In social CRM, Marketing, Community Management, or whatever aspect of online networking you are a part of there is always one thing that matters. The people that you interact with, the people you talk to, Retweet, however you decide to be “a part of the conversation” are all potentials. A potential client, a potential friend, really the potentials are huge.

Nurturing your online relationships is just like handling any other relationship. Online or offline the way we compose ourselves and handle situations is a genuine reflection of character. As someone who works mainly in maintaining these online relationships – even with people whom I have not met in person – is a trait that I take pride in. As many others can vouch, the relationships will build translate for business, long-term friends, or maybe even more.

The point that I’m hoping to drive home is that if you’re changing personas from what someone knows of you online into someone completely different (multiple personality disorder?) then whatever relationship you have built with that person online essentially gets shattered when the “IRL” meeting happens.

I Tweeted a few days back saying that I will do my best to never bullshit anyone. I do my best to be truthful, honest, and if that relates to sometimes coming across as hostile, for that I apologize.

The relationships that one manages every day, matter. As people connected in a social, online atmosphere we’re entrusted to be the same person wherever we are, whoever we interact with. One of the best, and possibly funniest examples I have come across recently is by my friend Phil Buckley (@1918). Read the comments on his post. As more people chimed in for the comments, the true reality of online relationships became more and more apparent.

As relationships get built, so does trust; what relationship ever works without trust? Build trust, build relationships, build social.

Image Credit – Bikingbettie

There’s a great simple luxury that so many universities hold, and that is the power of networking. While any one person can go out and find contacts, possibly exploiting them for their value, organized events are by far the work-horse of networking power. Later this week Appalachian State University is hosting its Business Career Symposium.

Open to Juniors, Seniors and MBA Graduate Students, this is a gold-mine of opportunity. With companies like BB&T, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial, Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC, events like the BCS are just one of many chances students get to network. But this one event is like a small gem because only 200 students can register. Beyond this one event, the chances for any student anywhere to get their resume updated and use their university for contacts and new connections.

Don’t be afraid to communicate

In any event where you meet someone, you’re there to keep in touch in the long-run and hopefully take advantage (in a good way) of the connection that you’ve made. When you’re there, don’t be the one person handing out resumes saying, “Hey, this is why you should hire me.” In my opinion that’s just a hot route to being annoying.

You’re looking for a solid communication with the representatives that show at these events. Find a conversation where you see eye-to-eye with the person and engage them. Engage in a relevant conversation to what you want in your job hunt, what you expect from potential employers. Do more than just be a wallflower at the event, be the person who has something interesting to say.

Keep in Touch

The communication after an event is by far just as important as a Thank You note after an interview or maintaining contact with an old friend. It IS the true networking part of these opportunities. When you do receive contact information use it. This valuable information is given to you for a reason.

If you get an email address – check it on LinkedIn

Twitter Handle? – Shoot them a DM or an @ Reply, let them know your appreciation.

Mobile Number – Give them a call, let them know your your interest, even chat them up some more if they have the time. If no leave a message, express yourself.

Whatever the chances you get, don’t be afraid to Network the chances you do get.

Today I came across a phenomenal website, Like Button, and I noticed something interesting. People are caring more and more about things that truly, in the short run, don’t matter. This is a problem. Call me un-American, anti-patriotic, focally wrong, whatever you choose, but these are my opinions.

1. People don’t really “Like” International News
2. Celebrities matter more
3. YouTube, TechCrunch, Break.com, Hulu and other sites get way more “Likes”

Now, this irks me in a way. Social media has the opportunity to reach out and massively spread topics like a wildfire through a dry brush desert. We have seen Twitter do amazing things during the Iranian elections by spreading the word and bringing focus and aid to a war-torn country.

Recently, with the ability to control what is seen online by basis of analytical results and dynamic programming we focus more on what the people want more so than the news they need to know. Not too long ago a controversial image appeared comparing the home page of CNN to the home page of Al Jazeera.

If we’d rather follow around Tiger Wood’s johnson than the acts of our own military, quite simply, we’re f—ed. At 0513 EDT my trending Twitter topics were these:

• #nowPlaying
• #PleaseTellMeWhy
• Justin Beiber
• #IHopeMyNext
• Iron Man 2
• #sometimesitsbetter
• Dear Haters
• #ihatequotes
• #HappyBirthdayDAE
• IPL

Not a single trending topic is news related, or anywhere important to society in the long run.

We have the opportunity here to do something good with the tons of resources we have available, but unfortunately we aren’t. We stick around and care about the “next big thing” or the new social tool to expand our image online. Being an arrogant self-imaging schmuck means nothing when you compare yourself to a country who can’t even have proper leadership.

