CCM@FBCW MEETING - 8/2/11

SOCIAL NETWORKING STRATEGIES & INTERNET RESEARCH

Steve Allen Vision Path Financial LLC

Agenda
 Networking, Netweaving  Web-Based Social

& Referrals Networking  Linked In Overview  Social Media/Branding/Research Strategies  Internet & Other Research Tools  Strong Framework/Foundation  Questions, Answers & Discussion

Whats Your Approach to Networking?

Why Network? Some Stats:

A referral generates 80% more results than a cold call.

Secrets of Getting a Job in This Market

y Know what your 100% market-ability is (market value) y Conducting a targeted search with a specific

marketing campaign  Passive Referrals from within the company (COIs)  Tailored resumes for each opportunity y Leveraging the Web 2.0 Tools to get you to the hiring managers so you have a chance to tell your story y Leveraging the Web 2.0 Tools to Understanding the Short Term and Long Term objectives of the Companies, Departments and Managers who may want to hire you (Research, Research, Research)

Your Mission Impossible

1.

Uncover the name of the hiring manager

Find the Pain Holder HR Generalist & Recruiters are only intermediaries

Identify the Short Term and Long Term objectives of the job / dept / company. 3. Create an Achievement Based marketing campaign that fixes those problems.
2.

Networking Toolbox
y y y y y y y

Netweaving (networking on steriods) Professional Association/Networking-Civic Groups Social/Wed-Based Networking (LinkedIn, Facebook, Xing, Plaxco, Web 2.0) Communication Channels personal website, speaking engagements, writing (blogging, articles) Research Tools & Web Sites Strong Foundation/Framework Commitment Time, Energy, Genuine Interest

NetWeaving Overview
NetWeaving is a Pay It Forward form of networking based upon the Golden Rule and the belief that, what goes around. . .DOES come back around! 1. Is there someone I know who would benefit knowing or meeting this person? 2. Could this person provide information and/or resources to someone else I know? 3. Has this person impressed me so much that I need to get to know him or her better, and if they continue to impress me with their exceptional quality, make them a part of your Trusted Resource Network.
"The Heart and Art of NetWeaving Bob Littell, Chief NetWeaver www.netweaving.com

NetWeaving Objectives

1.

Be a connector of other people with their Needs, Problems & Opportunities in mind not yours.

2. Position yourself as the no-stringsattached resource for others and establish yourself as The go-to person 3. Constantly be on the lookout for persons who are best of breed at what they do and when you identify one, stay in touch and add to Your trusted network

Perfect Referral Program

15 20 Referrals In the life of every contact
#2 Referral #1 Referral

Center of Influence

#3 Referral

#4 Referral

Professional Associations

Group Discussion: Whos involved? Whats the name of the organization?

Technology & Accounting Associations

www.Weddles.com

www.Weddles.com

NETWORKING vs. SELLING

NETWORKING SELLING

y Requires MUTUAL

UNDERSTANDING much as What you can do for ME Requires showing concern and interest in others Requires TIME to build Requires INTEGRITY, CREDIBILITY and TRUST Focus on RELATIONSHIP Building

y Saying Hello to many people

y What I can do for YOU as

y y y y

and passing out many business cards y Does NOT include any follow up y Ineffective way to establish a productive network

Professional Organizations
Dont just join.. Consistently attend, get involved and participate! Get on the Board or key committees!
(e.g., Membership Committee, Speaker Committee)

Whats New in Social Networking?

Web Based Networking Sites

Social Media Trends Impacting Business

y y y y y y y y

Companies are still new to social media (66.5% over all; 50% using it for a year; 20% adopted it in past 13-18 mo.s) Businesses focus on the Big 5 FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs The 2-Year confidence mark (25% fully integrated into bus. Model; 50% have well-dev. SM strategy) Companies are broadcasting vs. connecting Businesses turn to internal sources for SM support (vs. early adopters-communications/advertising/marketing agencies) SM adoption obstacles lack of management support, confidentiality concerns, employee SM usage/mgmt. Lack of Social Media measurement (what/how/how to interpret; most not using business metrics) Companies lack confidence in their SM strategy

LinkedIn vs. Facebook

Stats
y Current Membership: +80 Million  US Membership: ~40 Million y 90% hold 4 year degree  50% of these members hold advanced degrees y 80% 24-54 years old y LinkedIn platform available in 4 languages  English  Spanish  French  German

Linked In Success

My Linked In Opportunities

Only Include Trusted Professionals

Centers of Influence (COIs)

