Networking

How great are you? Endorsements and Recommendations

by Randall on November 8, 2012

Filed in: Blog, Make It Happen Tipsheet, Networking

How good are you, really? While we all may have our own (sometimes inflated) opinions of our greatness, the reality of our expertise – and our personal brand – is always defined by others. Social Media, for the first time ever, gives us the opportunity to find this out directly.

Here are some ideas on how your greatness can be exposed on the social web…

Numerical measures: Of course, one way to measure our influence is through the number of followers, friends, and connections. The greater the number of followers the better. And the number of retweets, likes, and shares also speak to what people think of you: activity equals respect and influence.

Comments: Beyond the numbers, the quality of the comments is also important. For example, if people are not just commenting on your original post, but also commenting on the comments, this speaks to your ability to strike a chord – and develop a community. The activity level of “your” community is a direct reflection on your greatness.

LinkedIn Recommendations: These are the 2-3 sentence testimonials that some of your connections give you. Because others can see both the recommender and the context of their relationship, recommendations are an exceptionally powerful indicator. There is also the benefit of selectivity: you need not have a LinkedIn recommendation appear on your profile – it’s totally up to you.

LinkedIn Endorsements: These are relatively new, and one of LinkedIn’s most powerful features. For the skills that you have listed, others can vote for (“endorse”) your strongest. In essence, this is crowdsourcing your reputation. To get the most from this feature, only list those skills that you really want “on the menu”. If you list too many, you may put yourself in the embarrassing position of thinking that you have a skill, but the market not agreeing. One additional point: unlike LinkedIn Recommendations, ALL endorsements appear on your profile – the only choice you have is which skills to list.

This week’s action plan: Take a closer look at how great you really are. If there is a gap between your self-image and what is reflected on the Social Web, then close it. Hint: start with LinkedIn Endorsements and Recommendations. (And check out whether I am following my own recommendations, at http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/RandallCraig)

Bonus Opportunity: Last week I presented a session to the CSAE, entitled “Bums in Seats and Minds Engaged; Using Social Media to Drive Attendance and Engage your Audience”. We’ve started a LinkedIn group to continue the conversation. If you are interested, please join (and contribute your ideas.) Here’s the URL: http://budurl.com/BumsInSeats.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.

Randall Craig

@RandallCraig (follow me)
www.RandallCraig.com
www.108ideaspace.com
www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com

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Social Effectiveness: Not about me

by RandallCraig on July 5, 2012

Filed in: Blog, Communication, CRM, Make It Happen Tipsheet, Networking, Social Media

Tagged as: Give-to-Get, Networking

Maybe you also have seen this TV commercial. After a service encounter, an attractive business woman (an actress, no doubt) faces the camera, smiles and says, “It’s all about me.”

If someone said this type of comment to you, what would you think? If everyone had this type of attitude, we wouldn’t have volunteers, mentors, coaches, or charity. Networking would be all about taking, not give-to-get. Work teams would be unproductive and political, and families would fall apart. “It’s all about me.”

While this thinking may be somewhat extreme, one quick look at Social Media shows that we are fast moving in this direction. Consider:

How many people do you know who seem to “live” on Facebook or some other Social Network, posting every lurid detail of their life. (Instead of actually living their life?)
How often do you look at others’ status updates on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook and wonder why they posted what they did. (Really, who cares about today’s trip to the dentist?)
Consider yourself. What is the me-to-we ratio in your posts? What percent are all about you versus all about others?

This week’s action plan: The secret to successful networking, successful relationships, and successful selling is to remember that it is all about them, and not about you. This week, remember “them” each time you post to the (social) web.

Marketing insight: It’s (not) about me is even more true when it comes to marketing. Prospects don’t care about you – they only care about how you can solve their problem. Next time you post about your organization, product, or service, keep this in mind: it’s all about them.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.

Randall Craig

@RandallCraig (follow me)
www.RandallCraig.com
www.ptadvisors.com
www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com

The Social Bubble: Finding Your Tribe

by RandallCraig June 21, 2012

Do you actively seek out different opinions than your own, or unwittingly reinforce your personal world-view by only consuming “agreeable” content? While we may think it is the former – who doesn’t have a self image of being open-minded – too often we live in a bubble. The promise of the social web was connection [...]

Is Social Networking supposed to sell?

by RandallCraig May 16, 2012

Consider these Tipsheets: there are over 300 of them, and they certainly don’t “sell” anything. Each week, I give away a small nugget of information, and tie it to an immediate action. These non-salesy Tipsheets, like the vast majority of blogs, are designed to credentialize expertise and build trust, slowly over time. Interestingly, I recently [...]