I only ask you to think about what you Tweet or Like on Facebook. The availability to change what people see and the way we interpret our news is in our hands, the millions of users in each social network is controlled by us, the user cloud. So take a look around, think, and act accordingly.

Comments or concerns? Leave a comment I’d love to discuss!

Image by Zarko Drincic

What is your focus in the social sphere? Networking, Marketing? Whichever it is there is a difference, and one that many people tend to blur. Networking and marketing are two entirely separate strategies and methods for their own unique goals. While many strategist employ the usage of both to further their means, we cannot make the mistake of misnaming one type of social ideology with the other.

Networking

A Social Network as put by Wikipedia is:  a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called “nodes,” which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

When it was decided to take social networking out of the face-to-face daily contacts that we have and turn it into an online craze, Social Networking turned into another type of game; Not the game of high school’s, who’s most popular, but rather a game of who has the most important and useful contacts. Whizzes like Mary Kurek (@marylkurek), and Chuck Hester (@chuckhester), base the majority of their time seeking out contacts, making connections, and being a hub for others whether job hunting, client hunting, sponsorships, any possibility of business networking.

One of Mary’s recent blog posts, outlines what could be taken as her procedure for social networking. By bringing every person into the hub and keeping an eye on their activity, Mary can look at one connection and say, “Hey! I know someone who can help you out with _____.” Providing utility and quality for these networks everyone benefits.

On the other hand Chuck Hester, is more of a Live maven for these networking events. By hosting LinkedIn Live Raleigh, Chuck has managed to pull off events of over 500+ professionals from every walk of life to come together and simply do what people do best, socialize. In one way, this is exactly what Mary does, but on the other side, it’s entirely different. By simply bringing local professions together and simply having them in the same room, people will naturally begin to talk and find out about each other. So should one person find another who suits their need, wham bam business card exchange, they’re good to go.

This, is Networking.

Social Marketing

Marketing defined by the Business Dictionary is the, “Management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. As a philosophy, it is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction.” (The italics are mine for emphasis.)

Yeah, it’s different.

If you’re in marketing, you know the 4P’s, and while marketing uses these concepts, we could probably agree that Social Networking comes into play when you need to reach out, whether through promotion, distribution, etc. Networking becomes a part of marketing but is not a replacement.

From my perspective, and this is not an exhaustive explanation, social marketing is the ability to provide a presence; the presence for customer service, promotion, ad placement, whatever way one chooses to look at the term “presence”. Although there are many niches to marketing, like international marketing, strategic marketing, research marketing, the list goes on, they all are to reach a goal. The goal for marketing is to complete the need or want of a client while keeping them satisfied so that they can come back again and again for the excellent service or product they expect.

Managing the way the product is viewed, sold, and using proper customer service social marketing is giving managers a way to less expensively monitor the activity around the product and respond accordingly.

The two concepts of social networking and social marketing are vastly different. Which are you? Which do you do better? Mix or choose one.

LinkedIn – Mary Kurek

LinkedIn – Chuck Hester

Image by TheScatteredImage

One thing I notice is the vast amount of articles coming around that are talking about interviews, their processes and their tips. I want to give a different perspective; try doing the same thing everyone else is from a different country. It actually makes it a lot tougher, even though you might not think so.

My Problem

If you follow my blog you realize, I’m currently studying in Alicante, Spain, my 3rd year of my international business major. As much as I am loving it, it makes apartment hunting and job hunting for the upcoming summer and school year much more difficult.

As much as I would love to send in a snail mail copy of my resumé or give a quick ring to the HR department of wherever I would like to apply, it financially isn’t that feasable. Doable, just not reasonably. The benefits of using some direct contact methods that help by being stateside:

• You usually get to talk to someone, and if you’re anything like me thats much more reasurring than sending your resumé into the black hole of the online database.
• The advantage of the company receiving a physical copy of your resumé shows not only your persistence but your will to succeed and advance in the working world

The Realization

The first step is realizing you have a problem. When you get stuck in a difficult situation, you probably already know it. So understanding that you are in this pickle is naturally the first thing you need to do. Then after that you can begin focusing on ways to rectify, and make the problem one that is almost non existent.

The Solution

Anticipation. The simple fact that you can anticipate these problems make the solution much easier. My Suggestions:

• Skype: If you haven’t found the many many benefits of Skype yet, I suggest giving it a try. Should you be called for an interview you have an economical and practical way to conduct a phone interview on the cheap, especially if YOU have to call.
• Google Voice: 2 benefits here: Recorded transcriptions and a proper phone number where you can receive a transcribed voicemail in case you get a call back.
• LinkedIn: The online resume: get connected, get out there, and get known.

