M & A Rainmaker

Chris Windley, Digital Marketing Expert and Managing Partner at the Silicon Crossroads Technopolis in Lichfield, Staffordshire spoke to the Daily Mail about Digital Death and why he is waiting for the official launch of My Digital Executor and NOT death !!

The impact of a Digital Death is entirely dependent on how involved someone is in the digital world and what the consequences of disconnection or interruption to their system would be. There are people who have maybe, a Linkedin or a Facebook account and use the Internet for browsing and for email. There are 2 or 3 passwords and usernames involved in that.

Now imagine that you were Stuart Ross ( see below ) , Founder of the Six Figure Mentors and someone who earns $100’s of thousands  a month through the Internet

Find Stuart at : https://sixfigurementors.infusionsoft.com/go/sfmsalespage/stuartrossmarketing

using various tools such as web and blogsites, social media sites, Google pay per Click, Facebook adverts, emailing lists, autoresponders etc etc etc. I don’t know how many usernames and passwords he has but it’s a lot !! I would say that nobody would understand  how Stuart made his money except that he has been discussing and sharing his techniques with his ” inner circle ” and with Six Figure Mentor members so there are actually quite a few people now who understand what he is doing. Previously only Stuart’s mentors would have understood what he is doing – his parents and brothers and sisters certainly don’t !!

There is a sort of no-man’s land between the casual user and a ” proper ” Internet based business. People that run eBay shops or small ecommerce sites; bloggers with lots of followers and advertising revenues being generated from their sites. It is highly unlikely that anyone un other than them understand how the system works.

Typically the sites that they use eBay, Facebook, PayPal, Google etc etc are based in the U.S. and they have their own views on what happens when someone dies.

When a Facebook user dies anyone ( yes anyone !! ) can shut down the account given that they have proof of death. So, imagine this – Stuart

( God forbid ) dies and the news gets around. One of his competitors hears about this, knows that a lot of Stuart’s income is dependent on Facebook ( adverts ) , provides proof of death to Facebook and gets the account shut down. Probably nobody ( the relatives or the lawyers involved ) has any conception that this is an important part of the income generating system.

What redress does the estate have against the person who shut it down or Facebook ?? None !!

Graham Ross ( below ), Founder of My Digital Executor, decided that this was just unacceptable.

Here’s what Graham says on his website http://www.mydigitalexecutor.co.uk/ ……

Have you ever worried about what would happen to your email, tweets, blogs, domains,  affiliate sales accounts, created/collected music, photographs, websites, designs, virtual world items, online account balances, online revenue streams and even operational online businesses when you log off for that final time? Probably be lost forever or, worse,  be taken over by those unauthorised by you, putting your money, data and creative property at risk. Read articles on the problem from The New York Times and The Guardian.

Let us put your mind at rest

Our straight forward and simple protocol ensures that your accounts and assets will be handled fully in accordance with your wishes. We provide a form on which you set out, and update, your wishes. We then refer you to a solicitor who will help you ensure those wishes are legally honoured (you are not committed to any further costs beyond your membership of this service).

Writing an informal note of your wishes has no effect

You may think that informally appointing someone to take over a digital asset on your death is the answer but it will have no legal effect. Equally of no legal effect are services that store your passwords and last wishes like Entrustet.com and LegacyLocker.com. Legacy Locker specifically warns by email  those you seek to appoint that ‘it is not legally binding’ because ‘ownership of any electronic rights related to the internet such as intellectual property, domain names, or marketing affiliation agreements, cannot be granted or transferred through Legacy Locker’.  This is because the law dictates who is entitled to your assets, including your digitalassets, and the only way to impose your wish above the law is through a Will, or Codicil to a Will. A friend who acts, albeit innocently, on your informal wishes can be sued by the next of kin entitled to your estate. We  ensure you are able to make such wishes binding and effective after you pass away.

We protect your passwords but do not hold them

Whilst we ensure your estate has lawful and effective access to your online accounts after your death, we do not hold your passwords.

What if I just ignore the problem

If you want to learn about the problems with what would happen on your death with some of the more popular internet services, then see our page called ‘How Websites Deal With Your Death’.

