Are you a passive or active networker, or are you just wasting time?

A large percentage of business people today have an online business network as well as a social one. Which one do you spend more time on and how effective is it?

Social Networkers generally have a broad group of connections whom they chat with and send messages to. They may share holiday photos with them and discussions are of a social nature rather than a business nature. It doesn’t really matter if you have 5 social contacts or thousands. How many of them are bringing you more business?

Passive Business Networkers have an online profile which they fill out well, and then wait for someone to contact them. This works provided you have uploaded your photo and filled in at least 85% of your data. This includes listing your summary and your specialties. There is no point in just listing yourself as a “interested in career opportunities” without listing your attributes. Make online business networking really work for you by providing enough information for others to learn more about you. How can you add to your online business profile?

Active Business Networkers have an excellent online profile including a photo, past experience, summary and specialties. They use online networking as their online business card which introduces them effectively to others. They join and create Groups and connect with others who have common interests. They also start inviting other business contacts to join them on Linkedin and DABGO so they can network together. Active networkers quickly create their own micro-networks by daily involvement, persistence and dedication. Online networking for active networkers is smart business practice.

Successful Business Networkers make online business networking an active part of their daily business routine, anything less is time wasting. How can you make your networking more effective? Start by updating your profile, see how to here…

DABGO members can contact each other directly via Linkedin “InMail” which sends an e-mail to the other DABGO members inbox on Linkedin. This function does NOT allow other DABGO members to see each others e-mail addresses. To see another Linkedin members e-mail address and other contact information you need to be connected directly. You can also choose to ask for an Introduction through a shared connection.

Here is an example of how you can find who your searching for and how you can contact that person.

Let’s say you need a Photographer for a job, but do not know any photographers, then let’s try a search on Linkedin within the DABGO group. Remember always to try to give business to fellow DABGO members.

When you login into your Linkedin frontpage you will find the following functions on the lower right hand side of the page. Click on “See all members”

You will now see a complete list of all DABGO members:

In the upper right hand corner you will find the “Refine Search” button. Click it to make a more specific search.

Make sure that the “Limit search to your groups” is checked, and then enter “Photographer” in the “Titel” search box, or make a broader search by using the “Keywords” search box.

You will get a search result, and you can now click the profile that best matches your criteria and contact the person via InMail or via Introduction.

This article from the Management Issues website discusses a report from the consultancy Watson Wyatt, which argues that employers are missing a trick by trying to clamp down on the use of social media in the workplace. Michael Rudnick, global intranet and portal leader at Watson Wyatt who writes the report, suggests

“..employers that avoid social media altogether are missing an important opportunity and running the risk of alienating Generation X-ers and Millennials. Embracing the technology with proper planning, guidelines and change management for its use are effective approaches to ensuring success”

Instead of restricting Generation X employees from using tools they are familiar with, engaged in and enjoy using, it discusses how social media can be used to fulfil the important internal communication objective of engaging employees.The article touches upon ways that employers can use social media to communicate information & memos to employees, and also encouraging them to participate in company-wide discussion through the use of blogs, blog feedback, wikis, podcasts and so on.

If you want to know more about Linkedin, the company’s history and where it’s going, then read this interesting article posted on CNN Money.

“Social networking has been great for the kids, but not of much use to business - until now. With Reid Hoffman’s MySpace-for-grown-ups at a tipping point, these days you’re either LinkedIn or left out.”

“For many, it’s become irresponsible to not invite business associates into your LinkedIn network,” says Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School who specializes in sociology and strategy.

Having an updated contact list of everybody in your network is crucial to stay connected. Linkedin does a great job at enabling online networking and staying updated on where your contacts work, how their experience progresses and who is in their network. But one thing is lacking, and that is fully updated contact information. Plaxo is the perfect solution, and with 30 million users, it is a tested technology. Go to www.plaxo.com and sign up for a FREE basic account and get the following benefits:

- Update your address book when friends change their contact info
- Update friends’ address books when your contact info changes
- Sync your contacts, calendar, tasks, notes across Plaxo-enabled applications
- Get reminded of a friend’s birthday just a few days before
- Receive a Plaxo alert whenever a contact’s info has changed

And be sure to install the Plaxo Toolbar for Outlook, it works great. It keeps your Outlook and Outlook Express address books up-to-date. Install the Plaxo Toolbar on multiple computers. Syncs your address book, calendar, tasks and notes everywhere. You can build your address book from sent and received e-mail. Now, Plaxo members can detect AIM presence information from Outlook.

* The average number of LinkedIn connections for people who work at Google is forty-seven.

* The average number for Harvard Business School grads is fifty-eight, so you could skip the MBA, work at Google, and probably get most of the connections you need. Later, you can hire Harvard MBAs to prepare your income taxes.

* People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.

* All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees.

Read the 10 Ways to use Linkedin on “How to change the world” a blog by Guy Kawasaki

In an article written on ABC News, Tory Johnson writes about taking control of your digital identity. Create a free digital identity to advance your career. By raising your online profile, you can make yourself more employable. If you’re an employee or entrepreneur looking for a job, a promotion, new clients or better business opportunities, there are several smart ways to create and enhance your digital identity.”

