Want concrete ways to become more successful with others than you can on your own? Then adapt a real life Me2We-captured success story and underlying method to your work or life situation.

Every few days you’ll find fresh examples here, taken from one of the blogs on Links, our blog roll. Here’s your first one:Create Community with Maps Mashups and WidgetsOverlay your information on a google map so people you seek to serve can click on geographical places to learn more. Your information-on-a-map creation is a one kind of mashup. Here’s how to make one.Jump on this wildly popular and versatile find–it tool. For inspiration, see 100 interesting things via google maps mashups. Find, for example, locations for extreme sports, breweries or public toilets (a connection?).

And talk about  timely! At Mike Pegg’s blog find the cheapest gas.What kind of maps mashups could you create that would motivate others to add their geo-based information, generating ever more value as they do so?

For example, Paul places real estate listings from craigslist on a Google Maps API. He has many cities up already. Now re-locating home buyers and renters can click on his map to look at their options for a new home. They can explore by price range or geographical area. (Conversely, see 25 Unsafest US Cities.)

Paul paid nothing for the information he used. He’s “just” spent his own sweat equity in creating this service.Then it’s onto Mapplets, 3D and google Earth. Take heart. Creating and using widgets and mash-ups is relatively easy. If, like me, you need someone by your side to learn, then it will be easy to find adept help via your designer or trouble shooter for your blog or web site.

Get free help here, here or here or get pro help.

In their book, Wikinomics, Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams dub these mashups “platforms for participation.”

Learn more ways to start a business or enable your town to flourish in Dave Atkins’ guest blog post at All About Cities.

Get inspired by others’ creative uses of Google Maps at Google Maps Mania. See, for example, at Milbazaar, “the life journeys of Barack Obama and John McCain from birth to … well probably the White House for one of them.”

Via a mashup you can submit your own punchline for the famous Dilbert comic strip. Causes and companies can use the same model to invite people to craft a slogan or motto.

Some mashup creators invite others to add and/or rate content to their map, making it more valuable for everyone. See, for example one serving another fervent niche, “1001 Secret Fishing Holes.”

Another kind of mashup you can use to attract others to your cause, hobby or business is a widget. That’s a chunk of web code that can be embedded in your blog or web site.

For example, use the widget called ChipIn, “to create a widget stating what you’re collecting for, how much you want to raise, an end-date and how you’d like to receive your funds (credit card or Paypal) … track your progress on your blog or website and invite others to contribute to your cause” suggests Rebecca Leaman at Wild Apricot.

Then use ChipIn’s popular SproutBuilder to create a custom widget to share your “content” on others’ blogs and sites.Then, to build involvement and discover more about those you are attracting to your blog or site – just ask.

Using PollDaddy.com, post a poll that gives instant polling results as AIMS is doing. With this easy, no-cost approach your participants also discover more about each other. That may deepen their involvement at your blog or site, inspiring them to linger longer, contribute, tell others and return.