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Whether it’s a meetup, happy hour, conference, PodCamp, or something else, it costs you to attend. First, it costs you time. You could be spending the time doing something else that could earn money. That’s the opportunity cost.  Secondly, unless you live immediately where the event happens, you require transportation to get there. Gas money, wear and tear on your vehicle, cab fare, etc. And parking fees.  Additionally, unless stated otherwise, you may have to buy your own food and drink.

So there’s a cost to consider when choosing to attend an event.  How can you decide if it’s worth it to you?

Recently

I recently attended an event in Cincinnati, and I spent some money to do so:

• I paid to get in.
• I drove about 20 minutes to get there.
• I got some drinks at the bar and gave the bartender a tip.
• On my way out, I realized that I’d forgotten to pay my parking fee and now get to pay an additional fine.

The total cost to me will wind up being close to $100, not including my time and gas, etc. NOT an amount I expected to spend! When I left, I didn’t have a great attitude at first.  It forced me to ask the question:

What is the ROI (return on investment) for attending a social media event?

which I naturally did on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. More on that in just a bit.

Quantifying the Experience

Return on Investment is an accounting term. I look at these things as cumulative, and it’s hard to quantify the monetary value I get from experiences like this.

What is the value of encouragement, of reconnecting with old friends and making new ones?

• As part of my admission to this event, I got a book and was invited to a future event at no charge where the author will be here to speak about it.
• I got to hear about how a local news organization is adapting and embracing new media.
• At this event someone I’ve known online introduced me to a recruiter.
• I was also able to touch base with someone who had interviewed me for a job a short while back.
• Someone I’d hardly known drove a long distance, and we were able to reconnect.
• A relationship with a friend had appeared to have gone sour over the past year. We were able to chat and catch up.
• I met new people and made some new connections that may turn into something in the long-term.

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Let me say this up front – well, reiterate something I’ve said a number of times before:

Your use of social media will vary… and that’s okay. Everyone has his or her own level of comfortability with interacting online and how they approach making connections.  In this post, I’ll share my current approach, with respect to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Connecting is easy

In 2002 I found myself in a job search. I knew that I needed to meet other people as I weaved my way toward the next phase of my career.  I began looking in newspapers for local networking groups or professional organizations where I might be able to meet together. It was frustrating because it wasn’t easy to connect with people in these groups.

LinkedIn

Then came my first LinkedIn invitation, somewhere around 2003 – through someone who had been a contributor to my Get That Job! blog. I started making connections online through LinkedIn, often re-connecting with old colleagues and people I’d known from other circles.  That’s actually one of the beautiful things about being able to find people you know when making online connections, isn’t it?

Twitter

I signed up for Twitter in 2006 when it was still a mere side project. One of the neat things to do was to connect with people I’d known from podcasting circles and elsewhere. It was yet another touchpoint for our online connection. My initial approach also was to connect with as many people as possible in the Greater Cincinnati area (where I live) and the Greater Dayton area (where I worked). More on that in just a moment.

Facebook

I joined Facebook in 2007 and have been able to reconnect with a number of old colleagues and former classmates. I’ve also connected with people I’ve known from various circles on Twitter, podcasting, church, etc.

Changing Strategies

One of  the nice things about Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn is that it’s possible to group connections into one or more lists, which lets you filter your update streams as you wish.

Over the years my strategy in using LinkedIn has changed. Same with Facebook and Twitter.  I’ll still connect with you when you send me a LinkedIn connection request, provided that you are more creative than the “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” or “Since you are a person I trust, I’d like to add you to my professional network.”  Please be a bit more creative than this and let me know how we might know one another. Or, just let me know you’re a human being behind the account. Or, send a follow-up message to introduce yourself.

Facebook is a little bit different. I used to connect with anyone who sent me a connection request. Then one day, as Facebook’s privacy settings had changed yet again, I re-evaluated whom I was connected to, how well I knew them, and wound up removing a number of “Facebook friends”. Similar to LinkedIn, if you want to connect with me, include a message how we might know one another.

My strategy in using Twitter has also changed over the years. I turned off the email notifications that someone had begun following me on Twitter. Now, if you start following me, I might never know, unless you do an @danieljohnsonjr to mention me. I just don’t have time any more to keep up with everything.

