I just love the power of social and digital to keep relationships alive over time and distance.
When I was in London recently, I saw my former NYC neighbor, Polar Bear club member, and running partner, Robyn Massey for the first time in 13 years.
Without technology, there's NO way we would have stayed in touch.
This is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about technology.
Devora Zack claims that one of the most important airplane flights of her life occurred while she was an MBA student at Cornell and flew to NYC for a job interview.
The whole time, she was sitting next to the Dean of Cornell University and hadn’t recognized him, thus squandering a potentially valuable networking opportunity.
Her lesson?
You never know to whom you are sitting next to on a plane trip.
And that’s why I received a copy of Devora’s new book: Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected
You see, about 7 years ago, I was the one sitting next to Devora on a plane trip from Albany to DC. We struck up a conversation and though I have only seen her once since then, we’ve stayed in touch.
So, perhaps I was the 2nd most important flight of her life?
This book isn’t for me at all, but that’s not to say I didn’t find it extremely interesting or valuable.
First off, when I share posts or ideas or teach courses on a Global MicroBrand, I often make the mistake of assuming that people can do things the way I do.
Wrong.
Second, I know there is a demand for this book. As Chris Hagner asked me (and to which I blogged), “do you need to be an extrovert to successfully use social media?”
I answered no, then, and after reading Devora’s book, still answer no.
What makes this book so valuable for people who consider themselves introverts is how Devora (who claims she’s an introvert-though I’m skeptical, but I’ll take her word for it)
For me, the “platinum” rule (which replaces the Golden Rule) was a key insight:
“Don’t treat people how you want to be treated. Treat them how THEY want to be treated.”
Written in a very conversational, frank, and humorous style, I think this book is perfect for people who are paralyzed with fear at the idea of having to go to any type of networking event and for Introverts to see that networking is not a four-letter word.
If you know an Introvert who struggles with networking, this would be a good gift for them as well.
Though heard less frequently, one of the knocks against social media is that “I don’t want to know what you had for breakfast.”
My friend, Jamie, sends in the following anecdote. It tells you how to asses who is worth your time and who isn’t.
I have a certain "rule" in place when I network with people.
When I left Barnard for my first job, I entered myself in the alumnae database indicating I would be willing to talk to current students about my job/career path.
As I changed jobs and developed my career, I always updated my information and over the years I got e-mails from students interested in chatting with me about work, mostly they were looking for jobs and wanted to know how I got my job in news and how I could help them get one as well.
In the beginning, I would email back and forth with some of them but that took a lot of time and energy.
I decided chatting over the phone was an easier way to disseminate my wisdom; I could do it quickly, perhaps while walking to work or folding my laundry, but more importantly I could tell immediately whether the person was actually serious about hearing from me or was just going through the motions of "networking."
So, I changed my policy. I gave them my phone number and told them I would be happy to speak by phone.
An amazing thing happened. In almost every single case, that ended the connection! I never heard from the people again. The ones who followed through either called me or emailed back to set up a time to chat.
It was a remarkable weeding process since the ones who were willing to chat by phone happened to be really interesting people that I was delighted to help.
I was able to place two of them in internships, one at MSNBC and one at CNN. I was able to make further connections for others. And, I was happy to do this because these people were obviously committed to real networking.
It has proved to be a remarkably efficient process because 9 times out of 10 people don't want to make the effort to call so I'm not wasting much energy.
Image of Jonathan Novich
I found myself alone in the front of the minivan at 9pm with the rest of the team sleeping in back on the last leg of our family vacation.
Since I hadn’t put the word out to schedule late-night conference calls, (see “how to use Twitter and Facebook” to network”), I invented Rolodex Roulette.
The idea?
Commit to calling one person in my phonebook for each letter of the alphabet by last name and allow the randomness of the touch screen scrolling interface to determine whom I would call.
You never know, right?
Well, I ended up making 23 calls (I only know one person whose last name starts with X and he lives in Japan, so that wasn’t going to happen) and we got home before I could get to Y and Z.
The result?
8 GREAT conversations and connecting with people I hadn’t chatted with in a LONG time.
Plus, when you talk to “random” people, you have the opportunity to hear things that are outside of your normal discourse, which broadens your worldview.
Here’s the list (* means that I actually spoke with them)
A 33% hit rate. Not bad.
Clark (#22) suggested that the idea could be an iPhone app and linked into social networks such as a Facebook status update (tweet) that says “I am playing Rolodex Roulette and speaking with Clark Valberg now” (with the appropriate links.)
Anyway, I had a great time and highly recommend the game.
A few weeks ago, we were making the trip from the DC area to Chicago. For a variety of reasons, we decided to drive overnight.
