Networking Effectively by Scott Bradley

Archive for the ‘Personal Branding’ Category

Watch the video you will see what I mean and may be able to relate.

Today Dan Schawbel has launched the second volume of the Personal Branding Magazine!

With the new launch of the new volume we have added a facebook group and a fan page that you can subscribe to to receive other exclusive content that Dan puts out on a regular basis.

Definitely join both of these groups so you can get as much value as possible!

To pick up your free sample go here: http://www.PersonalBrandingSample.com

The topic of the magazine is “Millennials: Changing the Way we Do Business”

The issue will be focusing on how the Gen-Y audience is changing and impacting the work place, and also features some Gen-Y entrepreneurs that have been interviewed!

Definitely pick up a sample of this issue, and if you feel it would be worth it for you to invest in yourself by reading this magazine definitely pick up a subscription of it!

To subscribe to the magazine please go to: http://www.PersonalBrandingMag.com

Here is the youtube video where Dan talks about the issue and shares the sponsors with us to help him make this awesome magazine happen!

I want to share something with you that totally blew me away.

Before I get to that I want to first share with you the story behind this video that you are about to watch.

A week ago I was checking out my newsfeed on facebook and saw this woman do this face reading thing for one of my friends. I thought it was really cool and wanted to see what she would say about me. I requested to be her friend and sent her a message asking her how I could get my face read from her. Sure enough…2 days later she made this video below!

Lynn Scheurell who’s website is http://www.LynnReadsFaces.com literally read my face as you will see in her video below…And practically read me like a book. In her readings that she does for her clients, she uses the "Ancient Art and Science of Chinese Face Reading" to help them understand more about their natural energies that allows them to weave them into their marketing…and further helping them be more effective in their social networking activities!

I had to share this with you because I thought it was just so cool!

Let me know your thoughts!

Feel free to contact Lynn and let her know I sent you! She may be able to read your face as well!

Enjoy!

My friend Dan Schawbel who is the author of the Personal Branding Blog just made a video on “Nurturing your Network” and after watching it I felt that it would be appropriate to share it with you.

He makes an amazing point about what to do with your network when you reach the success that you are seeking. Don’t miss the takeaway!

As a loyal reader of my blog, you may or may not know, but I am the sponsorship manager for the Personal Branding Magazine. We just launched the new issue today and I wanted to take this brief opportunity to share the promo video with you where the Publisher Dan Schawbel talks about the magazine and the benefits you will receive by not only reading the Free Sample, but also by subscribing.

Enjoy the video and enjoy reading the Free Sample!
http://www.PersonalBrandingSample.com

I am in a mind-mapping mode with my new favorite best friend http://www.MindMeister.com. In this post I want to speak about and list for you what I feel are the most essential things you need to have if you want to start and continue to network online effectively.

1. Facebook- Having a Facebook account is essential to networking online. As an extension of your brand and personality it is an amazing way to connect with people and build trusting relationships using this amazing platform. In my post on Networking Effectively using Social Networking Sites I highlight some of the most effective ways to build relationships with individuals on Facebook. Some of my favorite features for networking on facebook are: the groups feature, messaging feature, posted items/share feature, friending feature, and mini-feed feature. If you don’t have a facebook please go set up an account! If you need help setting up your profile feel free to click my facebook profile badge on the right panel of this blog to get some ideas!

2. Youtube- Having a youtube channel is also an essential thing to have in this world of social media and networking because it allows you to utilize the power of video to speak to your new friends that you meet online in the web 2.0 space. They say that “A picture is worth 1000 words,” but how much do you think a video of you is worth?…1,000,000 words? With video, it communicates your brand through a different medium for people to get to know you far beyond your facebook/myspace profile. It adds the “human touch” to your brand, and can truly allow you to build deeper and stronger relationships with your group of friends online! Here is my YouTube channel if you care to see some of the videos I have made!

3. Twitter- Twitter is a microblogging platform that has become one of my new favorite online networking and relationship building tools. If you aren’t familiar with this new platform, basically it allows you to write “mini blog posts” that are 140 characters in length…and by doing so you are able to let the people who are “following” you, get the updates you post about what you are doing right at that moment. Also another fun aspect of the site is that you can follow your friends as well and get their updates at the same time. This fun online tool allows you to get to know more “detailed” stuff about the people in your network that you meet online! I have found it to be really fun and enjoyable to use! Here is my twitter if you would like to follow me. One tool that goes well with it that allows you to upload your blog posts into the feed is called Twitterfeed. Definitely utilize this resource!

4. FriendFeed- Friend feed is a site that is similar to twitter in a way, but instead of giving people updates about “what you are doing at that moment” it aggregates all of your online activity in a semi-real time basis. It is a great way to keep up with people in your network, and what they are blogging about, and also just what they are doing in the online space. This tool gives you a more in depth view about the people in your network and what they like. You are able to link up all of your “social media accounts” together into the site, and then it is set it and forget it technology. If you would like to get my “Friend Feed” updated here is my profile.