What happens next is what really matters

Once we get connected, then what? The big reason I’ve wanted to especially connect with those in the Greater Cincinnati area is because I’m interested in meeting you in person. We are only able to glean a small part of one another’s lives from what we see online.

Maybe you’re different. Maybe you share every single thing you’re doing online. I’m not that way.

Once we’re connected, there should be more that we do than just have a connection. When you connect with me on LinkedIn, I typically send a message, thanking you for the connection and asking how I can help you. I’ll also share something that I’m looking for so that you’ll know how you might be able to help me.

Connect with everybody – recommend only those you truly know.

What is a recommendation? It’s a statement that adds credibility to work you’ve done.  If I recommend you, that means I’m vouching for work you’ve done in the past.  So, if we’ve just connected on LinkedIn, and we don’t already know each other beforehand, it’s probably not a good idea to request a recommendation.  Unless you know me or the work I’ve done, I don’t think your recommendation will add much.

Now, let’s say we get to know each other well online and through one another’s work. Then we might be able to recommend one another on that basis.

What do you think about all of this? What are your personal strategies for using LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter?

Connecting is easy – it’s what happens next that matters.

Possible related articles

• LinkedIn power tip: your headline (getthatjobonline.com)
• Where Job Seekers Should Be Online (money.usnews.com)
• Why LinkedIn is More Valuable than Facebook (blogs.forbes.com)
• Want To Make Your Profile Interesting? Try The InMap! (globalthoughtz.com)
• So, I’m on LinkedIn. Now what? (theglobeandmail.com)
• SIMPLIFY Your Social Media Communications, especially for LinkedIn Users (rocktheworldbook.com)

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Behold the power of Twitter.

I’ve been going to a book networking group for job seekers at the Barnes & Noble in West Chester for a few months now. Monte Washburn, who works at the bookstore, holds a discussion about books and how they can help job seekers. This week, based on my recommendation, we discussed Mitch Joel‘s new book Six Pixels of Separation (affiliate link).

Monday afternoon Twitter:

• 4:10 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel We’re going to be talking about your book tomorrow night at a Cincinnati-area Barnes & Noble book club!
• 4:16 PM mitchjoel: @danieljohnsonjr Wanna Skype me in?
• 4:17 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel Let me talk to the organizer and get back with you. I’m danieljohnsonjr on Skype.
• 6:23 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel We’d love to have you in on the discussion about your book at the Cincinnati-area B&N book club tomorrow!

It’s not uncommon for an author to be present at a discussion or a book signing, but, through the power of social media, we were able to have Mitch Joel, who lives in Montreal, Quebec, virtually with us in Cincinnati, Ohio, tonight while we discussed his book.

Here are some of my perspectives, based on my notes. I hope I haven’t misinterpreted or taken anything out of context. Here goes:

