Posts Tagged: Networking
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, April 16th, 2010
I regularly contribute blog posts on social media to the
Entreprenuerial Woman Magazine – here is the latest one on using social media to build your personal brand.
Personal Branding
The concept of personal branding has had a lot of coverage in these difficult economic times as people look to market themselves more effectively in order to stimulate their careers. Personal branding is, in essence, a means to package yourself in such a way as to present a particular image for career purposes. It is the way you market yourself to your peers and prospects.
The idea of having a professional image is not a new one – uniforms have been standard for many occupations for centuries. The difference with personal branding is that the concept is not to make you look like one of the crowd, but rather to make you stand out from it.
When considering your personal brand you should look at many factors: the way you speak, the way you look, the car your drive, your education, and your character, but the single most important aspect to consider when building your brand is that it has to be real. It has to reflect the real you. A personal brand that portrays a false image will be apparent to everyone you come into contact with and will do more harm than good.
Identify the unique aspects of your personality, skills and experience and use those to make “you†stand out from the crowd. By building on a personal brand that it true to you, your efforts will be more rewarded and your image will be more realistic and authentic.
Using social media is an ideal way to build your personal brand, to expand and reinforce your network, but there are risks that you should be aware of.
Tips For Building Your Personal Brand Online
Here are some tips that will help you take advantage of social media to build your brand safely:
1. When networking on Facebook or other social forums always use the privacy controls to limit access to your information (usually you can find these by clicking on “accountâ€).
2. Use Facebook, LinkedIn and other networks to make people aware of what you do or want to do. Highlight your unique experiences in these forums
3. Google yourself or use Pipl to see whats being said about you and do the Granny test on the results – if Granny wouldnt approve then perhaps the content isnt appropriate to enhance your business profile.
4. Use your profiles in these forums to present an appropriate professional image. Include a good headshot that is authentic and dont post any photos, videos or images that compromise your image.
5. Portray yourself professionally (as appropriate to your industry) in all forums.
6. Be true to who you are: transparency leads to trust – if you have a good reputation people are more likely to do business with you.
7. Remember that you have a valid and unique opinion. Dont be afraid to voice it.
8. Always be respectful of others. It is okay to disagree but be polite about it.
9. If you are young and looking for a job be aware that a party boy or girl image may seem cool to your peers but it wont help you get a job or grow your professional network.
10. Online networking is a vital tool for anyone trying to build a career but dont get sidetracked or sucked in. Avoid this by scheduling time for online networking and sticking to it.
11. Dont make friends with everyone and anyone. Be selective. It will help you manage the volume of information and will also expose you to less risk.
Personal branding is being used more and more to help people highlight their professional attributes and experience, grow and enhance their networks, build business and to find new careers. In our next post on this subject we will look more closely at which social media tools to use and how to use them to do this effectively.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, March 22nd, 2010
These days building relationships online is as important to growing your business or reputation as networking in the real world. Not only can you be more effective using social media but you can also get more done in less time.
The Internet is a great way to expand your career horizons and get to know new and influential contacts. Here are a few pointers to bear in mind when using social media to network.
1. Dont try to network in every Internet networking hub out there. Choose those where you get the biggest impact (i.e. those that your existing contacts already use, those that reflect your target audience, or those most applicable to your niche). The most popular are LinkedIn (Professional Network), Facebook (fastest growing) and Twitter but there are many networks that are industry or job specific (like Active Rain for real estate) too so take time to check them out.
2. Leverage existing on-line networks to grow new ones. I use the Out-Smarts’ Facebook Page profile to promote our Twitter account and vice versa and add more contacts in that forum
3. Promote your activity in your chosen forums by including it in business cards, profiles and on your website.
4. Use widgets. Most of the social networks allow you to widgetize a link to your profile. Add this to your site, blog etc and include widgets for other networks in your networking profiles.
5. Always remember to be professional in these forums – ask the Granny question and make sure your content is appropriate to your professional standing.
6. When you meet new contacts in the real world find then on-line and add them to your networks.
7. Trawl the friends of your friends and contacts and add those you know or those gurus in your business.
8. Dont spread yourself over to many networks or allow them to suck up your time. Schedule it into your day.
9. Join groups. Facebook and LinkedIn both offer groups. Join applicable ones and gain access to more people in your field.