Distribution List
1. Under Contacts select New (drop down) 2. Then choose Distribution List 3. Name the list

Top 5 Ways to Promote Business or Yourself Using LinkedIn

y y y y y y

Add your blog to LinkedIn (WordPress app) drives more traffic and highlights your expertise Autoplay a video! (SlideShare.net app + YouTube) Showcase your books or others books (Amazon Reading List) Syncing with Twitter on LinkedIn Feature your events on LinkedIn (LI Events app) More advanced apps: (Business) Tripit Travel, Files, Google Presentation, Polls, Huddle Workspaces; (Legal) Legal Updates, Lawyer Rating; (Designer) Creative Portfolio Display for multi media content

Other Under Used LinkedIn Features

Posting of Presentations (via SlideShare) and Documents (via Box) y Optimize Profile for Better LI Ranking (title, headline, specialties, experience, education, additional info. interests/groups/assoc.s, references (1 ref. in ea. experience section counts twice) y Joining Groups maximize access to contacts beyond your network; limit 50+ (sub-groups excluded)
y

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Consider Upgrading Your LinkedIn Account

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10 Reasons to Upgrade
y y y y y y y y y

InMails per Month (30% more effective than reg.) Profile Organizer: Great research tool and organizer (create folders & add to profile) Premium Search Filter 1000 results per search Saved Search Alerts (like a Google Alert) Introduction Requests (50 o/s at a time) Profile Stats (shows you how people are finding you) Expanded View Open Link Icon Sneak Peeks (new features)

Social Media/Branding/Research Strategies

y y y y y y y y

Secure Your Name Across Social Media http://www.inetpreneur.com Manage Your Links Online Trunk.ly (tracks shared links online), PostPost (FaceBook news aggregator) Develop consist messaging and brand co.& personal Consist approach to content development and maintenance Set aside dedicated time to implement your strategy daily (e.g., Tweets), weekly (e.g., blogs) Be responsive to your target audiences Start small and gradually buildup your online presence Use aggregator tools and alerts to leverage research efforts

What is Your Social Media Strategy?

Do You Have One? Start by Developing a Content Strategy Three Important Elements to CS > Know what your customers or audience want (keyword analysis Google AdWords, WordTracker) > Know where your audience hangs out (Flowtown demographics; LinkedIn-B2B; FaceBook-B2C; Google Alertsnews/blogs/tweets/more; TweetDeck-specific topics  Measure the results: Use the KISS principle. Track comments & likes (FaceBook), followers/retweets/ mentions (Twitter), referral traffic (co/personal web sites), local influence/depth of engagement (small bus.) Final Takeaways: Listen, Be Patient, Be Flexible Tools to Manage Content: Trunk.ly, Storify, Posterous
y y y

Other Tools in the ToolBox

Blogging: Apture, Onlywire Twitter: FormuLists, HashTracking, Oneforty, TweetDeck for Chrome (multiple accts.) y Other SM Tools:  LinkedIn Company Page upgrade (3 banner ads, video per product/svc, analytics)  Quora online knowledge hub (continually improving collection of Q&A)
y y

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Top Web Sites/Blogs (per www.ebizmba.com)

y y y y

y y

Social Networking: FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Ning, Tagged, Classmates Blogs: HuffingtonPost, Engadget, Mashable, TechCrunch, BusinessInsider, GizModo News: Yahoo!News, CNN, MSNBC, Google News, NY Times, Digg, HuntingtonPost, Fox News, Reuters Business Sites: Yahoo! Fin, CNN Money, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg, Google Finance, MSN MoneyCentral, BusinessWeek, Forbes, MarketWatch Job Sites: Yahoo! HotJobs, Careerbuilder, Monster, Indeed, SimplyHired, the Ladders, Snagajob, USAJobs, Vault, Jobster Web2.0: YouTube, Wikipedia, craigslist, twitter, WordPress, eBlogger, eHow, digg, TypePad, HubPages,

Leverage Internet Research Tools

y y y y y y

RESEARCH DEFINED C.I. SEARCH ENGINES & METASEARCH TOOLS DATABASES & SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY WEB 2.0: GOOGLE/iGOOGLE/SEARCH STRINGS/ALERTS LINKEDIN RESEARCH - NAMES WEB SITES OF INTEREST JOBS/COMPANY-INDUSTRY RESEARCH

Competitive Intelligence Research

y Defined: The process by which you decide what you need to

know about your competitors, where to get the raw facts you need, and how to make sense of what you find or dont find. y Two Phases: 1) Use of Public Sources to Develop Data (raw facts) on competition, competitors, and the market environment, 2) Transformation, by Analysis, of that Data into Information (usable results). y Two Types of Research: Primary research for hire, both quantitative and qualitative; Secondary information already out in the public domain (FREE) y Key CI Maxim: 90% of all information that you need to make key decisions and to understand your market and competitors is already public or can be systematically developed from public data.

