I Found a Major Facebook Glitch

I have discovered a major glitch on Facebook and have also found out that several of my friends have the same problem. You might have it too!

The problem is that we have a lots of friends, but Facebook shows us as only having a few "followers." 

Why does that matter? Why is that a big deal? Well, because, if you are like me and host a radio show, or do anything where a strong social media presence is a must, then this is critical: It looks like you have no REAL friends or followers to show clients. If you are like me, you need to show potential clients and sponsors how many friends I have and how many followers you have on Social Media.

That's why I wrote this post, I thought I should alert others.

I have nearly 5000 friends on Facebook. But it shows me as only having 34 followers! That's impossible. A few months ago, it showed that I had something like 4117!

Now, only 34? How did that happen?

As of today, I have 4,989 friends. I used to always have a consistent 5000 friends, but I have been deleting a lot of people who go off on politics supporting this clown or that. (Please refer to: Musicians, Artists and Politics - The Day the Music Dies) 

So, almost 5000 friends. Great. I must have lots of followers, right? I do, actually, but my Facebook page says I only have 34. WTF?

I was wondering what made so many people get mad an unfollow me? But actually, they haven't. There's a bug in the system; the counter is wrong.

The weirdest part is that if I click the "Followed by 34 people" link, I can see that I do have hundreds, if not thousands of followers.

I told one of my other writer friends about this and he checked and found the exact same problem. He has "only" 2800 + friends, but his page says he only has 3 followers!!!!! Yikes! Now that can't be right!

So, check to see if your page is like this.

If so, do what I did and write to Facebook and ask them to fix it. (On your top page, top far right, click the upside down triangle. Scroll down to "Report a Problem.")

Banned On Facebook!!!!

For some reason, Facebook has banned me from sending out friend requests. Facebook claims that they have banned me because I "sent out friend requests to people who I don't know personally." Really?

WTF!? Hello Facebook. If it's friend I know personally out in the real world, I don't need to become their friend on Facebook. If I want to talk to my friends in the real world I have a cellphone and another "book" it's called a "Phonebook." 

Pretty amazing, eh? The Phonebook allows me to call friends over a virtual line and arrange what is called, a "Face to face meeting at a restaurant or coffee shop."

Facebook idiots!

Look, Facebook is for making friends in the virtual world. I don't need it for real world.

FB sucks, eh? They ban us from sending friend requests in the virtual world. Morons! In the real world, we don't need FB to make friends. Isn't the purpose of FB to make friends we normally can't meet? 

One of my real friends, Rick Barton wrote: "I fully concur! Especially since that dick Zuckerberg or whatever his name is started it to get laid bc he couldn't in the real world! Then he insults us by not believing we have the ability to tap "accept" or "decline."

I already wrote about Facebook's prying into our business. Please refer to: Fight Back Against Facebook Prying: You Know Everyone! 

So why have I been blocked? As I said, Facebook claims I've been sending out unsolicited friend requests. But I have only sent out requests to folks who operate in my circles and are heavy readers and followers of the publication that I have been a regular columnist now for nearly ten years. 

Always click "Yes" - It's none of Facebook's business

I also, in Japan, sometimes send out (but mostly receive) friend requests from many Japanese folks who are regular listeners to my radio show. I simply cannot say "No!" to them! (Why would anyone on radio alienate listeners?) So, I have sent out requests. Not a lot. But have done it. I get many more friend requests than I send out by a ten-fold. 

But now I realize why people can get blocked. It's because, recently, when you accept a new friend on Facebook, it has has been asking, "Do you know this person outside of Facebook?" Of course, I always answer, "Yes!" Why do I do this? It's NONE OF FACEBOOK'S DAMNED BUSINESS!

Did I say, Facebook sucks? I did. OK.

Fight Back Against Facebook Prying: You Know Everyone!

The title? Yeah, I know. It's obvious that's what Facebook does. But Facebook has recently started doing something that really is troublesome.

I have been blocked from requesting friends for a while on Facebook. Facebook claims I was sending out unsolicited Facebook requests. Yes I did and no I didn't.

