Talk It Up!

Networking tip: don't be That Guy

Think you know how to network? Do a quick check to make sure you're not That Guy.

My now-podfaded podcast was titled Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter. The reason I chose that title was because back in 1998 or so, I had started my own consulting businesses as a spokesperson and presentation consultant. And I was (a) a little shy about promoting myself and my business at networking events and (b) turned off by smooth and sleazy networkers with a thin veneer of social politeness covering a thick layer of self-servicing goals.

People, not prospects

I was convinced that networking could be more than business card distribution, honing the perfect elevator pitch and seeing everyone as a prospect. After all, networking doesn't have to be something shameful: pretending to listen, pretending to be nice but in actuality only listening for entries to promote your own products and services. Successful "networking" is in fact just the process of meeting people, having real conversations, and getting to know people, even those that might never be a prospect for your business.

Keep in mind that my first networking experiences were long before the days of social networking: no Facebook, no Twitter, nothing to blur the lines between the personal and professional. Sure, you may have lunch with someone from your networking club, but the goal was often to get a targeted prospect or another lead.

Don't be That Guy. Give first.

Did you ever "smell the Amway coming off that guy?" Some networkers give off that vibe: they only ask about you so they can eventually sell you something. They treat people like prospects and cease interactions when the people in question don't pass the prospect qualification process. Euw. That was never how I did networking, and quickly stopped attending groups or events with that focus.

It's been a long time since I ran across someone with that People Are Prospects vibe, and I had an extremely unpleasant experience with one last week. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and took the meeting, much to my regret. Forty-five minutes into the meeting, I was in the midst of some sales pitch that was most likely an MLM program, but the guy still hadn't told me what his business, passion or project was! When I asked him to tell me simply how I could help him, he slammed shut his book and refused to speak any further, saying I "wasn't ready to hear this."

Hear what? More mysterious sales pitch leading nowhere? The guy ended the meeting abruptly, having obviously decided I was of no use to him and therefore not worth speaking to any further. Yuck! What a waste of what could have been a pleasant conversation and the beginning of a good relationship.

Have fun and help out

My attitude toward networking is simple. It doesn't have to be self-serving and shameful. You don't have to be That Guy. Networking can be fun and a natural extension of your natural social inclinations. After all, "networking" is really just talking with interesting people. When "networking," ask yourself three questions in every social interaction:

1) Is he/she interesting?

2) Do I know anyone that might be fun for him/her to meet?

3) Is there any way I can help him/her along with anything?

In a social setting, the answers might be "send her the recipe for my raspberry-chocolate coffee cake" or "introduce her to Bill for a date." In a business social setting, the answers might be exactly the same! Or they might be "tell him about HootSuite" or "introduce him to Rod Brooks." That is, it's less about trying to forward a specific business goal or gathering leads than about listening and being a generous, helpful social person. Absolutely nothing shameful about that! (For more information on this, read this wonderful book by Bob Burg, The Go-Giver.)

Social networking is social

So if you fear networking, you're probably smelling too much Amway in the folks you're meeting. (One friend called these guys the "Have I got a deal for you!" folks.) Being obviously targeted as someone's sales lead makes me uncomfortable. It makes everyone uncomfortable. No one likes to be sold to.

Sure, sometimes I want to buy something, but no one likes being befriended only due to one's affiliations and market prospects. Networking should really just be meeting and getting to know interesting people.

It may sound counterintuitive, but I often don't ask about business at networking events. My favorite question is, "What is the last good book you read?" I'll take about the Avengers movie, the latest Twitter kerfuffle or what I learned this week on This American Life. If the business comes later, fine (it often does, oddly enough, without any pushing or prodding). If not, you have a cool person in your life. Even better.

[SLIDESHARE] Down and dirty guide to Pinterest for business

This is the best slide deck yet I've seen on what Pinterest is and how and why brands use it. Plus, it's a beautiful presentation!