For more information call Graham on:

MD Executor Ltd

A company registered in England under registration number 08226375

Registered Office:-

47 Rodney St

Liverpool

L1 9EW

Telephone:  0845 0573719

Fax: 0870 130 3337

Email: admin@mydigitalexecutor.co.uk

The Silicon Crossroads Technopolis based in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England has helped Inbound Marketing Megastars HubSpot decide on Dublin,Ireland as the location for their European Headquarters. The official announcement from Hubspot is here. Chris Windley, Managing Partner of the Silicon Crossroads Technopolis and of the Silicon Crossroads V.C.T. ( Just voted #100 of 1000 Tech. Investors globally by PeekIndex – full story here ) said ” Some time ago HubSpot asked our opinion on where they should base their European Headquarters – we highlighted as possibilities London, Lichfield itself  and Dublin, Ireland.”

The story of that early conversation with HubSpot is here . ” Whilst we would have been proud to welcome HubSpot to Lichfield and perhaps even the Technopolis itself, we are delighted that HubSpot decided on one of our recommendations. ” Chris said.

As highlighted in our early conversation above there are some compelling reasons why U.S. companies should base themselves in Dublin, Ireland . In all likelihood this will be followed by sales offices in Benelux and London. This is a well worn path that e.g. Google, Twitter and Facebook have followed.

You have to admire the Irish and Irish ( Inward Development Agency ) I.D.A. for the way that they have positioned ” brand Ireland ” and for the way that they handled this opportunity. There are many places where HubSpot could have based it’s European Headquarters but it chose Dublin, Ireland.

Chris said ” I have contacts within the Irish I.D.A. and they have a Boston office which has been communicating with HubSpot for a number of years . The Boston team of the Irish I.D.A. obviously did a good job in presenting the case to HubSpot “.

To me this just emphasises what we have said elsewhere – there is an unstoppable flow of fully funded companies coming from the U.S. to Europe and other countries. This is particularly true of High Tech and software companies.

4 years ago HubSpot was a small Boston based software startup. Today it is one of the fastest growing SaaS companies in the world. Probably second only to Salesforce.com.

When HubSpot received further funding earlier on in the year and investment from e.g. Google and Salesforce it was almost inevitable that they would open a European Headquarters soon. Around 300 companies in Europe are HubSpot customers but this is not enough. HubSpot needed a European base to compete against WordPress based competitors and new startup – The Six Figure Mentors – which is rapidly expanding across the globe from the U.K.

FREE 7 Day Digital Marketing Bootcamp at http://www.chriswindley.com

STOP PRESS !!! January 2013 – The Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( mentioned below ) has now been incorporated into Centripetal Network Consultings’ Digital Marketing Ecosystem. Watch this video >>>> HERE <<<< to see how a system that provides all of the functionality of a HubSpot system at a much lower cost has evolved over the last couple of years.

The Silicon Crossroads Technopolis is a private High Tech. facility that supports Silicon Crossroads VCT investee companies globally. It also supports companies advised by M & A Rainmaker and the Silicon Crossroads VCT.

The Technopolis is currently supporting companies in ( for example ) London, San Francisco, Israel, New York, Costa Rica and India. the list is continually changing and evolving so this is just a sample of cities and countries supported.

The Silicon Crossroads VCT does not invest in all the companies it supports, it may simply provide advice and guidance. It is particularly interested in assisting startup and growth companies who want to expand from the U.K. to, for example, the U.S.A. and vice versa and also from other countries around the world into the U.K. and Europe. It is one of very few companies in the U.K. to provide these sort of services.

Lichfield Cathedral at night across Stowe Pool.

Managing Partner, Chris Windley, has established global networks via social media networks like Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook and Chris is regarded as one of the most influential people in the world by Internet Influence measurement companies like Klout, Kred and Peer Index. These companies operate mainly from e.g. London, New York and San Francisco. Since his days at Optical Fibre Network company Fibernet, Chris noted that U.S. companies tended to lead the European market by between 6 and 18 months and therefore it is vital to maintain contacts with High Tech. industry leaders there; especially the West Coast ( Silicon Valley etc. ) which remains the frontrunner when it comes to angel and venture capital support.

