The test: Did you grow up using cell phones, email, chat, blogging and social media?

Yes: You are a Digital Native.
No: You are a Digital Immigrant (like me).

Another test: Do you send around email jokes about ‘remember when’ topics?

Yes: You are a Digital Immigrant.
No: You are a Digital Native.

Another test: Do you use your cell phone more for texting than talking?

Yes: You are a Digital Native.
No: You are a Digital Immigrant.

If you are a SUCCESSFUL Digital Immigrant, you probably:

• enjoy learning new things
• readily ask for help
• ask younger people for help
• are willing to try things to find out how they work
• like to do online research
• know how to tell if an online store:
  • is secure
  • has coupons out there for you to mine
  • offering you the best deal
• leave comments on other people’s websites as you see fit
• know how to use the Share widget that is all over the internet
• have a Facebook and/or Twitter account

If you are a MARGINALLY SUCCESSFUL Digital Immigrant, you probably:

• are quite good at what you do off line
• enjoy email immensely
• can surf the internet, but couldn’t start a free blog if your life depended upon it
• can buy things online, but don’t fully trust when they ask for your credit card
• don’t dare use PayPal or online banking
• would benefit from asking for help more often, especially from people who are still in high school or college

Guess what? It doesn’t have to be so hard!

I’m compiling some tips for Immigrant Natives who:

• want to get started with a web site
• don’t want to blow a bunch of money, due to lack of familiarity with the lingo or concepts

I attended my first Minnesota primary caucus two days ago and I sure wasn’t alone!

I want to share a resolution I proposed to the DFL. I want to share the experience with you for consideration as an Inspired Entrepreneur.

Be it resolved that the DFL party will support businesses with less than 100 employees whenever there is an opportunity to do so, because small business is the foundation of a free-thinking society, which supports its own community.

There was one question, “What do you mean by support?”

My response went something like this:

What party do you think of when I say the word business? (long pause)

I work for myself, as do many of the people who showed up here tonight. How can I be so sure of that? Because if you add up all of us who work for ourselves, we are the largest employer in the United States.

This is sometimes touted as the party of the people. We are the people. Because we work for ourselves and run our own lives, we can make time for our communities to volunteer for all kinds of things. It doesn’t stop there.

Small business people are connected to you. We are your neighbors. We greet you like a friend when you enter our stores. We pay taxes here. We care about our communities. Many of us work from home. We are a rarely noticed, watchful, caring presence in our neighborhoods.

And we don’t have lobbyists in Washington or the state capital for that matter.

You hear talk about a global village. What is that? A butcher, a baker, a candle-stick maker. These are global village jobs. These are Inspired Entrepreneurs who followed their hearts into business. These are small business people with less than 100 employees.

There was a loud round of applause and more than a few winks, thumbs up and big grins. The resolution passed unanimously in our local ward. It may not go much further, yet I wonder how often do we seize the opportunity to speak up about Inspired Entrepreneurs? We are a proud group with big hearts and capable hands. Salud!