5. IM Screen Name- If you are not familiar about what IM means in the online world it means “Instant Message Screen Name.” Having a way to instant message your friends online is essential when it comes to carrying on your conversation away from the web 2.0 sites. It is where you and your new friend can get to know each other through one-on-one conversations. In todays online world it is assumed that everyone has a screen name, so when speaking with people on the web 2.0 sites, don’t hesitate to take the conversation into an IM box. I have been able to build amazing relationships using instant messaging…some of my friends on there I have spoken with for over 1 year before ever calling them to talk on the phone. Here is one of my past blog posts about networking using instant messaging. If you would like my screen name please feel free to visit my facebook profile. I am looking forward to your IM!

6. Branding Site- Aside from your facebook profile the next step to networking online is having your very own “branding site” that tells your story a little more in depth compared to your facebook profile. You can create one of these types of sites pretty easily. If you would like the company I use for my site just let me know and I would be happy to help you out! On my site, I see it as a way for someone to get to know me further beyond the facebook hustle and bustle. It is a very focused page giving the people reading it the lowdown about me and my story…helping me build that relationship with them further. Feel free to view my branding site! I look forward to your comments and feedback!

7. A Blog- One of the other “sites” you should have for yourself when building relationships online with people is your very own blog. This blog can be about a topic you are interested in, or like writing about. I have been blogging for almost a year now, and the people that it attracts, and things that have come from blogging have been so rewarding. When using web 2.0 sites I use my blog as a branding tool for myself so people automatically connect “networking” with my name. I mostly use the link as a sig file when writing messages to people I would like to get to know, and further import my blog posts into facebook itself. A blog is another way to communicate and build relationships with an audience that likes what you speak about on your blog. By using Feedburner to manage your RSS subscriptions it allows you to build a relationship with an infinite amount of people all at the same time. You are already at my blog so I don’t have to give you a link If you can get a blog up using one of the few blogging platforms that I put in the mind map! You won’t be sorry!

8. MyBlogLog- MyBlogLog is the “facebook of the blogging world.” While the site doesn’t have as many features as facebook, it acts as the network that allows you to brand yourself as well as brand your blogs that you run and administrate at the same time. I find it to be a wonderful community and further love using their “tracking tool” which is awesome to keep track of the type of traffic I am getting to this blog, where they are coming from, and what they click! It is really a great tool! If you are going to have a blog as part of your online branding/relationship building strategy definitely get yourself an account! Here is my account if you would like to connect on there!

9. LinkedIn- The last and final tool that you can definitely utilize when networking online is the site LinkedIn. This is more of a “professional facebook site” that allows you to build your trusted network of contacts, and by doing so, it allows you to see other people in your trusted network of contacts that you may want to get an introduction too. I don’t use this site often, but still manage to maintain it on a very limited basis. This is the last thing to add to your online personal branding and networking strategy and will definitely be the cherry on the top to networking effectively online! Here is my profile if you are interested in connecting on their as well!

Please let me know if I missed anything! I am looking forward to your comments and feedback!

Last week was amazing with all of the networking and relationship building that went on with me, and because it was so amazing I wanted to share it with you.

Between Thursday-Saturday of this past week I got the chance to meet, interact and network with some amazing people…a 23 year old entrepreneur who has built a company that currently is doing over 10 million a year in sales AND a person who is a carbon copy of me when it comes to having a passion for real estate investing, Robert Kiyosaki’s material and entrepreneurship. The 23 year old entrepreneur named Ryan Allis, came to speak to the Boston College Entrepreneur Society, and the other gentlemen came down from New Hampshire to watch Ryan’s presentation due to his passion for entrepreneurship.

I met both of these gentlemen using everything I talk about here on Networking Effectively. The technique I used to initially find Ryan Allis was through facebook. After going back and forth through facebook’s messaging feature, and then moving our conversation to the phone, I offered to him the opportunity to come out and share his story about growing his company from Zero to One Million in sales with the Boston College Entrepreneur Society. He was a totally awesome speaker, and his presentation was top notch…I even learned a couple break dance moves from him, due to his “Professional Dancing Skills.”

The second gentlemen who came down to see Allis’s presentation was someone who found me on facebook…because I went into a Rich Dad Cashflow 101 group and posted on the wall, “Anyone who wants to play the board game Cashflow, please contact me! I like networking with others who have a passion for the game and meeting other people who find Robert Kiyosaki’s material so helpful.” After going back and forth with him through facebook’s messaging feature we decided that it would be cool to meet before Ryan Allis’s event.

Little did I know…as we started talking we instantly “clicked” in a matter of 10 minutes and both told each other almost at the same time, “I am so happy I found someone who has the same passions and interests that I do. Finding people like you is so difficult these days especially amid the college atmosphere where the accepted mantra is ‘Go to school, get good grades, find a safe secure job with benefits, and then when you retire, your company and government will take care of you.” (Which as we all know now is the biggest pipe dream imaginable).

As we began to get to know each other over some lunch, before Ryan Allis’s event, we talked about our passions for Real Estate, our upbringing, what we are currently working on, what other business’s we have been exposed to over the years, and further talked about what drives us, our passions and ambitions and how we want to change the world and have an impact on other peoples lives.

