Joel's Mutterings

The Privacy Issue

Information is the currency of the decade and perhaps the century. Simply put, second to hard products (anything you can buy and hold) information is the second most lucrative market around. Companies pay for studies on just about everything under the sun and companies like Gartner, Forrester Research and many others have long realized this and put out lots of reports on a weekly basis to fill the need.

Privacy is a sticky issue and ultimately it is about control of one of the few things that is truly yours or at least it is till you give that information over to someone else.

We all learned these lessons long ago on the playgrounds of our youths when we told someone a secret and they found more power in sharing that secret rather then in building our sense of trust in them by keeping our confidence. However despite the lessons of our youth one can not seem to exist today without sharing some of their information with others and or systems which may or may not be worthy of our trust.

So where does ones expectation of privacy end and legitimate web commerce begin? Does the couple who buys a house on a private road have the right to sue Google Maps because the system host photos of a house that anyone of us could see just by strolling down their un-gated street? Should Google pay the price when even better images were already part of the public record at the local county assessors office.

Facebook and many social networking sites have faced their share of privacy issues however a lawsuit filed just this week which claims on page one to be about Facebook’s violation of California privacy law seems in the eyes of Eric Goldman, an Associate Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law, to be a, “rant-y complaint from users who seem to dislike all of Facebook’s product choices”. Mike Masnick of TechDirt is quick to point out that, “there’s an easy way to avoid any such issue. It’s called not using Facebook.”

Seems logical and straight forward enough, if you do not want your information shared do not give it out beyond trusted and or regulated systems. If you send an email you know it is going through other systems in route to its eventual destination. Want more secure transmission then encrypt, use the US postal service and or your trusted man servant to deliver it.

But despite the obvious insecurities and or flaws in the systems we all continue to be willing to trust or perhaps over trust systems and companies.

Simply put to not trust some of these systems puts you at a disadvantage. The US postal service is perhaps one of the most secure ways to send private information (backed up by federal law) however if we are both bidding on the same job and I email mine (using my trusty gmail account) my bid will get there faster. Likewise you can choose not to participate in social networking but to some extent you are only hurting yourself.

My brother in law, an author, got a good lesson in the potential and hence potential loss from opting out when this week he sent me a clipping of an article on his latest book, “Deep Travel: In Thoreau’s Wake on the Concord and the Merrimac.” Now despite the fact that my wife’s Facebook profile and post are protected by Facebook’s quite elaborate privacy settings the simple act of posting a link to the article above and my commenting on it has lead to several sales of the book from friends and friends of friends who picked up the link in their feeds.

Both my wife and her brother would be quick to point out their own concerns for privacy however at some point this issue of privacy can also leave you chained in Plato’s cave facing a blank wall where shadows projected are of things displayed but never truly seen.

Every entrepreneur knows nothing venture and nothing gained. You can not meet that girl, boy, person if you do not give them your name however the moment you do, you give up some of your privacy.

The question really is whether the risk is greater then the potential gain and are you really aware of your risk? Now I would argue that no one will safeguard your privacy as well as yourself and in fact allowing senseless waste of our legal systems time to protect you is not achieving anything.

We all give up some of privacy everyday in simple and common actions, the question is are you aware of your privacy and do you control it or does it control you. Facebook has some elaborate privacy settings (so does Linkedin and every other good social networking platform) but I am willing to bet that a vast majority of readers have done little or nothing to adjust these settings giving access to valuable private data like maiden names (mothers maiden names) and other facts classically used in security questions. For that matter most people still use a password that is clearly tied to facts found there as well.

So the question really is who issue is the privacy issue?

Will we chain ourselves and our providers of information services to a system that will regulate and prevent slips of private information or can we take charge ourselves by limiting the information we put out there and who we share it with?

Are you and your company looking to your privacy issues and what is needed to assure you maximize opportunities and limit exposure/risk?

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Connecting for fun and or profit

The social media buzz reached a fevered pitch today with Amazon’s acquisition of social media driven Zappos combined with the LA Time’s Terry Chay spinning up the subject in this post titled, “Friendster founder on social networking: I invented this stuff”. While even Jonathan Abrams felt the LA Times failed to make the distinction between social networking and friend requests which his company Friendster did spark, the real question is with the exception of having ones socially networking driven business bought out is there real value in social media/networking?

