by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 27, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking
Greg Meyer is the Customer Experience Manager at Gist. In part 2 of a 4-part interview with writer and career coach Sean Cook, Meyer talks about knowing more about your network, and figuring out what’s important, using Social CRM tools.
Obviously, my niche is career coaching, but I am also a small businessman, so I see the utility of Gist in both roles. How do you think Gist could be used by job seekers or small businesses to really gather information about their employers, partners or even their competition?
I think that, for a job seeker, it can really help you to see what is going on out in the marketplace, about either the individual you are dealing with in a hiring process, or to just get a better scope of what goes on in that business, how that brand communicates, and to be more knowledgeable, so you can start acting as if you work at that company already. If you can show them how you can contribute from day one, it is much more likely that they could easily imagine you in that job.
And as far as a small business owner, if you are keeping track of trends in an industry, and you want to tag all the relevant contacts you have in that industry, your competitors, suppliers and your customers, that Gist can definitely help you either to reach out or to them by amplifying them privately, or by amplifying them publicly by sending them out via Facebook and Twitter.
On the flip side of that, social media has done so much to deliver information to us quickly and affordably, but there are definitely days when I feel like I have so much information, it’s like I’m drinking from a fire hose. How do you think users can use Gist to keep from suffering from that information overload?
Well, I think the first thing they can do is go to Gist.Com and sign up for our e-mail digest. And that would allow them to get information about the people they care about once a day or once a week. We talk about sitting down for your morning coffee, that you might take 5 or 10 minutes every morning or maybe a couple of times a week, to go down a tag list or a list of all the people in your network, and try to find one or two or three that you’d like to reach out to personally. It can definitely help you do that.
I encourage my clients (both career clients and small business clients) to use social media for monitoring their presence and their reputation online. How do you see Gist or other Social CRM tools helping someone to do that?
Well, you know when people sign up for a new tool, they want to see “what does that tool know about me,” because I know most about what information is right about myself. So you can go in and actually the first contact that is built in Gist is your personal contact. You can find that at gist.com/people/me and you can go ahead and edit that contact if it is not quite right. It should mostly be right, but if it’s not quite right, you can edit that contact. You can learn more about how to edit the contacts of your friends, and understanding so far what’s out there, it’s really good at being able to scan the horizon and understand that there are mentions they are likely to see of you, and there are mentions they are not likely to see of you.
Next: Reputation Management and Social CRM
Article first published as An Interview with Gist’s Greg Meyer – Part 2: Knowing Your Network Using Social CRM on Technorati.
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 25, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking
Greg Meyer (Photo provided.)
With the growing popularity of social media, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to monitor your connections and stay up-to-date with conversations. This need has ushered in a wave of tools that take Client Relationship Management to the next level, by integrating information from social media into the mix.
Gist is one such tool that can help you find out more about the people you know, and develop a more intelligent view of your network. Bought by Research In Motion in February, Gist seems to be a key part of the Blackberry maker’s efforts to include cloud-based services into new phones and tablets.
Greg Meyer is the Customer Experience Manager at Gist. In that role, he interacts with users, takes feedback and gets suggestions for new features, as well as acting as a social media ambassador for the company.
I interviewed him by phone May 25th, and he shared his thoughts on how tools like Gist can be used to find information about people, companies and industries in your network, to monitor your online presence, and to develop a better understanding of how you may be viewed by others, based on the types of information you are making available about yourself through social media.
Part 1: An Introduction to Greg Meyer, Social CRM, and Gist
So can you tell me more about yourself? Who is Greg Meyer, and how did your education, skills and experience lead to where, you are now?
Sure. Absolutely. At this point, I think I am a little bit over-educated. I started out doing undergrad in Fine Arts and History, I thought I wanted to be a a history professor. And then I went to graduate school and found out that the process to become a professor was a lot different from what I wanted to do, which was to read books and organize information.
Then I found myself in the computer field, and then went into a number of small companies. I was with a company called Allaire, which is now part of Adobe, and I was part of some big companies as well.And then I went to graduate school I worked for T-Mobile and Expedia, and as part of that, I discovered that I wasn’t as good at the technology part of the business as I was about seeing systems, and connecting people and information, so I went back to school again and got an MBA from the University of Washington. I actually used those skills to make my current job, because my job is a combination of three things. I’m a customer experience manager, and I do high-touch customer support. I also do some product planning and recommendations for products from the user base, and then I also do some technology work as well as some traditional marketing evangelism and social media.
Could you give the uninitiated a kind of “thumbnail sketch” overview of what Gist is an how it works?