Gregory Pouy shares his breakdown of Pinterest; I love this slide deck! His key takeaways include five things you can do with Pinterest:

1. Promote a lifestyle
2. Use as a focus group
3. Drive sales
4. Crowdsource
5. Run contests

Think there are no tangbile results?

• The website ideeli.com saw a 446% rise in web traffic from their Pinterest presence. 
• Biscuit by Lamchop, a site that produces gluten-free dog biscuits, reports that Pinterest represents 20% of their referral traffic.
• Even GE, a non-visual product, has an inspirational Pinterest site. "It's not about your products; it's about your spirit."

Pinterest for business

View more presentations from Gregory Pouy

 

Getting down and inspired at TEDx Rainier 2011

Last weekend, innovators, entrepreneurs and technologists gathered at the University of Washington for TEDx Rainier and for a dose of inspiration and enlightenment. This is the stuff that stuck with me from that day.

Last weekend, I took a bus on a cold, rainy Saturday to the University of Washington in order to expose myself to new ideas, unknown science and a wealth of inspiration at the TEDx Rainier conference.

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TEDx is one of many worldwide, independently-organized TED events. They are organized and staffed by 100% volunteers, and the content rivals that of the big TED. The goal? To gather of thinkers, entrepreneurs, academics, artists, environmentalists and engaged citizens working to design better futures. This year's theme was Gained in Translation: Ideas Crossing Frontiers.

This was my first TEDx event, and I was delighted to have the chance to attend after hearing so much about it from my hardworking social media friend, Jeris Miller.

It's hard to summarize a conference that involves so many new ideas, new facts and new topics. A few of my favorite quotes from the event:

Work, family, self. Pick two. You can't have all three. — Amy Jo Martin

Transforming our communities is less about our pocketbooks and more about the depth of our passion. Social capital is essential to our philanthropic DNA. — Paul Shoemaker

Like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, plastic bags leave a wake of destruction everywhere they go. — Chris Jordan

Too much reliance on philanthropy signifies a failure in capitalism. It's not the answer, but a sign of the problem. — Peter Blomquist

Relationships heal when we are willing to tell the truth and be vulnerable — Sarah Stuteville

A fundamentalist is essentially someone who knows how to get angry. — Andy Himes

Is your present perspective getting you the quality of life you want? — Jim Sorenson

Life’s biggest gift is our ability to better the lives of those less fortunate than us. — Adnan Mahmud

My memorable speakers

Every speaker had a strength, and some were more appealing that others. In particular, the afternoon session, chock-full of entrepreneurs, was deeply resonant for me. For me, the most powerful presentations were:

Surprise guest Rick Steves stole the show with his mind-blowing talk on the sacredness of diversity that world travel engenders. His entire talk was quotable; some of his most powerful nuggets of wisdom:

• Our dream is beautiful, but so is theirs.
• Travel wallops ethnocentricity.
• Fear is for people who don't get out very much.
• A government has to make a decision: tolerate alternative lifestyles or build more prisons.

Dmitri Christakes, a pediatrician and expert on environmental influences on early childhood, showed the graph of a travel pattern of a normal mouse followed by the travel pattern of a mouse after being exposed to "mouse-o-vision," the mouse equivalent of television, for several hours a day. The images were shocking: the first path was conservative and consistent, sticking to room corners as mice do. The second was a frenetic pattern that crossed the room in a style associated with ADD. This was most powerful visual I've seen for fast-paced cartoons causing ADD in children.

The Interfaith Amigos (Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and Imam Jamal Rahman) gave a funny yet wise talk on interfaith issues, proving it is possible to be both devout and open-minded. Plus, they were the only speakers brave enough to break into song: "It's all one and I am as I am."

What about you? Which speakers and topics resonated with you?

Update 11-18-11: Jay Kimball also blogged about the event and included word clouds that his wife created for some of the speakers. Beautiful!

Why Quora beats other question sites

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Quora is the new crowdsourcing question site "continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it." It's also been described as "ask a question, get a blog post in reply."

But what is the best use for this next evolution of a question site?