Let me explain. I write under a different name as some people know. It's slightly different from my real name but my real name is so common that people wouldn't know me if I didn't add my moniker especially in a place like Facebook.

Always click "Yes" - It's none of Facebook's business

So why have I been blocked? As I said, Facebook claims I've been sending out unsolicited friend requests. But I have only sent out requests to folks who operate in my circles and are heavy readers and followers of the publication that I have been a regular columnist now for nearly ten years. It's also a place where Ron Paul has been writing regularly for too. I also, in Japan, sometimes send out (but mostly receive) friend requests from many Japanese folks who are regular listeners to my radio show. I simply cannot say "No!" to them! (Why would anyone on radio alienate listeners?)

So, I have sent out requests. Not a lot. But have done it. 

I get many more friend requests than I send out by a ten-fold, but now I realize why people can get blocked. It's because, recently, when you accept a new friend on Facebook, it has has been asking, "Do you know this person outside of Facebook?" Of course, I always answer, "Yes!"

Why do I do this? It's NONE OF FACEBOOK'S DAMNED BUSINESS!

I think it is just another reason why Facebook sucks.

I hear that young people aren't using Facebook and I think that's fine. I won't miss Facebook when it goes the way of Myspace. Why should you or I miss Facebook if that happens? ... Do you miss Myspace?

------

For more on a related story, read: Facebook could soon track your every movement

Facebook, the biggest social network on the planet with more than a billion users, seems to want to know even more about you. More precisely Facebook seems to want to track you at all times. At least that’s the gist of a report from Bloomberg that came out on Monday and says that Facebook is working on a smartphone application that would track users’ location even when the app isn’t opened. According to this report the app itself would be used to track a user and alert him whenever friends are nearby but the actual use of the app is so that Facebook can serve you localized ads.

Want to Make Money? Forget Online Gimmicks. Don't Know Where to Start? Start Where You Are Standing

"Money is usually attracted, not pursued." - Jim Rohn

"The safest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it in your pocket." - Kin Hubbard

------

In the last two days, I've had two people ask me about making money by blogging. Or, more specifically, one person asked me,

"Is it possible to make money blogging?" 

To this person I answered (in my usual long-winded self), "Well, I don't accept advertising on my blog now as I want to be able to write whatever I want and to say what I want. It is hard enough to always talk about those things as it is. I am always worrying about what other people might think about me when I honestly state my shortcomings, my chequered past, my failures and complaints. It's hard enough to do that as it is without having to worry about what paying people might think. So I don't have advertising now. It keeps me from having just one more worry. But you can make money blogging."

54 and still here - chequered past still here too!

The other person asked me, 

"Mike, I want to blog and make a bit of money with it. What do you suggest?"

I told him that he should just start blogging and then worry about how to make money with it after starting. I also quoted Lao-Tzu:

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step" - Lao-Tzu - The Way of Lao-tzu Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

This is a good quote but allow me to be completely anal-retentive about it. Even though this is the popular form of this quotation, the correct translation should be:

"The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet." 


Rather than emphasizing the first step, Buddhists, Taoists and Lau Tzu believed that action was something that arose naturally beginning with the act of being still. Another potential phrasing would be "Even the longest journey must begin where you stand."

I think, in today's modern language this would translate into something like, 

"Well, don't just stand there. Do something!"

Making money blogging? Hmmm... Can be done. The easiest way is to allow pop-ups click through ads on your blog. I dabbled with that long ago, but stopped it because it seemed like the algorithm was bad. Why? Well, I'd write a blog post railing on Groupon and calling it a crummy company, yet on my page, there'd be ads for Groupon. Stuff like that happened all the time. I didn't like it, so I stopped it.


Then, just the other day, I got another letter from a company overseas who wanted to pay me $150 a year to place a banner on my blog. I don't know if I want to do that or not. Far be it from me to poo-poo $150, but, in Japan, $150 isn't a lot of money and I wonder how I'm ever going to get the money anyway from a foreign company. Hell, I think the bank transfer will cost them $50-some dollars. Are they really going to pay? I wouldn't. And, do I really want an ad for some UK marketing service on my blog?


Probably not. 


