The Pitch For Social Networking

No matter where you travel online these days, experts encourage you to promote yourself and your business at social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Each of these sites has its own "rules of the road," especially at LinkedIn, where individual categorized groups offer open discussion on a variety of topics relating to the group's specialty, for example, Public Relations and Communications Professionals.

As a communications specialist, I monitor discussions among various groups and comment on subjects of interest, so this topic line caught my eye: Cover Letters Are Worthless And Outdated.

OK, I took the bait and clicked the link because from everything I know and read, cover letters remain key in formal job applications even if there is no guarantee they're ever read by recruiters or employers.

It took 12 to 15 paragraphs of babble about the blogger's 30 years in executive recruiting to finally get to the point where he pitches his service to job seekers.

In my former industry, newspapers, we would have said he buried the lead and forced readers to labor over the point of the piece. An editor or senior reporter would have whipped it into shape before publication.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with pitching your business to a targeted audience whose members include the unemployed, under-employed and disaffected.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you see my professional background and business pitch in the right sidebar every time you visit We Mean Business. There's no fluff: It is what it is (an old newspaper saying for boilerplate material).

What I find troublesome is the recruiter's sloppy, meandering approach on a social networking site to offer a "deeply discounted" webinar for job seekers. His service may be legitimate and worthwhile, but his effort was poorly crafted with a big buildup to a lame sales pitch.

The online reader bait he used -- challenging the value of cover letters -- was an effective hook to draw attention, but it got wasted. The letdown came after you clicked and read the first few paragraphs of his post. It left you scratching your head as to why you were learning his life's story.

The point is social networking can be a great way to market a business or pitch a service. It also can be your undoing if handled poorly. If your message matters, take the time to package it properly.

I recall a big sign in one of my old newsrooms: Who is going to read this story and why?

If you're using a social networking site to find and connect with customers or clients, consider this Q&A before you post online. Question: Who is going to read this pitch and why? Answer: Somebody who wants you to get to the point of what you're selling.

As for me, I practice what I preach in this blog and at writenowworks.com.

Managing Your Personal Brand

Personal branding was fairly simple before the Web became part of our everyday existence.

You developed a solid resume and work portfolio, networked through social events and marketed yourself or business through traditional methods, word of mouth and newspaper ads, for example.

Today, it only takes a few keystrokes for someone to check out you and your business in deciding whether to pursue a business arrangement. What they find in those first few minutes of a Google search could be flattering or disheartening, and the impact could have long-term consequences.

There are some free and easy steps you can take to keep tabs on your Web image.

I recommend using the Online Identity Calculator to measure your personal brand online. In my case, it shows previous job titles, online profiles and some posts involving genealogy, one of my hobbies.

The volume, quantity and quality of the Google hits provide a snapshot of you and your business and, obviously, shows the level of your online presence. If you've done a good job of managing your personal brand, through social networking for example, it should be reflected in such a user search.

Generally speaking, three pages or more of hits means you have a presence on the Web.

As for the quality, I offer this: Whatever you do should be treated as though your family and friends will read it -- and potential customers and clients.

Everything should be kept as professional as possible. Save the really personal stuff for your private e-mails and carefully monitor your privacy settings at profile and social networking sites.

Another useful way to track you and your business in the virtual world is by setting up Google Alerts that allow you to monitor by e-mail whenever your name or business is searched via Google.

Sometimes there are "false hits" if common or similar names are involved but, for the most part, this is a worthwhile customized tool. It just requires a few minutes to set up, change or delete.

As for me, I practice what I preach in this blog and at writenowworks.com.