(1)    Viral Coefficient of 0.5 – If a community has 100 members and a viral coefficient of 0.5, then those 100 members will bring 50 new members to the site.  Those 50 members will bring 25 members, and so on, and the community will ultimately plateau at about 200 members (after 10 periods of time). A social network with a viral coefficient less than 1 will stop growing on its own.

(2)   Viral Coefficient of 1 – If a community has 100 members and a viral coefficient of 1, then those 100 members will bring 100 new members to the site, and those members will bring another 100 members to the site.  This will result in linear growth from 100 to 200 to 300 until the community has reached 1,000 members in the same 10 periods of time as the first example.

(3)   Viral Coefficient of 2 – If a community has 100 members and a viral coefficient of 2, then those 100 members will bring 200 members, who will bring 400 members, who will bring 800 members, etc.  By the 10^th period of time, this social network will have 51,200 members.  Having a viral coefficient is like compound interest for social networking.

Fast-growing social media sites, such as Twitter, sometimes forgo advertising during their growth stage in order to maximize their viral coefficient and accelerate their exponential growth. Here are a couple of core principles to improve and maintain strong viral coefficients:

(1)    Create something useful that people want to share with others: The viral coefficient will improve if sharing the information will make the sharer look better or improve their relationships with friends.  Also, if the product is simple, easy-to-understand, free and web-based the “barrier of entry” and “friction” will be reduced and the viral coefficient will generally increase.

(2)   Create a reason for people to share the message with others:  FamilyLink.com members want to invite more family members so that they can know about important happenings in the lives of these people.  Fans of a charity may be motivated to solicit their friends to donate to a charity about which they are passionate.

(3)   Make it easy for people to share the message with others. Viajamos.com.br allows members to easily invite friends from their email or easily post a cool piece of content to Twitter.  FamilyLink.com makes it easy to invite family members on Facebook, and also suggests other members to whom members may be related.

Here’s an article explaining how to calculate viral coefficients.

These trees have enormous, trunks and live for thousands of years.  One Boabab tree has a trunk with a diameter of more than 25 meters, and was dated to have been living at the time of Noah’s flood (source).

These trees teach about how businesses, countries and families can survive hard economic times.  The Boabab tree can drop it’s leaves for up to 9 months of the year to survive drought.  So, one of the secrets to the longevity of this tree is that it can dramatically reduce it’s consumption of resources when those resources become scarce.  When economic conditions get tough, do our families, businesses and countries have the wisdom to do the same thing?

Did you know that for each dollar Obama wants to spend in 2010, more than 30 cents are borrowed?

When times get tough and income shrinks, the companies, families and countries that have the discipline to proportionally reduce expenditures in a timely manner have a much greater chance of survival.  In short, strong companies, families and countries know that they can’t spend more than they make for long, or they are dramatically increasing the chances of economic failure.

The site was launched at Campus Party, a huge technology event in Sao Paulo 11 days ago.  Since that time, we have seen exciting viral growth.  Within the last hour, the 30,000th person registered to be a member of Viajamos.com.br.

Members are also actively engaged with the site.  For example, 63,000 photos have already been uploaded to the site, nearly 1,600 topical user groups have been created, 1,500 blog entries have been posted,  500 events have been added to the site, etc.

Sonia and Everaldo,  dear friends in Brazil, adopted the baby boy and named him Miguel. The Brazilian adoption program closed.

A few weeks ago I visited Sonia, Everaldo and their family in Aracaju, Brazil.  I spent a delightful time with Miguel, now 14, who is pictured above with his adoptive mother.

Miguel wants to be a chef and open his own restaurant some day. I’m teaching him how to make Mexican food because there are no Mexican food restaurants in his city.

Everyone loves Miguel.  He has a huge heart.  Miguel has a great family who loves him.  Sonia told me how grateful she is that the U.S. adoption of Miguel fell apart. At the time the Brazilian adoption program fell apart it was a huge set back for me, but the next year Adoption.com was created.  Much more importantly,  Miguel was adopted by the right family, and is exactly where he’s supposed to be.  I’m so grateful that things went wrong with the Brazilian adoption program, but turned out perfectly right.

