Has your experience with MySpace been {ahem}…less than positive?
If you have ever used MySpace, yet found it lacking, or if you have ever wondered if there was a simple, yet effective way to network with others for your success, then the wait is over!
First of all, I want to practice what I preach by giving due respect to the hard work of others. Even though I am about to tell you about a glorious alternative to MySpace and other social networking sites, I do want to give credit to the hard work that others have done in the online social media circles.
If you are talking about simply being entertained, there are plenty of online groups like MySpace that you can join. However if you want to get something more concrete out of the time that you spend online, I have come up with a system that will do exactly that.
I need YOUR help to make it successful though, and I'm willing to give you some goodies as a perfectly legal bribe! 
The basic problem with networking - both online and offline - is that actually finding people with similar interests is problematic at best.
As huge and far-reaching as the Internet is, the sheer size of the Internet makes it difficult to find people who are looking for networking opportunities in the specific area that you are also looking.
Add to that the fact that it is human nature to always ask "What's in it for me?" and it becomes even more difficult to find people who are willing to go out of their way to help you achieve your goals.
Personal Development Partners is going to change all of that by providing a simple, yet powerful interface that will allow you to find and network only with people who are willing to work together in partnerships and/or "mastermind" groups so that everyone gets what they want out of that relationship.
In addition to finding partners who share your interests, another issue is that you can't always find someone in your corner of the globe, and Personal Development Partners is going to change that as well.
Here is a list of the features that have already been put on the drawing board for PDP, and you will also have the chance to give feedback on features that you think would be useful:
- Individualized profiles, including almost unlimited customization. You will be able to add all of the common online profile features including pictures, text, areas of interests, etc.
- In addition to the standard profile information, you will also be able to choose very specific goals that you want to accomplish, thus making it very simple to find others with similar goals, and also for others to find you.
- A powerful search feature that will allow you to do WAY more than just keyword searching. For example, if you wanted a workout partners in Chicago, you would be able to not only search for the keyword "Chicago," but you would also be able to search for people in Chicago who had also specifically listed weight loss as one of their goals.
- The search feature will also include the ability to search by personal development modality. For example, you could specifically look for people who believe in the Law of Attraction, or people who are looking for a mastermind group, or who would be interested in attending local seminars.
- You will also be able to search for people by their availability for certain activities. Each person's profile will list the interactions that they are available for, such as teleconferencing, one on one or group meet ups, memberships to social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Stumbleupon, and Netscape.
- The system will have built in forums or message boards where people with similar interests will be able to correspond and assist each other. Unlike a lot of the message boards on the Internet, these forums will be SPAM and FLAME WAR FREE, yet will allow each member to promote themselves or seek guidance in a professional manner.
- Friend/Buddy lists will also be a standard feature. You can choose to network with as many people as you like, or you can keep your list of friends to only the people who are going to assist you in attaining your goals.
- There will also be Bulletin Boards that - much like MySpace - will allow you to send messages to everyone on your your Friends list all at the same time. Imagine being able to instantly share your latest weight loss success, to instantly ask all of your friends for advice on how to handle a relationship or career issue, or even being able to send your latest blog post to everyone on your list and ask them to help you promote it on Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.
- Instant messaging will also be available. Again, rather than using one of the standard instant messaging programs, you can limit your time spent chatting online by only chatting with the people from your PDP friends list, rather than everyone who already knows your AOL, Yahoo Messenger, or ICQ chat name.
Here is where you come in, though. Everything that you just read came straight from my own experience on the Internet, and I have no doubt that you have other ideas that would make this even more powerful, so I am going to ask for your help in 2 different ways:
1) Give me your feedback! Based on everything that you just read, can you think of anything that I missed? Are there features that you would like to see that aren't already going to be part of the program?
Give me your thoughts and start the conversation about Personal Development Partners by leaving a comment below, or just send me an email with your thoughts.
2) As much as I pride myself on being in touch with my inner-geek, I can't build the type of software needed for all of that great stuff you just read about, so I will be buying it myself and hosting it on my own server.
My intention is to - literally - get MILLIONS of people using Personal Development Partners, but there will never be any cost to the end users.
So, donations are being accepted to finance this little project!
We are not talking thousands of dollars here, but if you are excited about the prospect of having free access to an amazing tool like this, and you would like to donate a few bucks to the cause, please feel free to do so using the donate button below.
In return for your donation, not only will you help this entire project to get off the ground that much faster, but I am willing to give a free copy of two of my eBooks to everyone who puts up a donation of any amount:
In addition to potentially giving a donation, please also feel free to use the social bookmarking links below this post to get the word out about Personal Development Partners.
The more people who know about PDP, the more benefit it will have for everyone who joins!
Don't forget, it's free, it's incredibly useful, and - with your help - I will have it launched by May 1st! Thanks in advance!