10. Participate in the right forums. These should relate to your industry or market and to those of your prospects.
11. Ask and answer questions and use your status to attract new contacts.
12. Blogs can be a great way to build your network too. If you have a blog, always follow up with people who leave comments to connect with possible prospects and peers.
13. If you don’t have a blog then use blog comments as a forum to connect with influential bloggers in your industry, to build awareness of what you do and to add value for their visitors in turn.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 22nd, 2010
Yesterday, we talked about how you can use LinkedIn for recruitment purposes, today we look at some of the other tools available to support your recruiting needs.
Plaxo - another prominent professional networking tool with over 20 million users, Plaxo is similar to LinkedIn in that it allows you to search job listings and to connect with people who are hiring but unlike LinkedIn, it does not have tools aimed solely at recruiters yet.
Xing – Another professional network which is becoming more popular with over 8m users. It is very similar in its functionality to LinkedIn but posting jobs is much cheaper. The downside is that lots of users are in Europe so its not the best tool for North American recruitment purposes.
Other professional social networks that facilitate recruitment:
Viadeo
Biznik
Social Networks – Facebook
Facebook Groups: there are groups on Facebook dedicated to getting the word out about jobs. To do so you can join and post or participate. Examples include:
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=jobs&init=quick#/group.php?gid=29593013279&ref=search&sid=745281396.2828234181..1
Facebook Pages – some companies have Facebook pages dedicated solely to helping them find staff. The best known example is the Ernst and Young Facebook Page.
Facebook Events – having a hiring fare? You can use Facebook events like this one to promote it.
Facebook Ads: allow you to post ads aimed at people you want to employ: location, education level etc.
Twitter
Twitter is proving a great tool to promote job openings. You can use corporate or staff Twitter pages to Twitter to your community about job postings or you can even have your own dedicated Twitter feed that serves this purpose alone like KPMG http://twitter.com/kpmg
As with any Twitter effort, your follow strategy will be important.
Twitter Ad-ons
You can also use third party tools like Twitter Job Search to search listings and post your own.
Here at Out-Smarts, we are looking to hire an intern right now. So far we have had 3 suitable and interested candidates contact us and all we had to do was post the fact to Facebook and Twitter. If you are interested please contact us, otherwise good luck in your recruiting or job search efforts.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 04th, 2010
Welcome to 2010 and our first blog post of the new year. I hope you had a great festive season and that you are raring to go in 2010.
2010 Predictions
I thought this would be a good opportunity to review our social media predictions for 2009 (to see how on the ball I was) and to make some new ones for 2010. (Clips in red are from last year’s predictions).
Social Media
2009 was the year when social media really took off, Oprah helped take Twitter to the masses and everyone and their dog started using social media tools. However, there is some disillusionment now as folks realize, after spinning their wheels for a while that, to be effective using social media, you have to have a strategy. 2010 will be the year that social media becomes an integral part of organisations’ marketing and business development strategies and not simply a stand alone tool.
According to Compete.com visitor counts to both Twitter and Friendfeed peaked in late summer (Friendfeed seing a rather drastic decline after announcing their acquisition by Facebook in August interestingly enough). I hope that 2010 brings added functionality to Twitter (that top layer I have been dreaming about that puts all that great content to better use and makes it more accessible). Brightkite never really reached the heights I predicted but competitor Foursquare did (arriving in Vancouver in the summer).
Geo Based Networks
In 2010 geo based social networks like Foursquare will continue to grow in popularity but more importantly, these offerings will become more sophisticated allowing both business and users to benefit more from their use.
Also on the mobile front, watch out for more digital advertising. In November I blogged about The Future Of Advertising, introducing offerings like ScanLife and Kooaba. In 2010 we will see these being put to use more and the promotions will become more interactive.
Whilst smart phone sales continued to grow in 2009, I expect that the iPhone will be less dominant as the Android really takes off in 2010. I got one last month (HTC) and LOVE it!
Apps
For 2009, I didn’t predict the growth of the smart phone app: the number of iPhone apps doubled in the first six months of the year. With Android’s growth and open nature, this phenomenon will continue in 2010 and beyond. So start thinking about using apps that can help you in business, or developing apps that can help you reach your audience.