Sure. Gist is a web service that helps you to take all your contacts and keep them in one place. Whether your contacts live in a web email like Gmail or whether you use Microsoft Outlook or whether you’d like to take those contacts and incorporate the contacts on your phone, say your iPhone, Android or Blackberry device, or whether you are interested in connecting to the people you know on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, what Gist does is take into account all of those contacts and we go ahead and look out over 50,000 news sources and 20 million blogs and build the complete social business profile for that person. What that means is that you would see news about them or their company, and you’d also see a history of your interactions, and we do that, and make it all available to you on all those different platforms.
So this is really taking that whole traditional idea of Client Relationship Management or Contact Relationship Management really to that next level, because of the way you aggregate that information from the public stream along with all your back and forth about a client. This may be a really stupid question, but what do you think the value is of that additional functionality to the CRM process?
Well, Sean, for starters, I don’t think there are any stupid questions. But I think that the value in understanding what makes somebody tick and how you can have a better interaction with that person is really, really key. Because if you find out on Twitter that somebody is talking about going on their vacation, that might be a signal that you might not want to talk to that person that day, because maybe they’re out of town, or if you find they are interested in a particular personal interest, like maybe they like baseball, maybe the next time you see them, you’ll want to invite them the a game, and you can use that information to make that interaction better. Now that doesn’t mean that you should use all the information you learn in every interaction, it means that it gives you better tools to make that interaction better.
Next: Knowing Your Network
Article first published as An Interview with Gist’s Greg Meyer: Part 1: The Power of Social CRM on Technorati.
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 15, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking
Lewis Howes (Photo provided.)
LinkedIn is growing in importance as a tool for professional and small business networking. Here are a few things worth knowing about the world’s second most popular social network.
- The average household income of a LinkedIn user is $109,000, and most of these members are business decision makers.
- LinkedIn has built a registered user base of over 100 million, up from just 32 million in 2008, and is growing at over one person per second.
- LinkedIn’s corporate customers have grown since 2008 to over 4.8 million.
- LinkedIn’s hiring solutions revenue for the first quarter of this year totaled $46.3 million compared to $16.9 million in the first quarter of 2010.
- According to Howes, making money, expanding their businesses, networking, and finding a job are probably the most important reasons the average consumer creates a profile and connects with others through LinkedIn.
- He also notes that, compared to the way businesses have networked and promoted their services in the past, LinkedIn is more efficient and less expensive.
A while back, I enrolled in LinkedInfluence, an online training course by Howes’s and his business partner Sean Malarkey. I have personally gotten a lot out of this course, and I think you will, too. Sean and Lewis are two really well-respected experts on Twitter and LinkedIn. I connected with them on the
Third Tribe Marketing group a while back, and had an opportunity not long ago to interview Lewis for a Technorati article on LinkedIn’s recent IPO.
LinkedInfluence will help you really understand how to use LinkedIn to expand your professional network and gain career and business leads. I personally joined this program and have seen the benefits. I’ve gained new followers, expanded my network, and been offered new business opportunities based on what I learned. At this point, I can easily say that I have experienced at least a ten-fold return on my investment.
More importantly, I finally understand the power of this great tool, and can share my knowledge with others. I’ve already shared tips and tricks with my clients that have helped them with business and job leads.
But there is more…Sean and Lewis have figured out some incredible new techniques for increasing your Twitter following and you’ll get those as a bonus for purchasing this course. I haven’t tried many of these techniques, but will soon.
Click the link below for a sneak peek at LinkedInfluence.
(Please note that this is an affiliate link. This means that if you do purchase the program through this link, I might make some money.)
I hope you will check it out. LinkedInfluence was one of the best investments I made in the last year.
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 14, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking
You’ve probably heard of LinkedIn. With over 100 million users, it is the world’s largest online professional network, and has captured the attention of professionals and businesspersons who see the potential value of online networking to move forward in their careers and their businesses. But when it comes to “getting LinkedIn,” many don’t understand the how to use it effectively.
So let’s get down to business, and up to speed, with what you need to know about LinkedIn to move forward in your business and career.
The first thing you need to know is that LinkedIn is not simply an online replacement for your résumé. If you only use it that way, you are doing it wrong!
Many of us grew up and started our careers when computers were making their way into businesses and homes, and though we are very competent users of e-mail and office productivity applications like Word, Excel, and Access, it’s hard for us to understand the point of “getting social.” We use our computers to do work!
Using a social network to get work is a separate, but related, skill set. It comes easily to those raised as “digital natives,” who have always been connected to their peers online. For their generation, it’s a basic skill, not a luxury to be learned if you have time. And it does require a lot of work, a lot of consistency, and a lot of “long-haul” thinking.