It will come as little surprise that those who frequent D’Amores on Tuesday nights that connecting face to face is both fun and in ways profitable. However the question is often raised how can one benefit from what many consider a moderate to extreme time sink.

Despite the negativity that sometimes surrounds social media and the lethargy that many people feel about one to one networking, every day there are more examples sprouting up of small business and individuals who are capitalizing on connecting.

Every great sales person will tell you a list of things that are critical in capturing the sale these things will include things like listen to your customer, surround yourself with people who support you, discovering your clients need, help others succeed, asking for the sale and get referrals. While no one would doubt that great sales people who follow these suggestion clearly enjoy what they do and profit from their efforts it is surprising that despite almost all of these themes being common to social media networking that many great sales people do not see the value in social media and would rather not network unless it is a direct lead.

What is great about the explosion of social networking tools is that it has made these key sales elements accessible in an enjoyable if not slightly addictive manner. Yep you do not need to be a disciple of Dale Carnegie to realize that by building creditability, generating interest in your ideas, providing solutions people are looking for and by uncovering unique but desired solutions you can convert your efforts into something that can be monetized.

Now if at this point you are thinking that either I had a little to much social media cool-aid with my dinner or alternatively am making a desperate attempt to justify my intervention worthy social networking habit, I would point out this NY Time article which highlight how not only the big and mighty are using social media tools but that many more small companies and individuals are finding ways to maximize their efforts as well.

More and more people and businesses are finding new ways to use tools like Twitter and Facebook to connect with others for fun and yes profit. No longer must one hirer a top sales person or marketing firm to help dirve their business. Mom and Pops everywhere are discovering power in getting connected.

Support your blogging Anesthesiologist

I have mentioned several time in several places that I am a fan of Joe Stirt, Dr Stirt to some, who publishes the Book of Joe Blog.

Joe describes himself as the ‘World’s most popular blogging anesthesiologist’.

I would say he has one of the best well rounded blogs around and honestly I read a lot of blogs in an endeavor to come up with a weekly topic for my ExecTec Networking group.

Just coming up with the topics I do is hard enough, Joe must publish 8 posts a day and must consume quite a bit of contect on his own in order to come up with what he does.

With a mix of product, medical info, commentary on major publication such as the Wall Street Jounrnal, NY Times and so many other sources Joe provides something I really enjoy reading an which saves me the time following all of those publications.

So when I got an email from him today pointing out (I had not yet seen this post) that he had made the blog available via the Kindle for just $.06 per day (a stagering $.02 cents per day which he will get to keep) I thought what better way of showing my appreciation then by subscribing.

Now you can enjoy the blog for free at www.bookofjoe.com but as one of the few (but now growing) followers of Joe on Twitter I will willing throw my micro payment down in support of Joe.

So before you run off and call me nuts for paying for that which I could just as easily get for free, the question is what are you willing to support despite perhaps not really having to?

Yes you can listen to all the free music you want via pandora but are you supporting them and or the artist they play by buying something once in a while?

Where is the line between enjoying something that is free and supporting a great product? Are you willing to put your micropayment where your mouth is and support those tools and things that you really enjoy and utlize?

If so what is the trigger that converts free to supported in your mind?

For my part I hope Joe keeps doing what he does and if nothing else gets the message that there are people out there that are willing to do slightly more then just say thanks and occasional throw out a suggestion.

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Influence = Value

Influence is becoming the new measure of value. I am not sure when things changed and I guess somewhere along the line the tide shifted from power, reputation and brand presence to influence.

Before there were the few voices and today there are to many. In the past title, longevity, and audience size all made the difference. Influence was not important, it was a given that 3 networks, a half dozen newspapers and modest collection of brands dominated and there was little questioning the reality. You did not wonder who was in charge in a major company it was a given that senior management was the authority and was driving things.

Today in a world where teenagers are investing directly in the stock market, there are countless outlets for any given product or need, content is everywhere and anyone can start a world class business, influence is the currency of the day.

So what is influence?

The ability to create change in people. You do not influence the topic you influence the people interested in the topic.