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Public Information
Defined: All information you can legally and ethically identify, locate, and then access. y Types: Publications, press releases, news articles, lawsuit documents, patents, research/whitepapers, video, blogs, databases, surveys, government data, financial/regulatory/business filings
y

Researching Companies
Determine if your company is publicly or privately owned y Determine if your company is foreign or domestically owned y Determine if your company is a subsidiary or a division y Determine if your company is local, regional, or otherwise small in scope
y

Company Information/Directories/Financials
y Trade associations are great resources y Databases/Search Engines: Google, Northern

Light, OEDb.org
y Utilize free trials of fee-based resources (e.g.,

Hoovers Online, D&B- Million $ Dir., Gale Groups Ward Bus. Dir., S&Ps Corporations, Dirs & Execs, Thomas Register of Amer. Manu.) y Check your local libraries (public/college) for directories (multi- & single-industries) Galileo, Reference USA, y Use financial websites/resources (e.g., stock analyst reports) for details on co. financial stmts., stock data, product lines, etc.

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Financial Information Sources

y y y

y y

Moodys Manuals/S&Ps Corporation Records Value Line Investment Survey Annual Reports (Publics) on co. web sites, SECs Edgar web site (10-K, 10-Q, disclosures), copies in libraries. Securities Brokerage - Research Firms/Personal Financial Advisors (e.g., TD Ameritrade- free reports) Wall St. Journals Deal Blogs Government Data (by NAICS/SIC codes) U.S. Census website

Other Sources of Industry/Company Data

y y y y

y y y

Media/Print/Other: Business Periodicals, Ads, Technical Journals, Trade Papers (e.g., WSJ, NY Times) Academics & Academic Research ABI/Inform(ProQuest)/Galileo (Public Libraries) Business and Industry Trade Associations & Directories (e.g., Chambers of Commerce, International Directory of Co. Histories, St. James Press) Experts: Consultants, Expert Witnesses, EmployeesCurrent & Former, Security Analysts, Competitors, Suppliers, Customers, Bankers, U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook, McGraw Hill Reference Book of Corporate Management, Dun & Bradstreet Site Visits - Tours

How to Use Databases & Online Searches Efficiently

y y y y y y y y

Know what you want (before going online) Select the right databases/sites Know the alternatives to using a database Know what the database/site contains Ask for help Use tools that allow you to search multiple databases (e.g., Dialog) Write out your search strategy before going online Monitor your results

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SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY THAT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW

y Boolean searching - Relating two concepts with

"Booleans" and, or, not (and not, but not.)

y Proximity - Relating two or more words by the

expected distance between them.

y Fields - Title, author, subject headings, text,

Web page, title

y Phrase searching - Usually uses double quotes

to search for a series of words as a whole.

y Searching by Format - Examples: Word

document, PDF file, JPEG picture, MP3 audio file.

Web 2.0 Tools for Your Job Searches

What if I dont have a lot of Linked In contacts?

How can I still get critical information?

Google Search Strings/iGoogle

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Example Genuine Parts Company Duluth GA

> To get Press Release / Alerts: News "press release" alerts "Genuine Parts Company" "Duluth GA > Linked In Hacks: site:linkedin.com Genuine Parts Company "Greater Atlanta Area (inurl:pub | inurl:pub) -inurl:dir > Linked In Hacks: site:linkedin.com "Genuine Parts Company" current * * * Manager "Greater Atlanta Area (inurl:pub | inurl:pub) -inurl:dir > To find Email format: "email * * *genpt.com " (Atlanta | GA)

Google News Alerts Sent to Your Personal Email

Linked In Search for Genuine Parts

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How to Find Current Managers or Directors

181 current Managers or Directors

How to Find Emails of Decision Makers in the Company

Researching for Jobs

y Social Network Sites: www.linkedin.com,

www.plaxco.com, www.facebook.com, www.twitter.com

y Job Aggregator Sites: www.indeed.com,

www.linkup.com, www.selectleaders.com,
y Job Boards: www.monster.com, www.careerjet.com,

www.careerbuilder.com, www.theladders.com,
y Others: www.jobster.com, Craigslist,

www.myworkster.com, www.visualcv.com, www.jobfox.com, www.ecademy.com, blogging web/video profiles (e.g., www.myinterviewlink.com, www.veoh.com, www.youtube.com, www.myspace.com/videos

