Following is an overview of these tools:

Website Grader – Useful tool for measuring the marketing effectiveness of your
website, get a free custom report in seconds with advice for your website

MarketingProfs – A great resource for case studies, insights, and best practices from
peers and experts in marketing

HubSpot Internet Marketing Blog – Articles about business strategy and inbound Internet
marketing

Web ink now – Online thought leadership and viral marketing strategies from award-
winning author David Meerman Scott

HubSpot – Internet marketing software that helps you get found by more prospects and
generate more qualified leads and sales

CrowdSpring – A site offering custom designs that you choose from actual custom designs, not bids. The average project gets
a whopping 80 entries. They have a money back guarantee
25 entries or a full refund, including the small fee for the services. The site boast over 46,000 creatives.

Zmags – The next generation in online publishing. The site is great. Take a look at my ZMag! For more information, view the zmags blog.

What do you think? What are your top ten or fewer favorites of the year?

Now refocus your attention to your existing network and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who in your network will play to your strengths?

2. Who will cover your weaknesses?

3. What one person would you like to meet if you could network with anyone in the world? What qualities does that person have? List them and then look for people who have similar qualities.

4. What top three industry leaders does your network listen to the most?

5. What top three leaders in all other industries do they most admire?

6. What if the network you had comprised of only top performers? What qualities would they have? What qualities do you have to would complement theirs?

7. How can you listen better every day? Top-performing networkers are top listeners.

8. Who is one person you know who helps others in the organization above and beyond his or her own work responsibilities?

9. What one thing would you like to be doing or do differently that you are not doing now. (e.g. have great meetings that lead to new business or design a program that comes in under budget and on time).

10. What would it look, sound, feel like to be more successful in your networking?

Any of these questions can be used to get you thinking in ways that will help you take your networking to “the next level.” Please feel free to offer up some answers here. I will also be sharing these with my Networlding Group on LinkedIn. Please join the discussion there also by clicking here.

“Hi Melissa. We’ve called you in because we are finding that we just are not getting the same results from our marketing initiatives that we used to get.”

I respond, “Yes. I am hearing that from a lot of company heads. What do you think is happening?”

“Well, I think that people just aren’t reading the magazines, newspapers or other publications like they used to; I think, instead they are searching online. for services like ours”

I respond, “It could be. But what other evidence do you have that they have shifted their attention to online search?”

“Because there isn’t a week that goes by that I am sent some kind of email from someone I have met somewhere that mentions things about me like ‘I know you are an avid golfer.’ or ‘In that talk you gave at The Executive Club you shared some great insights on new product devleopment.’ or ‘Congratulations on that 10K race you ran.’ They are getting this information from online sites. There is no question. People are searching online for me and our organization.”

So now that these companies are “awake in the network” what can we do to make social networking more successful? Simply, focus on mutually beneficial opportunities versus the “what’s in it for you” mindset. What would this look like? Taking the time to really get to know what unique problems your prospects and clients are experiencing. From the conversation above, I know that my prospects and clients want to know what to do to keep up or even ahead of the curve around social networking. My goal is to not just push my services but to provide solutions that address their current needs. One quick example would be the upcoming presentation I am making to heads of pubic relations for about 45 top colleges. I spent the last weekend analyzing each school’s website to see who was on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. I then went through each participant’s LinkedIn profile to see how developed each was or was not. I did searches on Google on each school to see what they were doing outside of their main site. I was looking for a good snapshot of the quantity and quality of their social media activites.

Now I have a much better understanding of the gaps they have created and are in need of being filled with suggestions I can offer and by doing so, ad great value. The process is the same for you and your industry. What else can you offer here? What gaps are you seeing in your industry? What solutions do you have to offer that others would benefit from receiving?

Fortune 500 Series: FedEx delivers success through social media …
By Jennifer Leggio

Blogger, Jennifer Leggio showcases The FedEx Citizenship blog that provides insights from their employees into FedEx global citizenship programs and the The FedEx Cares Week blog is an internal blog that chronicles the annual global philanthropy event by having team members share their stories about the community service projects. …

Hill and Knowlton’s New Blogging Code of Conduct

Hill and Knowlton publish their blogging “Code of Conduct.” This is a nice model for other organizations to use.

The Top Six Reasons Companies are Still Scared of Social Media

This article showcases the reasons why companies are afraid of social media. Whereas they are typical reasons that make sense, the article is good at aggregating the most common reasons. The hurdles for companies are getting lowered by organizations like SAS who take on the risk, trusting and encouraging their employees to blog and prove that it is still better to be “out there” than to hide behind corporate walls.

My Take

I spoke with a couple of social media experts this week and found that, once again, myopia is still alive, well and living in peoples’ minds still. By this I mean that many see social networking as their ticket to great success. They think that because there are so are confused how to make social networking work that there is a huge market out there and that they can just put a shingle out that states they are social media experts overnight. Recently someone shared they had a construction worker friend who is now teaching LinkedIn.