Influence is knowing your message but more importantly knowing and having a relationship (and ideally a trust relationship) with your audience.

Influence is unique. You can not make your message or desire resonate with your audience with canned messages and passionless messages.

Influence is the result not the effort. Those with real influence need to expend less energy and effort to cause change.

So how influential are you or your company and what could you be doing it to increase you influence? What is your target audience and how, where and when are you interacting with them? Are you waiting for change rather then influencing that change?

Do you even know by any measure how much change you can affect if desired?

The Hulu Effect

This week at Digital Hollywood executives were still buzzing about the news and impact that Disney has struck a deal to put its content on the online video site Hulu leaving CBS alone among the four major networks not providing programming.

Image via CrunchBase

Hulu, which racking up 380 million video views in March alone, according to ComScore, has vaulted past Yahoo to become the third-most-watched video site in the United States. Some are wondering if a dominate advertising driven content portal (gee sound like TV) on the internet might damage Apple’s pay iTunes model. Will ultimately ad supported long form content be a more viable business model and iTunes video content will be relegated to a long tail play.

Some pondered, as Hulu finds more success, who really owns the viewers loyalty and are you putting your viewer at risk by exposing them to a portal where you exist side by side with other content providers (again Hulu at some level sounds like a TV just with out a remote control separating one channel from the next). I however doubt that anyone owns a viewer these days and that it is the content and the content creators who capture and keep the viewer and not the channel, network or distribution platform.

Do we need to look farther then Lifetime and Bravo’s dispute over Project Runway last year to validate that content is king? After all if it was all about owning the eye-balls, so to speak, then why worry over a single piece of content moving from outlet A to outlet B?

Image via Wikipedia

One must wonder though that over a billion applications have been sold by Apple (through the iTune Store) and well more then a billion songs have been sold however no one is crowing about the number of videos/tv programs sold via iTunes. In point of fact, unless I am mistaken, while one can make an application/sell it on iTunes and like wise monetize their audio products as well there is not a venue for selling user generated video via the iTunes Store.

Could it be that since video is one of the best and most effective platforms for advertising that all the players have a vested interest in seeing premium content supported by a strong ad driven distribution channel.

While it may seem that Hulu as a internet content portal for long form episodic television and feature film is clearly rooted in new media its recent efforts to close off international viewers , reminds us that there is little new about this traditional media owned service other then the technology driving it.

What place will Hulu take in world of content monetizaton and distribution? Will CBS buckle to the pressure and join the others networks?

Ultimately time will tell.

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Monetizing Free

Can you turn free in to a successful monetization model?

Author Charlie Finlay is betting you can and in short he offered up his book free (10 free hard copy advances) to anyone who would agree to post a review to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells or Indiebound. Since Mr. Finlay is not an established author, there’s no big marketing campaign for his book and he is counting on word of mouth to drive sales.

Free is not new, the question really is whether or not it is an effective marketing strategy or not? Casinos often lead with free offers of rooms, drinks and even the very money you gamble with in hopes of attracting and priming your gambling pump.

Some would say this is about loss leaders and or an investment in brand building but not all agree that this is a methods that work. Discovery CEO and President DavidZaslav said in an on-stage interview at the NAB Show in Las Vegas that he didn’t see an economic model for free web distribution of long-form content. He said he’d only distribute episodes online if circumstances forced him to, and so far the numbers aren’t significant enough. “If people start watching content on mobile phones and on the web in droves, we will have to go there or we will lose market share.

Certainly those who are fans of the iTunes App, music and video content store would disagree. On iTunes there is no shortage of free stuff including a free song every week and lots of other good and free content and with more then a billion songs and shortly around the time of our next dinner application sold through the online store.

Nedra Weinreich, a self described social marketing gal-about-town trying to make the world a better place, puts her thoughts succinctly into 140 characters on twitter, “Sure, “free” can be monetized - give it out for free, underwritten by advertisers/sponsors. Or have 2 tiers - free/premium.”

Ryan Chittum, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and current staff writer for the Columbia Journalism Review feels, “Newspapers make fools of all their paying subscribers by giving their product away free on the Web. Why pay $400 a year for The New York Times when the same thing is free online?”

