Articles : My 12-18 month Online Networking Experience
Articles : My 12-18 month Online Networking Experience
by Octavio Pitaluga, MBA on 31-Jan-05 11:56am
I celebrate my 1st anniversary inside Ecademy today. I also added a note about my 18 month experience at the bottom. Then, I thought that since I assumed a leading position here, I should share my learning/experience with you. I sincerely hope to receive positive feed-back and valuable insights enabling me to keep growing as human being.
How everything started
I have always placed value on networking. Working with a strong network in Europe before I returned to Brazil to find a new position, I started looking for a web-based platform in which I could quickly expand my contacts in both national and international arenas.
A friend of mine from my MBA course invited me to join LinkedIn. At that time, there were only 300 Brazilian participants. Due to the language issue, I was doubtful about its overall acceptance in Brazil. A couple of weeks later on a rainy day, I started exploring LinkedIn a bit further and learned about its ranking function. That was when I found Thomas Power and his large number of connections and mainly, endorsements. That was what really caught my attention. He was described as a super-hero. "Come on, there is no such a person on earth," I thought. By reading his profile carefully, I learned about Ecademy and Thomas' search for Ecademy Brazil's leader. I joined Ecademy and scheduled a conference call with him thinking "Come on, this VIP will never ever meet my request." But he did.
We had a very nice talk, and we identified and connected. Then, I applied and became Ecademy Brazil´s National Director and then Chairman of Ecademy South America later on. I have been struggling to increase the number of Brazilian Ecademists, and I was able to recruit about 1,000 newcomers during the first year. I would like to share this achievement with all those who contributed. I have also been contacting and learning about all Ecademy's teams and I have met a number of very interesting people. I think that by now I am connected to the great majority of top networkers on both Ecademy and LinkedIn.
Online Networking Platform and Tools
Ecademy: This is the best networking platform. It is truly alive and kicking. Very open, dynamic, democratic, social, business, friendly and caring. Provided one devotes time to understanding the benefits of up-grading to Gold PN, Ecademy allows you to leverage your networking skills very quickly. The real thing is "Winning by Sharing". Actually, Ecademy is a top-notch community based on shared knowledge. The concept "less means more" applies perfectly here. There are currently 50,000 Ecademists and an extremely high level of quality interaction among the 4,000 active members. However, there is room for more active members that can leverage the community's positioning tremendously without losing its "Family Spirit". I was told that Black Star membership is simply awesome !!!
LinkedIn: This is a great database and is interesting because of its large volume. However, it lacks more interaction and offline networking activities and has the boring business rule of asking permission and/or be asked permission to reach someone of interest. We are supposed to be grown-ups here and we should be able to distinguish what is best for us. I do not need anyone to judge that for me. However, I normally decline in two situations: (a) lousy requests and (b) invitations from people with a low number of connections who are just coming for the taking and never to share, give and support.
Gazzag and Orkut: They are more social than business. Very well appreciated by Brazilians mainly because they are free. Although I will not make any effort to grow my network in these platforms, it is also important to maintain a presence there. You never know…
Plaxo: I have been a Plaxo member for quite a long time. Plaxo is very useful for exchanging virtual business cards but it does not help me much in terms of getting in touch with people personally and/or knowing more about them apart from what is mentioned in the vcf.
Relationship tool: I use it as means of shortening the distance between myself and any interesting contact developed online. In this regard, I have successfully strengthened ties with a group of valuable people and prospects. I have also been able to increase the quality of our communication and its frequency, better understand their motivations and needs and identify a number of good business opportunities at a very low cost. I can schedule demo sessions based on the most convenient day/time for the prospect.
15 Networking Tips
1. Choose a couple of online social/business networking tools. My take: Ecademy & LinkedIn as business and Gazzag as social. However, maintain a minimum presence in some others like Ryze, Spoke and Orkut to name a few.
2. Complete your profile richly. Define a clear and unique value proposition.
3. Connect to top networkers in the chosen platform
4. Lead by serving your network. Be of assistance to anyone. Connect people.
5. Give some knowledge away for free without expecting anything in return.
6. Ask for/Give endorsements once you feel comfortable.
7. Become a top networker yourself by collecting names/e-mails and inviting people to connect with you on chosen platforms. Be open to new and random encounters. Do not be afraid. You will be happily surprised most of the time. Virtual connections do not bite. In addition, your silence + the "delete" button will always be available on your PC.