I’ve been teaching people social networking for more than a decade and up until last year many still didn’t understand the basics of business networking. Now there are five times the number of experts on the subject than there were even three months ago. What a strange time this is! It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out in the next couple of years. I remember when I use to hold networking events and there was an over abundance of bankers; then came the plethora of coaches. Now everyone is a social networking and new media expert. Hmmmmm.

What does it look like to build trust online? Maybe showing rather than telling will be more helpful. Let me start with an actual campaign I am currently implementing.

Event: A live event in Chicago teaching social media

Target market: Lawyers

Date scheduled: Last two weeks in October

1.  I started by going through my network on LinkedIn
2. I limited my search to those in my network
3.  I discovered I had 318 lawyers in my network
4. I created what I call a two-step email–first a query to find out if there was interest, and
second, if interested, an email to present the workshop offering.

I have used this approach, again and again, to connect with people that I know as well as those I don’t. My approach is to ALWAYS be as authentic as I can be and to create a connection.

What else? I also really work on my emails to these new connections making sure I make my request simple and short. So a script might look like this:

Dear X,

I am currently in your network and wanted to reach out and ask if you might be interested in a social media workshop I will be hosting in Chicago at the end of October? I have over seven years of experience helping thousands learn to leverage social media tools like LinkedIn. Please let me know if you would like me to send more information.

Best,

Melissa Giovagnoli

—————————————————————

But, of course, each campaign you create is unique and should be as tailored as possible to create the best “first impression.” That takes some time and thoughtfulness, but, if you build a network of connections, one good first connection conversation, at a time, you will go a long way toward starting a “trust continuum” that will have a long-term payback.

The article continues on to share that this new organization will continue to provide exceptional word-of-mouth marketing programs that leverage the power of their pre-existing relationships with top bloggers such as Liz Strauss Successful-Blog.com.

The company has locations in Austin, Seattle and Houston.  Ivy Worldwide is recommended by community influencers as the best company with the best approach for word-of-mouth marketing. For more information, visit Ivy World Wide.

With Networlding we emphasize that there are “Givers,” “Takers” and “Exchangers.” We advocate that there is a big difference between each of these three. Of course we all know about “The Takers.” They are usually the subject of most talks by top networking experts.

Instead, I focus on how “The Giver” is different from “The Exchanger.” An example is a good friend of mine who is the poster child of “The Giver.” She gives and gives and gives but then, at the end of each year, she often ends up with little in exchange. Why? Because she did not ask for anything in return. And, because she is so busy giving, she doesn’t have time to really realize the benefits of an exchange.

Exchangers take time qualifying others as to  how they can create a more mutually beneficial exchange of support. In Networlding I reference our “Seven Levels of Support” that help people understand what they have to give and what they can request in exchange. In an exchange, just as Ivy Worldwide has made explicit and part of how they implement their online campaigns, the upfront knowledge and agreement as to what a good exchange would be results in a mutually beneficial outcome that can ripple(just like an good networking initiative) beyond all participants most hopeful expectations. The “Network Effect” created then cannot be compared to transactional campaigns that have only a goal for immediate gratification and a limited vision.

I have been working with executives on LinkedIn since its beginning and have found, again and again, that people need help figuring out how to leverage its power for their job search. With the statistic floating out there that 86% of the way people get jobs is through networking a tool like LinkedIn that has over 40 million professionals on it with the average age between 40-42, one would have to pay attention to this tool. But what’s the 20% focus you should have to yielf an 80% return. That’s where you start.

First, make sure your profile is as strong as it can be. It should have key words that hiring professionals would use. One of the best ways to figure out what these words would be is to do a key word search by clicking on the “People” page of LinkedIn (top left-hand corner in the navigational bar on the site). Search for keywords you would think would be used in searching for your job but also think out of the box. For example, since leadership is something that many employers search for in a candidate, if you are seeking a management position, put a keyword search in that includes some variation of that keyword. I just searched on the keywords “leader” and “marketing” with the title of Sr. VP of Marketing. I found 16,356 people referenced with those closest in my network listed first. I then reviewed a number of the profiles to see how they were constructed. There were hundreds of great models to emulate.

Second, explore the Company pages of LinkedIn to further compare your profile with others at the targeted companies you have chosen and to identify the right “Tipping Point” of connections you can make into those organizations. Again, let’s take the terms marketing and leader at the Sr. VP level. This time I search through organizations like Intuit, a top software company out of San Francisco. I found they currently have the following number of employees on LinkedIn:

* San Francisco Bay Area (500+)
* Greater San Diego Area (500+)
* Tucson, Arizona Area (500+)
* Greater Los Angeles Area (500+)
* Dallas/Fort Worth Area (500+)
* Reno, Nevada Area (278)

I was able to get a great snapshot of the organization. I found this company has thousands of active employees on LinkedIn. This means that I should be able to gather deep wisdom about what that company wants in an employee and, further, to connect with enough people who can help me network my way into the organization.

Third, get yourself a support group with whom you can share your job search experiences. I always say the best group to start is your own. This could look like a weekly call with others who are in a job search mode or a face-to-face meeting where you keep sharing your search techniques. My clients are constantly telling me how tough it is to face the daily loneliness they feel during a job search. But you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out and connect.

