Elie Kochman on Business and Networking

What is the most interesting connection made through your network that resulted in a contract or a sale? We all know the benefits of networking, but I was wondering just how remote a connection other people have found to have landed them a job. I’ll start by giving two personal stories.

My Current Job

When I graduated university, I didn’t have a job, and spent several months teaching part-time at a community high school. During that time, I got engaged, and at the engagement party, the father of my wife’s close friend heard I had a degree in computer science. He gave me his e-mail address, and suggested I send him my resume. I e-mailed it that night.

Three weeks later, I was called for an interview, and then a week later, for a second interview a few weeks after that. Two days before the wedding (it was only a 4-month engagement) I was informed that I got the job, and would be starting a month after the wedding.

Landing a Contract

The second story happened more recently. I did some work for a client for about 15 months building a fully customized inventory management system. I was at an engagement party for a friend, and another guest was chatting with the groom, and asking him about what he did. He mentioned that he worked for my client, and in an off-hand way, said “Elie would know, he wrote our software!” The guest turned to me and asked me what I did, which I quickly explained. A month later, I was hired to build a catalog of 200K files for a community organization he represented.

What’s the most interesting connection you’ve been involved with?

Recently on LinkedIn I asked a question about business cards and etiquette – do you always reciprocate handing out a card? That is, if someone gives you their card, should you give that person one of yours? If you hand someone your card, should you request one in exchange?

Before going any further, one thing needs to be clarified. I was asking the original question for a particular reason, and it was not so that I could write this article. I’m planning on attending a speed networking event next week, in which participants are seated at tables with five other people and get two minutes to make an introduction. The last time I attended, before anyone spoke, I had 5 cards in front of me, one from each person. After the introductions, however, I only really saw value in 2 or 3 of the connections.

The second half of the issue is that I did, at that event, reciprocate the handing out of my card. I ended up on 3 distribution lists as a result, and it took a while to get taken off one of those. All three people who put me on their mailing lists had something in common – they were all mutual fund salesmen. The question I was trying to get answered was whether I could [politely] refuse to give my card to the mutual fund salesmen at the next event.

I got many answers to my question, some of which addressed my concerns, others which seemed to ignore that aspect of the question. However, I did learn a few things about such events, and the ramifications of sharing a card.

1. Speed networking events are of limited value, because, while they allow you to meet many people in rapid succession, they often do not allow you to establish a solid connection with any one person.
2. Given then I will be attending this event (although this may be my last such event), sharing my card is considered to be a necessity. That is, I cannot politely decline to share my card with any one person or group of people.
3. I can control when to share my card – I can wait until it’s my turn to introduce, thus linking my card to my introduction.
4. I can make mention that I do not wish to be placed on any distribution lists – while I welcome networking opportunities, please keep my e-mail off any type of mailing list you may have.
5. When receiving cards, make notes on the back regarding the person who gave me the card, and any other information that may be relevant.
6. You never know where your next successful connection will come from, so don’t try to guess. Instead, hand your care to anyone who will take it, but always include a brief summary of what it is you do, and what it is you’re looking for.

What do you think about sharing your card? What value can you find is such events?

While these two concepts don’t need to be at odds with one another, I’m curious to know how people perceive the difference between networking online versus in person. Most people do both, whether consciously or not, but what’s the difference between the two?

One answer is that our online networks tend to be a lot more widespread than our in person networks, including a lot more people. However, when we connect with someone in person, we tend to create a stronger link on an individual basis.

What do you think are some of the differences between online and face-to-face networking?

This post is a little different from my normal posts. All I’m going to do is ask a question, and I’m genuinely interested in your opinions on this.

Where and how do you network? Why do you network that way, and how could your existing networking be improved? What changes might you make to your networking activities, if you were able to?

To start, I will provide my answer:

I network primarily on a variety of websites, such as Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter. I try to participate in those communities, and interact with the people I’m connected with. I also have a regular networking meeting about once every 5 weeks with several people working in similar fields to my own. On occasion I will attend a business card exchange event. Ideally, I would like to spend more time in face-to-face networking, were time and distance not factors.