8. Cross-refer among platforms, i.e., connect to the same person in all major platforms and understand that this individual may prefer to interact with you in only one of them.
9. Invite your buddies to join your online networks but be prepared to accept that your friends may not understand anything about online networking and may decline your invitation. Be kind with them and accept their decision.
10.Download and use Plaxo + a few popular IMs + Skype
11.Write a couple of articles and/or blogs of general interest
12.Create a club and organize periodic offline networking events
13. Attend my remote and virtual presentations on Ecademy every Monday 8 p.m., Rio de Janeiro time. I talk about a range of topics of major interest. Speakers are welcome. Please let me know your demand/interest.
14.Attend the lectures of foreign networkers whenever they come to your city/region
15.Be open to media. They may look for you someday.
Personal results of all this networking activity (getting mature by now):
Good number of connections: Ecademy 920+, LinkedIn 2,300+ and 56 endorsements so far.
Easy to access interesting people
Opportunity to develop new and valuable personal/professional relationships
Great pleasure helping people move forward into their lives
Much more visibility (For proof, simply type my name into the Google search engine)
Quicker access to knowledge.
Increased knowledge and a leveraged professional profile. I have recently become a Certified Coach, allowing me to embark on a new and interesting professional path
Increased professional name/brand awareness at very low cost
Increased attractiveness and curiosity
Small degree of media exposure (Seven interviews last year versus none beforehand)
Finally, a lot of fun!!!
Conclusion:
It's simple. Keep networking intensively. There is no way out. Otherwise, you will have to buy somebody's else network and knowledge in order to reach your goals. The good news is that there are enough web-based tools on the market to allow you to build up your own network quickly. It is just a matter of putting your resources/strategy and action plan into effect. Happy networking !!!
Kind regards,
Octavio Pitaluga
CRO - Chief Relationship Officer, International Business Coach and Public Speaker
by Octavio Pitaluga, MBA on 31-Jan-05 11:56am
I celebrate my 1st anniversary inside Ecademy today. I also added a note about my 18 month experience at the bottom. Then, I thought that since I assumed a leading position here, I should share my learning/experience with you. I sincerely hope to receive positive feed-back and valuable insights enabling me to keep growing as human being.
How everything started
I have always placed value on networking. Working with a strong network in Europe before I returned to Brazil to find a new position, I started looking for a web-based platform in which I could quickly expand my contacts in both national and international arenas.
A friend of mine from my MBA course invited me to join LinkedIn. At that time, there were only 300 Brazilian participants. Due to the language issue, I was doubtful about its overall acceptance in Brazil. A couple of weeks later on a rainy day, I started exploring LinkedIn a bit further and learned about its ranking function. That was when I found Thomas Power and his large number of connections and mainly, endorsements. That was what really caught my attention. He was described as a super-hero. "Come on, there is no such a person on earth," I thought. By reading his profile carefully, I learned about Ecademy and Thomas' search for Ecademy Brazil's leader. I joined Ecademy and scheduled a conference call with him thinking "Come on, this VIP will never ever meet my request." But he did.
We had a very nice talk, and we identified and connected. Then, I applied and became Ecademy Brazil´s National Director and then Chairman of Ecademy South America later on. I have been struggling to increase the number of Brazilian Ecademists, and I was able to recruit about 1,000 newcomers during the first year. I would like to share this achievement with all those who contributed. I have also been contacting and learning about all Ecademy's teams and I have met a number of very interesting people. I think that by now I am connected to the great majority of top networkers on both Ecademy and LinkedIn.
Online Networking Platform and Tools
Ecademy: This is the best networking platform. It is truly alive and kicking. Very open, dynamic, democratic, social, business, friendly and caring. Provided one devotes time to understanding the benefits of up-grading to Gold PN, Ecademy allows you to leverage your networking skills very quickly. The real thing is "Winning by Sharing". Actually, Ecademy is a top-notch community based on shared knowledge. The concept "less means more" applies perfectly here. There are currently 50,000 Ecademists and an extremely high level of quality interaction among the 4,000 active members. However, there is room for more active members that can leverage the community's positioning tremendously without losing its "Family Spirit". I was told that Black Star membership is simply awesome !!!
