The punchline is: Your “Skype page” is the word Skype, a colon (:), and your Skype name.
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How to find me on Skype
June 14, 2011 By 1 Comment
How can I help you today?
October 21, 2010 By 4 Comments
I went to a networking event yesterday. I had no agenda whatsoever: I’m not looking for work, I’m not looking to hire … I just went to network.
I’m naturally extroverted and enjoy going up to complete strangers. I’m happy to start the conversation.
How can I help you today?
We’ve all read how people like to talk about themselves. I’ve found conversation starters like “So, tell me about your business” to be particularly effective. I follow up, “So, if I were able to help you today, what would you ask of me?”
What’s more, it’s fun to actually mean it.
When I ask, “How can I help you,” it’s more than a ploy to get the conversation to come back to me. I actively enjoy thinking through my mental Rolodex, wondering who I might be able to put together.
Invariably, though, the recipient feels as though you’ve listen to them. They want to reciprocate and genuinely ask, “So, how can I help you?” And now, armed with some information about them, can tailor my response appropriately.
Insta-help
In each of the past two months, I met someone, moved on, and two or three connections later find a match. It’s awfully gratifying to introduce the two parties and see first-hand something come from nothing.
Today I visited the website of a startup Web team and took 10 minutes to critique it. She replied,
I can’t thank you enough for this critique! I have been planning to revamp the website soon – based on your advice, I think we need a pretty major overhaul. I really appreciate all of this advice! I’ll let you know when the new site is up.
We are really good at computers and code, but we are definitely not marketers, so we are really grateful that you have taken the time to look over this and offer such thoughtful suggestions. If there is ever anything we can do to help you out, please
let us know!
I also sent two other people’s contact information to a recruiter and a potential hiring manager.
Give.
My take on networking? Give. Give freely and often. It’s good karma. And something may come of it … for them … maybe even for you.
Photo credit: JanRohwedder
Finding work using social media
July 20, 2010 By 2 Comments
Ok, it’s been a few months since I last posted but, in my defense, have you seen http://cardiacscience.com/blog lately? Man, THAT’S a full-time job right there. Thank you, Karen Anderson, for all the help you lend me. (She’s awesome and you can borrow her as long as there’s still ample time for me!)
I end up posting when I find something so compelling online that I have no choice but to write and share it with you.
Such is the Epipheo Studios‘ video, “Using Social Media for Employment by SilkRoad” I found through @PennOlson‘s post on Twitter. See below.
While, I’ll admit, I left the video with a relatively poor sense of what SilkRoad actually does, I thought the video was a valuable wake-up call for those looking for work. Truly, if you haven’t gotten on the social-media bandwagon yet and you’re unemployed, I urge you, consider it.
I was talking to a friend via instant messenger on Facebook. She has temporary work; is between jobs. I asked, “Are you on LinkedIn?” She replied, “I have an account but I don’t really like to ‘put myself out there’ online.”
Now, I recognize having your own domain and photos of your kids isn’t for everyone, but, those among you seeking work, why wouldn’t you want a document “out there” saying something like, “Hey, look at Linda! She’s got a great background and it’s just what you’re looking for?”
Take a look at the video. And, Linda, please tell me what you think in the comments. You can write “Anonymous” in the name field …
Also check out a great article from Lisa Rangel: Are You Too Private? If You Don’t Want People To Find You, They Won’t
A Twitter dilemma: To follow or not to follow
November 8, 2008 By 21 Comments
In Six Ways, I talked about ways to influence and persuade.
Chief among them: reciprocity. You do something for someone else, they do something for you.
So when someone starts to follow me on Twitter, I feel somewhat obligated to reciprocate. Not following follow them back says one of two things:
- I don’t find your content worth reading.
- I can see why you would follow me. I’m important. I have lots to say.
Neither are very flattering.
And yet, I’m enjoying Twitter less the more people I follow. With so many entries from so many virtual strangers, it’s difficult to catch the updates from the people I genuinely *want* to follow.
Here’s an exchange I had today with an online acquaintance today:
I wrote, “I saw you stopped following me on Twitter. I’m interested to know [Read more...]
Twitter: One Week, Seven Joys
September 12, 2008 By 3 Comments
Technically, it’s only five days since I joined. I’m loving it. Visit my page at http://twitter.com/JoeHage.
You need to join.
For the uninitiated and according to Wikipedia, Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
1. I found 25 people to “Follow.” When each of these folks posts a comment, it shows up on my Home Page.
2. 20 people “Follow” me. Six of them (30 percent) are people I’ve never heard of before. They found me though a comment I left on Chris Brogan’s blog. Never heard of him before Monday when The Communicatrix (of Southwest Airline Blog-o-spondent fame) directed me to her de.li.cio.us profile. On it, Chris’ blog about Twitter was favorited hundreds of times so I looked further and began to follow him.
3. The Communicatrix taught me how to make a hyperlink in Twitter. When I complained that the 140-character limitation screwed [Read more...]
Monster opportunity
September 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Monster.com added a new profile feature. It’s in Beta testing.
I filled one out to generate additional tags and inbound links for my website.
I like the question and answer feature on the bottom.
I encourage you to make a profile of your own. The “On the Web” inbound links alone make it worthwhile, in my opinion.
Couldn’t hurt.
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