Getting Started in Social Networking

Build your own Opportunity Network Getting Started with Social Networking Steve Woodruff www.stevewoodruff.com (Twitter: @swoodruff)

Why should you care about social networking?
You (and others) are the source of your future opportunities, not “the company”
Google is your new resume – either you will project your professional image, or someone else will

Who Cares about Professional Networking?
Advancers
Job-Seekers
Hiring Managers
Learners
Potential Entrepreneurs
Suppliers
Junior people, Senior people, Extroverts, Introverts, Techies, non-Geeks…people with a vision for connection

Social Networking: Exploding Facebook: 100 million -> 200 million in 8 months Twitter: yearly growth rate: 1,382% LinkedIn: total minutes on site doubled Dec -> Jan YouTube: i n March, reached 100 million monthly viewers

What is an “Opportunity Network”?
“ Safety net” – fear and circumstance-driven
“ Opportunity network” – confidence and future-driven
Greatest opportunities, for you and others, will be through ties of shared interest, sympathy, and connections

Where do I start?? ?

The “Why” - Networking Goals
Establish your reputation on-line
Open connection channels with key people
Help others with their needs
Find professional opportunities
Learn and grow
Strengthen “strong ties” and create “weak ties”

The “How Much”: Participation Levels Open Web Networking Engaging with Private Communities Lifestreaming Formal Connecting Passive Outposting Transparency Disclosure Interaction

Passive Outposting
Adding your basic information to on-line repositories such as Visual CV, LinkedIn, etc.
Allows you to be “find-able” on-line
Join to an early strategy of “lurking” (reading and listening) to get a feel for the social networking world

Formal Connecting
Reaching out and becoming a “connection” with trusted individuals you know.
LinkedIn very common for this on the professional level; Facebook on a personal level
Begins to open up access to wider networks (friends of friends)

Lifestreaming
More open sharing of multiple dimensions of life
Usually more focused on status updates, picture sharing, etc.
Facebook and Twitter very popular for lifestream sharing
Professionals may struggle to reach a comfort level with this

Engaging with Private Communities
Countless focused (generally invite-only or private) communities exist around specific areas of interest
These “walled gardens” allow for a freer level of sharing without exposing info to the broader web

Open Web Sharing
Your writings and comments are open to the world
Blogs, Twitter, and other open platforms expose you to a wide audience, with little control
Can vastly extend your opportunity network
Must embrace privacy/publicity tradeoff

Tips for Effective Networking
START!
Be giving
Broaden your base
Build consistently and pro-actively
Join communities (virtual and real)
Find a good local coffee shop – you’ll be meeting new people face to face!
Find super-connectors/Be a connector

Social Networking Cautions
Google never forgets – think twice about what you share/upload
Transparency with care – learn to be yourself, with limits
Separation of company/personal information
Don’t think short-term – building an opportunity network is a long-term, incremental process

So….Let’s START!
Answer for yourself….
Who are you?
Where do you bring the most value?
What are your professional goals?
What kind of network would you like to build?
Note: use the Personal Branding exercise (Appendix in free Getting Started in Social Networking e-book – see next slide)

Resources
http://bit.ly/getstarted
( free , step-by-step e-book to help you get started with social networking, full of helpful links and instructions for using the most common platforms)

Getting Started in Social Networking

by Steve Woodruff on May 18, 2009

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