It is no surprise that some of the most important High Tech. companies in the world have emerged from the Silicon Valley/San Francisco area.

Chris maintains contact with Angels, Venture Capitalists and Founders via Internet networks like Linkedin, Google + and AngelList.

The Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( I.M.E. ) has been producing some great results recently even when only partially implemented. You can find previous blogs on the I.M.E by searching on that term here. ( Use search box ). The I.M.E. is a strategy and a process rather than being absolutely rigid about the specific brand of product used. e.g. I recommend the use of WordPress for websites and blogs but websites and blogs based on other technologies and brands may also work using the strategy and process.

It should also be noted that if a website is already in place ( of whatever technology or whoever it is supplied by ) I.M.E. recommended products can be added and the strategy and process employed.

To summarise the recommended components ( products, brands etc ) are:

– A WordPress based website.

– A WordPress based blog.

– A Twylah page.

– Various Social Network pages such as Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Linkedin , Pinterest, digg etc. etc.

The WordPress website and blog and the Twylah page form the ” core ” of the I.M.E. Typically fresh, relevant ” content ” is produced on the blog and the Twylah page ( using the Twylah Power Tweet facility ) and then shared to the Social Network pages ( I use the Twylah share facility which I call Power Sharing ).

If we bear in mind that our overall objective is to get FOUND ( via Google etc. for relevant words and phrases ) to CONVERT visitors into prospects and customers and to ANALYSE how we did it ( basically noting what particular efforts produced the best results with the help of e.g. Google Analytics ).

If we also remember that producing a high ranking ( easily FOUND ) web and blogsite is dependant on ( amongst other things ) – It having relevant, frequently updated content; having on page S.E.O. and also having authoritative backlinks. Whilst conversion relies apon ” channeling ” the visitor through a sales funnel via relevant headlines, landing pages and Calls to Action.

The I.M.E. fulfills all of the above criteria. It would take a long time to explain all of the ways that it does but we can take a few  examples:

A blog posted on the WordPress Blogsite ( or page ) can then be Power Tweeted via the Twylah platform ( initially placing the Power Tweet into your Twitter community ). It can then be ( power ) shared to Facebook, Google +, Linkedin, Pinterest and Digg. This creates backlinks from all of these places to your domain ( the WordPress web/blog and Twylah page are all in your domain ).

It is worth remembering that Google is now looking at the whole picture rather than simply relevant keywords and phrases and backlinks so the fact that a piece of content is being shared ( liked, ReTweeted etc. etc. ) around multiple social networks is a powerful indicator to Google.

As you may know Klout just updated the way that it calculates your Klout score. Those of us that care about Internet Influence scores ( and there are a lot of people who a) Don’t know anything about Internet Influence scores and b) Don’t care about them ) were not looking forward to this day as all previous updates have resulted in a ( sometimes ) dramatic fall in Klout score.

Mashable describes the change in the way that Klout is now grading you here:

http://mashable.com/2012/08/14/klout-update/

The essentials are that “Klout now  puts more weight on who your followers are and how you’re engaging with them.  Klout also now takes into account more of your real-world influence.”

So, given the above and the fact that my Klout score rose from 62 to 70 I have to be pleased with this because it appears to be saying that I am connected with influential people and that we are communicating with one another which is actually what I think is happening. The ” real-world influence ” also appears to have been positive.

I also like the fact that Klout is offering  ”  a look back at your most influential tweets and posts over the past 90 days. ” This provides a summary of who engaged with me and why.

Klout is now saying that ” You’re not influential because of a number. You’re influential because of what you say ( and perhaps do ) .” This is a great way of measuring influence. Klout’s objective now is ( apparently )  “ to make you feel important, and make you feel listened to.”

If you are trying to get your Klout score up then Mashable offers a rundown of some of the factors that play into your ultimate score below:

Facebook
Mentions via tag from other people
Likes
Subscriber count
Posts on your wall
Overall friend count

Twitter
Retweets
Mentions
List memberships
Replies from you to your network
Number of followers

Google+
Comments on your content
+1s
Reshares of your content

LinkedIn
Your job title on LinkedIn
Your connections
Recommendations
Comments

Foursquare
Tips completed – the number of suggestions you’ve left at venues that people have actually completed.