Maybe we are really confusing the value of free and its value propositions with what is being marketed in the first place. Clearly some things thrive when a free marketing model is included while other things suffer. Is it the ability of free to be monetized that is the issues or the value proposition of the product offering that makes the difference

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Digital Hollywood, May 5, 2009

I will once again be moderating the following panel at Digital Hollywood with another talent group of panelist. If you are going to be in town for the event be sure to drop in on the panel and if you have question or issues you would like to see answered let me know via a comment here or via twitter.

Tuesday, May 5th
10:45 AM - Noon
Workshop B:
The Revolutionized Digital Workflow Experience: Understanding How Information Technology, Broadcast & Entertainment Production Merge
Jake Winett, Global Industry Manager Media & Entertainment Communications Sector, Microsoft
Mark Langford, VP Marketing & Product Management, Electronic Distribution Services, Technicolor Home Entertainment Services
Yahav Isak, Director of Interactive Production, JWT
Joey Faust, Consultant, National TeleConsultants, Inc.
Michelle Munson, president and co-founder, Aspera, Inc.
Joel Ordesky, Chief Technical Officer, Wexler Video, Moderator

Jake Winett, Global Industry Manager, Media & Entertainment, Communications Sector, Microsoft Corporation: As industry manager for the Media & Entertainment business in the Communications Sector at Microsoft, Jake Winett is responsible for driving strategy, messaging and business development of world-class software solutions for the film and television broadcast industries. Winett works with different business and product groups across Microsoft to combine technologies to help drive new and better ways for media & entertainment organizations to realize their potential in the new digital age. Prior to joining Microsoft, Winett spent six years as director of operations for Media.net Communications, Inc., a workflow technology company which delivers high-end real-time collaboration solutions to television and film production companies and studios around the world. Winett began his career in software development at ImMix (now part of Accom). He has also held software and product development positions at Autodesk and Adobe. Winett holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University Long Beach, where he graduated cum laude

Mark Langford is the VP of Marketing and Product Management for Technicolor Electronic Distribution Services and is responsible for all online content delivery marketing strategy as well as for directing service specifications and platform functional design. Mr. Langford has extensive and diverse electronic content acquisition and distribution experience and has worked domestically and abroad in the Telco, MSO and Broadcast markets for both vendor and service providers alike. Mr. Langford was VP of Product Development for the innovative MovieBeam Video on Demand network. He developed the VoD, HDTV and IPTV product strategy for UPC Cablecom in Switzerland. He also led the Broadband Entertainment division at Swisscom (the incumbent Swiss Telco) for three years. While at Swisscom, he was a key figure in the development and deployment of the IPTV roll-out, designing the TVoDSL offer and negotiating all of Swisscom’s worldwide content and OEM contracts (set-top box, middleware - Microsoft TV - and system integrator contracts). Mr. Langford earned an MBA with concentration in IT and Marketing from the Harvard Business School in 1991. He now resides in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and two sons.

Yahav Isak, Director of Interactive Production, JWT: Yahav has over fourteen years of experience in the digital medium from website development to fully integrated marketing programs. Prior to JWT Yahav headed TBWA\ TEQUILA\ Interactive group where he was overseeing the project management as well as production disciplines. Managing clients such as: Sprint Nextel, Disney, Chivas, Jameson and Hotels.com. Prior to that, Yahav headed the project management group at Nurun Inc. oversaw Evian, MedPoint and L’Oreal Paris USA online marketing initiatives. Before Nurun, he spent five years with WorldNow, enabling local TV stations across the US to publish their content (stories, video, weather, etc.) online through their CMS. Focusing on digital, Yahav currently overseeing all the digital production, strategy/IA and technical staff at JWT. He works across all agency disciplines to ensure that JWT is managing and delivering all digital programs at the highest quality for our clients. As the Director of Digital Production is constantly researching new and innovative technologies to present back to JWT’s clients and its internal teams. Yahav moved to the US in 1995 from Israel and got his BS in computer information systems from NYU. He lives in Scarsdale NY with his wife and four kids. Favorite quote: “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