With the wife and 3 kids sleeping in the back, there weren’t too many options of how to keep myself occupied for those long stretches of PA, OH, and IN.
But the phone was one of them.
Put out a few tweets and FB status updates looking for takers to “keep me company” and wouldn’t you know it, 10 people did.
I was on the phone pretty much non-stop from 10.30pm to 6am (save for the brief chat I had with the Ohio Highway Patrolman, but that is another story).
Some were personal friends, some were business contacts.
Some I had spoken to many times, others for the first time.
To give a full immersive experience of participating in the road trip, I used Google Latitude to share out my position with each caller, so they could watch me drive along the interstates in real time as we chatted.
In the heavily social networked world, the face to face meetings take on even more value (I call it the ‘last mile’)…as does the phone. Solidifying some relationships via good ol’ 1:1 voice means a lot…for me and for them.
And it was fun.
And…without Twitter and Facebook, it NEVER would have been possible to quickly identify willing participants.
Everyone's got their beef with America/Americans. If I have one, it's people taking for granted the freedoms we enjoy.Would be honored to have you...
The address is www.jer979.com/igniting-the-revolution/
Coming back to this post on content questions, I am thinking that there is a way to break down my two blogs so that it makes sense.
On this blog, I talk about the topics that are related to how I make money.
And on this blog, I talk about topics that are related to what I am doing while not making money.
How's that for a bifurcation?
Updated: i've added a feed of my "work" blog to the sidebar, so you can always see what is going on there :-)
What I like about it is that the platform I am using (www.graffiticms.com) offers me a LOT more flexibility to grow my site and Jer979 online experience than a simple blog.
I'm not sure it'll work, but wanted to give a heads up on it and ask for feedback...
I've had a few people ask me to blog on "social networking for business."
Thought about this for a while and my answer is: It doesn't exist. There is just plain and simple social networking.
A bit extreme, perhaps, but business ultimately comes down to relationships with other people and whether you like them or not.
I guess I don't think it is possible (and perhaps not desirable) to think anymore of a "business" life and a "personal" life. It is all one.
Now, you may not care that my grandparents died or that my infant daughter got up at 3am, but that's part of who I am. And that's fine.
When I blog about that, you can skip over it, but when you see my Twitter updates, connect to me on Facebook or LinkedIn or add my Tumblr feed or connect in Plaxo, you'll start to see the whole person.
You can decide if I am the type of person with whom you want to do business.
You may not like my political views.
You may think I spend too much time online.
But, you may also find some of my del.icio.us links fascinating and my Shared Items/Articles to be very informative and helpful.
And, even though you aren't interested in the fact that my kids are sick, it may tell you that I am a sensitive guy (maybe) and like to reflect on things.That may consciously (or subconsciously) be of value to you.
Or, if you look at my Amazon wishlist, you'll get a feel for the type of interests I have...
Yes, there will be "noise" that you'll have to filter out, but when I expose all of this information, it gives you a clear idea of the person with whom you are dealing (full disclosure kind of thing) and that will help you decide if you want to work with me because of who I am.
That's social networking for business.
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times..."The #1 reason why people go to events is to meet other people."
It's not about the (often boring) powerpoint presentation. It's about your ability as a host to create an environment that is a social lubricant and helps people meet each other.
This morning, after seeing his "tweet" on Twitter and clicking through to the event invite on Facebook, I joined a number of other "fans/friends of Jeff Pulver" at a networking breakfast.
Networking events run the gamut, but Jeff understands his role as well as anyone. He utilized his newly created Jeff Pulver "Real-Time Social Media Networking Kit".
It employs the concept of "tags" and "labels" to facilitate networking.
So, as I am walking around, I see someone named Jimmy Gardner. His label said "passionate technologist." As I often think of myself in these terms, I began the conversation.
Well, was I lucky!
Jimmy's got a little app at www.mydropbin.com which, I think, has some pretty cool potential in terms of the way we save and share REALLY large files. (Full disclosure: I haven't tested it out yet, so can't vouch for quality, but the concept made a TON of sense to me).
Once you have a conversation with someone, you write a "tag" (a term that describes the nature of the chat or something you associate with that person) on a small sticker and then place it on their "tag cloud."
So, after talking to Thomas Vander Wal, where I found out that he is recognized as the creator of the term "Folksonomy" in Wikipedia, I wrote "Wikipedia" and put it in his tag cloud.
And, lastly, you could, like in Facebook, write something on a person's "public wall." So, Eric Litman, managing director of WashingtonVC, who was looking very slick, IMHO, in his velvet sport jacket, got a "nice jacket!" post on his wall from me.