+K
+K from your friends now also plays a role in your score. Previously it only influenced what categories you were thought to be influential in, not how influential you were in general.

Wikipedia
Page Importance
Inlinks to Outlinks ratio
Number of Inlinks

Apart from Wikipedia ( should I write something about myself 😉 I have a substantial presence on all of these networks ( and more ) and I always felt that this was not being taken into account. ( My Klout summary seemed to indicate that only my Twitter and Facebook networks were being analysed ).

This may all be a PR exercise but I have to declare myself  ” satisfied ” with the new measurement and also it seems to me to be taking the right factors into account.

This morning I was talking to a good Twitter friend of mine ( we have not actually known one another for very long ) and I found myself defending a social media related company to her for the SECOND time. The first time it was Twylah.com and the second time it was global professional network Brandergy.com.

She basically said that Social Media networks ( particularly Facebook and Twitter ) were full of fakes, flakes, weirdo’s, liars and creeps and that there was no room in her life for any more social networks ………UNLESS there was a clear benefit. Now, this is a straight talking lady that talks a lot of sense. There was that chink of hope .. UNLESS there was a clear benefit !!

The only network that she thought was ( relatively ) safe AND produced business was Linkedin.

It is interesting that Facebook is suffering from many rumours about ” Fake accounts ” and it’s share price is plummeting  http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/FB whilst Linkedin is seen as a much better bet http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LNKD . Twitter is still a private company but everyone knows that you can buy Twitter followers for a relatively low price. e.g. http://www.buy-followers.org/ .

I think there is a change coming . People want to network and they want to do business – they just don’t want the hassle that comes with social networking – particularly if it does not actually produce business.

Linkedin is pretty safe but I have noticed a number of connection requests from decidedly flakey looking accounts. So far I have connected to nearly all of them as I am an Open Networker and there is an unwritten agreement that Open Networkers connect to anybody.

Personally I don’t find Linkedin very intuitive, easy to communicate with others or productive from a business point of view. Twitter is my most productive business network and well ahead of both Facebook and Linkedin. I don’t think I have had a single business conversation on Google + despite having an extensive network there and being a Google + Beta user.

Twylah and Brandergy have at least one thing in common – they both have great ” Community Managers ” ( Kelly Kim in the case of Twylah and Vincent Wright in the case of Brandergy ). Community Management does not happen in e.g. Linkedin, Facebook or Twitter – unless you are talking about Group managers. Good ” Community Management ” is a new skill and a hard one to carry out effectively.

I dream of a global, positive, supportive network that actually achieves business for it’s members. I have ” sub networks ” on Twitter and Facebook ( Twitter particularly ) which comprise of ” Internet Influencers ” who are “engaged ” with me and supportive.

However, it is one thing to have a global, positive, influential, engaged and supportive network and entirely another to have that network produce results.

Producing results requires that you step from the virtual world into the real world of actual products and services, phone calls, meetings, presentations, proposals and orders. In other words that you monetise your network.

Where most social networks are focussed on increasing numbers what is required is a social network that has ” barriers to entry ” – a Quality over Quantity network.

I actually had a conversation this afternoon with someone who had joined Brandergy and they were ” worrying ” about who they should introduce into Brandergy themselves. They wanted to maintain the ” Quality ” of the network. This ” elitism ” is what is required to contrast with the ” fakes, flakes, weirdo’s,liars and creeps ” that are on other networks. You want the ” SAS ” or ” Seal Team ” of networkers.

You know pretty instantly when you meet them on other networks. ( I always think it is amazing that people’s character comes across in 140 characters ). They slot into the ” team ” instantly and become part of a well oiled machine.

Key components of the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem ” by Chris Windley are a WordPress based web or blogsite; the Twylah page ( derived automatically from Tweets on Twitter ) and the use of Digg.com. ( Alongside Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter itself, Linkedin and Google +.)

WordPress currently ranks as 18th in the worlds most ” powerful ” websites. Digg ranks 186. Twylah ranks 10,935. ( http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/twylah.com ).

