Defining Social Networking and It's Value

[David Utts]

I am not new to this social networking concept yet I am new to leveraging the web to do so. I sense lots of possibilities to learn, to share, to increase my visibility as a thought leader and also to generate revenues. Yet, I feel a bit like a blind man trying to leverage what appears as a huge opportunity. It seems one goal is to distinguish myself in some way. My field of Leadership Development is growing and the need is clear (just look at recent economic events as well as Gaza).

I would love to learn from some masters and develop a strategy that I can integrate into my day to day efforts to have greater impact and grow my business.

I look forward to all of your thoughts - David

[John-Paul Hatala]

Hi David, great question! Coincidentally, I came across this blog today that discusses this very issue. Take a look and let me know if this is any help ( blog). My thoughts are to develop a plan to determine who you want to target and how you want to target them. The key is to think strategically about what your overall objective is (dissemination, sell services, etc.). Hope this helps. JP

[David Utts]

Thanks - I just started my blog over the past couple months. My three major purposes for my blog are to provide insights to people in leadership positions so they can be more successful, to increase our visibility and credibility as a strong leadership development firm, and longer term build something that has real value and generates income for us. Maybe too many goals? I don't know. Anyway - thanks for the resource - I will take a look. David

[John-Paul Hatala]

David, blogs are a great way to disseminate knowledge, ideas and concepts. I took a look at your site but did not notice an opportunity to leave comments. Have overlooked something or have you chosen a no comments option? Thanks JP

[David Utts]

John,

I thought that I had comments set up. I will relook at this and make sure I have that module set up properly. Also, I realize I need to give some tools away and stuff to provide structures for people to apply what I talk about. I also want to get some videos and podcasts up - but have not gotten around to making that happen. If you know any resources that could help me there that would be great! Thanks again for inviting me to join Flowork. I look forward to being able to provide value back to this group!

[John-Paul Hatala]

I started to use a mac and will investigate how the video option works. I heard it's fairly easy. I also want to investigate a device called Flip Video. Apparently you can shoot some footage and use the software to upload it to youtube. I recommend any video that you do to put it up on youtube. In terms of podcasts, there are a number of utilities out there (just google podcast) that walk you through a tutorial of setting one up.

[David Utts]

john - I floated a way for a while but thank you for response and thoughtful ideas. I realized that my users can lead comments - but need to go to the full entry to do so. Also, I have put "The Wall Widget" in that allows my readers to leave general comments on the first page. I am upping my entries per month to a minimum of 5. I will look into your suggestions for video and podcasts. Thanks again for letting me join your site!

Trying to run a business and the main purpose of using social networking is to build my brand and increase traffic to my site and blog. So far the later is working - I am seeing some new visitors showing up now I need to turn that into business. The way I am trying to do this is be as generous as I can in helping others figuring there will be a return some day.

Thanks again - David