The first and not recommended option for Twitter users when promoting content is manually tweeting every time you post a blogpost, video, podcast. This is not recommended, especialy when most bloggers post more than once a week at their blog, FaceBook, LinkedIn,etc. and upload a video to YouTube every now and then. You would usually like to tweet on most of that. Luckly, today you can add your Twitter account to most of the existing platforms.

Some of the more simple examples are:

1.Wordpress Twitter plugin – There are many plugins for WordPress that tweet automatically every post you publish. The one I am using currently is Easy retweet.
2.Linkedin – A short time ago LinkedIn added the option to synchronize your LinkedIn status and tweets(th anks guys!) . This is how it will appear

3. Youtube Channel – You can add your twitter account to your YouTube channel, and post automatic tweets with every new video you upload.

4. Tweetdeck - One of the more popular applications for the web and mobile devices. The latest version supports multiple users on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.

However, although I recommend all these tools and methods, it is also recommended to keep a balance with your tweets and status updates on Facebook and Linkedin. Most people want and need the personal touch –  people would like to hear more than just your last published posts. Try to balance your tweets with a few personal thoughts, link to others and combine tweets about your activity. That part of it could be your last post or video. Another option is setting up a different Twitter user for your business – this way you’ll post only business related tweets and links.

After all that said and done, you can also follow this blog on Twitter here, or follow us personally – Yohay or Doron

Operating and managing your blog’s social media activity can be a lot of work, and it might not be so effective if not done right. Many tools offer badges, widgets and toolbars for blogs and websites, I found the Wibiya toolbar very effective and well designed. We implemented it both on this blog and on Sortfix’s blog.

First of all the Wibiya toolbar has a simple step-by-step plugin installation wizard-

After installation, you can decide which applications to add to it, all done through Wibiya’s site. For Sortfix we decided to implement the company’s Facebook fan page, Twitter account, Flickr and the Youtube channel. The added value here is letting your readers enjoy rich content, only one click away (posts, video, images and tweets), in one place without overwhelming them with information-

The toolbar appears at the bottom of the webpage without interfering with the browsing activity. It enables users to communicate, share and be exposed to more content the site has to offer. I also enjoys the fact that you can use less widgets on the sidebar and keep a more clean view to the page and let the user experience more of your content without leaving the page. Wibiya also has a friendly admin page to manage apps, and view stats.

The only thing missing in my opinion, is a connection to linkedin. Hope will be added soon.

Picture credit: stuartpilbrow on Flickr.

Part of my work with start-up companies includes finding investors and funds. With time you find that somethings works for you better than others. Of course, these are just my impressions. Hope you’ll find them useful:

1. Your Network - As mentioned here frequently before, use your close network of family and friends to find funding. It’s common for many start-ups who started out in their garage to raise the first amount of money with their family and friends, which often referred to as FFF (friends, family and fools) . Just to get a kick start, make a short and clear presentation and gather up your close friends and family(your living room is fine). This idea has 2 main advantages: The first is you have a great chance to present your idea and get free feedback. The second is, and take this seriously – a true opportunity to raise capital from people who will be suportive and believe in your potential. Take this group of seed investors seriously, and you just might be a step from seeing your idea turn into business.
2. Be prepared – You’ve just launched the works on your new start-up, even took a bank loan, or took your friends and family as small investors. You already have a business plan, you just finished developing the first stage of your application or product. You’ll probably need to find more capital, and look for more investors. Before you do anything else, have at least the following, a short 1-2 pager summary of your business. A few really good images of your application/website and not more than a 10 page powerpoint slideshow. No one can review more than that and stay focused.
3. To the next step – Now that you have a short executive summary, a killer (and short!) powerpoint presentation and the money invested in you by those close to you, your ready to move to the next stage. Make a list of(and this will take time), potential new investors. Who should be on this list? Anyone related to you or your friends with financial means. Look for:
   1. People related to financial organizations such as Venture Capital firms.
   2. Private investor groups. In many cases small and medium investors group up to invest in new businesses.
   3. Big corporates in related industry fields, that might invest or collaborate with your business.
   4. Business Development experts, that raised capital in the past, they will cost you but will save time and can shorten the time you spend in order to raise the funds.
4. Be Creative! Aside from the options listed above, you can search for capital in many places you haven’t thought about. Not only big VC firms or financiers can come up with capital for your start-up. It can be anyone with financial means. The same way you can gather up your family and friends to hear about your great idea, you can do the same with any business person you can find. Ask for a meeting with owners of a retails stores, big agencies or any other kind of business owners. In many cases Business owners are looking for new ways to bring added value to their cashflow, and investing in new start-up can be a great new opportunity for them.