Google is the top website, Facebook the 2nd, Twitter the 9th and Linkedin the 12th. So, when you post something on a WordPress web/blogsite
( like this one ) then re-post on Digg, Twylah and all four Social Networks mentioned it is not particularly surprising that a search on ”  Internet Marketing Strategy Lichfield ”  reveals that the WordPress post itself is at search position  3, the Digg post at position 4 and the Twylah position 8 on the first page of a search that has some 244,000 results.

As we know getting Found for a particular search term or phrase is a function of a web or blogsite having relevant content, on page SEO, high quality links and a powerful platform. All of these ingredients are present in the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem ”  that I have created.

The core or epicentre of the Ecosystem is the web/blogsite and the Twylah page the other websites mentioned are supporting players to the content posted on the web/blogsite. The Ecosystem is extraordinarily powerful when it comes to achieving a high ranking position for a particular word or phrase.

This is a content driven strategy – it is not an SEO driven strategy and therefore it is complimentary to Googles recent announcement that it will penalise over-SEO’d websites.

N.B. Chris Windley’s Brandyourself profile can be found >>>>>>>> HERE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Start up Wahooly starts tomorrow ( Tuesday 31st January ) having used Klout to select it’s members. I realise that this is is all about as clear as mud at the moment !

Let’s start with Klout which is a company ( one of a few that are doing this ) that essentially grades your Internet influence. Here is Klout about Klout:

http://klout.com/#/understand

” Klout was founded in 2008 to help you measure and leverage your influence. We believe influence is the ability to drive action. For example, Oprah’s opinion on literature has inspired millions to read titles from her book club. But you don’t have to be Oprah to have influence. You influence your friend when she listens to a song you recommend on Facebook. You influence your coworker when he checks out an article you posted on LinkedIn and shares it with someone else. Social actions like these are a reflection of influence. ”

Klout uses a ” secret algorithm ” to measure people and brand influence.

A few month’s ago this algorithm was ” modified ” and a lot of people’s ” Klout score ” changed ( many for the worse ) generating considerable reaction from Klout ” members “.

A lot of people say ” Who are Klout and what right do they have to rank my influence ? ” I have my own issues with Klout including the fact that they have a lot of technical bugs that impact people’s scores.

Anyway – let’s get on to Wahooly. Wahooly is a start-up that aims to help start-ups by recruiting ” influential ” people to promote start-ups that they wish to support. In return the influencers get equity ( shares ) in the start-up. So, this is like hiring an Internet Marketing Expert ( Social Media Marketer ) and PR person and paying them in equity rather than hard cash.

Will it work ?? We shall see.

To be a member of Wahooly you needed to have a Klout score of 45 or above ( mine was at the time of selection but has fallen slightly since. I have been as high as 67 in the past ).

More on Wahooly’s use of Klout here:

http://www.launch.is/blog/wahooly-uses-klout-to-add-400-influencers-daily-who-earn-equ.html

I am therefore a founder member of Wahooly and a Wahooligan ( as they call it ).

Given that it has been very hard to raise start-up capital in the last few years there have been many new initiatives to help start-ups get going. Equity for influence is just the latest of them. There have, for example , been a whole host of crowd financing ( investing small amounts of money for small amounts of equity ) initiatives.

Obviously Wahooly has a presence on the main social media platforms:

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wahooly?ref=ts&sk=wall

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wahooligans/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/TeamWahooly

Google +

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105465481469156419624/posts

Linkedin

etc

It is going to be an interesting experiment !!

but glad to hear that you made a physical and digital Will.

This blog was pointed out to me the other day by Thomas Power

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=157243

It’s interesting to think that Thomas was having his ” Digital Will ” thoughts when I was starting to work with

http://www.mydigitalexecutor.co.uk/

It would seem that we have both had death on our minds.

I also came across this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT2O1zSfXVM

from Adele McAlear of http://www.deathanddigitallegacy.com/ which really covers a lot of the issues involved in Digital Death and talks about blogger Mac Tonnies death ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Tonnies ).