Naturally, I’m still going through my application process for this summer, but as more develops and more comes my way, I’ll be more than happy to clue you in on my tips. If you have any please leave them in the comments.

Image by Ben Heine

BenHeine.com

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

Chris Brogan today mentioned hotels having a social network of their own. As I am Front Desk and Part Sales Associate for Hilton Garden Inn Durham – Southpoint, this really took me and made this post. My suggestions are as such:

Mashup – Brightkite with Twitter and the hotel companies, Starwood, Hilton, Marriott, and the other majors. Give them a division of BrightKite, this would keep people in the hotel connected. This could yield to coworking, productivity, new connections etc.

Bring in the Companies – Use the new program to have links on the hotel’s main website, similar to a hotel’s blog the guests can connect through there and intermingle.

Connect the Hotels First – Bring the hotels together first on a blog or twitter, etc. Let them talk to eachother to get new ideas, suggestions, and management tips. Through this, the management or customer service can connect to the guests themselves. This relates to Southwest, Zappos, JetBlue and other companies being online to help.

Text to Hotel – With this service, allowing people to text an arrival time to the hotel’s blog, or social network, they can text in an arrival time allowing the hotel to be better prepared on Check In. This happens a lot that people want to check in early but they cannot because the hotel is not prepped for an early check-in. Allowing the hotel to be prepared comes in great hand.

Professional Networking – Think LinkedIn Live once a month, at your local hotel. Professional meetings through the hotel’s website!

What do you think? Would these ideas work?

With all the hype on Social Media, I feel like there is one thing that can tend to be lost. That is the fact that we have to actually be SOCIAL, for social media to work.

This tends to show it self that so many people are Twittering Away, and posting their blogs, and writing notes on Facebook, meeting people through LinkedIn, adding new locations on BrightKite, that we forget about face-to-face interactions.

I find the face-to-face interactions come from things like PodCamps. This is where many bloggers, companies, and many social networkers come together to find new ideas, new topics, and discuss the many happenings of Web 2.0.

My point today is that these many Social Applications should really try to interconnect these many groups within their online communities, similar to PodCamps. Though with Facebook, this could come to true “Facebook Stalking”. But  point being, let’s not forget our true interactions, discussions and conversations that really keep people tied together.

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and many others. All of these Social Networks have their perks and downfalls depending on your usage. But for you, your business, social networks can be a benefit.

You can market your blog through Facebook and Twitter. Do not underestimate the use of TinyURL to link your blog through Twitter. Try using the website marker in the Facebook profile to bring people to your site, and any other sites you have a need with.

Now MySpace. Not the best social tool in my opinion but it works well for a free site, that allows for a quick connection to a large population. Use the messaging tool to message out promotions, events, and other mass information.

LinkedIn is one of my favorite Social Tools. It allows for a professional connection with proper introductions. It gives recommendations, profiles, and basically an online Resume.

Think of the social tools you use, how do you use them, and what do they do best for you?

Photo by bonedad

• Being a college kid, and having a focus on International Business, presentations are a huge part of my college life and my business life. Many times the common presenter overlooks the benefits of simplicity in presentations. I have composed a few presentations for school that grabbed attention and held it throughout the whole time. The key to keeping focus during presentation is to keep the information coming and to make it easy for the audience to pay attention.

• A picture is worth 1000 words
  • Sometimes presenters get a little too picture happy with their presentations. Try your best to use only relevant graphics, whether the graphic is a graph, chart or photograph, make sure it is useful and can assist in describing the overall point of your presentation.
• Hard hitting facts and support
  • Use your facts often and make them support your overall purpose. When you present the fact on your slide, if you put a graphic along with the slide, make sure it is non intrusive. For example:
• Simplicity Sells (To take a TED Title)
  • Simplicity in the presentation will very well be your key to attention. Keep the amount of information on the slide to a minimum, and allow most of the explanation to come from your own words rather than letting people read from the slide. If they wanted to read the slides, you wouldn’t be there.
    Take a look at the TED talks, specifically Stefan Sagmeister, Hans Rosling and Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule for presentations which can be found Here.

Focus carefully on your presentations, Slide Share is basically a YouTube of Presentations and PowerPoints.

Keep in mind also, that with everything else, you’re trying to sell yourself, so think, What point am I trying to get across? How am I getting the audience’s attention? What is my goal with this presentation? How do I present it?

Design Carefully, keep the presentation easy on the eyes, and load it with facts.

You’re on your way to a proper Presentation!