For a pragmatic comparison, I began by matching Quora against LinkedIn for an industry-specific question. In my work with Spoken, I participate in a number of highly active groups related to the call center space on LinkedIn. Which would garner more relevant responses, I wondered, LinkedIn or Quora?

So I posed the same question on Quora and on the key LinkedIn call center groups, including Worldwide Contact Center Professionals, Best Practices in Call Centers Worldwide and Contact Center Network Group. Combined, the three groups have memberships over 29,000 call center professionals.

The industry question

What factors will influence SaaS adoption in the call center space over the next five years?

Gartner has predicted that by 2012, 75% of customer service centers will use some SaaS application. However, adoption of SaaS in the call center space is still slow. What are the obstacles?

As you can see, I tagged the question "call centers" "saas" and "cloud computing." And the resounding response was... nothing. Big fizzle on LinkedIn, which is usually an area of lively debate. On Quora, the question garnered one response.

The social media research question

So perhaps the question wasn't the most compelling. On Quora, I switched gears and asked something I need to research for a client:

Perhaps the first question was too forward-looking, or perhaps the call center industry was just not too involved in LinkedIn and Quora that day. Whatever the reason, the social media research question called forth quite a few valuable responses. Eight in total, which was plenty to see a common thread.

Summary:

• Radian6 is the best (five votes)
• Analysis is subjective and based on goals (no tools suggested)
• Radian6 and Alterian SM2 are the most popular; free tools Trackur, Social Mention and Addict-o-Matic also suggested
• Neilsen BuzzMetrics
• Sprout Social
• Visible Technologies and ContextMine
• Trampoline for sales support; Attensity for listening; SAS Institute for general purpose; Lithium for community analytics
• Social Radar for enterprise

In general, the responses were rich in content, giving specific reasons as to why one tool was better for specific contexts. And I'll admit to being surprised at the range of answers apart from the highly expected "Radian6" and "Social Mention." Respondents seemed experienced and informed, and I've sinced checked into each tool mentioned and bookmarked for later client use.

So Quora is a win for industry research.

Tracking questions asked by others

What can be even more useful, however, is to track questions asked by others. For example, right after I signed on, I began following this interesting question:

To date, the question has been answered a whopping 53 times, including substantial responses from social media aficionados such as David Armano, Brian Solis and Richard Binhammer. Each answer could have stood alone as a short blog post; the wealth of information and opinions available was exceptional.

In fact, the question stimulated so much intelligent discussion that Mashable writer Erica Swallow wrote up a useful summary of the replies here, concluding "The consensus seems to be that the social strategist role will be integrated at the very least into a broader outward-facing community role, whether that be from the marketing point of view or from various perspectives across organizations."

Conclusion

Quora might just be the next iteration of Help a Reporter Out. If a reporter or blogger has a good network of contacts within Quora and formulates and tags a question well, the research will do itself, and the task will be in analyzing and summarizing the data collected.

What about you? What uses are you finding for Quora?

Killing me softly: is BranchOut for Facebook a LinkedIn killer?

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BranchOut, the latest connection tool for social networkers, has some folks speculating that this could be the new tool that kills the older, more venerable LinkedIn network.

While BranchOut isn't a social network itself, it seems to aspire to replicate LinkedIn's business networking functions on the most popular social networking site to date, Facebook. Here's how it works--and why it threatens to overtake LinkedIn as a business network.

"BranchOut is a Facebook app that allows you to import your LinkedIn network to Facebook, it then matches that to your Facebook connections and allows you to add those people to your professional network, providing you with the same functionality in terms of places of work etc. that LinkedIn always has."--Incslingers

So while BranchOut isn't an entirely new social network, Rick Marini, BranchOut founder, designed it as a Facebook app, presumably to leverage the massive level of participation for Facebook's 500 million users for those who want to consider using Facebook to reinforce their business connections.