One of my friends – Gary ” Photography ” Morgan also died last year and there were quite a few issues over some of his digital legacy ( http://www.footprints.me.uk/index.php , https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=154988787849739 ).

I think Thomas is correct in highlighting that one of the main pieces of digital value that most ” Online ” people have is their email database. If you consider the successful internet marketers the cornerstone of their Internet Marketing efforts is their email database.

You will often find them emailing on behalf of a friend or business colleague.

If you are a Director or shareholder in an online business then probably this online business will become part of your ” Physical will ” but if you have, say, an eBay shop that you regularly sell things from and an associated PayPal account then these may need to be part of your ” Digital Will “.

As Thomas and Adele point out one of the keys to everything else is your primary email address and the password for this. It is is the key to your digital legacy.

Most people don’t get around to making a physical will, never mind a digital will so we are making it easy for people to get started.

It’s free and all you need to provide is your name, email and short address.

http://www.mydigitalexecutor.co.uk/join-us/

Millions of people in the UK have made no provision for what happens to their internet accounts ( e.g. Facebook ) and assets when they die.

Those who attempt to do so are being invited by websites to do it in a way that will fail, meaning that friends may be sued

after their death by next of kin for meddling with the accounts. A new service provides an end to such uncertainty.

Not only has it become a tool for the fraudster, a trigger for divorces and a destroyer of state secrecy, but lawyers are beginning to

recognise a new problem with the Internet. Money lying in non-Bank internet accounts, as well as digital assets with a monetary

value (e.g. domain names, websites, designs, blogs, self-composed music, photographs, virtual world items, online businesses,

account balances and revenue streams) becoming lost forever not through hacking or crime but because, on our death, our next of

kin and friends may be unaware, do not have the passwords or, if they are aware, have no right in law, in the absence of a Will, to

access them.

If such matters were not complicated enough, legal jurisdictions vie with each other for control and internet service owners offer

confusing and conflicting policies for that final log out. Facebook, for example, allows anybody who claims to be a ‘friend’ to take

control and run your account as a memorial site to you. This can be deeply upsetting for your family.

Graham Ross , a veteran in the field of technology and the law, and anxious as anyone in his sixties of what will happen when he

types his final goodbyes, has thought out a solution – My Digital Executor.

Graham Ross says ” The big risk is family, friends and lawyers dealing with Probate not knowing about these accounts which then

become deleted by default of renewal or, in some cases, through lack of regular login. Valuable and busy websites will go

automatically back on the market for others to buy.”

“There is a way to direct control of these accounts and assets after your death but you must both use the device of a Will and

consider the site’s policy. Informal notes to a friend as offered by some services (eg www.legacylocker.com) have no legal effect (as

their emails concede) and , worse, can lead to the friend being sued by the next of kin or residuary beneficiaries in a Will for losses

resulting from their innocent interference with parts of your estate.”

“There is also the problem of ensuring those to whom you wish to give the accounts having access to your passwords. My Digital

Executor has thought through the problems and created a unique process.”

In law, what we own forms part of our estate. It does not have to be physical. ‘Intellectual Property’ doesn’t have to be particularly

clever but is everything you cannot sit in, or on, or put in a box.

“Not only does the service help people secure their digital estate on their death, but in providing a reason to make a Will, should

help reduce the 30m UK adults who have yet to make one. “

NOTE: Apart from the sentimental value and life record of Facebook accounts and blogs, thousands of people earn money from the

Internet such as by bedroom e-commerce (eBay, Amazon affiliate scheme etc), building up valuable domain names and search engine

optimised, and thus valuable, websites and blogs, uploading photographs to sites that licence them out, having their own music sold

by online record labels, playing virtual games such as World of Warcraft or Second Life where they build up online currency which

can be exchanged for real money, or sell their avatars and game items to speed up the buyers status growth in the game. The

Guinness Book of Records records that, in January 2010 , £228,263.00 was paid in an auction of a virtual space station in a virtual

world (Planet Calypso).

My Digital Executor – www.mydigitalexecutor.co.uk

CONTACT: Graham Ross – 01352 715616 or 07885 728801 or g.ross@mydigitalexecutor.com