Today I received the following message from someone requesting to connect with me on the social network, LinkedIn. (NOTE: Actual names and numbers have been changed for the purposes of this demonstration).
I will dissect the email and point out why this is a FAILED attempt at networking, and then I will show examples of how to send a LinkedIn request that has proven to be successful in my experience.
7/13/10
Wooed by GOOGLE once again with "Fast Flip"
I have been wooed by GOOGLE once again with a shiny, new web application that lets me customize how and what news headlines I want to "flip" through!
What the flip is Fast Flip? GOOGLE's Fast Flip combines qualities of print and the Web, with the ability to "flip" through pages online as quickly as flipping through a magazine. It also enables users to follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their own custom magazines around searches.
What's the flippin' point? You can browse by topic, source, or author from many of the top news sources that you already are familiar with. GOOGLE partnered with select publishers, giving them an opportunity to introduce new readers to their content and provide another resource for ad revenue to be generated online. (You may be aware that there is a decline in print ad spending, since the whole world has gone digital.)
What's the flippin' point? You can browse by topic, source, or author from many of the top news sources that you already are familiar with. GOOGLE partnered with select publishers, giving them an opportunity to introduce new readers to their content and provide another resource for ad revenue to be generated online. (You may be aware that there is a decline in print ad spending, since the whole world has gone digital.)
6/8/10
A True Twitter Story
Here’s a true story to demonstrate how Twitter works as a networking tool:
I posted a link to my company's blog on Twitter, using a hashtag (means search-able keyword on Twitter) with the initials of an industry association conference that one of our corporate leaders is attending. A Hashtag looks like this: #ABC.
I did a search on Twitter for #ABC to see who was tweeting from the conference and noticed that one of my social media Twitter friends from Nashville was Tweeting using that hashtag, too. She and I got into a Twitter conversation, and as it turns out-she is at the conference and works for a supplier to my company's industry.
She Tweeted to everyone at the conference (using the hashtag #ABC), mentioning my company and how we’re doing a good job using social media! This is great recognition and awareness for our brand AT the conference---and I'm not even there!
She and I plan to connect when she gets back to Nashville. I realize I may be speaking “geek”, but trust me…this is really cool to make these kinds of connections online and take them offline via networking! Gotta love Twitter!
I posted a link to my company's blog on Twitter, using a hashtag (means search-able keyword on Twitter) with the initials of an industry association conference that one of our corporate leaders is attending. A Hashtag looks like this: #ABC.
I did a search on Twitter for #ABC to see who was tweeting from the conference and noticed that one of my social media Twitter friends from Nashville was Tweeting using that hashtag, too. She and I got into a Twitter conversation, and as it turns out-she is at the conference and works for a supplier to my company's industry.
She Tweeted to everyone at the conference (using the hashtag #ABC), mentioning my company and how we’re doing a good job using social media! This is great recognition and awareness for our brand AT the conference---and I'm not even there!
She and I plan to connect when she gets back to Nashville. I realize I may be speaking “geek”, but trust me…this is really cool to make these kinds of connections online and take them offline via networking! Gotta love Twitter!
3/21/10
Connect Four! My Unofficial Explanation of @Foursquare
A Facebook friend asked me what Foursquare is and my reply was so long and detailed that I thought it would make for a good blog post. So...here it is...my unofficial explanation:
Foursquare is a location-based social media platform that connects your friends with your busy life. You can "check in" on the mobile version of foursquare anywhere you go. Foursquare has the capability of updating your Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Just sign up, add friends, and tell it where you are.
Foursquare is also a game: It works off of a point system. As you "check in" to more and more places, Foursquare will unlock "badges"- kinda like game tokens for using the service. If you are competitive at all- you may enjoy FourSquare's Mayorships- Whoever has "checked in" at a particular location the most times is the "mayor" of that place.
Foursquare is a location-based social media platform that connects your friends with your busy life. You can "check in" on the mobile version of foursquare anywhere you go. Foursquare has the capability of updating your Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Just sign up, add friends, and tell it where you are.
Foursquare is also a game: It works off of a point system. As you "check in" to more and more places, Foursquare will unlock "badges"- kinda like game tokens for using the service. If you are competitive at all- you may enjoy FourSquare's Mayorships- Whoever has "checked in" at a particular location the most times is the "mayor" of that place.
1/25/10
The quest for BigFoot in Social Marketing
Does BigFoot exist? Well, in the digital world it exists in the term: Digital Footprint.
Wikipedia defines "Digital Footprints" as traces left by someone's activity in a digital environment. In social media/ social marketing, "digital footprint" can refer to the size of one's online presence as it relates to the number of individuals he or she is interacting with. How many followers on Twitter, How many friends on Facebook, How many connections on LinkedIn, etc. – these all make up your digital footprint.
The topic of “personal brand” in social marketing has become more and more popular, as a career tool in growing and establishing one's expertise and digital following. Every blogger, Tweeter, and online marketer is competing for their share of YOUR attention. Lucky for me, at this moment I have it!
1/19/10
The Anti-Social Truth
Staying active on social networking sites can be exhausting! There are so many places to network online, and they all require time and attention. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning, Foursquare, Flickr, and more are popping up every day. I have found it difficult to be everywhere at once.
Some people become obsessed with updating statuses and checking responses. (Yes, I admit I am guilty of this!) Most people are connected to at least one social networking site on their mobile phones. We tend to always want to be seen and heard by the masses of followers that we have collected.
There are tools that are helpful in managing multiple social sites, and most of them connect to each other in one form or another. Personally, I am a fan of HootSuite, where I can check and update Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook all in one place.
Some people become obsessed with updating statuses and checking responses. (Yes, I admit I am guilty of this!) Most people are connected to at least one social networking site on their mobile phones. We tend to always want to be seen and heard by the masses of followers that we have collected.
There are tools that are helpful in managing multiple social sites, and most of them connect to each other in one form or another. Personally, I am a fan of HootSuite, where I can check and update Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook all in one place.
1/9/10
The New A,B,C’s
Imagine you are in pre-school in 2010. What would you relate the A,B,C’s to? They certainly have changed since I was a kid. Here’s my idea of the new A,B,C’s:
A is for Apple (as in the computer most graphic artists, website developers, and techie people use)
B is for Blog (where anyone can share their thoughts about anything with anyone anywhere)
C is for Content (what every information sharing thing needs to survive)
D is for Digg (where fascinating, funny, informative, etc. articles, videos, pics, etc. are shared)
E is for ebay (where you can sell/bid on/buy anything form anyone, anywhere)
F is for Facebook (our own personalized, digital scrapbook that can be shared with your own personally selected group of friends)
G is for Google (the search engine and internet tools mecca)
1/6/10
Will Google's"superphones" save the world?
Google is on its way to becoming the "Wal-Mart" of technology consumption -AKA one stop shopping for all of your online connecting needs. Google's newest adventure of 2010 is the announcement of a mobile phone called Nexus One (with phone Applications that connect to all of the other Google internet resources).
From googleblog.blogspot.com: "we're pleased to announce a new way for consumers to purchase a mobile phone through a Google hosted web store. The goal of this new consumer channel is to provide an efficient way to connect Google's online users with selected Android devices. We also want to make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up."
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