Home « Online Job Search Guide « Social Media and Job Search
Is Anyone Else Social Networked Out?
A couple of years ago, when someone recommended I get on LinkedIn, I thought "I don't want to sign up for *another* website!" I was truly social-networked out.
I was getting invitations here and there, and trying to remember where all my memberships were. I wasn't getting any value out of any of them, and the last thing I wanted to do was sign up for more things that would provide more value.
Fast forward two years. I still get invitations, even a lot more than I got two years ago. Did you know there are over 200,000 social networks? Ning.com alone has over 200,000 social networks, for just about anything. Aside from Ning you’ll hear about LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Xing, Ecademy, Bebo, MySpace, and many more.
Another difference in my experience from two years ago is that I HAVE gotten value out of my social networking efforts. I have grown my network (I don’t focus on the number of connections I have, rather the number of people who I develop relationships with), developed rich relationships with my contacts, and have been able to communicate my brand and offering to them. I have helped people and made sales.
I had to be in the right place, at the right time, and doing the right thing. In other words, I had to know which networks I should join and be involved in.
I will share my techniques, tactics and strategies, and answer any questions you have for me (some answers might be "I don't know!").
For now, go get an account on LinkedIn, and get your profile beefed up. We'll talk more about that in the next article, but give it a shot on your own for now so the next article makes more sense.
© Copyright Jason Alba, 2008. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Jason Alba is the CEO and creator of JibberJobber.com, and author of I’m on LinkedIn – Now What??? Jason specializes in social media, with an emphasis on getting professional or business value out of various social tools. Jason maintains four blogs, including JibberJobber.com/blog, and is co-author of I’m on Facebook – Now What???.