Using social media for networking

Notes from the presentation to the Greater Baltimore Technology Council

Alice Marshall, founder and owner of Presto Vivace, Inc., launch Presto Vivace Blog in February of 2004

Blogs and social media are an economical and time efficient way to network.

I started the blog to record local tech events, which I could send out to the event's participants. It was a way to build goodwill and position my agency.

Technorati search led to Media Culpa's list of top PR blogs. Soon received a email from Trevor Cook of Corporate Engagement to participate in an online conference. This led to Global PR Blog Week 1.0 and spread my reputation all over the world.

Linking is the currency of blogs. Use linking to reinforce existing relationship and establish new ones. Link to the reporters who cover your industry, to your fellow bloggers, to partners and competitors, and anything that would interest your readers.

After reading my article on spam, Owen Ambur, then chair of the Federal XML Work Group, asked me to participate in their proceedings. I began to blog the meetings and Owen was kind enough to link back to my notes from the official website. This is visibility that cannot be bought for any price and a perfect example of how blogs can be used to build goodwill.

Originally I used my sidebar to list local tech organizations, now I have moved that list to my corporate website. The Greater Baltimore Technology Council would be an obvious addition to your corporate blog's sidebar.

I wrote a post linking to The Spy Who Billed Me. She subsequently offered to send me a review copy of her book Outsourced (highly recommended). She also subsequently referred a few prospective clients to me. This is an example of how blogs create relationships that would otherwise never exist.

Blogs and social media are an economical and time efficient way to build relationships. A blog works for you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, all over the world, limited only by language.

A cautionary note - blogs and all social media are dependent upon net neutrality. This is something we can no longer take for granted and a subject for further discussion.

Edit - Jared Goralnick has posted all the presentations.

Note - On February 22, Presto Vivace will be giving and audio conference on Social Media for Government Contractors.