• Why blog? To be findable, to be knowable.
• Don’t blog with the intent to make money or find a job. You yourself are the best advertiser. Let your content and passion shine through on your blog.
• Communicate where your audience is. The reason Mitch wrote the book is to reach people who weren’t already in the social media space, top-level executives who might want to hire Mitch and his company to help them.
• The same can be said about the different social media tools we have at our disposal: communicate where your audience is. Are they on Twitter? Would they follow a news feed on Twitter? Communicate with them over there. Are they on Facebook? Communicate with them over there.
• Before you jump into social media, and often as you’re active with it, ask yourself, “Why should I be on (insert social media tool here)?”
• In response to a question from one person in the group who asked about whether he should create multiple blogs about different passions he has or combine them into one, Mitch redirected to the previous question. Then he recommended as general advice we
  • Use tools like Google Blog Search to find out who the players are in the verticals, the industries we’re looking to participate in
  • Play in their space – read their blogs, comment on posts, join conversations, etc.
  • Once you get comfortable in that space, then consider branching out on your own, if you have the desire to do so
• Mitch reads a lot. He mentioned a new book by Seth Godin, called Linchpin, which is coming out later this month. He says it’s like Purple Cow (affiliate link) but for individuals.
• Mitch mentioned – and I don’t know if this is from the book or not – Three Prongs for Success. If any of these three are off-balance, you’re going to have trouble:
  1. Professional
  2. Personal/family
  3. Community
• Mitch is seriously passionate about writing, and he writes all the time. He said it takes him about 20 minutes to write a 500-600 word blog post. He keeps notebooks with thoughts and ideas.
• I asked Mitch where he comes up with all of the ideas for his blog posts. He said a lot of his content is crowdsourced from social media sites like Twitter. He reads lots of blogs in Google Reader for ideas.
• There was a comment from the group about whether it was important to get a lot of visitors to your blog. Mitch urged us to focus not on trying to get as many visitors or many followers on Twitter for that matter.
• Instead we should focus on who we’re trying to speak to and create content for those people. A lot of this goes back to the strategy; understanding why we’re involved in a particular channel.
• As job seekers, our goal is to find the one place where we can find the work we were meant to do (emphasis added).
• Having a blog helps us build credibility.
• While some can accomplish their goals simply by being on a single social media outpost alone; i.e., LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, Mitch reminded us that these are third-party websites that could go away at any time. All of our content on these websites would go away with them.
• Having a blog and a community around a blog means you own your content and are not at the mercy of whether LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook evaporate.
• Once again, when deciding which communication platform – and that’s what all these tools are, really – to participate in, it’s important to consider which platform the audience is using.  Mitch doesn’t have a YouTube channel because his intended audience isn’t over there. He’s looking to reach high-level executives who are looking for business and marketing advice.
• Monte Washburn, the organizer of the group, asked about how to best go about blending online social networking with face-to-face social networking. There are some people who go to a networking event, and when the structured part of the program is over with, leave and then talk about how they didn’t get anything out of it.
• Mitch encouraged us to go into face-to-face networking events with the intent to help others. When we approach it from that angle, we’ll get a lot more about of the events.
• I mentioned that it’s hard to keep waiting for karma to kick in. He said that we’re not waiting for karma; we’re waiting for serendipity. If we approach our networking – online or in-person – with a helpful attitude, then we’re setting ourselves up to be front of mind.
• Mitch used tonight’s discussion as a perfect example of this. He spent 75 minutes talking to a small group of job seekers in Cincinnati, Ohio from his home in Montreal. We might buy his book, and that’s okay. But what might happen is that we leave the discussion remembering who Mitch Joel is, and we’re more apt to recommend him to other people.
• Mitch told a story about trying to get Gene Simmons and later Bono on the front page of a news publication. He contacted the artist’s management, asking for an interview if they were able to get on the front page.  Once they said yes, he contacted the publication, asking if they’d like an interview with the artists, provided the story gets on the front page.
• Key takeaway for job seekers:
  • Find a company or organization that has a problem. Identify what is missing.
  • Find out who can help, and connect the two together.
  • Do this many times.

After we were done with the Skype call, we discussed some things further, and we were all very impressed that we were able to bring Mitch in on such short notice. Some members of the group asked how this was made possible, so here are the details:

1. I’d been following Mitch through social media and his podcasts, Six Pixels of Separation and Media Hacks, for many months. We’ve been connected on LinkedIn, Facebook, and LinkedIn for some time.
2. Mitch wrote Six Pixels of Separation.
3. Monte set up the networking group meeting for people to meet face to face and discuss books relevant to people looking for jobs or ways to improve their careers.
4. A couple months ago, at one of these events, I recommended Mitch’s book to Monte.
5. Monte set up this week’s meeting to discuss Mitch’s book.
6. In my typical enthusiasm, yesterday on Twitter I said how excited I was that we’d be talking about his book, mentioning Mitch by his Twitter username.
7. Through listening to his Twitter stream, he found out about it and asked if we’d be interested in Skyping him in.
8. I contacted Monte to see what he thought, and we were good to go.
9. Mitch and I connected through Skype.
10. I brought my laptop to Barnes & Noble tonight and we brought Mitch into the conversation.

$timulus networking group in Cincinnati, Ohio

On behalf of the group pictured above, thanks again, Mitch, for spending your Tuesday evening with us!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 10 Steps to Achieving ROI (Return on Influence) Through Corporate Blogs (socialwebschool.com)
• Social Media Basics For Executives (slideshare.net)
• 30 second book review – Six Pixels of Separation (kevinsgreatadventure.blogspot.com)

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(Cross-posted to newmediacincinnati.com)

Chances are, if you were following Twitter on Saturday, August 8, 2009, between 4 and 7 PM Cincinnati time, you saw updates from this month’s New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday.