As we were talking and getting to know each other at such a rapid pace…I had to pinch myself, and think, “Scott you met this person on facebook…just think of all of the other awesome people just like him on that website that you haven’t gotten the chance to meet yet!”

After lunch was over we came back expecting to play Kiyosaki’s game Cashflow 101 but instead we just continued our conversation about our passions and interests. Soon thereafter Ryan Allis arrived and had to prepare some things before his speech he would deliver that night.

After doing so, and after giving an amazing presentation Ryan, my friend I just met, and a couple Boston College Entrepreneur Society members went out to dinner with Ryan to continue our conversation about life and entrepreneurship. As we were sitting around the table talking about world issues, I still had to sit back and think, “Scott if it weren’t for facebook, and your willingness to provide value to others, this event probably wouldn’t have happened.” Everyone at the table was talking about current and future economic trends, asked Ryan some more questions about his business, and further went on to discuss about some ideas each of us had. Like I said…this was so awesome, and because it was so enjoyable to be around these “thought leaders” the time flew so damn fast!

They always say that “Time flies when your having fun,” and truly this entire day, from 3:30pm when I met my friend from New Hampshire, all the way to going to bed that night at 1:00 AM I was thinking to myself how fast and enjoyable that experience was.

Now because my friend from New Hampshire and I were not able to play Cashflow on Thursday before Ryan’s speech, he ended up coming down yesterday (Saturday) with his brother to play. We played the game, continued our conversation further, and then went out to dinner with one of my other friends, named Dan Schawbel who is the owner and pioneer for the Personal Branding Magazine. I currently manage the sponsorships for the magazine and help market our Free Sample that we give away to educate others about the value that the magazine will provide them if they decide to subscribe.

My new friend from New Hampshire, his brother, and my friend Dan went to an UNO’s pizza in Boston…Kenmore Square to be exact! As we sat down, we started talking about Dan’s passion of personal branding. As I was sitting there at the table seeing my new friend from NH listen and digest everything we were all talking about regarding helping people build their personal brands through the online and offline media channel, I was sitting there thinking…”Damn Scott, isn’t it awesome bringing other people in your network together to further create synergistic bonds between each and every one of them over something as simple as a lunch or dinner?” I can tell you openly and honestly I was beside myself with all of the positive energy that was being transferred at that table.

Now with all of this awesome dialog going on something else happened that was even better. On Thursday after meeting my friend from New Hampshire he sent me a message on Friday talking to me about a Real Estate deal he is working on and explained to me that for him to do the deal he is going to have to find someone willing to help him put the down payment on the property. After he told me this, I went to one of my contacts in my network that is a business owner and high end investor, who I met through using the things I teach on my post about Networking Effectively Using Instant Messaging, and simply sent him an IM when he was “away” that said, “I have a deal that you may take an interest in, here is my number ###-###-####, call me for the contact and the details.” The reason I felt comfortable doing this is because I have been networking and building a relationship with him for over 1.5 years…so it was totally normal to think about him in this fashion.

Well…during the dinner my business owner and investor friend called me up as we were talking about personal branding with Dan and my new friend. I looked at the number and saw the caller ID saying it was him. I was floored that he gave me a call about the deal and I looked at my friend, showed him the caller ID and said, “Here is the guy calling that may possibly be the first investor in the property that you want to close on soon.” After showing him that I just had to smile …and think to myself…”Damn Scott…this is too much fun.”

Anyway after we finished dinner and headed home, I ended up calling my business owner and investor friend up to return his call, and we had an awesome conversation where I gave him the contact info of my friend from NH who is looking for funding on the deal, and further talked briefly about the economy and where he is looking to invest his money next! It was just so awesome, and again…I had to pinch myself to make sure all of what was going on was in fact real

I know this is a really long post but I wanted to write it to prove a point, and hopefully inspire you to take action on putting yourself out there on the social networking sites, through instant messaging, and through networking events to find trusting contacts like I have gathered over my 2+ years of Networking Effectively. I have learned everything about networking through learning from personal mentors and from my direct experience in the field. One thing I have come to realize after these years of doing this is, you just never know where you will meet your next “Million Dollar Contact,” and further will never know what medium you will have to use to to acquire more contacts like them…all you can control is continually putting yourself out there in the “randomness of the world” and due to the law of attraction, and law of reciprocity only good contacts, people and resources will continually flow to you effortlessly…When you think about it…What do you have to lose?

This is a movie of Dan Schawbel. Dan Schawbel is the creator of a magazine called “Personal Branding Magazine” and is one of my friends I met on the internet through networking with blogs. I currently write for the magazine and manage the sponsorships and the marketing for the magazine.

For this issue, we decided it would be cool to give future readers of the magazine a sample issue so they could get a feel for the magazine before they decided to purchase it.

This issue of the magazine features the Google Founders on the cover, and has some of the biggest names on the internet in the magazine.

Due to the topic of the magazine being around the theme of “Influence” it would be a valuable resource for you to add to your “Networking Tool Belt.” The content that is in this magazine will definitely help you become a better networker, and show you where you can improve in gaining more influence over your network.

Be sure to download your FREE sample by going to http://www.PersonalBrandingSample.com

Feel free to come back to this post to post your comments!