BarackObama.com is Web 2.0 At Its Best

What is Web 2.0?

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last year, you have heard of Web 2.0. For those cave dwellers, simply put, Web 2.0 is communication and interactivity between people on the Internet.

How Barack Obama Is Using Web 2.0

Obama's website and his campaign is Web 2.0 personified. Here's why:

• Once you skip the contribution page, the first thing you see is an invitation to send his Vice President pick, Joe Biden, a welcome note!
  
• Then there was the text message sent to millions of people at 3:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time announcing his Vice-President pick.
• The website is rich with video on just about every page.
• There is a "Barack TV" section with channels including "Issues," "Your Story," "Barack's Story," "Michelle's Story."
• The site is designed to interact with those who are deaf and those who's primary lanuguage is Spanish.
• My favorite: The invitation to send a campaign contribution for as little as $5.00 and be entered into a contest to be 1 of 10 people picked to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, at the campaign's expense!
• Barack has a blog that is updated on a regular basis.

Other Web 2.0 Components on Barack Obama's Website:

• There is a section where Hillary Clinton supporters are asked to join and are welcomed to Obama's campaign! When you click through to the page, a warm notice is posted about Hillary's accomplishments. Visitors are asked to sign up and "share your story." An attractive picture of Hillary Clinton is strategically placed on the page with a video stream of Obama speaking placed in a noticeable but unobtrusive place on the page.
• There is a section where visitors are asked to help fight the smear campaigns that serve to divide people and cast suspiscion about who Barack Obama is. To dispel untruths, Barack has even posted a copy of his birth certificate along with pictures of the American flag on his plane and him visiting and interacting with troops.
  
• Visitors have the ability to create their own "my.BarackObama" account! Here you can create your own blog, raise funds for the campaign, create and locate campaign events, create friends, etc.

Barack Obama's website has managed to integrate every single Web 2.0 component into a website:

Social Networking (the ability to create your very own "my.BarackObama" mini-website.

Blogging - he has a blog and visitors can create one as well.

User-generated content - visitors have the ability to express themselves on many fronts.

Video - there are videos running concurrently all over this website.

Widgets & Gadgets - a resource library, the ability to get involved in a phone bank, the ability to get "action center updates," etc.

Regardless of your political affiliation or belief, model your website after the BarackObama.com website and I bet you'll see a significant increase in visitors to your website which can't help but lead to an increase in clients and sales.

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Carmin Wharton is an internet marketing expert and the Founder & CEO of e-BlackWomenNetwork.com, the premier networking membership site for business women of color.

Why Entrepreneurship is Good For You

Besides the obvious advantages of entrepreneurship (no nagging boss, ability to earn more money than you would working for yourself, etc.), there are other reasons why entrepreneurship may be good for you.

There are many reasons why people decide to jump into the entrepreneurial pool. Some jump in because of the real possibility that they will be come wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. Some jump in because they are tired of swimming in someone else’s pool that has become full of algae (office politics and craziness). Some jump in because they want to leave their mark on the world by offering a new or improved product or service. The list is endless but there are some ways that entrepreneurship will improve your life that is across the board regardless of what type of business you start, how long you are in business, your economic situation or ethnicity. Here’s how entrepreneurship will improve your life:

1. You will go through periods of testing and once you come out on the other side, you’ll be like pure gold – refined in the fire. There will be times that you will wonder if you’ll ever turn a profit or if it’s all worth it. I can’t tell you of the number of times I have wandered from what I’m doing for my businesses online to Careerbuilder.com or Monster.com, half-looking for a job.What doesn’t kill you will (or make you lose your mind) will definitely strengthen you. Testing strengthens you.
2. You will fail and what you will learn from failure is humility, you’ll learn how not to do something and you’ll learn to allow others to help you.
3. You will learn patience. There are a lot of online entrepreneurs that will state that they started earning $10,000 a week as soon as … whatever it is they “discovered” to help the make the $10,000 is what they are now trying to sell you – usually in the form of a system they’ve developed or stumbled upon. Entrepreneurship is hard work; the hardest work you have done outside of parenting. It can take years to get your business to the point where it pays the bills and leaves you enough money to take a vacation.
4. You will make a difference in the lives of people and your impact will be great. Hopefully the difference you make and the impact you have will be positive. Your business will impact your family and friends, your employees and vendors. Making a positive difference in the lives of others makes all the failures, bumps and bruises of entrepreneurship worthwhile.
5. You will develop or strengthen your character – the essence of who you are. If you can hang on and keep a clear head while trying to figure out how you are going to meet payroll or pay your mortgage, and then use your resourcefulness to get past a potential crisis, your character will be strengthened or developed. You will see a side of yourself you never knew existed.

If you would like to use this article, please feel free to do so. However, the following byline must be included in its entirety.

Carmin Wharton is the Founder of e-BlackWomenNetwork.com, the number one membership website for Black female entrepreneurs who desire to take their life and business to the next level.