http://linkedintobusiness.com Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:09:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://linkedintobusiness.com/social-media-women-and-little-ol-me-syndrome/ http://linkedintobusiness.com/social-media-women-and-little-ol-me-syndrome/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:25:14 +0000 VivekaVonRosen http://linkedintobusiness.com/?p=574 mensightmagazine.com: men resist intimacy, are active,  independent,  objective, logical, detached, manipulative, ambitious, intimidating, visual, and aggressive.  (Hey - I'm not the one who said it!)  One might postulate that - traditionally - the business world has been very "masculine" in nature.  It's had to be to find success in our culture. But with the onset of social media - well, the times they are a'changin! Here are some more facts.  According to Stephanie Holland of She-Conomy.com, its boomer women that are gaining ground as the most powerful consumers:

• Boomer women are more financially empowered than any previous generation of women (Mary Brown)
• Senior women age 50 and older control net worth of $19 trillion and own more than three-fourths of the nation's financial wealth. (MassMutual Financial Group-2007)
• The 55 to 75 year-old female has seen her role change from homemaker to purchaser of security, convenience and luxury items. - Barbara Kleger, president of 55+ Consulting

More facts?  According to SocialNomics.com, Women are also the fastest growing population on Facebook, and other social media sites. And what is even cooler?  Social Media responds best to feminine traits:  Authenticity, integrity, connection, genuine communication, listening.  (Also from mensighmagazine.com) So ladies - WHY ARE YOU NOT USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS EFFECTIVELY AS YOU COULD BE? I have a few ideas on that which I would like to examine more closely over the next few months. But for right now, let me tell you, it's time to speak up!  Social media allows us freedoms and opportunities we have never had before.  But in order to make the best of a phenomenon that has a lot of "feminine traits", we need to lose some of the typical female responses. (Yes - I have heard every single one of these)

• "Oh, I could never do that."
• "But technology is a guy thing, it's too overwhelming"
• "But that would be bragging!"
• "I'm too private a person"

I'm here to tell you - GET OVER IT!  Women are the fastest growing demographic in the fastest growing cultural phenomenon.  And Social Media by its very nature is supportive or our "natural traits."  It's absolutely our arena to shine and find success.  Do not let "The Little Ol' Me" Syndrome keep you from finding that success.  Social media is easy, it's accessible, and it's a forum for sharing and listening and helping people.  What could be more natural?  Hesitating from entering this amazing new world IS KEEPING YOU FROM OPPORTUNITY! But don't worry - I'll be there with you along the way. And for those women who are already on social media, (and LinkedIn in particular) but are not getting any business from it, I'm going to help you too.  This is absolutely the time to let our voices be heard, express our knowledge, and expertise.  As my friend Joel Comm says, if you are not out there sharing your gifts with the world, then you are doing it a disservice.  So join me next time - and let your voice be heard! Next up:  Extreme Makeover, LinkedIn Edition.]]> http://linkedintobusiness.com/social-media-women-and-little-ol-me-syndrome/feed/ 0 http://linkedintobusiness.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-stalker-y-on-linkedin/ http://linkedintobusiness.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-stalker-y-on-linkedin/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:51:35 +0000 VivekaVonRosen http://linkedintobusiness.com/?p=551
LinkedIn attempts to be more social with its home page. ]]>
OK - you just read me complain about the fact that LinkedIn has taken away your ability to send a customized invite to an individual.  That still sticks in my craw. (The Bad) But I do like LinkedIn's attempts to make themselves a more sociable site.  For instance, on the home page you can now get ALL kinds of information about your connections.  (Of course - this is much more useful to someone who has a small and strategic network).  So this is a good thing.  Especially if you like facebook.  You can see things like your connections':

• Latest tweet
• Latest update,
• Latest groups they joined
• People they connected to

As well as what people think about them!  Wait a second - that's a little stalker-y if you ask me! ]]> http://linkedintobusiness.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-stalker-y-on-linkedin/feed/ 1 http://linkedintobusiness.com/linkedin-expert-asks-glitch-or-another-way-to-for-linkedin-to-restrict-its-own-growth/ http://linkedintobusiness.com/linkedin-expert-asks-glitch-or-another-way-to-for-linkedin-to-restrict-its-own-growth/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:16:10 +0000 VivekaVonRosen http://linkedintobusiness.com/?p=534
LinkedIn Customized Invite a thing of the past? Let's hope its a glitch!]]>
Oops - they've done it again.  LinkedIn has taken away another one of its tools that helps people to connect. Was a time (like last week) you could send a customized invitation to an individual (you can still customize an "imported contacts"  invitation).  That meant just in case you didn't know which John Smith you were connecting to, you could write: "Hi - we met at Joe's Bar and Grill and had that great discussion about LinkedIn.  I forgot to get your business card, but would love to connect to you.  Please accept my invitation to be a part of my LinkedIn Professional network.  If this is the wrong John Smith, please archive this message.  Have a great day." Ah - but now that little "custom invite" button has been removed from an individual invitation - if you don't have their email address - and we can only send the default "Please join my professional network on LinkedIn".  Where we met, how we know each other, the fact that I admire your work.... No longer can we say these things to prospective contacts we want to connect with.  Sigh What does it mean? Who cares if I just have to use the default text?  Well, chances are the people you send a default invitation to - unless they are LIONs or know better, will IDK you. That means they will click on the button:  "I don't know... Joe Shmo" and YOUR ability to utilize LinkedIn will be restricted.  Once again - limiting the use of an awesome tool and making it not as valuable. So seriously - why would you do something to inhibit the growth of your membership when the worth of your social media company is exactly correlated to the number of its members? And the answer is.... Well, I'm sure the party line is that they don't want you connecting to anyone you don't know on LinkedIn.  (Which makes me ask - then why not stick to Outlook?).  My cynical self expects it's because they want to drive people towards their paid account so that you have to use InMail and upgrade to 15 Introductions. But maybe I'm just cynical. What can you do? I would recommend seeing if you can contact the person you want to invite FIRST through a group.  Right now (although this is likely to change too) you can send an invite or message to anyone you share a group with.  You might look at groups like Invites Welcome, LIONs, TopLinked and OpenNetworker to connect to a bunch of people.  Also choose groups that support your industry, and groups that support the industry of people you want to connect with (clients, employers, contracts, employees). It takes longer, but you are less likely to get IDK'd AND it's a good way to create a meaningful connection. So there you have it... today's "What were they thinking?!?"  or WTF!?! Moment.]]> http://linkedintobusiness.com/linkedin-expert-asks-glitch-or-another-way-to-for-linkedin-to-restrict-its-own-growth/feed/ 5