Joey Faust, a consultant with National TeleConsultants, Inc., advises clients on process and technology analysis, software development with a focus on file-based technologies and software systems design. He is a specialist in Web Services and related technology as well as Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). He is the co-author of the 2008 book “The Service-Oriented Media Enterprise: SOA, BPM, and Web Services in Professional Media Systems” from Focal Press. Mr. Faust has helped to build and implement file-based environments at TMZ on TV, the SPEED network, and a number of other clients. He has also assisted clients with business process modeling and technical assessment and analysis of production systems. National TeleConsultants, Inc. advises the world’s leading media companies who produce, aggregate, manage and distribute media content worldwide, providing technology and operations consulting, technical system design, project management and systems integration services. Founded in 1981, with offices in Los Angeles and New York, NTC is internationally recognized as a thought leader in the constantly changing media technology environment.

Michelle Munson, president and co-founder of Aspera, Inc., is co-inventor of Aspera’s core technology and responsible for overseeing the company’s direction. With breakthrough technology solving the fundamental problems of network data delivery, Aspera has quickly become the market leader for high-performance, global file transfer in media and entertainment, and is extensively deployed throughout a variety of industries, as well as government and defense markets, worldwide. Before founding Aspera in 2004, Michelle was a software engineer in several research and start-up companies including the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. She is a frequent speaker on how new data transfer technologies are revolutionizing content production, transformation and distribution workflows. A Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Munson holds B.S. degrees in electrical engineering and physics from Kansas State University, as well as a master’s in computer science from Cambridge University. She was the 2006 KSU College of Engineering Alumni Fellow (the youngest recipient ever), and has received national achievement awards from Glamour Magazine and USA Today.

A Hardy Digital Handshake

In this digital age, it is hard not to argue the the time and place for the paper card is destined to come to an end. I am in fact kind of shocked that given most people carry some form of cell phone and or smart phone/PDA that we would still be passing paper cards back and forth instead of exchanging our data.

Back in the day when I had my first PDA, I would often look to exchange data with other PDA users only to find they were not prepared, comfortable or able to make a digital exchange.

So I was more then a little intrigued when I spotted a link to the Poken website which despite its sparse information and rather cutesy outward appearance seems a tool with great potential.

A Poken is a RFID enabled device in a small USB sized token that is capable of exchanging one of a few different virtual ID cards with other Poken tokens. Once the data is exchange the Poken can then be inserted into a USB port on a computer and the gathered data is uploaded to the Poken portal which is not another social network since we already have enough of those. What the sight does is let you instantly bridge the gap between the people you have met and the social sights you do utilize.

This is not to say that as with all new technologies there are not issues.

As much as I love the idea of being able to exchange data the to cute nature of the Poken might be a detraction for business types. This is easily fixed by offering a plain poken cover and in fact since I am sure the cover is the cheapest part of the Poken one need not wait for this since replacing the cover later would be simple and cheap.

Image via Wikipedia

The value of the Poken and the system is limited until such time as there is more general acceptance. Let face it owning one is pointless unless you are likely to come across others who own them and who you do not know or have not yet exchanged data with.

I am please that at launch they support both Mac and PC and that the web interface is already capable of handing off social media identity info for most of the social networking tools in existence.

I also think it was well thought out that once can have a few different identities on your poken and control how much data you wish to grant in the exchange by having each identity crafted for deeper or different levels of information exchange.

So what is a digital though leader to do at this point. Simply put lead the way. So putting my money where my mouth is I have purchased a dozen of thePoken and hope to make them a featured item available to my ExecTec Networking group. ExecTec is a perfect place for the Poken since different members are to be found at each of our weekly dinners in Westwood and often members are meeting other members for the first time and always exchanging business cards and social meta data.

By making Poken a staple of the ExecTec culture perhaps I will be able to overcome the first issue which is having some place to readily overcome the lack of Poken adoption caused by a lack of other Pokens.

If you live in the Los Angeles Area and are interested in getting a Poken feel free to contact me through the ExecTec website and I would be happy to help you to get one of your own Pokens.

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Switching it up

Out of adversity springs opportunity.

We can choose to wallow in the fact of whatever is going wrong today or we can choose to see the opportunity to create positive change.