I recently came across a blog called Bell Business Reports while browsing through questions on Linked In. (The blog itself can be found here, or find it later listed in my Blog Roll). Laura Bell, author of the blog, was requesting a link exchange, but once I read through some of her articles, I realized that here was yet another opportunity to connect with other people sharing similar types of information (but not the same, as I’ll describe in a moment).

Her most recent article, at the time of this writing, is about a show called Shark Tank, which is aired on ABC. This is the American version of Dragon’s Den, a show which has versions running in over a dozen countries. The premise of the show is simple – entrepreneurs pitch their products and companies to a panel of wealthy investors, who then choose whether or not they want to invest in the company. The precise rules, as well as who is on the panel, varies between the shows.

In Laura’s review of Shark Tank, she discusses several mistakes being made by entrepreneurs when pitching their products, from failing to have a realistic valuation for their company, to being stuck in the prototyping stage. She brings  examples from the show of each type of error made.

For an entrepreneur seeking venture capital, such reviews are extremely valuable, as they assist in creating realistic goals in the quest for money, as well as provide a critique of potential pitches.

Having enjoyed the first article, I decided to read more. Her article on the importance of networking () struck home, as this is a topic that I have discussed at length on this site (for a list of some of these articles, click here). Laura did an excellent job of summarizing many of the same issues, as well as some novel issues.

Overall, the writing is very clear, easy to follow, and covers interesting current topics. While you do need a membership to read all the articles at once, you can get access to some of the articles for free. If you have the time, it is definitely worth spending a few minutes browsing to get a better feel for the site.

I have, as some people know, been fairly busy recently (although that may be hard to tell from the fact that I have time to write on my 2 blogs so often). For those who don’t realize that, let me explain what I am working on at the moment.

For starters, I work as a Programmer Analyst for the Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company. This occupies me from 9 to 5, and occasionally beyond.

I am also the acting treasurer for my synagogue, handling the recording of pledges, collections, receipts, budget, and so on, as well as maintaining their website.

Third, I do occasional consulting for small and medium sized businesses on the appropriate use of technology and for the development of custom software packages.

Fourth, I am in the middle of developing two websites for launching in the first quarter of next year.

Fifth, I read an fair bit, from books to newspapers, magazines, blogs, and pretty much any form of writing that will stay still long enough. That reading is what provides the content for my two blogs, which is what I spend about an hour every two days working on.

Of course, I spend some time each day with my family, during which business is put on hold.

This is the final installment of the social media series, which started with the post on August 7. There was to have been a post last Friday, but life sometimes gets in the way. I’m curious to know what you thought of the series – how might it have been improved, what additional topics should I have discussed, did I make some errors. Please comment and let me know.

I apologize in advance for what is about to happen. I’m going to be separated from the internet for about 10 days. So if you post a comment, it may take until I get back for me to respond. However, I will respond when I get back.

Recap

When I left off the series, our model business owner, Jane, had started a blog which she uses to hold directed conversations with her readers. She has also started a Twitter account which she uses to post news and links to her articles, and uses the account to see what topics are of interest to people, and then writing about those topics.

Facebook

The largest problem with blogging and Twitter is that conversations are generally one-sided. Jane acan pick a topic to discuss, and interact with her audience regarding those topics. Using Twitter, she can respond to short questions. What she cannot do (yet) is allow her audience to pose its own questions, to hold undirected conversations.

This is where the networking sites such as Facebook and Linked In become important. Both these sites allow groups to be created. The creator of the group can act as an administrator of the group, and encourage conversation and participation among the group’s members. However, each member can start a new conversation, a new discussion, on a variety of topics. They can ask questions.

This will put Jane back to the first stages of becoming involved in social media, in which she interacts directly with her audience, as a member of the audience, but now Jane is in control of the environment. She can market the sites to people who come to her store. She can start getting feedback from her customers on topics she didn’t realize were issues.