The format once again was Questions from a Hat, similar to the “Scenes from a Hat” party game on Drew Carey‘s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”. I can tell you emphatically that this format WORKS with this group! Not only does it appeal to our social natures, but it also helps spread a lot of information around in a relatively short amount of time. I’d like to say special thanks to Amybeth Hale, who live-tweeted the questions and answers on Twitter. We’re going to miss you, Amybeth, as you move to Washington state. You’re always welcome back whenever you visit!

This first video is 38:39 long.

I am SO thankful for Don and Vickie Sceifers and Tom Rockhold, who have taken over the UStream channel during the Second Saturday events. They’ve done a fantastic job managing this aspect of the event so that I don’t have to. This second video is 14:16 long.

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John S. Kennedy, a local Cincinnati connection in my professional network, is gone.

I just got off the phone with his mother-in-law. I was concerned by some comments I saw through his Facebook and Twitter.   His mother-in-law confirmed that John passed away last week.

I first met John at the LinkedCincinnati LIVE event last August, and over time we became acquaintances through social media and even exchanged some instant messages through GoogleTalk.

When I chatted with him over the phone in January, we talked about his recent job loss and what he was looking to do.

I am stunned and I hurt. I hurt for his family, who is, of course, devastated by their loss. I know the pain they feel is real.

John’s mother-in-law gave me the details for his memorial service and encourages everyone to spread the word.  They do not know how to access his Facebook or Twitter accounts just yet. The details for the service are as follows:

John S. Kennedy Memorial Service
Thursday, March 5, 2009
11 AM EST
Charles Miller Funeral Home
3464 Central Parkway
Cincinnati, Ohio 45223 (map)

Please spread the word.

If you’re on Twitter, please “retweet”:

RT @danieljohnsonjr: @JohnSK Memorial Service Details: http://bit.ly/xl51l

 UPDATE: There is a guestbook at the Chas A. Miller Sons, Inc. website with informaton and a guestbook for you to leave your condolences.

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EVENT DETAILS

The next meetup will be this coming Saturday, November 15, 2008, from 2-4 PM EST at the University of Cincinnati. Please RSVP via the Eventbrite page.

PECHA WHAT?

Pecha Kucha setup with MacBook and projector

What is Pecha Kucha, you ask? Simply stated, it’s a presentation style in which the presenter has 20 slides and talks for 20 seconds per slide, so that you wind up with a punchier presentation. Read these two articles (the second one has an embedded YouTube video that illustrates the point nicely):

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecha Kucha
• Pecha Kucha: Get to the PowerPoint in 20 slides and then sit down

KEEP THIS IN MIND

Sound like fun? Wanna take a stab at this format and share something with the rest of the group? Here’s what you need to do/keep in mind, should you decide to present:

• The topic should be something related to New/Social Media
• You will need to come up with your own 20 slides
• You can put the presentation onto your own laptop or bring a thumb drive with it (I believe UC’s computers run MS Office, so think PowerPoint if you’re going to use that option.)
• We will set up the presentation so that it will automatically advance to the next slide after 20 seconds
• Sign up at the New Media Cincinnati wiki page: http://newmediacincinnati.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Next+Meetup

PARKING

Since we are having the meetup on a weekend, parking may be available on the streets. Paid parking is also available in various garages. Please check out

• UC’s Visitor Information page: http://www.uc.edu/visitors/
• University of Cincinnati on Google Maps

LAST-MINUTE UPDATES

As always, late-breaking announcements will be announced via Twitter:

• http://twitter.com/newmediacincy
• http://twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

If you have any questions, please contact me by phone: 513-373-4442 or via email at daniel AT newmediacincinnati.com

I’m so looking forward to meeting up with everyone again.

Daniel Johnson, Jr.,
daniel AT newmediacincinnati.com
Cincinnati, Ohio
513-373-4442

http://danieljohnsonjr.com

photo credit: For Inspiration Only

This blog post originates from http://danieljohnsonjr.com

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“If 80 percent of success is, as Woody Allen once said, just showing up, then 80 percent of building and maintaining relationships is just staying in touch.” — Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone, p. 181

You may know that I currently work in Dayton, Ohio, about an hour away from home in Cincinnati.  I mention it often on Twitter and Facebook, in fact.  While I’ve been able to make good use of that commute time listening to podcasts and my music library, I also see it as a great opportunity to connect and maintain the relationships I’ve developed over time with others.

