters to meet in their roomy establishment!  Folsom Street Coffee also has wireless internet access, so if you'd like to bring your laptops - you are more than welcome to do so!  I figure that we will be sharing many aspects of ourselves with the people that we meet!  I highly encourage bringing any pamphlets or business cards to hand out to people that you will be meeting … the idea here is to make some local connections and get the network moving offline concurrently with the online connections.


If you know you will be attending please email me here on Zaadz, or directly at kelly@zaadz.com … that way I can better prepare the space (and surprises) for the number of people attending.  I also assumed that this would be a great place to mix, mingle, come & go, and network quite casually … while also making some really great friendship connections.  There will be a couple of interactive pieces to play with … that will be brought back to the online experience to share with everyone!  So, the one hint I'd like to give:  Think about what you are most passionate about and how you are sharing that with the world - or your community.

Beverages are obviously purchasable at the Folsom Street Coffee establishment, they serve (well, clearly…) Espresso Drinks, Coffee & Tea, and ”Everything Else” … as well as Goodies to Eat!!

I am SO looking forward to meeting up with many of my virtual friends… finally in person!!! 


LET'S ZAANGHA BOULDER!!!!
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Zaadz Births Gaia

Posted on Jan 11th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark
Zaadz is about to become Gaia as we should all know now.  Here is a piece written by my lovely wife Debra about that transition at the time we were going through this flow.  If you want to read the whole article click here

On September 12, 2007 I wrote this piece after being inspired by the idea that Zaadz would birth Gaia, a continued unfolding of its own brilliance.  Now, with that unfolding only days away I thought it good timing to share the article here...



more...
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Create a New Model

Posted on Jan 25th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark
"In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try 
and change the problematic model.  YOU CREATE A NEW MODEL AND MAKE 
THE OLD ONE OBSOLETE."

~Buckminster Fuller
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What Beauty Am I creating Now?

Posted on Jan 28th, 2008 by Mark : Visionary Mark
I have been going deeply inward rediscovering the beauty and tranquility within.  I've also been reflecting on some of the poems that I've recently posted on my Earth Harmony Home site...  and listening to their messages.  January has typically been a reflective time of year for me and I am bringing myself into a greater awareness ( refocusing ) my harmony with mind, body spirit.

Sometimes the way I approach work I get caught up in my mind.   I know that I flow so much more deeply, creatively and divinely when I allow myself to be filled with guidance and express from my heart and my whole BEING.  Letting the ALL that fills me and informs my path flow through for all to see.

What I am asking myself is,  "What beauty am I creating now?"    Being present with that exact statement, really feeling into it for me.  New beauty is emerging from within.  I feel it welling up inside me and I am rediscovering who I truly am in this and every moment.

What Beauty are you creating Now?

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