In our next posts I wil give some more input on the subject with actual examples from my experience.

There is always an exception, dogs who prefer different things to do with their leisure time-

Just like any network, dog owners have their unique characteristics and common interests (dogs…), and just like any other network, the people in it, are different from one another and have different interests,views and professional backgrounds beside being dog owners. Due to the fact that most dogs like to play and run, many dog owners seek for playing grounds that are safe, and with other friendly dogs around.  These two parameters bring dog owners close to one another, and almost naturally meet in places such as parks, large school yards, and any other place which is big enough for the dogs to run in, and far enough from traffic.

I joined a small group of 5 people, who meet up almost every night at a high school near home. The dogs run and play for about  30 minutes, which is fun to watch and healthy for the dogs. While the dogs socialize between themselves, we, the two legged, have enough time to talk and network. One of the biggest benefits is, you get to meet people you probably would not have met otherwise. This makes it a great way to grow your network of connections – personal and business.

Except for the additional responsibility, having a dog, is fun, enjoyable and can grow your network.

And one last update, here is how to find a dog…

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 this blog we dealt with how to built your network, and how to make it grow. Assuming you already have a network of considerable size, it’s time to make it work for you, and for your connections. A non-active network, won’t bring any value to your business. Connection won’t last – the next time you’ll need someone from your network you will have to start rebuilding your relationship from scratch.

One of the best ways to keep your network active and bring value to your business, is connecting between people inside your network. As we said before, a network is based on your family, friends, colleagues and associates. Do these different people know one another? And if not, why should they?

Well, the answer is quite simple. I explained before that people connect to people and not to businesses. If you are the one to connect between people, you bring added value to both parties, and will be remembered positively by both sides. By connecting people you you make a good reputation for yourself and people will appreciate doing business with you. A good example is romantic relationships. Ask couples who introduced them to one another, I’m sure they always remember.

What kind of links can you make? The possibilities are endless. You can recommend a talented family member to a colleague looking to hire. You can connect between a business associate to a supplier who is a close friend. Of-course you can use the example in the the first paragraph and establish a new company based on your network connections, Try thinking which of your network connections could fill a position in a new company (sales, development, marketing, finance).

Following Up

Last but not least, when you do make connections, you must bring added value to the new connection between all sides. Don’t just exchange phone numbers or forward emails. Make sure you follow-up on the new connections you made. Phone both sides, get a feedback, explain why you recommended a certain person above all others. Here are a few more words on the importance of follow-ups by Dave Clarke.

Build strong links between your network connections, all sides will benefit in the long run.

I’ll start by advising  anyone who isn’t a user yet, to sign up now. Even If you are not looking for new business opportunities, or looking for a new job, you should consider using this social site. The first and obvious reason is it takes time to build a substantial and meaningful user on any social site whether it’s Facebook, Stumbleupon, a new blog or even Twitter. Linked in is no different in this case. When you will need this application for any professional cause, you would want and need your user to be already active, strong and meaningful so others would want to be connected to you and help you in your business actions.