One needs not look far to hear that Zappos is out there changing things up in the online retail space. If you have not heard of Zappos, best know for selling shoes (and now other clothing), you clearly have not done much online. With a unique approach to both marketing and interaction with their clients this is a company that is not waiting for change but has clearly taken on leading change. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh recently told Business Week, “If we get the culture right, most of the other stuff, like the brand and the customer service, will just happen. With most companies, as they grow the culture goes downhill. We want the culture to grow stronger and stronger as we grow.” Culture is so critical to the company that there is a standing offer of $2000 for any new employees who after the week long training program does want to stay and ops to leave.

Hotels have a much more mature business model but are clearly looking for any opportunity to create an edge in a business where a room not rented is revenue opportunity lost forever. Chris Brogan in this post suggest that Hotels who generally use traditional marketing and a wait for the client to call approach might need to get more aggressive in engaging their potential customers.

Showing that even a giant pharmaceutical company can change things up, Pfizer early last year launched PfizerWorks which allows some of it’s employees to outsource tasks both overseas to India and in some cases to small Columbus (Ohio)-based firm called Pearl Interactive Network. Pearl employs mostly people with physical disabilities who help with such administrative tasks as organizing a marketing team’s research documents on a shared server. As large companies contract employee are forced to take on more diverse tasks and the ability to outsource certain tasks may make the critical difference between success and failure.

The annual review is often dreaded by manager and employees alike and while this a critical part of management doctrine few would deny there is room for change. Accenture looked popular growth of social networking in developing their Performance Multiplier system in which, among other things, employees post status updates, photos, and two or three weekly goals that can be viewed by fellow staffers. Might there be other less social and more functional lessons to be learned from the Facebooks and Friendfeeds of the world?

Is there more opportunity to create positive change as we transition in and out of this trough of business despair?

Is this an opportunity to create change for ourselves and our businesses?

How can we identify those unique opportunities and cease this moment and create change for the better?

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I like many people out there watched with envy as the Amazon Kindle 2 reached the first users and was unboxed and flaunted in podcast and blog reviews. Interestingly Nicholas Carlson of the Silicon Alley Insider recently pointing out that it costs the New York Times about twice as much money to print and deliver the newspaper over a year as it would cost to send each of its subscribers a brand new Amazon Kindle instead.

As outlandish as that statement is the math is even more shocking, according to the Time’s Q308 10-Q and information Mr. Carson gathered from other sources it would seem that the cost of printing one of the nations premiere papers is conservatively $664 million per year. The papers top line revenue for the quarter ending September 2008 was $687 million (down from the $754 million on 07). The bottom line is that printing the paper is nearly 25% of the paper yearly gross revenue.

Now Times spokesperson Catherine Mathis has stated openly that the times has had “830,000 loyal readers who have subscribed to The New York Times for more than two years.” This mean that for $297 million (less then half the cost of printing the paper) the Times could supply every reader with a brand new Kindle (which cost $359 vs a one year 7 day subscription to the time which costs $348).

So I ask what is the Times waiting for, to put it simply they have fiscally jumped the shark. At the very least if they came up with some sort of Kindle/New York Time bundle each and every person that converted from print to Kindle would almost immediately add to the bottom line.

While I am sure there are those of you newsprint junkies who will never give up your hard copy, but perhaps in the end that experience might have to become a premium service.

So what other legacy technologies might be in the midst and or verge of technologically jumping the shark?

Ironically the New York Times in this article from March of 2008 points out that while it was predicted that mainframe computers would be no more by 1996, Television would kill radio, cars/planes would do in the railroads and the web would kill the newspaper, in fact many of these technologies ultimately find a sustainable, profitable life.

Of course as I wrote this I was going to say that even Happy Days the first to coin the term Jump the Shark is still existing in re-runs and or on Hulu. But alas like buggy whips the Fonz and family are no more not even in re-runs.

In case you like the Time think with the exception of Bugy whips there is no dead and dying technology you might glimpse this photographic collection honoring the technologically fallen.

So what is it that make the difference between the living and the dead/forgotten? While everything may enjoy it’s 15 minutes of fame, how does one sustain and survive when the party is over?

The Times in the a fore mentioned article might have said it best, “it is the business decisions that matter most: investing to retool the traditional technology, adopting a new business model and nurturing a support network of loyal customers, industry partners and skilled workers.”

