You may be sold on the business value of social networking, but now you need to put it into action. Get the lowdown on managing your online persona, updating your Facebook status, growing your LinkedIn network, going mobile, and maintaining your privacy in this excerpt from Juliette Powell's "33 Million People In The Room."
The following excerpt from Juliette Powell's book, "33 Million People In The Room," is presented by bMighty courtesy of FT Press, a division of Pearson Education.
In her new book, Powell draws on firsthand experience as a social media expert as she delves into the patterns and practices of successful business leaders who harness the power of social networking. In the book's third chapter excerpted here, Making Social Networks Work For You, she discusses getting started with social networks, including how to manage your online persona and tips for making the most of Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Don't Miss: Q&A With Juliette Powell: The Business Potential Of Social Networking
BOOK EXCERPT:
Chapter 3: Making Social Networks Work For You
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Excerpt from 33 Million People in the Room.. |
| By Juliette Powell Published by FT Press ISBN-10: 0-13-715-435-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-13-715435-7 |
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First they were grade school friends. Then they built a company together. Eventually, they became millionaires, thanks to a little help from their friends. Their LinkedIn friends, that is.
In 2005, Eric Marcoullier and Todd Sampson founded MyBlogLog, a social networking tool for the blogging set that enables users to keep track of what blogs they've been reading and to find out who's been reading theirs. Scott Rafer, former president and CEO of popular blog search engine Feedster, was searching for a new socially based Internet opportunity and kept on running across MyBlogLog's tools in the process. Recognizing the potential of the company's offering, Rafer went online and located Marcoullier's business profile, where he then discovered a shared connection.
"I reached out to them through LinkedIn, got acquainted, and within eight weeks after doing that first search, I was CEO," Rafer recalls.
A few months later, the new CEO of MyBlogLog was at an industry conference when he was approached by a representative of Internet giant Yahoo!, who expressed interest in extending the MyBlogLog capabilities to their user base. Less than three weeks after that conference--and less than two years since the company was started--a signed contract confirmed the sale of startup MyBlogLog to Yahoo! for more than $10 million.
Bradley Horowitz, vice president of product strategy at Yahoo!, described one of the main benefits of an alliance with MyBlogLog: "This closes the loop between readers and publishers. Every publisher wants to know its readers, and the readers want to find out about each other. It's the power of implicit networking."
As for MyBlogLog, Yahoo!'s acquisition brought far more than just financial gains. In the words of Rafer: "More resources, great brand, and more process. A huge net gain."
MyBlogLog cofounder Eric Marcoullier, in a blog post discussing the just-announced acquisition, pointed to Rafer for helping to power the company's rapid growth: "We owe so much of this to [Scott], for becoming passionate about MyBlogLog and posting about us, building widgets on top of our service, and just taking time out of [his] busy life to connect with other people on [his] favorite sites and blogs."
The LinkedIn-facilitated introduction of Scott Rafer to MyBlogLog's founders is one of the first big stories to illustrate how a social network was able to push a company into the limelight of acquisition, but it is a story that is likely to be repeated as the tools spread and users everywhere log on in ever-increasing numbers. According to Rafer, "I am a big LinkedIn user because most of my job is making connections. I'm searching LinkedIn about once every working hour... the only thing I search more is Google." With big players like Rafer actively scouting on social networks, having an online presence could mean the difference between making it big and missing the train.
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Don't Miss: Q&A With Juliette Powell: The Business Potential Of Social Networking
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