Anyway, there are ways to make money from blogging... Probably not a lot at first; probably not a lot ever. But, you have to at least start somewhere.


As for me, I don't blog for money. I blog because, and I'm dead serious about this, I think  logging has helped me to become a better person.


Blogging has kept my mind working.


Blogging has helped me to become a better parent.


Blogging has taught me patience.


Blogging has made me feel good.


Blogging has helped me help other people and charities.


Blogging has helped me make friends around the world!


I think blogging has it's own rewards... Even better than money.


You should blog too. Blog about what you want to blog about. 


Everyone has a wonderful story to tell. We'd like to hear yours!

Betrayal and Loyalty: The Rules of Give and Take

We all have a sort of radar about people. Some of us are astute judges of character. Some not so much. Even so, those who are usually good at figuring people's motives out may get the short end. We sometimes we get burned by people we thought were on our side. We get cheated or ripped off by people who we had hoped were going to help us. Sometimes getting backstabbed by these sorts of people destroys our motivations and we veer off the course we had chosen.

DERWOOD ANDREWS - BACKSTABBERS

We get angry that these people who we trusted betrayed us. They become lowlife scum in our eyes... We obsess about them. We begin to get angry, resentful and maybe filled with hate. 


Not a healthy situation. 


Remember also, though, that it always takes two to tango so if you feel cheated or abused, part of it is your fault. People cannot take advantage of you unless you allow them to. I know I sound all high and mighty when I say this, but I speak from experience. I've felt betrayed before too and, unfortunately, done my fair share of betrayal back.


For the betrayal I committed I will always regret what I did until the day I die. In my case, it wasn't their fault. It was all my fault. I can never make the betrayal I committed "right" or fix things. Past is past. But my regret lives on forever. It's always on my mind somewhere.... 


I've had two people who recently told me about their experiences with betrayal. They both seemed a bit bitter. Both of them work in the music business. Both of them felt betrayed. The music business is famous for betrayal and broken promises. The music business and show business in general is the land of broken dreams.


But the sort of betrayal that I am talking about today is not limited to music or show business. This sort of trickery and betrayal is a part and parcel of human nature and can been witnessed anywhere and everywhere in any human endeavor. Being backstabbed and hurt by those your trusted happen in any business and in any personal relationship. We have to be careful.


A friend of mine recently quit Facebook. Her leaving Facebook is a loss for the world of music. She is instrumental in getting many rock bands the world over a chance at the big time. Of course, once these bands and artists use her to get what they want and they get their big chance (or what they perceive as their big break) they dump her and the people that helped them get to where they wanted to go. It's an old story.


It reminds me of a time long ago when my band often played at a club in Los Angeles called Club 88. The owner was a guy named Wayne (super nice man) and he gave us our first big break and let us play at his club. Wayne was married to a Japanese woman so perhaps he felt affinity for me as his kids were half-Japanese too (there weren't that many of us half-Japanese kids back in those days). Wayne was the only one who would let us play at a club in Los Angeles. We began playing at Club 88 once a month.

Club 88 poster without my band on it!

One day, after some piddling success on the FM radio in LA, my band arranged to play at another, bigger and more famous club across town. We decided that we would stop playing regularly at Club 88 (it wasn't as cool as this new club) and told Wayne that we weren't going to play at Club 88 anymore. As we loaded up our equipment into the van in the back parking lot behind his club, Wayne came out, looked me straight into the eyes and said, "Nice to know you guys are moving up in the world. Don't forget who helped you when you needed help and see you on the way down." 


His words shot through my heart like a silver bullet. I was stunned, speechless.


Later on, on the way down, I was too ashamed to go see him to ask if we could play his club again. We never played there nor met Wayne again.


I was a selfish jerk. I'm sure that when he agreed to let us play his club, we said things like, "Yeah! We'll always play your club even if we get really famous. Sure!" He'd probably heard that one a million times.


What a big lie.


It's like this in any business. When people want something from you, they will promise you the world. But they don't mean it.