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Image via Wikipedia

How do you present? We come into contact with people in so many ways with so many purposes, sometimes the end purpose is not our original intent.

What do you do and what does it say about you? What we do for a living is often how people judge us. How do you appear to others and more importantly what do others perceive of you?

How many of us take the time and effort to influence how we are perceived. Corporations spend millions on their images and craft their message to the customer with care.

How can one maximize their options if they make no effort to build and control their own brand.

If you were to pick a person you did not know and attempt to get an introduction what would they conclude about you that might influence their decision to meet or not meet you? What sources are there out there that speak to who and what you are and are they what you wish them to be?

Are you what you do and is that all you want said about you?

Approach, composure, purpose and context speak volumes about how you will be judged from the start. What can give you the edge that will not only solidify a good and lasting impression but also will be of aid in reaching your goal?

Does the medium affect the outcome and do we choose the medium or is it an uncontrollable given the limitless communication options?

No matter who you are, what business sector your in, or what you do for a living you need to take sometime and focus on how you present. We all are so busy in our work and out lives that many are just phoning in our presentation as something that is what it is.

Take the time to really look at yourself as a total stranger would look at you. What will you see and is that really what you intended?

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Do's and Don't of Social Networking

Image by luc legay via Flickr

You have been holding out and making excuses as the world jumps into social networking with both virtual feet. A lot of the issues that hold people back or turn off people from these tools have to do with other people who simply do not follow the basic rules of social networking etiquette. You could always choose to just not participate however that might be perceived just as poorly as being socially awkward online.

Brian Solis (@briansolis) said several months ago in his twitter stream, “Remember, Always Pay it Forward and Never Forget to Pay it Back…it’s how you got here and it defines where you’re going.” No wiser words can I think of to start off our discussion and when networking is involved this advise is should be forward most in your thoughts.

I told my son this evening to always think about what he is saying to others and what impact it will have on others and again this is great advice when participating in social networking.

While some guidelines for social networking apply to all tools (facebook, twitter, etc) here are some advice broken up by the different tools.

Linkedin

Linkedin is about a trusted network so don’t try to connect with people you really don’t know. Pick another social tool and try and participate and develop a relaionship prior to requesting a connection.

Respect why people say they are there. If a person is not open to certain types of request don’t ignore that and make that request anyway.

A few really good recommendations is better then requesting recommendations from everyone you know. Also as Bronwyn often advises do not gather all of your recommendations at the same time as it does not look natural.

Participate by passing on request for those in your network.

Do not connect with people you don’t know well enough to pass on request to.

Facebook

Image via CrunchBase

Don’t share information that should be private on public walls and in public comments.

Do not post embarrassing photos of others unless you are prepared to have them do the same to you.

By all means comment and participate but as I said to my son think about what you are saying and what impact it will have on others who will be able to read it.

Somethings are better not said in public and hence there is private messages.

Beaware of your privacy settings and use them intelligently.

Twitter

Image via CrunchBase

@Reply’s (i.e. @firqby) are public and should not be used for something that is private that is what direct messages (i.e. d firqby) is for.

No inside jokes. If most or all of your followers won’t get it then maybe it would be better as a direct message.

If someone follows you then consider following them back. You don’t need to follow everyone but in order to participate you really need to follow others.

RT stand for retweeting and is considered good form if you see someone say something worth repeating to your followers.

Provide value in what you say and limit the shameless self promotion. Focus on mutually beneficial interactions.

Don’t abuse those who follow you with direct messages that are not welcome. Just because someone finds what you say interesting enough to follow does not mean you should pitch them on your latest MLM get rich quick idea.

My fellow USC alumnus Y-Vonn Teh reminds me (via facebook chat) that in general networking whether social or professional in whatever medium (electronic, voice, in person, etc.) should be undertaken in a courteous manner. Asking instead of demanding and one should always reciprocate directly or by passing on as much as they receive to others.

If you are looking for more great wisdom on the subject then might I suggest you read The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook by Tamar Weinberg and more of Brian Solis thoughts on the subject in his post Finding the Tweet Spot - Top Tips for Building Twitter Relationships.

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