Let’s dig into some terms now, so we’re all talking the same language.
Social Networking is different from Social Media. Social Media is a publishing medium. You can construct a message and deliver it where it can be found online. It’s a great way to get your one-sided, carefully constructed messages out, in a way that increases brand awareness. Social Networking, on the other hand, is an engagement medium. Like joining the Chamber of Commerce or any other network, it can reap great benefits for your business, but only if you know your network, the people in it, and where your common interests converge.
Social Networking is a very special kind of professional networking, in that it allows “shy networking”-content and competence-based conversations around subjects of common interest. It can be a great equalizer for those who aren’t as comfortable with in-person networking, because it gives them a global platform for showing their “chops,” and get connected to others based on their knowledge, skills and interests.
To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to put some time and energy into using it effectively. Here are Five Quick Tips for Getting Started:
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Join groups related to your region, industry and niche. Follow the conversations until you are ready to add something, and when ready, jump in! It’s okay to “lurk and learn” for a while, but effective social networking requires that you add to the conversation. Speak up!
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Ask and answer questions. It lets others connect with you as mentors, and people like that. It’s natural to be drawn to people who could use your help. Let other people be your expert mentors every once in a while, too. You’ll be surprised at how answering a few questions or offering support and encouragement can pay off. As in real-world networking, the gains can be exponential and long-lasting!
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Add applications to help you share your knowledge and increase the interactivity of your profile. You can add SlideShare presentations, Behance portfolios, your blog feed, a recommended reading list, and many other utilities. Only add those that you are willing to learn to use fully. Otherwise, you may seem foolish or inexperienced with the technology.
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If you don’t know where to start, just start! Be brave, try new things and ask questions. Those who don’t try new things won’t reap benefits from emerging technology and social networks, while others who do will move forward, onward and outward, toward the new frontiers of business.
My name is Sean Cook, and I am a Career Coach, Organizational Consultant, Writer and Speaker, based in Athens, Georgia. Through my company, Cook Coaching & Consulting, LLC., I help professionals design intelligent strategies for moving forward in their careers and businesses. For more information, connect with me on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, e-mail me at sean@higheredcareercoach.com, or just pick up the phone and call me at 706-363-0539.
A version of this article appeared recently in Chambering, the magazine of the Barrow County (Georgia) Chamber of Commerce.
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by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 13, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking
LinkedIn has passed Myspace to become the second-most popular online social network in the U.S., behind Facebook. According to an article this week on CNN, comScore, an Internet analytics firm reported that LinkedIn had 33.9 million unique visitors in June, approximately 500,000 more than the month before.
By contrast, Myspace experienced a drop of about 1.4 million U.S. visitors from May, and Facebook smashes all of them soundly with 160.8 million unique visitors in June.
This doesn’t really surprise me, because I have been using LinkedIn more and more for professional networking, and have been helping clients understand how to use the network effectively. A couple of months ago, I did my first local seminar here in Athens, a half-day workshop on LinkedIn, coupled with an opportunity to get a professional headshot from one of my local clients, Ann Yarbrough.
The seminar went well, and resulted in a few opportunities for me to get my name out in the area. One of the attendees was the publisher of the Chamber of Commerce magazine for the next county over (Barrow), and she offered me a chance to contribute an article. Two representatives of one of the local phone book publishers and they really enjoyed the seminar, and offered me a free ad in next year’s phonebook. And Ann got a free ad and an offer to possibly have her photos on the cover of the phone book, as well. I’ll be offering an online seminar soon on LinkedIn, based on the format of this presentation. In the meantime, I’ll be running articles this week on how to get the most out of LinkedIn.
Tomorrow: Why you need to “get” LinkedIn.
Don’t forget! If you are still looking for a job, I am running a coaching special until July 15! For $300, participants will get 4 coaching sessions, access to online activities, and brief e-mail and phone check-ins for 6 months. The special price for this offer will expire July 15, or when enrollment reaches 20, whichever comes first.
This is the lowest rate I expect to offer on individual coaching this year, and I am planning to raise my regular rates on August 1st, and to change the structure of packages I offer individual clients.
So, if you are still looking for a job, and could use a strategic partner to help you move forward in your career, act now!
Go to the sales page and sign up now for the Summer Coaching Special.
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Greg Meyer is the Customer Experience Manager at Gist. In part 2 of a 4-part interview with writer and career coach Sean Cook, Meyer talks about knowing more about your network, and figuring out what’s important, using Social CRM tools. 