LinkedIn: This is a great database and is interesting because of its large volume. However, it lacks more interaction and offline networking activities and has the boring business rule of asking permission and/or be asked permission to reach someone of interest. We are supposed to be grown-ups here and we should be able to distinguish what is best for us. I do not need anyone to judge that for me. However, I normally decline in two situations: (a) lousy requests and (b) invitations from people with a low number of connections who are just coming for the taking and never to share, give and support.
Gazzag and Orkut: They are more social than business. Very well appreciated by Brazilians mainly because they are free. Although I will not make any effort to grow my network in these platforms, it is also important to maintain a presence there. You never know…
Plaxo: I have been a Plaxo member for quite a long time. Plaxo is very useful for exchanging virtual business cards but it does not help me much in terms of getting in touch with people personally and/or knowing more about them apart from what is mentioned in the vcf.
Relationship tool: I use it as means of shortening the distance between myself and any interesting contact developed online. In this regard, I have successfully strengthened ties with a group of valuable people and prospects. I have also been able to increase the quality of our communication and its frequency, better understand their motivations and needs and identify a number of good business opportunities at a very low cost. I can schedule demo sessions based on the most convenient day/time for the prospect.
15 Networking Tips
1. Choose a couple of online social/business networking tools. My take: Ecademy & LinkedIn as business and Gazzag as social. However, maintain a minimum presence in some others like Ryze, Spoke and Orkut to name a few.
2. Complete your profile richly. Define a clear and unique value proposition.
3. Connect to top networkers in the chosen platform
4. Lead by serving your network. Be of assistance to anyone. Connect people.
5. Give some knowledge away for free without expecting anything in return.
6. Ask for/Give endorsements once you feel comfortable.
7. Become a top networker yourself by collecting names/e-mails and inviting people to connect with you on chosen platforms. Be open to new and random encounters. Do not be afraid. You will be happily surprised most of the time. Virtual connections do not bite. In addition, your silence + the "delete" button will always be available on your PC.
8. Cross-refer among platforms, i.e., connect to the same person in all major platforms and understand that this individual may prefer to interact with you in only one of them.
9. Invite your buddies to join your online networks but be prepared to accept that your friends may not understand anything about online networking and may decline your invitation. Be kind with them and accept their decision.
10.Download and use Plaxo + a few popular IMs + Skype
11.Write a couple of articles and/or blogs of general interest
12.Create a club and organize periodic offline networking events
13. Attend my remote and virtual presentations on Ecademy every Monday 8 p.m., Rio de Janeiro time. I talk about a range of topics of major interest. Speakers are welcome. Please let me know your demand/interest.
14.Attend the lectures of foreign networkers whenever they come to your city/region
15.Be open to media. They may look for you someday.
Personal results of all this networking activity (getting mature by now):
Good number of connections: Ecademy 920+, LinkedIn 2,300+ and 56 endorsements so far.
Easy to access interesting people
Opportunity to develop new and valuable personal/professional relationships
Great pleasure helping people move forward into their lives
Much more visibility (For proof, simply type my name into the Google search engine)
Quicker access to knowledge.
Increased knowledge and a leveraged professional profile. I have recently become a Certified Coach, allowing me to embark on a new and interesting professional path
Increased professional name/brand awareness at very low cost
Increased attractiveness and curiosity
Small degree of media exposure (Seven interviews last year versus none beforehand)
Finally, a lot of fun!!!
Conclusion:
It's simple. Keep networking intensively. There is no way out. Otherwise, you will have to buy somebody's else network and knowledge in order to reach your goals. The good news is that there are enough web-based tools on the market to allow you to build up your own network quickly. It is just a matter of putting your resources/strategy and action plan into effect. Happy networking !!!
Kind regards,
Octavio Pitaluga
CRO - Chief Relationship Officer, International Business Coach and Public Speaker
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