Conclusion

Social media is about personal interactions used as a means of promotion. The fundamental component of social media is interactions. Social media is built on socializing. In order to run a successful campaign, you must interact with your audience – respond to their questions and comments, start conversations, ask questions of your own. Everything else is merely a tool to help you interact.

This is the third article in a series of articles describing how social media can be used by businesses. The aim is to publish one article per week on this topic, the first being Friday, August 7. Each article will address a single topic, and build on material provided in the earlier articles. Through feedback provided on the articles, this may lead into another series after the conclusion of this series.

Note that any clients referred to in these articles are fictitious, unless I specifically indicate otherwise.

Applying the Concepts

The client described in the first post in this series can make good use of the previous article as she develops her strategy. Social Media is built around interactions, so Jane must decide what kind of interactions she would like to foster. She must also look at how each platform is constructed, so that she can play to its strengths.

The Blog

The first step for most businesses starting with social media is to write a blog. If the client is technically adept, they can follow the instructions here on how to set up a WordPress blog on their own site. If not, they can hire someone to set up the site for them. (If you are looking for someone to set up a blog for you, please contact me directly and I can refer you to a reputable company that does this for a minimal fee.)

Before going live with the blog, there are a few things Jane needs to do.

1. Choose a topic for the blog. As the owner of a hardware store, she may feel comfortable writing articles about how to fix some common problems around the house on a tight budget. The title and sub-line for the blog should reflect the topic chosen.
2. Set a schedule for posting. More important than posting frequently is to post on a regular schedule. It is tempting to post each article as soon as it is written, but that may end up causing the blog to die quickly, as the speed of your writing drops. My usual recommendation is to start with one article per week, posted in the afternoon of Tuesday or Thursday. As the number of viewers of the blog grows, the frequency of publishing can be increased to twice a week, then three times a week.
3. Prepare some articles. While Jane has selected a topic that she feels confident she can write about, she does not know how much time she will have available for writing. She should prepare about 3 months of articles (if she’s publishing once per week, that works out to 12-15 articles) and upload them to the site in draft mode.

At this point, Jane can launch her blog. Some companies (including the one I recommend) can do some preliminary advertising for her to increase the number of viewers quickly. Other plugins for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be installed so that new posts are automatically submitted to various search engines. Certain types of content will result in Google scanning the page earlier. A reputable company will help to explain and set up these components.

Jane should also be sure to monitor the number of viewers to the site, and respond to comments on her posts. Writing the article is only the first step – interacting with her readers is more important. While it may take time to convert a reader to a client, if she does not interact at all with her readers, then her blog is merely another form of traditional media.

Jane must also remember to tell people about her blog, and ask for feedback. A sign in her store can drive her existing customers to the site, and they can tell her, in person, what they like and don’t like about the blog. She can ask them for ideas for articles and for suggestions on how to improve her existing articles. They may tell their family and friends about the site. If Jane can establish her credibility as an expert on the blog, then people will be more inclined to come to her store when they need something, or need advice on her area of expertise.

Tweets – Part 1

Now that Jane has her blog up and running, she may want to create her first Twitter account. With this account, she can post links to articles on her blog, talk about those articles, and create an additional community of people interested in those topics. Using various tools discussed in a future article, she can analyze what people are talking about, and write relevant articles on those topics. With this Twitter account, Jane is trying to attract more readers to her blog, to increase the amount of attention on her writing.

What’s Next

In the next article, I will be discussing other uses of Twitter beyond driving traffic to a blog, and the benefits to creating a page on a social media platform such as Facebook.

This is the second article in a series of articles describing how social media can be used by businesses. The aim is to publish one article per week on this topic, the first being Friday, August 7. Each article will address a single topic, and build on material provided in the earlier articles. Through feedback provided on the articles, this may lead into another series after the conclusion of this series.

Note that any clients referred to in these articles are fictitious, unless I specifically indicate otherwise.