Can you ever have too many friends? (yes)

by Randall March 29, 2012

Do you play the milestone game with your Social Media accounts? When you first sign up, you aim for ten connections. Then 50, 100, 250, and finally the coveted 500 – you’ve arrived. And then you aim for 1000. How many is too many? As I look at my own LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, it [...]

Seven Social Media Job Search Steps

by Randall March 8, 2012

Even from the most committed employees, one question comes up over and over again: how to use Social Media to find your next job. It might be couched in different language (How do I develop professional profile/How do I take advantage of Social tools for support, etc), but the question remains. How can you use [...]

Access Assumptions

by Randall January 17, 2012

One Billion. You may think I’m referring to the number of Facebook and LinkedIn users, but I’m not. I’m referring to the approximate population of India. While on a trip there, I decided to take pictures of local businesses, then compare the “real” with their Social Media presence. Sadly, I was unable to find more [...]

Who is your Mahamood?

by RandallCraig December 6, 2011

Ever wonder about the impact you made with those you’ve touched? Whether you would be remembered or not? And for what? Every so often, we get a stark reminder of this: someone doesn’t remember you – but you think they should. Or someone comes up to you and reminds you about a special conversation – [...]

Who’s your Charlie?

by RandallCraig September 1, 2010

One of the most productive ways to see a country, especially where you don’t speak the language, is to hire a private guide. You get an insider’s perspective, a translator, and a driver all rolled into one. And if you are lucky enough to have a tour guide like Charlie, then you might also learn [...]

Respect Your Referrals

by RandallCraig August 17, 2010

One of the most powerful concepts in networking is “Give to Get”: the more you help other people, the more they will help you. Give to Get also has a longer term benefit: the longer you do it, the more powerful your relationships and the more positive your reputation. A great networking question is how [...]

Best of… Networking

by RandallCraig April 28, 2010

Of the hundreds of tipsheets that I have written over the years, I am often asked which are the "best" ones about a particular subject. Not surprisingly, networking comes up over and over again. Over the next several months, I will list some of the most effective tips and perspectives. Today, it’s networking: Give and [...]

Networking fundamentals

by RandallCraig June 17, 2009

With the change in seasons, the venues for networking may change, but not the fundamentals. Consider these five key networking concepts; are you doing them all? 1) Give to Get: Add value to your network by sending magazine clippings, web links, or other materials to them, without asking for anything in return. This concept – [...]

Network Values

by RandallCraig May 5, 2009

When it comes to networking, the focus seems always to be on quantity. How many cards in your rolodex? How many names in your computer? How many LinkedIn Connections? Unfortunately, in our quest to supersize our network, we often forget about the importance of its quality. Let’s face it: a network of ten people who [...]

Not Yet

by RandallCraig April 7, 2009

Have you ever been asked whether you had a particular skill, and struggled to answer when the answer is clearly “no”? While no one appreciates spin, there are a number of ways to answer, each with a unique nuance: Answer: Yes: If you are part of the Fake it ’til you make it school of [...]

Mastermind

by RandallCraig March 16, 2009

What would it be worth to you if you could have four times more education, five times the experience, or six times the number of available hours that you currently have? How much better might you do if you had four mentors, four coaches, and maybe even a built-in personal advisory board? All of this [...]

Personal Branding Proxy

by RandallCraig February 10, 2009

If you think about the various consumer products that you use, most of them enjoy significant brand equity. Each brand name represents a series of attributes: when you think of IBM, for example, you might think of dependable technology for big business; Apple, on the other hand, might represent sleek, easy-to-use technology for the younger [...]

Just Ask

by RandallCraig December 23, 2008

We ask others for things all of the time: on the job, with our families, and in the community. Yet, we aren’t always met with the response we want. How can we improve our odds? 1) Ask for something specific. If people don’t know exactly what you want, they will always decline. No one likes [...]

The World Revolves Around Others

by RandallCraig December 16, 2008

The harder you work, the greater your rewards. These words are pounded into our brains from an early age – but are they true? Unfortunately, our rewards are determined not just by how hard we work, but also by those we work with, and especially our managers. If we want to succeed – or sometimes [...]

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Networking

How great are you? Endorsements and Recommendations

Is Social Networking supposed to sell?

Access Assumptions

Who is your Mahamood?

Who’s your Charlie?

Respect Your Referrals

Best of… Networking

Network Values

Not Yet

Mastermind

Personal Branding Proxy

Just Ask

The World Revolves Around Others

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