The music business, like 99% of all businesses, ultimately is a business of trust. It takes a long time to build trust, but it takes just one action to destroy that trust. In the case of the music business most people come and go every 3 ~ 6 years. I think it is because the ones who can't make either just don't have "it" or, if they do, they are dishonest. I have met many talented people in the music industry who had talent but they didn't make the big time or floundered because they were untrustworthy. There are so many of those, I couldn't name them all.


There's no way you'll make it to the big time without the help of the people around you. They see what you are doing. They see how you treat people. If you think you can step on people all the way to the top, then you are dreaming. It can't be done (excepting in the movies about Hollywood!) 


In Japan, there are only a handful of people (just 5 or 6 foreigners) who have been in the music business for over 25 years and we all know each other. We may not be friends but we know each other, are respectful and can meet and have a laugh when the occasion arises.


Like I said, there have been innumerable people who came and went. I like to think most of those disappeared because they weren't honest. They were the type of people who would use you and promise you anything in order to get you to help them and, once you did help them, they'd dump you faster than a half-eaten Big Mac that's been sitting in the back of the car for the last week. 


In the case of the music business, be wary of people who talk smooth and nice and say "Yeah! Let's work together! You and me." Then when it comes to what you get paid, it is little or free because they say, "There's no money, but let's do it for the music!"


Sure. You do the music for free. They do it for the money using your music.


Now the point of this post... In my current new business, I often talk to music people and musicians, club owners and artists. I have learned my lesson, I never promise the world. I want to share with you a tidbit about how you can protect yourself in your business, any business, and get what you want whenever a "salesman" comes to you and asks for your help in his project. It's simple. Make every proposition a 50/50 proposition.


I don't mean 50/50 for money necessarily. I mean, you hear them out. Listen to what they want you to do for them (ignore the part about, "Let's work together! Let's do it for the music!") and then you make your requests about what it is that you want them to do for you. If they can't do your request or are unable to politically help you out, then there's no point in dealing with this person unless you are talking 50/50 on money. It's that simple.




Here's how I do it. I run a new company that helps artists promote their events and sell tickets. My company gets a commission for every ticket sold. The artists do not need to use our service. They can keep doing things the old way they always have: allow people to pay at the door. It's worked that way pretty well for decades.


My service allows them to sell advanced sale tickets and to promote on Social media so it is a powerful marketing and advertising tool. Some artists (and events and charities) have used our service and sold over 700 advanced sale tickets. Some events were sold out in two days! Now that is promotional power! But still, like I said, the old way has worked pretty well for a long time so many are not eager to change, don't want to think about change, and are suspicious of new things (of course).


Whenever I make a deal with someone, this is what I say,


"Here's the deal. I help you. You help me. This is what I want. Now, what do you want in return?" (I can give them airplay or promote them other ways too).  Doing this keeps everything professional and platonic. There's none of this slimy "do it for the music" or some other lofty ideal not based in the real world. 


I help you. You help me. I know where you stand. You know where I stand. None of this, "You help me out now and I help you out later" nonsense. It works out best that way. This is the professional way of handling business and the only good way to do so. If you do not handle your business this way, people will not respect you and they will think they can take advantage of you.


Remember, you have something they want. That means they must at least deal with you on equal terms.


Also remember that trust is so important so if you do promise to do something then you had better damned well do what you said you were going to do. The only excuse for not keeping a promise would be a 'death in the family' and that 'death' had better be yours. Promises are made to be kept.


There is nothing wrong with being professional and asking for remuneration (of some sort) for something that someone wants you to do for them. If, after a long time, you become friends and build trust with that person, you can begin to accept what they say at face value. Because, like I said, if they are running around doing sneaky stuff, they usually don't last more than a few years.    


Handling your business this way and knowing these things is how you can build true friendship, a true business partner or even to find your true soul mate in life.

BEATLES VS. MONKEES - PAPERBACK BELIEVER

This is a great example of a 50/50 deal!

It is give and take... If you are the one doing all the giving and the deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is. 


You are important and what you have and can do is valuable. Protect it like a professional would.


Like Shakespeare wrote: "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." Exactly! So manage your stage appearance in life as any professional manager or agent would do: Professionally. Always understand the rules of give and take.




For Allison Sane and Ohga. Luv!