How to Build Powerful In-Person Networks From Your Social Contacts
Would you like to make lasting contacts from your social media friends and fans?
According to a Harvard Business Review blog post entitled, “Three New Networks for the Digital Age,” just having an online network isn’t enough.
In this post, I’ll explore steps you can take to turn those online contacts to offline business relationships. I’ll use the thought of heading to a large event or conference as the stake in the ground so you have a “when and where” for connecting with some of your online contacts.
Here are 8 things you can do to turn social media contacts into offline business relationships.
#1: Get Clear on Your Goals
Start out by using a tool like Evernote to capture some of your thoughts.
Evernote allows you to create your plans in a linear fashion.
Capture what you’re currently working on, your current goals, the people you think can help you move your goals forward and what you’re currently looking to learn. (You may or may not actually have a name for your direction, but a title will do—think of creating a networking persona.) 
Does Your Klout Score Determine Your Value?
What makes Adele a better singer than Rebecca Black?
Is it her magical vocals or her higher Klout score?
And if Seth Godin (Klout score: 0) chooses not to interact on Twitter, does that mean he’s less influential than Uncle Pete, whose Klout score is 35?
These are some of the tricky questions that are being asked since the emergence of new systems that attempt to measure people’s online influence through “social scoring.”
But the question is this: How exactly is “influence” measured? And how do those who make such personal yet inflammatory verdicts decide the scores?
Twitter would look very different if Seth Godin were on it.
You Have Become a Number
If you have a social media account, your value as an influencer is already being calculated based on how often you tweet, connect, share and comment.
Is Quora the Next Big Social Media Site?
Are you considering using Quora? Has all the buzz got you wondering if it’s worth it? Keep reading for my full review.
When I first heard about Quora, the conversation went a little like this:
Jill: “Have you heard of Quora? It’s a question and answer site.”
Jack: “You mean like Yahoo Answers?”
Jill: “No, it’s full of experts who give you the best answers.”
Jack: “You mean like LinkedIn Answers?”
Jill: “No, the community votes for the best answer and they can hide irrelevant answers.”
How to Use LinkedIn With Twitter for Better Networking
If you have profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter, you may already be aware that these two networks are integrating. In fact, LinkedIn has a specific application called Tweets that can help you keep tabs on the Twitter updates from your LinkedIn connections.
As more professional LinkedIn users create Twitter profiles, I believe this application will become more and more powerful for building influence and visibility with your network connections.
The primary benefits of the LinkedIn Tweets application are:
- Follow your LinkedIn connections on Twitter
- Post status updates simultaneously to both Twitter and LinkedIn
- Monitor and interact with your Twitter streams from within LinkedIn
- Create a LinkedIn-specific Twitter list
5 Ways to Use LinkedIn Groups to Build Influential Connections
If you want to build truly influential relationships online, you have to find places where you can consistently add value, spend quality time and have engaging conversations with members of your target demographic.
LinkedIn Groups offers one of the best ways to make the most of your social media engagement time, but you must adopt the right strategy to be successful. This article will show you how.
LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups, but you can’t possibly be effective and spend enough time to make a difference in 50 groups.
What works best is to focus your time and effort on a deep and narrow approach in order to build influence within LinkedIn Groups, enhance your credibility and generate new connections.
How to Use Blog Commenting as a Networking Superweapon
When it comes to driving awareness through social media channels, most marketers think about using tools like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube videos to reach key audiences.
But very few think of leaving a comment on a blog as a strategy to driving awareness—and potentially, down the road, garnering leads.
Wait, how can leaving a comment on a blog drive awareness (or leads) for your brand? You might be surprised at how effective this strategy can be, given the right circumstances. B2B organizations, for example, are often positioned well to capitalize on this approach based on their need to establish themselves as thought leaders on various topics.
But, before we get to the “how,” let’s talk a bit more about the “why.”
6 Reasons Why BlogWorld Was Amazing
Setting aside the budget to go to a conference like BlogWorld and New Media Expo can be a big decision for a solo brand, a small business or a department head. It’s important to get a sense of where your money’s going, and more importantly, where the return on investment is.
I was tasked to write about this mega social media conference. Here are 6 specific things that I took away from BlogWorld 2010.
