Jump-Start Your Network V Part Five of a Five-Part Series Deborah Dib
Welcome to the final step to jump-starting your network. Without further ado...
- GO VIRTUAL TO GET PERSONAL.
On-line networking and on-line portfolios are new, growing, and they work.
On-line networking sites are where industry experts, entrepreneurs, and employers are hanging out, making connections. As a jump-start networker, you need to be there.
- A few of the most trusted and noteworthy sites are TheLadders.com, LinkedIn, Ecademy, and Ryze.
- These sites offer the chance to build your own network and connect with others -- sharing network contacts and making virtual introductions.
- Most sites allow you to look for industry experts, search for people who work in your target companies, join special interest groups, get testimonials, etc.
- You can create a profile that allows others to see as much of your professional background as you care to share.
- You can ask references, associates, previous employers, vendors, etc. to post testimonials about you and your work.
Recruiters consistently say that they use Google and other search engines as well as these networking websites for sourcing passive candidates.
- One of the best ways to manage your on-line presence so that you have control of your brand and employment messages is to create an impressive, tech-savvy on-line portfolio that clearly delivers your brand and value.
- Such portfolios tend to be listed on the first pages of web searches about you and are quite useful in creating the chemistry needed to capture interviews. For this, they work far better than on-line resumes alone, and in fact, the URL to an on-line portfolio can be included in your resume.
Louise Fletcher's.
Jump-Start Tip:
Join an on-line networking group and immediately send your trusted friends and business associates invitations to your on-line network. Keep in mind that your name is attached to the contact and they reflect on you. You need to be sure that these people are people to whom you could give a strong recommendation of competence should someone want to meet them. Virtual networks are built upon this concept.
The faster you build your virtual network, and the more you encourage your invitees to build their networks, the faster your network will expand -- it's an exponential thing. For instance, someone with only 40 direct first-level connections will have a second-level network of about 1,300 connections and a third-level network of over 130,000 connections. Some sites can go to six levels. That's a lot of contacts!
NEXT STEPS
Once you've jump-started your network, you must continue to build it and keep it vibrant for the life of your career. The services of a good coach or a mentor who is an experienced networker can be invaluable in helping you with ideas and in keeping your enthusiasm high. These books from leading experts can also help.
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by Harvey Mackay 
by Donna Fisher 
by Pam Lassiter 
by Anne Baber & Lynne Waymon 
by Susan RoAne 
by Ivan R. Misner & Don Morgan 
by Michelle Tullier 