I need to remember this important lesson to help me keep perspective when other things go wrong in my life.06

One of the keys to successful launch of this social network was that a list of “key influencers” in the genealogy sector was developed.  Then, we reach out to those key influencers when GenealogyWise was in beta and invited them to be the first members of the social network.  Not only did many of those key influencers join, but they also invited their friends, posted on their blogs, and told others about it on other genealogy communities.  

Yesterday I read a blog entry about a Broadway musicals social network, BroadwaySpace.com.   Much of their success is credited to getting Broadway actors and other celebrities to join their social network.

The book Influencer contains the story of a PhD who took a job for a university trying to get local farmers to adopt new, more effective wheat seed.  The PhD was able to get one farmer to test the new seed.  That farmer had a bumper crop, however, the other farmers were still unwilling to use the new wheat seed.  The PhD had made the mistake of selecting a test farmer that was not trusted and actually hurt the wheat seed adoption instead of helping his efforts.

It is important that the first people to test a concept are “Influencers” who will give the concept credibility. It is very important that the first members of a social network are the right members.  If they are true “Influencers” they will serve as a large part of the catalyst for growth.

“Approximately once a decade, a radical new technology emerges that fundamentally changes the business landscape.  In every case, regardless of prior competitive dynamics, businesses that understand and appropriately adopt the technology win, while those that fail to do so lose.  In the 1970s, this was mainframe computing.  IN the 1980s, it was the PC. In the 1990s, it was the Internet.  And today it is the online social graph.” (Clara Shih in The Facebook Era)

The social graph is the world wide web of people.  It is the map of everyone on the Internet and how they are interconnected.  The social graph is for people what the Internet is for interconnected webpages.  Social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace are helping to construct this social graph.

Each of these radical technology evolutions has been punctuated by a cycle of innovation, commercialization, emergence of new applications, and then large-scale impact on business.  The online social graph is following this cycle, and is facilitating a “new, more nimble, and more efficient class of businesses that outcompetes those using technology from the previous era.” (Clara Shih)

I started working with the Internet and online communities almost 13 years ago in 1996.  I created Adoption.com, which became the world’s largest adoption service of which I’m aware (measured by the number of people using its services each month).

As my first consulting project I created the initial vision and directed the creation of the first website for Law.com, which I have been told sold for about $20 million within approximately 2 years of launch (unfortunately, I didn’t get any equity in the project).  I also built the Families.com online community and sold it in 2007.

During the last two years I have been doing consulting work for next-generation digital media properties, such as a large iPhone application and the 4th largest Facebook application, with 54 million registered members.

I have also built niche social networks (such as GenealogyWise.com) to leverage the social graph within niche industries.  These niche social networks provide tools that enable members to connect and share content with others who share similar interests.  GenealogyWise is just a few months old, but it already has 13,000+ members, 3,000+ sub-groups on genealogy-related topics, 700+ blog entries, 350+ videos, etc.

How could a social network help your business to seize your opportunity within the social graph?  If you are an accountant or attorney who practices a specific type of law, you could build a social network for people interested in your areas of practice.  If you own an emergency preparedness company or a manufacturing company, you could build a niche social network of your potential clients.   If you are part of a membership organization or are planning an event, a niche social network can help you recruit and develop stronger relationships with members and attendees.  If you are a politician, the social graph is an essential element of your campaign. President Obama’s social media strategy was given a large portion of the credit for his election victories.  If you are interested in sewing or if your child has a health condition, you can build a social network of people who have similar interests.

Then, once you have developed a successful social network, you can generate revenue in a variety of ways, such as selling advertising, directory listings,virtual goods, classified ads, e-commerce and subscription sales.

I have expertise in creating niche social networks, developing social media strategies for businesses, and helping organizations to better monetize their digital media properties. If your business could benefit from qualified, seasoned consulting to better seize the opportunities within the social graph, I would love to help.

Today FamilyLink became the #99 most popular US web property, according to Quantcast:
http://www.quantcast.com/p-86YkM5oSeBMSE#summary

Congratulations FamilyLink for your phenominal growth.  Thank you for letting me part of this amazing ride.

In the meeting Scott shared with the the Millennium Development Goals that were established by 187 nations during the United Nations Convention of 2000.  The goals are as follows:

• Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality & empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

Even though these goals have been in existence for about 9 years, I have never heard of them.  However, I am passionate about these goals and hope to do my little part to achieve them with social media.

