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

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

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

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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

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

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Where do I start?? ?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Resources <ul><li>http://bit.ly/getstarted </li></ul><ul><li>( 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) </li></ul>