Tag Archives: linkedin

Feb22

Resistance is Futile

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Resistance is Futile

The title of this post is the oft-quoted phrase from Star Trek, and it is also an appropriate mantra for dealing with change. Whether we like it or not, we live in turbulent times with a great deal of change facing us daily.  I see in those around me and even in myself, a weariness with this aspect of modern life.  For example, I’m a big LinkedIn fan, and often tout its virtues to others,but a friend recently responded to my encouragement to set up a profile, “I just don’t want to have to learn something new.”  I understand his feelings.  I’m having to face that issue with my own attitude toward Facebook, which I use with trepidation because it feels so very automated.  I feel like I’m not “in control” of a tool that is supposed to serve me, and I know I’ll need to spend some of my precious time learning more in order to feel comfortable with it. 

But the purpose of life is not always to be in control.  That would be an impossible goal, wouldn’t it?  As human beings we definitely need to impose a degree of structure upon our lives, but rigid control actually works against us.  We need some balance between the logical, analytical, scheduled times and the creative, freedom-loving, playful times.  As a person with a natural resistance to change, I’ve had to come up with some new attitudes to encourage myself to “roll with it” and adapt to new things.  I hope sharing these ideas will be helpful to you when change is staring you in the face and you’re wondering whether to dig in your heels and resist, run screaming in the opposite direction, or smile while accepting it gracefully.

1.  Change is not inherently bad.  It’s hard to know when something new comes along if it will be bad or good.  The truth is, it will be both.  To those who did radio dramatization, TV was a bad thing.  To Apple, the PC was a bad thing.  But radio has evolved and so has Apple.  The changes from competitors moved them in new directions, and those new directions made them better and stronger.  So when I’m faced with change, I make a concerted effort to remain neutral rather than negative, and to think of the change as something that will make me stronger in the long run.  (Okay, I’ll acknowledge that the short run might be hell…..but keep your eye on the long term good.)

2.  Change is inevitable.  We have limited amounts of energy, and fighting a change that we have no control over is a waste of energy.  If management is upgrading your computer, adding a new CRM, or altering work processes, you may have no choice but to accept the changes gracefully.  Here’s the plus side:  new pathways will develop in your brain as you learn and make those changes.  You are exercising your brain and that is good for you!  You don’t want to have a hidebound, crusty, creaky old brain, do you?  And speaking of exercising the brain, check out Lumosity.  It’s an amazing and scientifically-researched way to play games and improve your brainpower at the same time.

3. Change is filled with opportunity.  What we see now in the marketing world shows us this.  There are opportunities due to the internet, social media, economic changes, and demographics that can lead us in exciting new directions.  I feel like an explorer, and that is exciting.  Every day brings something new to consider.  If you view yourself as a life-long learner, this makes every day an educational opportunity.  And yes, even though change brings problems – problems are opportunities to provide solutions, services, and training on how to overcome them.

My last observation on change is that it prevents stagnation.  I truly believe that we’re either moving forward or losing ground.  Stagnant water is stale and foul-smelling and full of bacteria.  Change, and the forward movement it brings, keeps us as individuals and as a society, fresh.  As Benjamin Franklin said:  “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”

Feb1

Up at the Crack of Dawn Today

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Up at the Crack of Dawn Today

I rose early this morning – 4:30-ish – to trek across the city of Dallas and meet with a fellow writer who wanted some advice on kick-starting her writing business. We’re also involved in a mystery-writing critique group, so the foggy mist that obscured the White Rock Lake area along Northwest Highway seemed the perfect setting for our get-together. It was literally so foggy that I held the wheel with both hands and peered over it into a pea-soup cloud. The good news – all the traffic was headed west, and I was going east, so I didn’t have to worry about cars right around me as I strained my eyes to see the lane markings.  Meeting at 6:30 a.m. is a rare event for me.  But J. is a rare friend, and I didn’t mind giving up a little sleep to meet with her.

Today my friend wanted to talk more about business-oriented writing services rather than our usual creative novel-writing pursuits. Like many experienced writers she is learning to transition from traditional marketing to the new age of social media, with all its complexities.  We had a great brain-storming session and she left with some good ideas about how to promote her work.  She wants a website, so my suggestion was to use WordPress as her starting point, because it is intuitive, easy to use, and free or low-cost, depending upon the options chosen.  I encouraged her to set up a LinkedIn profile, but I’m not sure she is ready to do so.  I also showed her a blog post by Carol Tice, whose blog and website I’ve found both practical and thought-provoking.  Carol is a successful free-lance writer and award-winning blogger who recently wrote about where her writing business came from in 2011.

There are other options, of course.  Using the telephone to contact her targeted customers is one possibility, with a follow-up letter and/or email.  She might consider doing a newsletters using an online tool like ConstantContact, iContact, or AWeber, but a traditional printed newsletter might be an option for her, also.  She can do it on her computer and have it printed at an office supply store like Office Depot.  We also discussed magazines that use free-lance writers and would be interested in her travel-writing skills.   Please note that the advice I gave her was geared to someone who is not yet comfortable with social media.  It’s about dangling one’s legs in the water and adjusting at a slower pace rather than diving in headfirst.

I’m eager to see where my friend goes from here.  J. has many years of experience in writing, ghost-writing, travel writing, resume writing and editing books and marketing materials for all kinds of businesses, so I know she’ll do well with her writing endeavors.  I’m also hoping to see her pursue her dream of self-publishing the mystery novels she has written, since she’s one of the best writers I’ve ever read – honestly – and her work should be out there for readers to find.  She’s a published writer already, but she doesn’t currently have an agent or publisher.  That shouldn’t hold her back.  Lots of writers are finding success by self-publishing.  It’s a brave new world, and everyone – writers, publishers, agents, and even readers – is learning to swim in unfamiliar waters without any floaties.

