I do believe that there is a difference between pure networking and social networking, a difference that often gets forgotten as the desire for quantity over quality becomes to hard to resist. Here are 

S = Send personal invites or connection requests. Show that you are not just collecting numbers but specifically want t

o connect with them. Personalising the message shows distinguishes you from the rest.

O = Offer value to your contracts by asking what can I do to help you?

C = Create gossip! In social situations people like to talk, share stories, laugh, cry…..create those stories that people can share. The stories are your way of socialising on the web. What do I mean by stories? I mean content that makes people gossip about it ….

I = Interact with your contacts. Answer tweets, answer linked in questions, show your value to their life.

A = Allow people in to parts of your personality. I believe you need to keep some back but show you personality, show a 360 degree picture of yourself.

L = Learn how to be a social hub through connecting people. Be the party organiser who bring people together who they know will enjoy each others company and who can provide value to each other. People enjoy socialising with people who bring people together.

[photo from istockphoto]

Post from: EveryJoe

Networking v Social Networking

I tweeted it, and I blogged about it. My twitter feed had a very unexpected result.

I tweeted that I offered to marry the general manager of Morton’s. His name is Josh. His wife tweeted back to me that all I had to do was flirt. She has since told me she was terrified to send me that tweet because she didn’t know me. And yet, she did.

She and me started talking. Within about .. oh, 20 minutes (which is about 6 months in social media time) she and me had quickly established a wicked friendship,

We have SO much in common, I have NO idea how we have not managed to meet in real life yet. Seriously. She is amazing. She is totally my stunt double.

I just find it so .. odd that we connected on Twitter, and yet we have SO much in common…. it’s absolutely ridiculous. We’re meeting, face to face, for the first time on Saturday, and I CAN.NOT wait. And ideally, to eat the amazing little sandwiches. We’re going to Morton’s, natch.

She’s guest posting the next entry. She’s just amazing. Seriously.

Post from: EveryJoe

Social Media Connections are so WEIRD