Tory gives some good tips:

Three tips for maximizing your success with LinkedIn:
1. Select “full view” of your “public profile.”
2. Claim a “vanity URL” using your name.
3. Invite friends and/or desired professional contacts to link to you.

- create a free profile at ZoomInfo.com
- Subscribe to Google alerts
- Create a blog
- Post expert opinions

Read the reasons behind the above tips and more at ABC News

At DABGO we hope that 2007 has been a successful and wonderful year for you and your loved ones. Now is the time of year to make your New Year resolutions, and in addition to your goals for your personal life and work life. I have created a list that will make 2008 a successful networking year.

1. Get to know your network better - You cannot even begin to network, unless you know who is in your network. Make a complete list of everyone in your network, that being family, friends, coworkers, sports, organizations and online communities etc. Make notes on everything relevant you know about each person. If you have people in your online network that you do not know that well, then write them an e-mail and get updated on their current agenda. Know understand and appreciate your value to the people in your network. We all have unique interests, talents, and experiences which can be used to help others. Revel in knowing that you can touch the lives of everyone you meet if you are prepared to share your knowledge and resources with them.

2. Make introductions – When you meet new people or existing contacts, then ask them about their current challenges and then think creatively and remember what other contacts have told you about their business and expertise. If no one in your network comes to mind, then write down the challenges and keep it on your desk for a few weeks, in case you should stumble upon a possible candidate that can help. Use the new e-mail feature on Linkedin to make the introduction. You can get instruction on how here…

3. Update your Linkedin profile - So that it matches your skill set and experience. You can get some tips & tricks on how to update your profile by Linkedin employees here…

4. Arrange a lunch, dinner, event, meet-up for coffee etc. - Create an event for the local DABGO members where you live. Take the network offline locally, and connect in person with other members. A big part of networking effectively is keeping you visible. People will see you as a connector if you hold your own event.

5. Budget time for networking - Networking will not pay off instantly. So make a networking schedule (goal) for yourself that fits your schedule. Here are some examples of what could be included:

• Reach out to “X number” of people in your network via e-mail and phone every
• Have lunch with “X number” of new contact/s every month
• Have lunch with X number old contact/s every month
• Attend “X number” of networking event/s every month
• Check the www.dabgo.com site “X number” of times every month for new articles and your local network websites for upcoming events.

6. Pace yourself - Get involved in online and offline networking groups and communities at a pace that you can maintain. It is better to get involved gradually than to make a big splash and then fade away. Let your involvement and presence is a process that grows in momentum, visibility and value over time. This gives you and others a chance to develop trust and rapport. It doesn’t matter what you decided to do to get yourself noticed. Just do it, and do it consistently. You’ll find it’s a low cost way to build your business; you’ll learn a lot from others and have fun at the same time.

7. Your Introduction - Plan and practice your introduction of yourself and your company, also known as the elevator pitch. Check this YouTube movie on what an elevator pitch is here… (it is meant for venture capital, but works for any product or service pitch to a potential customer or network contact to understand your business)
Also check the following link to a fast pitch approach to generate interest here…

8. Follow up – Very few people follow up when meeting a new person and receiving a business card or contact details. Make sure to follow up within 24 business hours it will make you stand out, and increase your credibility. Your follow-up displays your level of commitment to relationships.

9. Help DABGO grow – The strength of DABGO will have a direct or indirect impact on the opportunities and wisdom you will receive in return from the network. So please go through your contact list and see if there should be any Danes living abroad or living in Denmark with two or more years abroad. Please send them the www.dabgo.com link and invite them to the network, or send me their names and e-mail addresses and I will do it for you.

10. Recommend a person - Write a Linkedin recommendation for a colleague or business partner that you value. It is a great way to say that you appreciate the person. A public recommendation is much better that sending flowers or wine with a card. It will also last longer and strengthen your connection with that person. Get some tips & tricks on how to write a recommendation here…

“Haven’t made a dime on LinkedIn? A lot of people on LinkedIn haven’t made a dime from it. Chances are you haven’t made anyone else money either. In expanding your network, the main point is to help you phone or meet someone who may be able to help you in whatever it is you are trying to do. The flip side is you need to help others meet their needs too. Until you think of helping others get what they want, you won’t likely get what you want.”

Read the rest of this interesting article posted on lifehack.org

A very interesting take on how organizations can use social networking tools to advance their strategic goals. Good combination of strategy and tactics, of special interest to those looking to expand their value to (and role within) their organizations. This is a white paper written by one of the social networking software vendors, Cerado.

The paper addresses the following:

- What is social networking?
- Why does this matter? Isn’t “social networking” just for high school kids?
- How can my organization get closer to customers/members using social networking?
- Examples of how financial services firms, associations, and other organizations, large-and-small, are using social networking today.

Read the paper here…