I’ll keep you posted once she gets her online presence in place.  And I guarantee you, her books will not begin with “It was a dark and stormy night….” and they will keep you perched on the edge of your easy chair, reading long past your bedtime.

Jan25

The old dog that teaches itself new tricks

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The old dog that teaches itself new tricks

Being at the tail-end of the Boomer generation, I become ever more surprised at the number of my peers (the technical as well as ”non-technical” ones) who are quickly becoming, well, downright stodgy. These are the people who have computers but do not have a Facebook or Myspace page…answer their emails about once a week or less, and complain that their kids and grandkids know more about the computer than they do. They also complain that they are no longer getting promoted, or able to figure out what their younger co-workers are talking about.

These are not unintelligent folks… they are in professions that are not dynamically involved in networking, or at least in positions that they perceive to be “not networking oriented”…and when they lose their job, through attrition or economics or because they don’t “fit” anymore…they are at a loss.   Why is this happening?

Aside from the social divisions, there are self-imposed divisions within any culture.  The self-imposed divisions are the hardest to overcome.  People who make an effort to stay on top of what is going on in the world at large, not just the news, but what people are doing, how they are doing it, how new jobs are coming into being – those are the people who are teaching themselves “new tricks” and are able to be adaptive and “embrace changes”.

Learning doesn’t stop when you leave school.  Technology, whether you like it or not, is continuing to evolve and if you can’t keep up you will not stay marketable.  If you aren’t sure where to begin, start with Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies ; then go open your Facebook or Myspace account and findout who you know that is there… you’ll be surprised.   I stay in touch with many of my Godkids more frequently through my Myspace and Facebook pages than I do on the phone, email, or snailmail.  Although I was surpised to have to explain just what “snailmail”* was to my 16 year old godson – *snailmail is paper mail sent by regular post.

If you work for a living and you don’t have a Linkedin.com account – why not.  It is the main US career-oriented site out there.  The one place where your “resume” being out there doesn’t instigate retaliation by a boss who thinks you are actively looking… this “open networking” is important for you should you ever need to find a job.  Remember the old adage “It isn’t what you know, it is who you know“. It isn’t strictly correct, of course, you do have to have skills and experience, but you also need an introduction to the people you want to work with.

Recently a friend of mine was interviewing for a position she really was excited about…she was represented through a recruiter who went AWOL for a few days. During that few days, the company was trying to reach the recruiter to set up the second/decision making interview.  She lost out on the job, and she was very understanding of the recruiter that had a family emergency and was AWOL.  She is still on unemployment and hoping that she can find a job before she winds up having to move in with friends.  She still doesn’t have a Linkedin profile.  She does have Myspace and Facebook, but doesn’t ever use them to network.

My unspoken thoughts (she is my friend and I was comiserating with her) were:

  • Why didn’t the company have your direct contact info and why didn’t you have theirs?
  • Didn’t you send a thank-you for the first interview, another opportunity to get your contact info to them?
  • Why didn’t anyone else in the Recruiter’s office handle this for him?

When I asked her, gently, why she didn’t follow-up directly with the company, she was horrified at me… in her mind, the recruiter was representing her, and she would have been rude and inapproprate to contact the employer directly.

In my mind, once the introduction is made, it is as much my responsibility (since I am the one who wants the job) to communicate as it is the recruiter’s.  The recruiter works for the employer, not for me.  And I know that the recruiter will be compensated based on my placement – and has “skin in the game”, but I would not let that prevent me from trying to get the job if I really wanted it.  And unless the recruiter specifically asks me not to contact the person I interviewed with at the company, then I see nothing wrong with it.

This is an example of “old dog” behaviors that have not evolved with the technology.  In the coming year, and in the current economy, unless you are able to teach yourself new ways of doing even the most basic things, like saying “thank you” after an interview, you will be behind the curve.

I am going to go check my email now…and tweet some folks.  And after I make another pot of coffee, I may clip and share some news on Social Median.  Check it all out…
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Jan22

How do I know you?

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How do I know you?

I had a little focused time to really look at xing.com the other day… and using the xing plugin (have I mentioned how much I dislike plugins?) I pulled emails from my Outlook and sent off invitations to people to join my network on Xing.  This took about 2 hours for the plugin to digest my Outlook and spit out potential folks to invite.

For those of you who do not know Xing.com, it is a publicly traded company in Germany, that is the Euro counterpart to Linkedin.com (altho both may have issues with that comparison). 

I sent out 400+ invitations.  And many people signed up within seconds of receiving their invite (I know, because Xing sends me a confirmation of the person who signed up at my invitation).  So far, only one person has emailed me personally asking who I am and how they know me. 

I am not saying that I sent 400+ invites to total strangers…these are people I have done business with, or made inquiries to for business, and so they qualify as passing acquaintances and are certainly appropriate to invite to a social/business networking tool. 

I am saying that the phenomenon of receiving an invitation to join these sorts of networks must be so commonplace, that people sign up without thinking too much about it.  Either they were already familiar with Xing.com or I had left a favorable impression in our last email interchange or they are simply open to exploring new apps as they are presented to them.

In any event, I am glad that I make notes on my vcards about how I met someone and so I was able to quickly answer with specific information – the gentleman who queried “Who are you and How do I know you?” and we had a nice email conversation, allowing us to get reacquainted, since it had been June of last year when I last spoke with him.  I don’t know if he will choose to join Xing.com, but I do know that the invitation opened the door a little bit wider for our discussions, and I have a better idea how to I could be of help to him in the future in our business dealings.

And that understanding may help me grow the business I am in… which is what I am networking to do.
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