The Tools of Social Media

Social media requires, as a fundamental component, the ability for people to interact. Therefore, any tool claiming to be a part of the world of social media must include interactions between the provider and the audience. Each tool will therefore include one or more of the following components:

1. Comments – the ability for the audience to publicly reply to some statement
2. Forums – the ability for the audience to create a statement and then provide feedback
3. Messaging – the ability for people to communicate in real time

Looking at some of the common tools of social media, it is easy to see how they are making use of at least one of these components.

Blogs

Blogs, such as this one, allow their audience to provide feedback on any given article. In this manner, the provider can post a message of arbitrary length, and the audience can then provide feedback.

The distribution of information is weighed strongly in favor of the provider, as they usually retain the ability to edit or select responses to be posted. (As an aside, I do not edit comments to this blog, and only refuse to post those comments which can clearly be seen to be spam.) The provider can control the topic of discussion to some extent, and can choose to incorporate the opinions of the audience in future posts.

Twitter

A form of micro-blogging in which each post is limited to 140 character, Twitter allows its users to post short messages. Conversations can be held by tagging posts, or marking a post as a reply to another user (via the # and @ tags).

Facebook (and other social networking sites)

A page can be created on a social networking site, providing an online location for people with a common interest to congregate. Interactions are usually via a message board, although private messaging is usually available as well. In the example of Facebook, targeted conversations can be created as well using forums.

What’s Next

In the next article, I will be providing an explanation of how the sample client, Jane, can make use of each of these tools to promote her business, and what some of the other tools she may want to make use of to facilitate her use of these forms of social media.

This is the first article in a series of articles describing how social media can be used by businesses. The aim is to publish one article per week on this topic, the first being today, August 7. Each article will address a single topic, and build on material provided in the earlier articles. Through feedback provided on the articles, this may lead into another series after the conclusion of this series.

Note that any clients referred to in these articles are fictitious, unless I specifically indicate otherwise.

The Client

Harvey’s Hardware is a small store located on the corner of a busy intersection in a residential neighborhood. The original owner, Harvey, has retired, and the store has been sold to Jane. Jane has an MBA from a prestigious school, and is interested in running her own business after spending over 20 years working for a large multi-national corporation. She bought the hardware store using funds she has saved, and spent the first year after the sale becoming familiar with the store and its clients.

Jane is not technically illiterate, but her use of technology is limited to word processing and checking her e-mail. She is comfortable with her inventory management software.

Recently, a few of her customers asked if she had a website for her store, to which she had to answer no. However, she is interested in creating an online presence, and has heard about social media and would like to become involved.

The Problem:

The real problem, in this case, is that Jane does not understand what social media is, nor how it can be used to help her store grow its customer base. Her first step, therefore, is to learn about social media, and how it compares to the more traditional forms of media with which she is already familiar.

The Background:

Social media, as defined by Wikipedia, is “…online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies… transforming people from content consumers into content producers”. In other words, social media makes use of the internet as a dstribution medium and is based on interactions between people, rather than simply delivering information.

Traditional media including newspapers, radio, and television, are based on information delivery. Information is collected and converted into a message, which is then broadcast to the audience. The audience may be able to provide responses to that information, but those responses are delayed, such as the letters section of a newspaper. Additionally, distributors of traditional media are faced with large expenses in creating and delivering the content.

Social media, on the other hand, relies on the audience itself to both create and distribute information. This has the benefit of incorporating feedback from the audience in the message itself, and in reducing the cost of distribution to a negligible amount.

The downside, however, is directly tied into the benefits. Traditional media, such as newspapers, go to great expense to distinguish fact from opinion, and to verify any facts to the best of their ability. This results in a quality of information that is difficult to find in social media. Since the control over information in social media is distributed among the audience, it is nearly impossible to ensure that all the facts will be accurate.

Another key difference between social media and traditional media is as follows. In traditional media, the creation and delivery of content is where the majority of the effort is. Social media, however, requires more work in following up on content than in the creation or delivery. This form of media bases its distribution on interactions – the more interactions there are, the more successful the distribution will be.

What’s Next:

In the next article, to be published on August 14, I will be giving an overview of some of the tools of social media, and how to use them successfully.