"The BranchOut site directs users to install a Facebook app, which ingests their entire “social graph” (i.e., all of their friends and contacts) and then pulls up a kind of dashboard view of the corporate relationships within that group, along with a search bar that allows you to search for companies your friends might be associated with."--Matthew Ingram on GigaOm

BranchOut is kind of LinkedIn for Facebook users. There is the barrier: in order for BranchOut to work like LinkedIn, the user's Facebook friends need to install the app. And the user must invite all her friends, which means basically re-creating the user's entire LinkedIn network a second time, on Facebook. This is quite a barrier, even if it can be done with just a few spammy clicks. If a user already has a solid network on LinkedIn, what is the motivation for re-creating it on Facebook?

More interestingly, there is the issue of perception. LinkedIn is widely perceived as the purely professional, business-oriented networking site. It's been around; it's venerable and respectable; it's established. Its brand promise is to help its 70 million users make professional connections and link job seekers with hiring companies. LinkedIn is in essence a corporate network, the modern equivalent of the networking lunch. Users expect to divulge corporate affiliations and detailed job descriptions in their profiles and to their connections.

Facebook, on the other hand, is most popular in the hands of GenX and GenY (and let's not forget the 55+ crowd) for sharing photos and personal life updates. Facebook doesn't yet have the business mojo and street cred that LinkedIn has worked so hard to establish. It's more like the pop star who is wildly popular today, but who might be the subject of an episode of Where Are They Now in two years.

I see BranchOut as an attempt to help Facebook grow up and be seen as a real adult instead of the networking world's equivalent of a one hit wonder pop star. BranchOut is a first step in blurring the line between personal and professional networks for the mainstream, a phenomenon that has proven difficult for those habituated to separating the two. Even though I have long maintained that the personal and professional have become one and the same, the fact that these two social networks, LinkedIn and Facebook, have existed side-by-side indicates that users still draw the distinction between personal social networking and business networking.

But as personal and professional lives blur, I suspect that users' networking habits will as well. I see BranchOut as the first obviously public domino to fall in the wall separating the business network from the social network trying to break out of its adolescent shell.

Managing your brand: how to set up a Google Alert

The number one question after today's wonderful social media panel at the Women in Nuclear conference was this: how do I set up a Google Alert?

The first step in any social media effort is listening. And if you're creating a social media presence online, whether that be for yourself (your personal brand) or for your entity or organization, your first move is to be aware of the conversations that are already happening around that topic.

So let's start with the easiest and most obvious monitoring: what are people saying about you as a person?

I believe firmly that absolutely everyone, from the CEO down to the receptionist, should be aware of her image online. And monitoring is the key to awareness. As personal branding guru Dan Schwabel Twittered recently, "Your first impression isn't a handshake anymore. It's your online presence." How many of you have researched someone you have a first meeting with by Googling him? It's a best practice for both personal and professional connection. And more than half of employers Google potential employees. Even if you're not looking for a job, it's smart to know what your connections will find when they Google you.

How to set up a Google Alert in five easy steps:

1. Go to www.google.com/blogsearch and enter your name surrounded by quotation marks into the search box and hit Search Blogs.



2. In the left hand side bar, under Subscribe, click Blogs Alerts.



3. Under Type, choose Everything. This will return not only blog mentions but Web results and mentions on social networking sites as well.


4. Under How Often, choose Once a Day (unless you want to receive several emails a day).
5. Under Deliver To, enter your email address. Click Create Alert.



For a preview of today's mentions, Google now offers a handy-dandy Preview Results box, so you can see the top five results for today.



And that's it! Now you're monitoring your online presence. Check your email inbox and scan daily to see mentions. And while you're at it, you might want to choose a few topics you'd like to track. For example, for Spoken Communications, I have Google Alerts set up for "contact center," "call center," "IVR," "customer experience," "customer service" and a few others. They provide a wealth of content useful for researching and creating blog posts and informative tidbits to post to our Twitter stream.

Questions?