“It’s possible to become so determined to defend a spiritual place of authority, a doctrine or a way of doing things that you wound and abuse anyone who questions, or disagrees, or doesn’t ‘behave’ spiritually the way you want them to. When your words and actions tear down another, or attack or weaken a person’s standing as a Christian [or standing in any faith]– to gratify you, your position or your beliefs while at the same time weakening or harming another – that is spiritual abuse.”

Characteristics of Spiritual Abuse

According to the “Spiritual Abuse” article from Wikipedia, Spiritual abuse can include:

• Psychological and emotional abuse
• Any act by deeds or words that demean, humiliate or shame the natural worth and dignity of a person as a human being
• Submission to spiritual authority without any right to disagree; intimidation
• Unreasonable control of a person’s basic right to make a choice on spiritual matters
• False accusation and repeated criticism by negatively labeling a person as disobedient, rebellious, lacking faith, demonized, apostate, enemy of the church or God
• Prevention from practicing faith
• Isolation or separation from family and friends due to religious affiliation
• Physical abuse that includes physical injury, deprivation of sustenance, and sexual abuse
• Exclusivity; dismissal of an outsider’s criticism and labeling an outsider as of the devil
• Withholding information and giving of information only to a selected few
• Conformity to a dangerous or unnatural religious view and practice
• Hostility that includes shunning (relational aggression, parental alienation) and persecution

Dr. Ronald Enroth, in his book “Churches that Abuse”, sets forth five characteristics of spiritual abuse:

1. Authority and Power – Spiritual abusers misuse and distort the concept of spiritual authority.
2. Manipulation and Control – Spiritual abusers often use fear, guilt and threats to achieve unquestioning obedience and loyalty.
3. Elitism and Persecution – Spiritual abusers often place themselves in a position of spiritual superiority, which they then use to justify their abusive behavior. Think of the Crusaders who used their supposed superiority as justification to abuse others, because they believed they were fighting for God.
4. Life-style and Experience – Spiritual abusers can create very rigid behaviors and beliefs and try to force others to have unquestioned conformity.
5. Dissent and Discipline – Spiritual abusers often suppress challenges and dissent. Spiritual abusers may discipline through humiliation, violence, deprivation and other forms of punishment.

Victims of spiritual abuse often do not recognize the behavior as abusive because the abusive demands can contain twisted elements of truth, and the victim desires to be obedient and righteous.

Effects of Spiritual Abuse

Spiritual abuse can have a devastating effect on the lives of victims, beginning with diminished self esteem and self worth. Spiritual abuse is often perpetuated by a person of authority, such as a parent or religious leader, who the victim should be able to trust. So, when that higher level of trust is violated, the deeper wound can make it difficult for the person to trust legitimate spiritual authority. The victim may also find it difficult to trust God.

Enroth says that spiritual abusers generally feel that people who question spiritually abusive activities are not being submissive to authority. As a result, victims could suffer extreme character assassination intended to stop the victim’s liberation from the spiritually abusive person or situation.

In more serious cases of abuse, even more serious effects can occur.

Recovering from Spiritual Abuse

The first step to escaping spiritual abuse may be to recognize and understand what is happening. This may involve studying the topic and/or speaking to a qualified expert outside the sphere of the abuse. Many books have been written on the topic of spiritual abuse.

The second step may be to stop the cycle of abuse.  If it is safe to do so, bring the spiritual abuse to light in as loving and non-confrontational manner as possible. The victim needs to identify the abusive behavior to the abuser and establish clear boundaries for abuser if there is to be an ongoing relationship. The victim may need a network of people who can provide the strength and additional support necessary to stop and recover from the abuse. This support network may need to include assistance from a qualified expert.

If the abusive behavior does not stop, the victim may need to leave the abusive relationship. Christ-like forgiveness and love does not include enabling an abuser to continue the abusive behavior. We should love and forgive the abuser, but should not tolerate any form of abuse. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE!

Then, the victim will be in a safer place to learn the true attributes of God, including His love, forgiveness and grace. God is not a god of abuse, and the actions of abusers are not representative of the doctrines or love of God. The victim may need a significant amount of time to learn to trust spiritual leaders and God.

Conclusion

I am not a counselor or a spiritual abuse expert. So, please take this article as merely my unqualified opinion and not expert advice. I am far from perfect myself. This article is not intended to judge or accuse anyone specifically. It is intended to help bring to light a serious type of abuse.

