online social networking

Poken and Social Networking – The Perfect Match?

Poken and Social Networking – The Perfect Match?

What is a Poken? To be honest, I first encountered Poken on a business trip to Japan in December of 2009 and assumed the technology was Japanese because of its “cute” factor.  At first I didn’t really understand exactly what it was until I saw it in action before my own eyes. In essence, similar to the iPhone Bump application, Poken allows you to wirelessly exchange your contact information and social profiles with those that you meet instead of exchanging business cards.  Their corporate homepage has an excellent overview of how Poken works. A detailed description of how it works …

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How to Find New and Targeted Social Media Content on Business Exchange

How to Find New and Targeted Social Media Content on Business Exchange

Hopefully after reading my blog post on 6 Great Reasons to Become a Business Exchange User you have registered on the professional networking site and are already actively sharing and reacting to content as well as making new industry contacts.  Today I want to discuss one of the valuable aspects of Business Exchange, and that is the ability to quickly find new and targeted news and information for business.  I believe showing you how to curate social media content in Business Exchange will best illustrate this point.  And if you’re not a Business Exchange user yet, this will hopefully show …

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LinkedIn Photo Advice : The Why, What and What Happened?

LinkedIn Photo Advice : The Why, What and What Happened?

LinkedIn, like any other social media channel, is a social networking platform.  This means that people are networking with each other while revealing who they are and what they do.  LinkedIn reminds you to do this when you log in by making sure your profile is 100% complete.  Part of getting to 100% completion is uploading your picture, and here’s all that you need to know about why you should upload your photograph, sizing tips for a successful upload, and what could happen to your photograph if you’re not careful. That’s right: Your profile photograph could be forcibly removed.  Read …

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8 Things I Learned about Social Media and Social Networking in 24 Hours in Toronto

8 Things I Learned about Social Media and Social Networking in 24 Hours in Toronto

If you’ve been following my blog, you already know that I won a free ticket to fly to Toronto thanks to Virgin America’s #VXToronto Twitter campaign.  I’ll write about the “Virgin” experience later.  Right now I want to share with you all what I learned on this trip. I’ve had many people ask me, “Was the trip worth it?”  My answer, of course, is “Of course!”  Because what I was doing in Toronto is what I do in social media everyday: meet new people, have interesting conversations, share information, and learn a lot of new things, things that help advance …

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Strategizing Your Social Media Trifecta

Strategizing Your Social Media Trifecta

Today’s guest blog post about social media strategy for local marketing utilizing Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare comes from someone I met Windmill Networking on My Blog Guest, AJ Wilcox.  I asked AJ to write about the intersection of local Internet marketing and social media strategy, and he surpassed my expectations with this excellent blog post. AJ is the SEO Team Lead over at OrangeSoda, a local Internet marketing firm. He has been in love with Internet marketing for over 3 years, and has overseen over 2,000 SEO accounts. He is married with a 1 year old son and enjoys cars …

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My Favorite 6 Social Media Sites for B2B Social Media Marketing

My Favorite 6 Social Media Sites for B2B Social Media Marketing

While everyone knows that Facebook is the default choice for any business-to-consumer (B2C) social media marketing, what social media channels are important for businesses hoping to engage with other businesses (B2B)?  How can these types of businesses use social media to engage with their potential clients, gain mindshare and be perceived as a thought leader in their industry, and increase potential clients visiting their website?  Here are the six that I would recommend to most businesses.  Note that, in order to create a sound social media strategy, you should not limit yourself to these 6 B2B social media channels and …

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Social Media and Your Job Search Strategy: 5 Ways to Stop Broadcasting and Start Contributing

Social Media and Your Job Search Strategy: 5 Ways to Stop Broadcasting and Start Contributing

There is no doubt that the current recession continues to have an impact on the growth of social media.  Job seekers are now looking for networking opportunities by embracing social media and joining and then becoming active on sites like LinkedIn as part of their job search strategy.  This make sense because social media is also where recruiters may find you and where companies may perform background checks on you and your personality.  Don’t you want to put your best food forward in your job search and show off your talents to the best of your ability since everybody’s watching? …

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How Your Business Can Twitter Better with Hootsuite

How Your Business Can Twitter Better with Hootsuite

Today’s blog post was contributed by my guest, Ann Smarty, who I have gotten to know through her managing the LinkedIn Subgroup “The Guest Blogger.”   Her post is about my preferred Twitter tool which I am also passionate about and use in my own social media consulting and implementation, Hootsuite, which just today released new Social CRM features allowing you to filter tweets by Klout score or keyword.  Ann is also currently Director of Media for BlueGlass. Business power Tweeters can rejoice – the tool you need is finally here. Any business who has a social media policy and uses …

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What is a Twitter Chat and HOW TO: Easily Join a Twitter Chat Using TweetGrid

What is a Twitter Chat and HOW TO: Easily Join a Twitter Chat Using TweetGrid

There are many reasons why people use hashtags (#) on Twitter: categorizing a tweet, joining a trending topic conversation, or tweeting about a live event while virtually networking with attendees.  Without your knowing it, some of those using hashtags may even be engaging in Twitter Chats: You can safely assume that anyone using a hashtag that ends in “chat” is doing so.  Last week I announced that Perri Gorman and myself would be starting a new #JobChat every Tuesday from 5 to 6 PST, so for those of you who are still new to the concept, I have created a …

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