Welcome Yakezie Beta Class! Thumbnail

Dear Yakezie Beta Class Challengers,

At long last the Beta Class sign-up page is live!  Some of you joined in July, while others of you joined in October of 2010.  Either way, many of you have worked hard networking with each other and helping your fellow Challengers and Members out over the past 6 months.  Everybody appreciates your efforts!

It’s been great getting to know many of you during this time period and I’m sure you folks feel the same way.  All of you have seen your blogs grow quickly thanks to your consistent posting schedule and selfless support of others.  Our philosophy has always been that it is better to give than to receive.

DEVELOPING A MORE FORMAL PROCESS

As the Yakezie Network grows, it’s important that we don’t lose our tight knit sense of community.  We made a decision when we first started to grow slowly for the sake of quality and having a lot of fun.  This is why going through a 6 month challenge is so imperative.  It takes time to get to know one another, and even after the 6 month challenge is over, we should still be looking to deepen our relationships with each other further.

Solid relationships are what makes things happen.  As blogging and social media becomes more commonplace, you come to realize that your online social capital is a very powerful currency. People need to believe that you will do what you say you will do.  By joining the Yakezie Network, you increase your social capital because we are a network that holds honor, service, and community with the highest regard.

A network is only as good as its members. Therefore, it’s important we have the best member blogs on the web.  The word “best” can describe many things, not just how popular a site is.  The best members are those who have an inherent drive to help others.  They are kind at heart and willing to volunteer their time.  The best members participate in leadership roles within the network.  They embrace the opportunity to help make an impact.  The best members are those who challenge themselves every single day with new goals and ideas.

Our Yakezie Beta Class sign-up sheet is a simple application which asks basic questions such as when you joined the Challenge, who you know who can vouch for you, and any feedback you may have.  Anybody who has been actively participating in the Yakezie Network should have no problems filling out the application.  If you do have some hesitation and want to join, simply work harder to get to know more of your fellow Yakezies as you still have at least a month.  As an eventual Member yourself, you will want future Yakezie Classes to be a great groups as well who’ve made an effort to reach out to you.

THE MEMBER POST PROCESS

Please fill out the Yakezie Beta Class sign-up sheet by Sunday, February 13th. After that, we will go through each submission one by one to upgrade your account to “Contributor” status.  Once you have Contributor status, you will then be able to upload your Member Posts.  We aim to start publishing the first Member Posts the week of February 14th every weekday until the last Beta Class Challenger is done.

In your Member Post, you are free to write whatever you want that describes you best.  Some of us talked about our life goals.  Others talked about our family upbringing.  Still others discussed what makes them tick.  All we want is to get to know you even better.  After each Member Post is published, you will systematically be added to the Yakezie Network List as an official Member and switch to a Member Badge.  And as an official Member, you will also be able to gain access to the Private Forums.

For those of you who joined the Challenge in November, you can still sign up if you’ve surpassed your 200,000 or lower Alexa ranking goal you set for yourself.  What we plan to do is list the Member Posts roughly in order from the earliest Challengers to the latest.  I’m guessing the Member Post process will take a couple months so late joiners will go at the very end.  Use this time period to really push to get to know as many Members and Challengers as possible.  The public forums is a great way to start!

We’re excited to have you as part of our family.  Please sign-up here!

Note: If you would like to join the Yakezie Network, the Yakezie Gamma Class window to join is Dec 1, 2010 – March 1, 2011. If you joined in November of 2010 and feel you need more time, you are welcome to become the first Challengers of the Gamma Class.  We’ll revisit in July & August.

Thanks everyone!

Sam