Newsletter Renaissance
In 2010 I predict we will see a newsletter renaissance as marketers realize that: a) email is still one of the best ways to reach their audience (you have their permission after all) and b) blogs don’t replace e-newsletters and are often aimed at completely different audiences. I also think that we will continue to see blogs being used in ways other than for posting articles i.e. blog outreach, blog comments and community building.
Be More Social and Less “Me” Centric
Which leads me to one wish I have for 2010 with regard to social media. So many companies and entrepreneurs are still using social media to push out information that is completely me centric ( i.e. links to their own websites and not others). Wake up and smell the roses peeps! This is not the 20th century when pushing out information was all you could do. It is time for you to realise that the key to social media is in the name itself – being social.
In 2010 please interact with others more, build networks and relationships, reach out to new peeps, but most important of all, rather than taking a me centric view, change your focus to hone in on those you want to do business with: interact with these people, find ways to connect, to answer their questions and add value. Then you will see the true benefit of using social media as part of your marketing or business development strategy.
Here’s to growth, prosperity and being social in 2010. All the very best.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 26th, 2009
1. Be yourself – don’t try to create a persona that doesn’t reflect the real you. It will come back to haunt you.
2. Be selective about who you add. You don’t need to add each and every person who asks.
3. Don’t try to network on every online forum. Instead choose those that fit your audience or goals and work to build those.
4. Build your network online as you grow your real world network. When you meet someone new in the real world add them on social networks.
5. If you do plan to have a presence in as many networks as you can then consider using a tool to mass submit status updates to all.
6. If you interact with others on blogs or forums look for them and add them to your network.
7. You are in control of how much or as little info you want to post. Don’t feel pressured to add stuff that you’re not comfortable with.
8. Do the “Granny Test” before you post – ask yourself if your grandmother would approve, if the answer is yes then get posting.
9. Get to know and use the privacy controls if this is a concern for you.
10. Remember to link back to your site, blog or other profiles at every opportunity to give friends the chance to find you in other forums.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, September 23rd, 2009
Having a social media presence is vitally important these days. With 300 million users on Facebook, over 20 million on Twitter, not to mention millions blogging, it really gives you access to a wide audience.
A social media presence is an important addition to any marketing arsenal but the key to successfully using social media to build business is not in the technology itself but in the relationships you build and how you use these tools.
Social media is all about connections, about being social. The more social you are (with the right people in the right way) the more successful you are likely to be.
Social media allows you to:
- Reconnect with old colleagues, friends and business partners – to build awareness of what you do now;
- stay in touch with existing members of your network – helping you maintain awareness of what you do and get to know these people better, forging stronger relationships;
- Build new relationships with peers in your industry, prospective partners and customers – to identify and connect with new people you would like to do business with or even learn from.
As with any marketing or business development effort, using social media to build relationships should be done in a strategic and targeted way. You should know :
- the types of businesses or people you want to work with (i.e. old kindergarten friends may or may not be your best prospect so check them out first).
- the industry segments – what type of industries are they in (are they companies you would like to work with?).
- the target geography – i.e. connecting with people in Asia/Europe might not be the best use of your time if you don’t have a business presence there or if you don’t speak their language.
The bottom line is that your social media efforts should reflect your basic marketing strategy in terms of your target audience and your offering: always always bear that in mind.
Perhaps the biggest factor in successfully using social media is interaction. There’s no point in having thousands of followers if you simply push information out to them all the time, interacting at them rather than with them. You will simply appear automated and this will damage your efforts. Join the conversation. Read others’ posts to see which questions you can answer and how you can add value. Share information that is valuable to others by linking to it via your social networks. By thinking about how you can assist people you will find that these people are more likely to remember you and think of you when the time is right.
Finally, when using social media, remember that it should not be the sum and substance of your marketing or business development efforts. Social media is at its best when it complements and reflects your real world networking, marketing and business development efforts .
Thanks to Luc Legay for the image.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, July 20th, 2009
In the last post I talked about how to stay safe on Twitter in the face of the wave of spammy, scammy users out there who are looking to sell, or worse, to harm you online and whilst there does seem to be more people using these technologies for malicious reasons, there is also a growing trend in the opposite direction. In fact I think more people online want to do good that otherwise.