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Web-Based Resources
http://www.competia.com/ http://www.salaryscout.com/ http://oedb.org/library/features/ best-online-research-sites http://www.docstoc.com/ http://www.mra-net.org/ http://www.careerbliss.com/ http://www.prnewswire.com/ http://newsbreaks.infotoday.co m/NewsBreaks/Deep-Web-TechDives-Into-Vertical-SearchPortals-51531.asp ttp://www.rileyguide.com/salary .html http://www.deepwebtech.com/ http://www.scip.org/ http://www.techtipsdigital.com/onlinedocument-sharing-websites-top-10/251/ http://www.weddles.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sea rch_engines http://www.corptech.com/ http://www.payscale.com/ http://www.mednar.com/ http://www.bls.gov/ http://www.wageweb.com/ http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchgu ides/intresearch http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/jobhun ting/sec_page.php?sub_item=020 http://www.vault.com/ http://www.aresnet.org/

More Web-Based Resources

http://www.fastcompany.com/onlin e/14/intelligence.html http://www.telonu.com/ http://www.jiansnet.com/topic/271 /Best-Salary-Research-Websites http://www.jobsearchintelligence.c om/ http://www.dejanews.com/ http://www.mrs.org.uk/ http://productivityjunkies.com/pro ductivity-nugget/gist-social-mediaproductivity-tool-for-real-estateagents-productivity-nugget-134/ http://www.marketingpower.com/ http://techcrunch.com/2008/12/26 /telonu-another-place-to-writeabout-how-much-you-hate-yourjob/ http://www.erieri.com/ http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/ http://jobsearch.about.com/od/salarysites /Salary_Sites.htm http://www.gist.com/ http://www.biznar.com/ http://www.realtor.org/research http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/jobhunti ng/sec_page.php?sub_item=019 http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/jobhunti ng/sec_page.php?sub_item=018 http://forums.pcworld.com/index.php?/to pic/85059-scribd-social-publishing-sitedumps-flash-in-favor-of-html5/ http://www.fastcompany.com/welcome.ht ml?destination=http://www.fastcompany.c om/magazine/14/intelligence.html http://www.acrp.org/ http://www.jobsinminneapolis.com/article s/title/How-Much-Are-You-Worth-Top-FiveSalary-Survey-Sites/4214/418 /

Even More Web-Based Tools

y y y y y y y y y

http://www.cbsalary.com/ http://www.careers.wsj.com/ http://www.northernlight.com/ http://gottamentor.com/ViewGeneralAdvice. aspx?g=20 http://www.doxtop.com/bestsps.aspx http://arerp.wordpress.com/ http://www.Scitopia.org/ http://www.jobnob.com/ http://www.scribd.com/

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Research - Next Steps

y y y y y y

Determine What You Want Develop a Game Plan Learn to Use the Research Tools Stay Focused Leverage the Aggregator Tools Share Information/Ideas with Others

Strong Foundation/Framework
y y y y y y y

Personal/Professional Brand (Value proposition) Industry-Functional expertise and leadership Game Plan Stair Way to Success Pay-It-Forward Approach (Netweaving) Follow Up Consistent, Thoughtful, Helpful High-Energy/Personable Long-Term Commitment/View

Stairway to Success
y y y y y

Understand and Document Your Accomplishments and Capabilities (resume, brochure, WOW ppt, ) Articulate Your Value Proposition (30-sec elev pitch) Develop Target Companies/Industries/Individuals Create a Personal/Professional Marketing Plan Weekly Game Plan During Full-Time Career Search - Five (5) face-to-face meetings (ask for 3 contacts) - Three (3) professional/social meetings-events - One (1) interview (phone or in-person)

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Know the Key Networking Influencers

y

Industry Experts/Advisors Strategic Business Partners (lawyers, CPA firms, bankers, consultants) Hub-Spoke & Connector Networkers (meeting planners, educators/trainers, ) Divine Intervention Gods Plan (Serendipity/Chance)

Questions, Answers & Discussion

Questions and Answers ?

Contact Information
Steve M. Allen President & CFO Vision Path Financial, LLC Steve.allen@visionpathfinancial.com Cell: (404) 993-2500 Creative, Strategic Problem-Solver for the C-Suite

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