For many in Japan, the cell phone is the most important tool in their life. More important than a watch, a laptop, a camera, a television, or a GPS, the Japanese cell phone is all these devices in one. So is the iPhone, but the Japanese aren't buying it. In Japan, cell phones are used as plane and train tickets, to buy snacks and movie tickets. They are used as a kind of contactless credit card. The iPhone has no such capability, and its sales are suffering in Japan as a result.

Mobile money

They're called wallet phones, and they can be used anywhere from the airport to a vending machine. So why can't iPhones do this? Because they don't have a FeliCa chip. Manufactured by Sony, the FeliCa was initially designed for money cards. The chip is synced with its owner's credit/debit account, and initiates a wireless transaction with mutual authentication, to prevent fraud. But with the emergence of mobile FeliCa chips, Japanese cell phones were truly revolutionized. They became not just a phone, but a wallet.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes?

As of this article, Apple has not announced the release of any iPhone model that includes FeliCa technology. And unless Apple incorporates it into their Japanese models, it's unlikely that iPhone sales will rise among Japanese consumers. Until the iPhone is competitively priced (it's currently $500 more than the more popular and powerful wallet phones) and utilizes FeliCa technology (which the Japanese have had for years), its sales in Japan will be dwarfed by the status quo.

When planning on building a network think about the places and the people that you already know and use what and whom you know to build the foundation of your new network.

Consider the places that you visit; the nightclub, the bowling alley, your college or the office, just for example, and use these opportunities to make new friends and invite them into your network. Don't forget to get their full name, email address and/or phone number, because this information will become part of the value of your network of friends and potential business partnerships.

Now, consider you friends and family and family friends, because these are people that you know on a personal basis and you know who they really are and what they really do. If you were building a network to exchange information about skilled trades such as; plumbing, painting, roofing, etc., then if you already know the person that you are dealing with, then you would automatically know where this person would fit in best in your network. The same would be true no matter what kind of network that you start.

Some people believe that any good network really needs is the person's name and a way to reach them and that pretty much sums it up. Whether your communication method is dialing a cell phone or sending an email or airmailing a message on the leg of a carrier pigeon, the object is still the same - make contact at all costs.

On the Internet, there are hundreds of ways to meet new people and make new friends, but when setting up a network you really need to fill it with people that will bring the results that you are expecting. You can always build more than one network with each focused on your other interests.

To setup a network using the Internet, all one really needs is a working email address (it is suggested that you use a secondary email address and avoid using your primary email address for networking purposes). Once you have established an email address to use for your network, then you need to join a forum, social network “MySpace or Facebook” (for example) or start playing live action games, where there are other players that you can communicate with while playing the games together.

You need to locate places where you will be able to meet the type of people that your network needs to have a solid foundation and yield the results that meets or exceeds you're marketing expectation.

Networking is all about people and any successful Networker will tell you the importance to be where people are and if you are not where people are, then move yourself to the places that they are at. Do not expect people to seek you out to join your network. It's your network, so you should be the “Seeker”.

If you ever meet a person that you feel uncomfortable being around and no matter how important you think the person, just pass on adding those types of people to any network that you might start. It is always more important that you put your safety first and move yourself to a safe well-lit place. If the person is on the Internet, just change your email or avoid the places where this person knows who you are.