We have discussed LinkedIn here before, and pointed out the groups as one of its advantages. In this post I will elaborate on the groups feature, which can be very useful for business and networking.
How do you join groups? First thing, decide what are your fields of interests are. What does your business do? Real-estate, law, consulting? In almost any subject you’ll find groups and subgroups with many professionals in them. People (like you) on each group are looking to hire, talk and write on the selected topic. In other words, people are looking to connect – to network.
In our last post about networking via linking in blogs, we’ll discuss the highest level of linking adding to the blogroll. Contrary to all the other methods of networking through links, this is a static link, that appears in ALL the pages of your blog.
Adding a fellow blogger to your blog roll is a big step in your relationship with the person. When you add such a link, the link appears in all of your blog’s pages, and every casual user will see it. This is much more significant than linking to the blogger in a post. Read more…
During my work with business partners and clients I hear all kind of opinions and thoughts on how the web, social media, and online networking influence our business. I collected a few that are all a part of the World Wide Web mythology.
Setting up a website can cost as low as $150: there isn’t a bigger mistake for a business than this one, especially for small and medium businesses. In many cases, a business website is the ‘Front Cover’ of the business and your reputation. This is where most of the new clients and costumers first encounter your product. That ‘Front Cover’ of your business should reflect the quality of your product. You don’t have to spend a fortune on it, but have a professional do the job, plan wisely what your site should consist of, make sure the design is friendly, and that all the features work properly(links, payment, video’s, ads etc.). This still isn’t a big cost, and it is of great importance. Isn’t it worth paying a little more on your website?
Social media is a waste of time. I will start by how NOT to use social media (Sent by Shooky Galili) Read more…
There’s no official ethic code for any social network. But some things aren’t done. Befriending someone one Facebook just to send him a link to your blog is problematic, but it happens too often. Let’s identify the networking issue and suggest a better way to do it.
Facebook Networking Done Wrong
When a person you don’t know befriends me on Facebook, I politely ask the obvious question: Do I know you? When I have the patience, I also add a few more words, such as: We have mutual friends, but I don’t seem to recall you.
Your blog can be utilized for networking, especially by linking to other bloggers – your potential connections. In two previous posts, we’ve discussed two methods of linking: a short link post and “linking by the way”. Both methods discussed linking to a single post. This time, we’ll explore a different approach – linking to the whole blog.
Linking to the whole blog means linking to the home page. The main drawback of this method is the lack of focus. Your readers aren’t directed to specific content but to a person.
About a week ago I met and old colleague for a beer after work. While having our beer, I heard someone ordering a beer in Spanish two seats away from us on the bar. Being curious about the spanish, I introduced myself, and so did my colleague. The person we met turned out to be ‘Gale Talk‘, A Madrid based techno artist, who came to town for a concert. We had a fun talk about music and a few more rounds of beer.
Gale Talk
From here on, networking went on using MySpace, where you can find information and more importantly a few tracks. So I could listen to his music, which I really liked. Hope you will enjoy it too. I couldn’t make it to the concert, hope to see it next time in town.
In a previous post named Where to Network, we have covered in which circles to connect and how to network online. It occurred to me, that we still haven’t given any tools on how to ACTUALLY network with people when the opportunity occurs, even if you are not a people person. In this post we will explore one classic example, which is attending a convention. I gathered my opinion on the subject from attending, organizing and networking in a few events, and organized my thoughts in 5 practical steps easy to follow:
1. What to wear? If you are a man, don’t laugh at this point, this is not a fashion tip! It’s important to wear something suitable for the occasion, but try to wear something comfortable for you. If you usually don’t wear a suit, don’t start now, people will notice you are uncomfortable, and it can be interpreted as unreliable. If you are not sure, and there isn’t a clear dress code, try asking a colleague on similar events. Remember, dress code is important, but feeling comfortable around others is crucial.
Sometimes, dressing wrong for the occasion is serving a purpose…
