GoHuman Blog

Charity: water helps millions of people drink clean water. It’s amazing to hear the story of how something starting so small can inspire people to give so much. Find out how you can help.

On the surface I’m a typical white American male. Dig deeper and you’ll find that I was born in Canada and have lived in 7 countries. Some of my formative years were spent in Sweden, a “socialist” country bordering on the Soviet Union, during the Cold War years.

We didn’t follow regional basketball and baseball, we watched Sweden compete in Soccer and Hockey with countries that had opposing ideological, political, social and economic systems. My Swedish cousin used to joke that the Russian ships patrolling the Baltic borders were Keeping people from flooding into the “Worker’s Paradise”. I am fascinated by these differences, how they affect the individual, and the societies they produce.

Throughout history people have tried a variety of economic models, social systems and government structures, with mixed results. The Internet has enabled new experiments that leverage the “voice of the people” and democracy in new ways. In the US the Internet has played an increasing role in determining who can become a presidential candidate and, most recently, who gets elected.

I believe in the power of the individual, communities, and nations to achieve self determination, create change, and control their destiny. GoHuman.com addresses change up and down economic and power pyramids. It provides new ways of working and being compensated at the micro and macro level. It provides new ways of connecting, working and relating – one-on-one or in larger circles, in new, innovative, and positive ways. And I believe that as its adoption rate increases, it will produce real, lasting change.

GoHuman.com is not just “social networking”. It harnesses the power of the latest technology advancements of the human race, and pushes the envelope of integrating these into our daily lives, our economic philosophy, and our social structure. GoHuman.com has the power to improve the equality and dignity of individuals and communities across socio-economic boundaries, while celebrating their unique and cultural characteristics.

I believe in GoHuman.com’s primary tagline – that you can use it to change the way your world works. As John Lennon said in one of his most famous songs, “Imagine” “You might say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.”

Wade Fransson
GoHuman.com Co-Founder

Me and my gal

I have no great love for the pile of business cards on my desk, but I don’t agree that Google is currently the answer for replacing them. A Google search might lead you to someone’s LinkedIn profile, or Google Profile if they’ve bothered to set it up (as everyone should). But replacing a concise, well-conceived piece of paper with specific information about a person with a hodgepodge of links to any number of Web sites seems a little short-sighted.

GoHuman.com offers businesses and individuals the ability not only to post uniquely branded information about their services, but also to network with people and find services in their community. Most importantly, it offers a sophisticated reputation model to gauge the quality of services provided. This is still something no search engine can tell you — how good is the person it helped you find? And what is the ultimate value of collapsing everyone under the same umbrella of branding, which leads to a lack of distinction?

Andy Sernovitz gives five great word of mouth marketing tips for restaurants. From secret menu items to creating holidays, this should spur your imagination to get those customers raving about you others in the community.

In an attempt to decrease overhead and increase profit margins on car sales, G.M. will use eBay as a sales tool for 90% of California dealerships to sell cars. Rather than auction off the vehicles, G.M. will use the “Buy It Now” feature to control the deals they dole out. They are the first automaker to sell new cars via eBay, and I don’t imagine they’ll be the last. People will like ordering cars the way they like ordering pizza.

Labor unions are still struggling to gain a foothold in North Carolina and Virginia, the only two states in the country with a total ban on collective bargaining by public employees. National bills are being pursued to gain access to large-scale negotiating to benefit the workers in these states. It’s heavy-lifting, but moving forward.

GoHuman.com launches in just a few short weeks on Labor Day. I thought I’d share some of the significance behind why we chose Labor Day for our launch.

Labor Day is often regarded as a day of rest and parades.  This one will be remembered.  At a time when hard-working people struggle every day to make ends meet, people certainly need respite. After the parties and parades, it will be time to Change the way your world works and we’ll earn the celebration.

2009 marks the 100th anniversary of Labor Sunday, offering the perfect time to reflect on why the labor movement began and how we’ve lost sight of what it was intended to achieve.  The past century has seen governments cater to the whims of super-powerful corporations that are completely out of touch with people, sustainability, and social responsibility.  GoHuman.com will embrace the visionary ideals of the labor movement by inspiring and empowering independent businesses to take back the local markets and provide unmatched service to their communities.

Join GoHuman.com for free and be among the first to build this new community of independent businesses.

Social media changes every day. New tools, new strategies, new ideas for how everyone can use the power of these tools. Here are 10 (actually 11) practical examples of how New Hampshire businesses are using social media to expand awareness in their communities and reach out to potential customers.

ICANN’s Chief Executive Rod Beckstrom has developed a model for how to value a network. Put simply: value is the total benefits minus costs. Whether online or off, you can quantify the cost-benefit of any transaction involving time and resources.

“Beckstrom says that network value should be a big concern for social networks like Facebook and Twitter, which all want to scale to massive numbers of users. Since users are typically concerned only about how much the network is worth to them, there can be an inflection point where suddenly each new user makes life harder for existing users.”

As we all face social networking fatigue due to an imbalance of value versus time consumed, we should look toward new alternatives in this space that do provide real-world value for the time invested. GoHuman.com is such a resource.

When Amanda Bonnen tweeted a complaint about her apartment managed by Horizon Group Management to 20 followers, she found herself facing a $50,000 lawsuit claiming she “greatly injured its reputation as a landlord in Chicago.” This has erupted into a brilliant case study about customer service and the negative impact of stepping carelessly in a public space where people have the power to make the worst of a little bad attitude or knee-jerk response.