Looking forward to Social Media Breakfast Seattle

It's almost here! After months of planning with a crack team of Seattle's social media glitterati, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow morning's inaugural Social Media Breakfast Seattle! Eric Weaver and Rod Brooks will be speaking on “Going Social is More Than Just Talking: Effective Ways to Build Social Media Strategy for your Business.”

Didn't get tickets to the sold out event? Listen to Eric and Rod on the Social Media Breakfast Seattle podcast, follow SMBSeattle on Twitter, fan us on Facebook and watch the live UStream here.

A few reasons why I'm looking forward to this event:

• Curious to find out how the breakfast social media crowd differs from the evening one
• Meeting Eric and Rod in person
• Hearing about social media strategy, not techniques
• Meeting non-social media business people with an interest in social media

Social Media isn't marketing; it's networking

When Michael Sommermeyer first Twittered "Changing Your Social Media Status Isn't a Marketing Tactic," I thought, "Oh, good! Someone making the case against social media as marketing--maybe hearing this side of the story will help me with the task of convincing reluctant clients of the value of social media!"

Alas, no such luck. Michael was making the case that, while updating your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or what-have-you status isn't a marketing strategy, it is an excellent way to expand your network and make connections you wouldn't otherwise have had access to. He relates the story of Jeremy Epstein, who through a relatively random social media connection, discovered that the person he'd been corresponding with was the Chief Privacy Officer at AOL, a great business connection for him.

So in this sense, no, social media isn't marketing. It's networking. It's the equivalent of going to those Chamber of Commerce events and getting to know your fellow business people. It's the equivalent of joining your national trade organization so you can get to know, mentor and connect with people in your industry. It's the equivalent of throwing a cocktail party at the industry's big yearly trade show so you can meet, connect and converse with associates, prospects and partners from all over the world.

So no, social media isn't marketing. It's good, old-fashioned networking, plain and simple. Just as we've been doing for years. And no, I don't mean the smarmy type of schmoozing where you go in expecting immediate business in return; that's the absolute wrong (and completely ineffective) way to network, both in real life and online. You go in with a genuine interest in engaging in conversation and a healthy curiosity for how you can help others, and from that, real connections are born.

No, no, no, no, NO

The other night, a young, attractive woman handed me a beautifully-designed business card in bold shades of red and black, promoting her new website. She had a charming smile as she handed her card to everyone in the group, saying, "we're trying to grow our audience."

No, no, no, no, NO.

After a few seconds of her explaining how she and her partner were trying to "grow their audience," I asked what the site was about--what the content might be of the videos she was promoting.

"We're showcasing our work."

Uh-huh. And I would be interested in that work because... ?

She went on to explain how they wanted to encourage the audience to create their own responses, get involved as fans--it all sounded great--but fans of what? And WHY?

"Content is king" isn't just a cheesy saying, folks; it's the rule to live by in our current age of social media. We can get great content almost anywhere for free--so what is compelling about yours? Why would I want to go to your site instead of the thousands out there that provide the same or better content in an easy format? You have to give me a reason not to throw your business card in the trash can on my way out the door. Give me something, some motivation to check in out later. Tell me what's in it for me.

And keep in mind that only your very dearest friends really care about helping you grow your audience. The rest of us want to know what's in it for us--why should we spend time on your site? What would we say when we Twitter it, blog it or mention it on a podcast? When we Digg or StumbleUpon it, what descriptors would we use in our recommendation? In short, why is your content different and compelling?

Don't tell me what you want; you seem nice, but I don't really know you enough to care about what you want. Instead, tell me what benefit your site has for me and my friends. What can it do for me? Entertain me in a way that only you can? Engage me in a story I won't want to leave? Provide me with a service that will save me time and money? I can't help you unless you tell me how to become first a raving fan and then a brand ambassador for you.