I often post on Twitter and Facebook when I’m getting ready to leave work, that the “Call Dan game” is on and I leave my phone number: 513 373 4442. I have occasionally posted this when I’m on my way to work or out running errands.

So what is the Call Dan Game?  It’s an opportunity for you and I to get to know one another better if we’ve recently connected. Or it’s an opportunity to touch base if we’ve connected in the past.

The truth of the matter is this: I don’t know how else to know what you’re up to.  I’m only able to take a small sip from the “social media firehose”, and I might only see a small bit of what you post online.  As my friend BarbaraKB always says, the phone is still the best social networking tool around.

Is that my real phone number?  Yes and no.  I was fortunate to pick up a Grand Central phone number some months ago, and I have that phone number forwarded to my cell phone.  When you call 513 373 4442, you’ll probably be asked to identify yourself – please do so.  Otherwise, I won’t know who you are and might not pick up the phone.

So let’s connect.  If you want to call during work hours, feel free.  I’ll let you know if it’s a good time to chat or not.  And I’ll often post on Twitter and Facebook when “the Call Dan game is on”.

I look forward to the next time we get to chat!

Related post:

Crying while Eating Alone

This post originates from http://danieljohnsonjr.com

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—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr linkedcincinnati

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Tonight I and over 200 other folks from the Greater Cincinnati area will be meeting together for LinkedCincinnatiLIVE (more details below). I am so glad, too, that my schedule freed up at the last minute for me to do so. I hope to connect with as many of you as possible.

Here is a recent picture of me, in case you’re looking to connect:

LinkedCincinnati LIVE – Details

If you have not signed up for LinkedCincinnatiLIVE tonight, August 27th, you need to do so right away! Over 200 attendees have pre-registered, and we’ve got some seriously incredible items up for grabs in the silent auction.

For those in the local recruiting community, we have a FULL ADMISSION ticket to SourceCon 2008 in Atlanta in just one week for auction, a FULL ACCESS ticket to ERE’s Fall Expo in Hollywood Beach, FL at the end of October, AND a ticket to RecruitFest coming up in Toronto on Sept. 19th. The RecruitFest ticket is worth $220, the SourceCon admission ticket at $1,195 and the ERE Fall Expo ticket at over $2,000. You’ll want to make sure to come to LinkedCincinnatiLIVE and put your bid in for one of these can’t-miss events!

In addition to these event tickets, we have some really cool things that will be on the auction tables, including:

• Design/promotional/marketing consulting services
• Recruiting services
• SEO consulting services
• DBA services
• Skin consultation services
• A B&B weekend package in WV
• A guided upland hunting trip
• Books written by some of our attendees
• A private flight tour from a local pilot
• …and much more!

The silent auction is optional participation, and money raised from these auctioned items will go to help fund an aid trip to South Africa being taken by two LinkedCincinnati members, Jennifer McClure and Amybeth Hale. The $5 door cover will go to offset the facility rental and refreshments and will enter you into a raffle drawing during the course of the event. Cash bar will be available: soft drinks: $1.95, beer: $3.25-$3.75, wine: $5.00, cocktails: $5.50+.

Our auction items range in cost from around $10 all the way up to $3500 so there is something for everyone to check out. Business owners and managers, consider bidding on some of the consultative services for your company.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet other local professionals in the Cincinnati area (and beyond – there are people from as far away as Florida attending!). Bring your business cards and get ready to mingle! Hope to see you there!

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr linkedcincinnati

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Jacob posted a great question on LinkedIn:

Social Networks, Bringing Us Together or Keeping Us Apart?

Here’s what I offered:

Good question, Jacob!

I still believe that the telephone is one of the best social networking tools around, and, at least for me, there is a point when you want to take your online connections into the real world. Last year, I began creating opportunities to network away from the computer.

During the week, I meet with folks I’ve met through social media periodically for lunch. Last October I founded New Media Cincinnati, a meetup group for folks interested and passionate about new and social media to get together. We hold conversations in real life and online.

Social networks are the people; not the tools themselves. The tools exist just to facilitate the real-life connections.

What do you think? Are social networking tools bringing us together or keeping us apart?

[IMG] New Media Cincinnati – April Meetup by danieljohnsonjr.

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr jacob+morgan social+networking linkedin

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