Invitations and Social Media

Social Media Etiquette: When sending invitations in social networking add a personal message. Someone wise once said that if you were at a conference you wouldn’t go around handing out your business card without talking to the people. Sending a personal note with the invitation is like talking to people when you pass out your card. 

I get all kinds of invitations to connect with folks. Mostly, I’m an open networker, so I accept most everyone’s invitation. However, I know many open networkers who will ignore an invitation to connect if there isn’t a personalized note attached with the invitation. Just the default message is often considered bad form. 

For me, I like to know how I can help the person I am networking with. So if we’ve not met face to face, or even when we have, I’ll ask for a meeting to get to know them better. Networking is all about relationships and relationships commonly occur through utility. What I mean is this; going back in history to ancient Greece and Aristotle it was understood that friendships often began as two people worked together on a project of some kind. 

Getting to know one another is in part getting to know what the other person is good at and what they are not and how you can be of service to each other. When I “network” with people it’s often about how I can help them and/or can I introduce them to someone who can assist or help them. 

Social Media is a bonanza for helping people connect and keep track of their connections. It helps networkers network better. I appreciate the updates I see about my connections through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  I can drop a quick note to say hi, congratulations or ask what’s up. Easy and quick, and it reminds folks that I’m out in the world especially when I’m not just next door.

I read an article recently that argued against the comment many people make that they aren’t any good at networking. Social networking and networking share this in common, people say they aren’t any good at it. In fact, most people would be fine with social networking if they just applied simple etiquette. Saying “Hi” and “Thank you” and taking a second to acknowledge someone with a smile or status update. Smiles work great in face to face networking and a smiley can makes a person’s day as well. 

Another great tip is to give before you receive. Social networking utilizes the trust economy. Asking for help via a social network like LinkedIn or Facebook, but if you’re always taking and never giving people will see that and identify you as a user and not a giver. Answering people’s questions on LinkedIn is a great way to increase your presence in your network. (Remember these are the people you’re connected to and the groups you are part of.)  And if your answers are good, you’ll rise in people’s esteem and they’ll remember you. 

One last tip is if you want recommendations, give recommendations. In LinkedIn you need three recommendations to have a 100% complete profile. And the easiest way I know to get a recommendation is to write one for someone in your network. When you do that, LinkedIn then points out that it would be nice if they returned the favor by writing you a recommendation. Or you could just ask a person in your network if they would be kind enough to write you a recommendation. Remember someone wise once said, “... ask and you will receive.”

Connecting with folks is as easy as saying hi! Growing your network is as easy as saying, would you like to connect with me? Facebook makes it even easier, there we can be friends. :-)  

Facebook: You looking at me?

I posed this question today during a breakout session... Does the benefits of Facebook and all its power, reach and opportunities out weigh the risks of viruses, scams, and loss of privacy?

In a group of 40 or more job seekers, most were 50 plus in age, we had a spirited debate about the pros and cons of using Facebook as a tool for people in transition doing a serious job search. The title of the breakout session was: "FACEBOOK: You lookin' at me?"

What do you think? How do you use Facebook? Do you use it for marketing yourself? Would you use Facebook for job searching? What about companies vetting candidates, checking out Facebook pages for insight into their candidates; is it fair? Tell me what you think?

What do people see as the risks of using Facebook as social media while conducting a job search, building a business or marketing themselves or their business?


Maybe it's more simple than that... maybe social media is far too open to risk anything as important as finding and landing your next job. Maybe all the noise Facebook presents in terms of people's rants, inane commentary on the world or their lives, makes Facebook not an appropriate professional networking or marketing tool. Is LinkedIn the only professional social networking environment to utilize?

I'd really appreciate any thoughts, suggestions or comments you have on the subject.  Remember that networking is not easy to do well, but it is essential in moving forward in your career.

Transition & Social Networking

   If networking is an active and dynamic process of building mutually beneficial relationships, social networking is a means to growing, maintaining and add to those relationships in an effective and simplified manner. This is true for everyone and even more so for the person in transition.

   Social media tools are meant to aid in your job search and get you through transition more quickly, but they are not meant to waste time, brain power or energy. Warning: Don’t allow your valuable time to be twittered away! That goes for Facebook, LinkedIn and the Internet as a whole. Social networking can be a critical part of your job hunting or marketing strategy. Regardless of which tools you use – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, you need to:

• Connect with other people
• Build relationships 
• Get exposure and provide help to others

   In the spirit of full disclosure, I was not so quick to jump on the Twitter bandwagon and I was reluctant to get a Facebook account. However, I found Facebook invaluable keeping up to date with family and friends when I was travelling 90% of the time. Yet, as a professional tool I was adverse until my clients started finding me and asking to connect on Facebook in addition to LinkedIn.

   On the other hand, I’ve been using LinkedIn for years and know it is a professional tool that works well. What I have learned about Twitter like Facebook: people started connecting to me once I was out there; in fact, Twitters’ whole model is designed to save time and energy. I recommend The Twitter Job Search Guide: Find a Job and Advance Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day by Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan & Deb Dib.

   I have a friend and colleague Bruce Bixler  @brucebixler49 or http://www.linkedin.com/in/brucebixler49 who is an expert in using social media for fun and profit. Besides Bruce there are many, many opportunities to attend workshops and webinars that are free or very reasonable.

   Networking is here to stay and hopefully you will continue to network after you’ve landed your next job. Likewise, you’ll want to continue to use social media as a way to save time as you stay connected while on the job.

   If you don’t use Facebook or Twitter I suggest you start looking into their benefits and how they can keep you up to date in your industry as well as posted on important data and breaking news concerning your job search. Get an account and start using the tools and soon you’ll be connected to people you need to know.