Well, the first thing after setting your user, is getting connected. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, you start off with the people close to you. Although most of these people are your day-to-day connections that you meet even weekly, they can become a path to new connection. Start by adding your co-workers as connection, other people you know from places you worked for. You can then add friends and family, for example, I had my mother join Linkedin,and become a connection, and now she is using Linkedin for her coaching business. From here on you’ll have Linkedin suggest new connections you might know weekly. Don’t be afraid offering people interesting to you to become a connection, even if you hardly know them. You never know who would need or want to become your connection.

LinkedIn Groups- One of the things I really found useful is the groups you can join, participate in, get information and read on Linkedin. there are groups on a wide range of topics, issues and subjects. from technology to HR, Sports, SEO ,medical issues though legal groups you will find the group right for you. I would advise not to join to many groups, but join the ones related to your field of work, or topics you want to learn about. pic 2-3 groups at first(you can add more at anytime you want) and start reading what other professionals are saying, get to know the people and even add information of your own. This is a great place to know people and make connection far from your local network.

In my next posts we will review more features that can serve your network of LinkedIn such as recommendations, applications and upgrading your profile.

The first thing to remember and to understand is you must be active and consistent about your growing network. This means that connections in most cases won’t built up by themselves. Let’s review the possibilities:

How active are you physically? Do you work out? jog? swim or cycle? If not, you should, and for more than the one reason. Put a side the obvious health advantages  of being fit and the pleasure of it, taking part of any sport is a great way of getting to know people. In other words – establishing connections.

Jogging, swimming and cycling  are becoming more and more group sports. People train in small groups and get better results with the group support. It means that probably somewhere near you there are various people who could become a part of your network, people who meet up more than once a week and have sport as a common ground for connections. Just for example, last week I found a web designer I needed swimming in the lane next to me.

Are you active politically? It doesn’t matter if it’s on a local scale, state or nation wide, many people choose to be involved in politics for many reasons.  Whether if its for making a change or self-fulfillment you’ll probably enjoy the the action that comes with politics, and meet all kinds of people with different backgrounds, professions ant interests. Some of these people could easily become friends and connections. Just be careful not to get hurt-

These were just two examples of ways and places to grow your network of connections and friends outside your natural surroundings. These ideas can easily be implemented on various circles such as PTA, volunteering organizations and different kinds of clubs. The basic idea is to be active socially in places and organizations you haven’t encountered before. This way, you’ll grow your chain of connections, friends and network.

I believe that the base of every network, online or not, is the people around you. It doesn’t matter (and this is important) if your network is for business or any other purposes. You should always start with the people who know you and are in most cases fond of you.

Family – a lot of people have a hard time regarding to their family as part of their network, which is understandable due to the fact that most people are used to get a hot meal from their moms and not talk business. The funny thing is that in many cases family members can be strategic connections in your network. The advantages of family members are of a wide range. In some cases it could be your parents that naturally have years of experience in their field of work, or a sibling, an uncle or aunt. The family has two great advantages, they are very approachable when in need, and usually one can find a wide variety of professions in the family.

Of course there are  families who network only in the family…

Places of work – it can be colleagues at your current work, friends from former companies you worked at. People you were their boss, your  former boss and anyone you met while working. This includes people you meet every morning next to the coffee machine, especially if the coffee isn’t that good. Then you really have something to talk about. The advantage of keeping in touch with work colleagues and making them part of your network is that all of you have a familiar background and these people know what you are good at, and in many cases recommend you when necessary. And another thing, most of your colleagues will go through more than one work place in their lives. At some point one of these places could be a business opportunity for you.

Close Friends – how good do you know your friends? Where do they work? What do they do at work?  What did they study? Where did they study? Knowing these details might be useful in the future. Your friends trust you, and enjoy being in your presence, they would probably be more than happy to introduce you to a colleague or a partner when asked.

All these people mentioned here or part of them could be a solid base to start your network. In the next posts we will review more opportunities to growing your network, and share our own examples.