Give Them 90 Minutes and They’ll Make You a Better…
Monday - July 9, 2007When Amy Gahran speaks, I listen. Recently she wrote in her Poynteronline blog:
“One task that’s been bouncing around on my to-do list for more than a year, I’m ashamed to admit, is to make better use of the online professional networking service Linked In.”
I resolved to follow her suggestion, put it on my to-do list and let it simmer (yeah, you noticed that her article is dated December of 2006, huh?).
Then, it happened. The world shifted. We found out that Scott Friedman is using LinkedIn. He’s not only using LinkedIn, he’s using Facebook and MySpace and probably Spoke, Plaxo and god knows what else.
Now, Mr. Friedman is a past president of the National Speakers Association, an accomplished International speaker haunting tiny little burbs like Bangkok, Dubai and South Africa and one of the most generous people we’ve ever met. But, while he’s pretty savvy about technology, we just never suspected that Scott would beat us to the “social networking” punch.
Like I said, Amy’s article had been on my desk for six months, and I sure did mean to get around to it.
The time, it would seem, has come. How do I know? Well, not only has Scott Friedman taken up with these kinds of sites, but David Nour is actually studying the economic value and return on investment of LinkedIn and other online social networking sites - and he’s doing it for corporations and associations, not just his fraternity buddies.
Who the heck is David Nour, you say? He’s an author, corporate consultant, featured speaker and very likely, a visionary. He’s looking into the future and seeing that online networking resources are changing the way we’ll all be doing business in just a few short… months. Find out more about hime at the Nour Group online.
Most importantly, however, David Nour is one of the many experts who are offering 90 minutes of their expertise at the upcoming NSA San Diego convention. Yes, in order to find these sessions you do have to look closely at your scorecards, fans. They call them “NSA Experts Expositions” - and they’re offered, sadly enough, at the same time as the concurrent mega sessions.
The “Experts Expositions” include star power like Sam Horn, Mitch Gooze, Terry Brock and many, many more. They are sit-down sessions limited to something like 8 or 10 people (not classrooms full of 200+ people). No wonder NSA’s keeping them a secret!
When is David Nour doing his thing about social networking, LinkedIn and Camilla Parker Bowles? He’s sitting down from 10:00am-11:30am on Wednesday, July 11, but don’t tell anyone else.
So, about LinkedIn. It’s a web site where you create a profile to network with other business folks. If you have teenagers you likely know about MySpace or Facebook. You see, teenagers started this whole idea – and for once their parents are listening to them. Truth be known, most of the teenagers gave up on MySpace a long time ago and are now off in a land called Twitter, but I digress.
Those who use LinkedIn tell us that the power comes from the “links.” You register with LinkedIn and then first connect to the people you already know. Those friends of yours all have friends of their own, of course – many of them folks you don’t know from Adam.
This goes on through a sort of “six degrees of separation” dance until theoretically you could hook up with just about anyone in the world. Want to give ole’ Bill Gates a call? Just ask your associate Sally to ask Fred to ask Burt to ask Adam for a referral. Simple, right?
Perhaps there’s more to it than that. Mr. Nour, as we said, studies the measurable economic value of social networking for corporations and organizations. He is a student of such connections and he is convinced that the world will divide over the next few years into those who use online networking tools and those who don’t – and you probably don’t have to wonder which group he thinks will be more successful.
This guy is compelling enough to convince corporations to get off their duffs and start doing online relationship building. He’s offering his “10 Things You Must Know about Social Networking,” as well as his experience and expertise for free from 10:00am-11:30am on Wednesday, July 11 at the NSA Experts Exposition.
This year’s San Diego NSA Convention - it’s not just for concurrent sessions anymore.
I am a free user of LinkedIn - and have been for about four years, now. Initially when I first started using it, I was a bit skeptical - the last thing I needed was one other website/profile that I had to keep updated on a regular basis. At that time, I did cursory searches to find people I knew, and came up with few successes. I think, due to this frustration, I left my profile incomplete and promptly forgot about it.
But then, in the past year and half, I noticed a huge change. It started with former associates and clients finding my profile and requesting to be connected. As my connections grew, my interest piqued again, and I started to visit LinkedIn more frequently. As I kept updating my profile, and adding more information, I found my network grew further and further. Being in sales, it’s obvious that anytime your network grows, you pay more attention.
Soon, I became a more active user, searching my connections’ connections for potential people I wanted to meet. Writing recommendations for former associates - and having recommendations written about me. The more I interacted with LinkedIn, the more people I started to meet. I have even used LinkedIn’s network to help recruit for my new position.
Overall, I am now a regular user of LinkedIn, checking my profile three - four times weekly. I love it. I am convinced that LinkedIn has become the MySpace of the professional generation - Web 2.0 for the business networking community!
Chris Boyer
Director of Sales & Marketing
DevelopIntelligence LLC
An aspect about LinkedIn which doesn’t always get published, yet is what has caused much of it’s popularity with business people is the protection of people being “spammed” by others who are members.
You are able to email those you are directly connected with, yet aren’t able to do this to their 2nd or 3rd level connections without already having their email addresses. This causes introductions to be made through people they know and trust to others, which is the value proposition and makes LinkedIn. This is a “gated community” of relationships. Knowing someone has a profile that is interesting to you allows you to request an introduction. Isn’t this how business networking SHOULD be done? Cold Calling for a vendor, customer, or job applicant is now old-school when introductions can be made to create a referral relationship.
There are various discussion groups, best practices, and online getting started articles that are available.
Marshall Stanek
Sr. Membership Selection Advisor
Vistage International
marshall.stanek@vistage.com
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mstanek
It was just 72 hours ago that a very dear friend and colleague had a conversation with me about LinkedIn. Before this conversation, my opinion was that LinkedIn would be just another item on my to do list should I accept some of the invitations I had received to connect with colleagues and friends. I am amazed by what has transpired. I’ve reconnected with a number of people who are very important to me. I had lost track of them. It’s a busy world we live in, there is a lot to do, a lot that calls for our attention. One thing I know however, there is nothing more important that our relationships with people. And it’s not just because of what these people can do for us and who they can connect us to, it’s because there is nothing that has higher value than a human being.