When people ask what I do, I say, "I help people build passionate communities online." (Thank you, Erich Viege, for the push to use that benefit statement more broadly!) If they ask for more informaiton, I'll continue with, "I show companies and not-for-profits how to use blogs, podcasts, Twitter, wikis, Facebook, Seesmic and other social media tools to engage both customers and critics in an interactive, online community." If they don't seem interested, I skip that statement and get curious about what they do and how I might be able to help them with an introduction, a connection or advice. Frankly, at most events, I end up hearing others' benefit statements far more often than I give mine. And that's as it should be--I believe strongly in going into things with the attitude of "what can I do for you?" rather than "how many business cards/leads can I get?"

Ick. No, no, no, no, NO.

If you're going to ask for traffic to your site outright, at least make it the beginning of an engaged conversation. How about, "Hey, well, my partner and I have this new site, and we're not sure how to promote it. We think it's cool; it's all about X, Y and Z. If you have time, I'd love it if you could take a look and tell me if you have any advice on how we could improve it."

Asking for advice is cool. Asking for hits isn't.

Thoughts?

DSSP #107: Seamless follow-through

Show Notes for Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter #107: Seamless follow-through

Coming up on this week's show: a chat with Alan Smith, CEO and founder of Oprius online contact management system.

Direct download is here.

00:00 Introduction

Welcome to DSSP! Send comments to OUR COMMENT EMAIL: [email protected], call 206-209-0806 and be sure to check the Talk It Up! blog. Sounders are graciously provided by BuzzCutzAudio.com. If you're interested in podcasting, check out all the free resources at www.podcastingprincess.com.

1:00 Intro and host chat
Full disclosure: I love this tool so much I became an affiliate and wanted to share with y'all--it's helped my own follow-through tremendously! To try out Oprius, click here.

4:10 Interview: Alan Smith

Alan Smith talks about the idea behind Oprius and why he bothered creating another contact management system; Heidi brings up the problems she's had in the past; Alan talks about new directions and features for those of us on the go.

27:25 Wrap-up

Why not recommend Diary to a friend? Send the link via email and spread the word! Visit us at Blubrry.com; email Heidi at [email protected] and don't forget to visit the show blog, Talk It Up! during the week, for articles and updates. Thanks for listening!

DSSP #104: Your Golden Rolodex

Show Notes for Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter #104: Your Golden Rolodex

Coming up on this week's show: a chat with Vicki Austin of Choices Worldwide on how to have fun with your golden rolodex.

Direct download is here.

00:00 IntroductionWelcome to DSSP! Send comments to OUR COMMENT EMAIL: [email protected], call 206-209-0806 and be sure to check the Talk It Up! blog. Sounders are graciously provided by BuzzCutzAudio.com. If you're interested in podcasting, check out all the free resources at www.podcastingprincess.com.

1:30 AnnouncementsHeidi's Podcasting Your Passion class at Chicago's Discovery Center is back! August 11th, 6:00-9:00 p.m. Register here.

3:20 Your Golden RolodexVicki Austin of Choices Worldwide, a veteran networker of 20 years, shares her secrets on how to have fun while building relationships and being generous in your life and work. To receive a FREE copy of her new e-book, Your Golden Rolodex, email her at [email protected] before August 1st. And if you have a networking story to share, she'd love to hear it!

31:45 Wrap-upWhy not recommend Diary to a friend? Send the link via email and spread the word! Visit us at Blubrry.com; email Heidi at [email protected] and don't forget to visit the show blog, Talk It Up! during the week, for articles and updates. Thanks for listening!

Networking, schmetworking

Sometimes, I'm amazed that Typepad still remembers my username and password after so long!

Yup, I've fallen into the path of spending so much time doing and creating that the blog has gathered virtual dust and gotten a bit lonely without me.

But there is so much going on, and I've got a lot to share!

First, a brief comment from yet another fabulous meeting of the Empowering Women Network group last night. Our speaker was Susan Fignar of PurSue, Inc., a business and personal coach. As she was walking the room through a series of exercises designed to help us reasses our strengths, weaknesses and business value systems, I was paired with a new member, Sue Kirchner, who runs the Chocolate Cake Club. (This is actually not what it sounds like; she promotes products that make life easier for busy parents--so families can have those "chocolate cake moments.")