Just a great morning (including David Vyorst, the producer of "The First Basket" about the role of Jews in the beginnings of professional basketball. Here's the story and some video clips from YouTube)
And Joel Selzer of Ozmosis, trying to bring some much needed better/faster information to physicians and Gordon Peters of Gratis Internet, whose label said "monetizing Facebook" also got me intrigued.
(and a huge call out to Tamar Lustman who helped make my attendance possible)
Jeff's event was a great example of how a network facilitator, or as Seth might say "Community Manager" can create a great (dare I say 'remarkable') experience for the members.
When I interview people for a position, I often ask them about their passions outside of work.
You know why?
I like to find people like me. People who, in their own free time, pursue activities that are similar to what they get paid to do.
On my own time (after the kids are in bed and the usual "life stuff" -exercise is in that category), you know what I do?
It's true.
Now, in category #1, there are some folks I listen to more than others. There are a lot of self-proclaimed "marketing pundits" out there (I think I am one as well!) but I have a Hall of Fame.
And, in that group, are Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell.
Their book, Citizen Marketers
When you read a blog, you get to know the author(s) on a different level than if you read an article or a book.
I know Jackie is a football fan (Steelers). I know they moved from Chicago to Austin last year. I know that Ben likes music.
Over time, I've built a relationship with them.
First was my *famous* series of Metamucil related posts. Then, I won a contest on their blog. We "friended" on Facebook.
So, I summoned the courage ;-) a few weeks back and said, "hey, I'll be in Austin on Jan. 15th, would you like to meet up?"
They went for it!
And, for me, at least, it was just a great experience. Having some serious 1:2 time with two of the leading thinkers where I could pose specific questions about my business and career to them and get personalized feedback...which I'd 'earned' in the sense of participation within their community.
By the time I got to the gate for my flight to Houston, the seats immediately around it were mostly occupied.
I went across the way and took a seat there, noticing as I did, that the flight departing from that gate was also going to Baltimore, only it was scheduled for 2 hours later.
Soon after I got there, the first announcement came over the PA
"We have mechanics on the plane right now. We will update you in 20 minutes."
The time for update kept getting pushed back.
I saw a man approach the desk of the gate for the later Baltimore flight.
He looked familiar. I knew where I had met him, but his name, at the moment, escaped me.
As I stared at him, I started listening to his conversation with the gate agent.
"I want to switch to this flight to Baltimore. If they aren't going to tell us the situation until 6pm, that means we're not leaving until 6.45pm, at the earliest. This flight is at 7.15pm and it's guaranteed."
"Brilliant," I thought. The old "bird in the hand" adage at play.
I approached him and after a minute, Charlie and I had reconnected. Equally important...he saved my travel experience home!
And to continue the bird analogy..."two birds with one stone." Got to reconnect with a first-rate technologist AND got home earlier. For all I know, that other plane is still in Houston.
I've been hot and cold on Facebook.
Thanks to Ari Goldberg, I am hot again.
I caught up Ari (he does tech support, if you need it) at a New Year's brunch today at the Guggenheim's (more on that later) and he tells me:
"You know, we have a friend in common, Joel Haber. I haven't seen him since High School, but I found him because I saw he was a friend of yours on Facebook. I looked at his profile and I see that he is
- supporting the WGA strike
- interested in being a writer
As it turns out, I know someone who is pretty high up in the WGA, so I brokered the introduction."
There, my friends, in a nutshell is the power of Internet-based social networking.
It used to be that you would need to search
I've added two services on the sidebar Lijit and PredictAd to help you.As my cousin Barry says, "there are things I can do in person that I could never do on the phone."
There's some stat that says that "communication is only 7% verbal."
So when you are on the phone, you are at a big disadvantage in terms of getting your message across.
That's why I am in St. Louis today (and was in Seattle last week).
There are some folks on my extended virtual who live here and I decided that, if I want to be a "change agent," I need to sell them face to face on my ideas.
No matter how digital we are...email/video conferencing/chats/phones, the in-person human touch can work wonders.
It has for me these last two trips.
Something to think about as we build relationships around the country and world.
People OFTEN ask me about the value of LinkedIn
Here's a testimonial from a guy whose entire business is based off of it.
Saw a friend of ours today at the Hannukah concert for Tonka.
He's a physician and on call at nights this week.
He saw me at CVS on Monday as well.
"Dude, do you ever work?" he asked.
Which reminded me, again, of how unique my position is for some people.
"Sure, but my work is practically place and sometimes, time, independent.
I work at 9.30pm. I work on Sat. nights if I want to."
I pulled out my T-mobile Dash.
"And I am working now."
In the Man Cave, I am as connected to the outside world and my colleagues as anyone in an office.
Yesterday, I hosted a webcast with 80 people, all while I was on camera.
It's a whole new, globatlized, flat, knowledge, connected economy.
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