There are so many strategies you can use to accelerate your job search. I’ll over more in upcoming weeks. The important thing is that you do have a process and you do have a support network who will help you with direction and connection. So many of my clients find that they are able to learn and master networking when they have a sound framework that is tailored to their unique backgrounds. Finally, the best news about learning how to network better and to use all the new low-cost no-cost, online tools is that networking is something they can always use in their new positions to grow their careers. In other words, networking is a skill you never want to have get rusty. It can always be useful.

Bonus Point: If you who purchase the program I created that contains the comprehensive tools–the combination of the networking process and LinkedIn strategies and basic and advanced usage training (all for the low price of $79) you will receive a free coaching session with me to even further tailor your job search. However, this offer is good for only a limited time, so if you are interested, visit http://budurl.com/6figurejobsearch.

Career Coaching Experience

Helped over 4000 people on their LinkedIn Profiles
18+ Years of Experience
Specializing in Senior Managers and C-Level Professionals
6 Figure Jobs – partnership as “The Networking Coach” for more than six years

Reid has kept that question at the center of his life as he continues to grow LinkedIn into an organization that benefits millions allowing them, as he puts it, to become “sofware entrepreneurs.” He illuminates the fact that the working world is changing making every person “somewhat entrepreneurial” especially when one is looking for a job.

Reid, as he has stated in past articles (I read as many of them as I can) has said that he is still trying to get people to realize the day-to-day benefits of LinkedIn. Well, this article pulls Reid’s vision forward just a little more. For me, I see LinkedIn as much more than a software tool for job seekers. I see it as an integral part of building successful careers, businesses and communities. But, of course, it is also incredibly beneficial to job seekers! Stay tuned!

I was just recently reading about a Twitter conference that served up the following set of promises that included:

1. building communities
2. providing customer service
3. changing brand perceptions
4. and increasing revenue

Now of course there could be more promises but let’s just take these and really think about all the stories you are hearing that deliver the promises set forth above. Weighing in on these promises are a lot of people who are not getting results. Why?

Could it be because they are pushing their way into communities, not delivering on customer service and plain, just not listening to the models being shared for effective social networking? Check out this great video and then come back to this question, “What can you do today to start a more effective social media campaign?”

I think that social media is a “layering” process. In my talks I share that it is like Baklava, one sweet layer after another. It keeps adding up and, as it does, the layers create a great result. So I am not going to go into great detail offering case studies that prove that social media marketing is effective. I’ll save that for future blog entries. Today, I just want to offer up a metaphor that will, hopefully, get you thinking and, if you will, just try a bite of this dessert!

By looking through these questions you will start to see that social networking ripples through the organization out to your clients or customers and back through to your employees, both current and past. Getting your arms around the networked model of social networking is even more difficult when you realize that it does not just reside in the domain of marketing but, rather, in many areas throughout any organization.

Read through the questions and let us know if you have others you think are noteworthy or any of those below you think are particularly compelling.

Large Businesses & Enterprises

* How does an enterprise address the issues of poor performance and high costs as a result of the “silo” effect of the organizational structure?
* How do I lower costs while improving efficiency and productivity?
* How can I increase sales given current stressed economic conditions?
* Is there a way to cost-effectively increase knowledge sharing throughout my firm?
* How do we leverage the younger generation of workers’ new skills as a result of social networking and media technologies?
* Is there a way to increase the returns from all the sales contacts I’ve made over the years?
* Are there ways of increasing my sales revenues through former employees who left on good terms with my company?
* How can I retool my staff to learn new competitive competencies that help to differentiate my firm?
* How can I increase talent retention while attracting the best and brightest new employees?
* How can I increase the flexibility of my firm to capitalize on innovative opportunities?
* How do I increase innovation in my company?
* Are there new communication strategies as a result of new technologies that I should consider adopting for my firm?
* How can I improve the quality of my enterprise leadership and increase its sustainability?
* How can my company capitalize on the millions of people who now use the internet and join online social networks?

Small & Medium Sized Businesses

* How can I increase sales given current stressed economic conditions?
* How can I retool my staff to learn new competitive competencies that help to differentiate my firm?
* How can I capitalize on the millions of people who now use the internet and join online social networks?
* How can I improve the quality of leadership and increase sustainability for leadership development?
* How do I increase innovation in my company?
* Is there a way to increase the returns from all the sales contacts I’ve made over the years?
* Are there new communication strategies as a result of new technologies that I should consider adopting for my firm?

Non-Profits & Gov’t Agencies

* How can I capitalize on the millions of people who now use the internet and join online social networks?
* How can I improve the quality of leadership and increase sustainability for leadership development?
* How do I increase innovation in my organization?
* How do I increase community involvement in my programs?
* How do I increase innovation in my organization?

Leaders & Entrepreneurs

* Is there a way to increase the returns from all the sales contacts I’ve made over the years?
* How can I capitalize on the millions of people who now use the internet and join online social networks?
* How can I improve the quality of leadership and increase sustainability for leadership development?