During our discussions, she mentioned a contact of hers who will undoubtedly be a solid-gold, once-in-a-lifetime, couldn't-be-more-perfect lead for me in my current situation. I've already followed up, and I'm darn excited about meeting this lead.

What's the point? Well, I was thinking about the speaker from two months ago, who impressed me significantly less than Ms. Fignar. I won't name her, but her networking "activity" was to have everyone dance around the room while she played rock music and do the "business card dance." This involved handing out your cards to as many people as possible while the music played. Until you ran out of cards, in fact. Afterwards, applause was given to the person who collected the most cards.

At that time, I had to work to avoid rolling my eyes where others could see--thought it might be rude. But I'll do it here, because that ridiculous dance represents everything I hate about "networking." Networking is NOT, I repeat, NOT about papering the room with business cards in the shortest amount of time possible. How many cards you give or get has NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR NETWORKING SUCCESS. What matters is how you connect with people. Guess what? Ten one-minute meaningless exchanges will yield you nothing. But one ten-minute honest exchange with ONE person can make a bigger difference than a stack of business cards. I don't know about you, but I value a decent, honest conversation with someone who is being real with me a helluva lot more than a myriad of 20-second elevator pitches.

Who cares about the elevator pitch? Sure, it's useful for summarizing, and hey, I use mine all the time. But eventually you need to get real and just be yourself. Have an actual conversation. If you're interested in the person as a person, keep talking. If you don't especially like the person or the conversation, then either dig deeper or go meet someone you do like. Forget collecting business cards and take time to have a real conversation. It will be far more valuable than that stack of names and faces you can't even remember once you get home.

Networking tools and tips

David Dalka has a great story about using an extension cord to meet an expert in business development.

I actually have similar stories of being the hero by--get this--whipping out a Shout wipe at a key moment just before the VP of Marketing had to speak and shortly after an unfortunate marinara mishap.

What about you? What do you carry with you to help others out and to facilitate meeting people? I want to hear the stories!

Share your books: Shelfari

Over the last two weeks, I've received no less than seven invites for Shelfari, a new social site for sharing favorite books. And you know what I did?

I ignored them. Deleted them. Angrily, sometimes, even.

I mean, I have a blog or two. And a podcast. I'm on LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter. My god, people, how much sharing do we really need to do online, after all?

But this morning, I was in an adventurous mood. So I gave it a try. And you know what? I like it. It's easy to use, even if you haven't had your coffee yet.

The idea is that you simply create a free account by creating a user name and password, and then... you just list your favorite books. Period. That's it. If you want to list books, you click "Build Shelf." Then type a key word in the box, like "Harry Potter" or "Getting Things Done." It will bring up books that match that title or author, and you just click to add to your shelf. In 15 minutes this morning, I added 30 books by my favorite authors.

What's the point of that, you ask? Ahhhh! It's all in the sharing. The next step is to click on "My Friends" and "Invite Friends." With one click, you can import all the email addresses from your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail account, and anyone who accepts will be able to see your book recommendations. See the possibilities? Sure, we talk with our clients all the time, but how fun would it be to see what your too-busy, never-time-for-a-phone-call client thought of the latest Harry Potter book or Karen Post's Brain Tattoos on business branding? Or it might provide a fun way to connect with friends or colleagues you just don't get to see all that often. Basically, it's kind of like having your own, worldwide book discussion group.

It's simple. I like it. Wanna see my books? Click here! If you try it out, let me know what you think!

Networking interview

Well, I'm back from the RSNA show and buried in a foot of snow! Chicago is all snowy and slushy at the moment; it's perfect weather for catching up on my blogging and electronic life.

Pictures from RSNA will be up soon, but for now, I'm tickled to see that Josh Hinds has published the interview with me about networking here. Check it out and see what you think.

And this begs the question that I'd like to ask y'all as well: What one networking idea would you like to share--what one thing has made a difference for you that you'd like to pass on?