Today I want to talk about the groundswell of philanthropic people using social media. Social media, by its very nature facilitates social action because it allows people in distinct communities all over the world to connect, to join forces to do good and to have an impact.
Here are some great examples of new media being used to make the world a better place:
- Kiva – this online systems connects people who want to donate with entreprenuers in the developing world who need a leg up.
- Social media is quickly becoming the go to communication channel in the face of adversity. Witness the wildfires raging in BC this week and the use of Twitter to communicate updates.
- Another example of Twitter being put to good use was the Twestival earlier this year which used Twitter to bring people from all over the world together to raise money for Charity:Water and to spread awareness of the world water crisis. Twestival is organising another event on Sept 12th.
- Blogathons – a bloggathon is a fundrasing event where bloggers post regularly (usually every half hour over a 24 hour period) with the goal of raising awareness and donations for a specified cause. This weekend local blogger Miss604 will be hosting Blogathon Vancouver the local Blogathon contingent along with other prominent local bloggers like Hummingbird604.
- Awareness Hubs – these are sights that spread awareness of causes and allow people to congregrate and share examples include, Treehugger (sustainability), Facebook causes like or own Hippo Roller one and Change.org.
- Join a campaign. This summer Mashable is organising the Summer of Social Good aimed at using Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc to raise money for charity.
- Looking to volunteer in your community – then try searching a local sites like Volunteer Canada or All for Good that connect volunteers with opportunities.
- Got too much stuff already? Get the gift you want and contribute to a good cause simultaneously. Dreambank lets you do this.
Technology is making it easier for people to connect with those interested in similar causes and together they can have more impact than they would individually. Thanks to social media doing your good deed a day just got easier. What good have you done today? Share your stories here please.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, June 11th, 2009
I recently received another Facebook wall post, claiming to be from Mark Zukkerberg, regarding the over population of Facebook. I thought I would forward bring it to your attention. Its yet another hoax.
This is not the first go around for these spammers. This time around they have corrected the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes and have taken out the request for donations so it is actually less laughable and looks more realistic. Don’t be duped by it – Facebook has other ways to track whether you are using your profile regularly.
If you receive this post, the best thing to do is to simply ignore it and please DO NOT forward it to your friends. You should also consider removing the Super Wall or Rock You Live application.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, May 27th, 2009
Our Twitter podcast marathon takes us to Langley today, where realtor Teri-Lyn Conrad is using Twitter to stay connected. Teri loves Twitter and is a true advocate of social media. Listen to our conversation to hear how Twittering has benefited her, both from a business and social perspective.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/podcast27.mp3]
Podcast: Download
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, May 20th, 2009
Coldplay is arguably the biggest band in the world right now. They have embraced social media and are being highly effective in using it. Here’s how:
Their website is very highly visually appealing, strong and effective – at the core of every successful social media campaign is a great site or blog to send people to.
They are using the right forums – Coldplay are active in Twitter, MySpace , Facebook and YouTube but I couldn’t find them on LinkedIn (for obvious reasons). There’s no point trying to be active in every single forum, pick those your audience is using on focus on using them effectively.
They add value – this weekend’s free download of “LeftRightLeftRightLeft”was really smart. Not only did they add value and make people feel like they care but they also collected millions of email addresses (over 3.5 million at last Tweet) in the process giving them even more direct contact with fans. Always look to give the gift of information (or in this case music) and add value for your audience – make them feel good.
Transparency – after a poor start on Twitter (they got lots of flack in the UK for having a PR person Twittering for them) their posts now seem to be somewhat personalized – mainly by Guy. But its hard to tell whether he’s really the real Guy…. One criticism – they could try to be more social and interact with their community rather than simply posting. On Twitter as with an social media forum its important to be who you say you are.
Inclusive rather than exclusive – unlike many celebrities on Twitter who only follow celebrities back, Coldplay are actually following a few thousand fans.
So if you are thinking about using social media, take a look at Coldplay and learn a thing or two from them. And you might want to download the music when you are at it, its well worth a listen.
Adding Value
In the right forums