If a friend or family member is healing from abuse, one of the worst things we can do is judge the victim, even if we are unsure about the validity of their allegations. Abuse is often committed in secret, without any witnesses.  So, just because we have not witnessed any abuse does not mean that the abuse did not happen.

When victims of abuse stand up to abuse, they are often not believed. Victims of spiritual abuse who try to leave the abusive relationship are sometimes attacked as being spiritually unworthy or unrighteous. Friends and family members of spiritual abuse victims and abusers may take sides and cause further harm to someone who is already wounded.

If we are a friend or family member of someone who is trying to free themselves of a spiritually abusive situation, one of the best things we can do is to simply love that person, and avoid judging or taking sides.

If you are a victim of spiritual abuse, know that God is not a god of abuse.  You are His child and He loves you.  He would never abuse you, and anyone who abuses you in the name of God will have to answer to God. You don’t have to accept abusive behavior to be worthy of that love.  He wants us to be eternally happy. If you are still a prisoner to abuse, get the help you need today so you can find the freedom and peace you deserve and that God wants for you.  As the apostle Paul said:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” – Galations 5:1

]]> http://gwilliam.com/nathan/spiritual-abuse/feed/ 3 http://gwilliam.com/nathan/momentum-in-sand-duning-business-life/ http://gwilliam.com/nathan/momentum-in-sand-duning-business-life/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 05:27:46 +0000 Nathan Gwilliam http://gwilliam.com/nathan/?p=140 Last weekend Crystal and I went sand duning with our friends Matt and Michelle at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park  in southern Utah. The park is comprised of 3,730 acres of breathtaking pink coral-colored dunes, surrounded by red sandstone cliffs, blue skies, and deep emerald forests. Imagine pink sand dunes and lush pine trees.  At first glance it feels like an oxymoron of nature.

This picture shows the four of us in Matt and Michelle’s Sand Rail. This vehicle took the dunes with power and speed and had enough momentum to do whatever the driver wanted to do on the dunes.  (We wore helmets and had 5-point restraint systems in addition to roll bars.)

Later in the day, Matt and I took quads out and Matt taught me the concept of dune “bowling”.  Some of the large sand dunes were shaped as crescents or partial “bowls”.  In sand dune bowling, the quad rider builds up momentum then climbs straight up one side of the sand dune.  As the rider nears the top, and before momentum is lost, the rider turns to one side, and rides along the inside ridge of the sand dune bowl.  However, bowling only works if the rider keeps momentum.  If momentum is lost, the rider must quickly turn the quad down the sand dune to regain momentum. If momentum is not regained, the rider and the quad may tumble down a steep sand dune.

The momentum required for sand dune bowling has made me think of the importance of momentum in business and life, and I have been particularly thinking about the correlation between momentum and hope.  When our lives and our businesses are moving forward and progressing, we have momentum.  As a result of this momentum, we have hope for a better future than our present circumstances.

If we are feeling hopeless, it is often because we don’t have enough momentum in our life, or because our momentum is going the wrong direction.  Conversely, if we want to add more hope into our lives, we can often accomplish this by adding more momentum.

We can add momentum in our relationships by being more selfless, attending marriage education or counseling, spending more time with the people we love, expressing our love, etc.  We can add momentum in our career by improving education, enhancing job skills, reading industry books and blogs, improving the quality of our work, etc. We can add momentum in the physical area of our life by exercising, eating better, etc.   Businesses can add momentum through improving marketing effectiveness, innovation, user experience, viral advertising, etc. We can add momentum in the spiritual area of our life through scripture study, prayer, personal worthiness, etc.  We can even help add  momentum to the lives of others through mentoring, volunteering, helping the needy, making charitable contributions, etc.

We can’t just coast or maintain without regressing in our lives and businesses.  “If you’re coasting, you’re either losing momentum or else you’re headed downhill (source: Joan Welsh).”  

Even though most of us set well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions, studies show that most of us do not succeed in completing those resolutions.  If we really want to achieve our resolutions, we need to effectively convert a desire to change into a system or pattern in our lives.  Anthony Robbins said, “The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without first taking some form of positive action toward its attainment.”

As our goals become patterns in our lives and businesses, they add momentum, and the momentum increases our hope.