networking

LinkedIn: You Can Do Better

by Marian Schembari on January 12, 2012

This is a brilliant guest post from my friend David. It’s the email he wish he’d sent to a to a generic LinkedIn connection request. Hope this guy learns his lesson.

Dear Guy-who-sent-me-a-generic=LinkedIn-request,

You sent me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, even though you don’t really know me. Of course, I know you, or at least know who you are. With about 7,000 Twitter followers, blog, Facebook profile and fan page, YouTube channel and Flickr account, you’re kind of a big deal in the Chicago social media scene. People I interact with regularly know you or have heard of you. You come up in conversations. I’ve run into you at networking events and even tried to introduce myself. You were too busy being social with friends instead to talk to me (instead of actually, you know, networking).

Your LinkedIn invitation consisted of the generic text provided by the network: “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” How lazy and impersonal. Why don’t you send me an auto DM on Twitter while you’re at it? I thought everyone who knows anything about LinkedIn knows this is the ultimate faux pas. Perhaps I’m wrong though. You list “Social Media” among your specialties.

The invitation also says you’ve indicated I am “a Friend.” I recognize “Friend” is a relatively loose term when it comes to social media. People who have never met in person are Facebook friends. If you have no other connection and want to get around having to look up an email address, “Friend” is the viable only option on LinkedIn. But aside from knowing the same people, we aren’t really that chummy. Perhaps you’re using the term “Friend” just a bit too loosely in this case.

Your LinkedIn invite would have been more effective if you had said something like this:

Hi David,

We seem to operate in similar circles. Why don’t we connect? Perhaps we’ll meet in person sometime soon.

Regards,
________

That probably would have resulted an acceptance of your invitation. For the time being, though, my response is, “You can do better.”

David Salkover works in the Meeting and Events industry. He’s passionate about tradeshows and conventions, and is never without a good book to read. Far from being a social media guru/ninja/expert, he’s more of a social media nerd. David tweets about whatever happens to be on his mind at twitter.com/dbsalk.

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4 Absurdly Effective Steps to Take Before Asking to Guest Post

by Marian Schembari on February 21, 2011

The past year has made guest posting all the rage. With the launch of Jon Morrow’s GuestBlogging.com last summer, every blog with more than a dozens readers was suddenly inundated with guest posting requests.

It’s no wonder. I guest post around once a month (check out my portfolio here) and when each new post goes up I get around 10-30 new subscribers, as well as a major traffic spike.

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to guest post for the amazing Erika of Redhead Writing. I landed forty new subscribers as well as being able to position myself in a new community.

The best way to grow your community is to leave it…

When working on a blog strategy, one of the first things I advise clients is comment on relevant sites. This accomplishes two things:

Gets them reading, thinking about and responding to the “right people.” You’d think this was common sense but it’s unfortunately overlooked.
Puts their name out there, helping them form relationships with the blogger as well as starting conversations with readers. Plus, if they include their URL and full/blog name, they’ll get a few click backs and therefore more traffic to the site.

While it’s more time consuming than commenting, guest posting is like taking those two accomplishments above and putting them on steroids. It’s an amazing way to generate traffic that sticks and lead to new opportunities.

I’ve written a number of guest posts, but the most effective in terms of – shudder – “ROI” was a social media post I scrawled specifically for photographers. Same advice I would have written here, but adding personalization and concrete examples aimed at a brand new audience turned that guest post from generic advice to awesomesaucerockstar and made me a couple hundreds bucks in new projects.

But how do you land these posts? Most of you probably recognize the importance of guest posting, but some of the bigger sites either don’t reply or are quick to reject. By using these simple four steps, I always land the post and make fabulous new blog friends in the process:

Step 1: Find a blog

Guest posting is great because it takes the pressure of the blogger for a day but you have to make sure your ideal site actually accepts guest posts first. I made the mistake once of asking a Hot Shot Blogger to guest post and hadn’t done my research to see that he hadn’t featured one in over a year. However, many major sites feature one guest poster per week and those would be ideal as you have more of a chance of getting in.

Note: Use your judgment on this one. For example, I personally accept guest posts, but only if someone comes to me with a great idea. So if you were to look closely it might seem like I’m not open to contributors. No harm asking anyway, but this first step is something you need to think about before going any further…

Step 2: Sign up and snag first place

The next step is to sign up for that blog’s feed so it’s emailed, not just posted in your reader. You want to know the SECOND they post so you can be one of the first people to retweet and leave a thoughtful comment. Being top of the comment feed means more people are likely to read and respond. Plus, a blogger is always waiting for those first few comments to gauge the reaction.

Over the next few weeks I want you to comment on every post your Top Blog writes. Join their community. Talk to commenters as well as the blogger. This is the KEY step. I never accept guest posts from names I don’t recognize. The writer needs to not only read my blog, but engage with it. Otherwise I think they don’t care.

Step 3: Follow/connect/friend/email

Remember what I said about being nice last week? Do that. Email the blogger to say how much you love them. Retweet their stuff. Make it known that you love what you do and are part of their community. Don’t ask for anything – just be genuinely nice and they will appreciate it. Trust me on this one.

Step 4: Choose a topic and WRITE THE POST

Before contacting these blogs, think of a topic first. There’s nothing worse than an offer to guest post when the guest poster doesn’t have the slightest idea of what to write about. Make sure the site hasn’t written something similar already. Do a search. It should take 5 seconds of your time to confirm the blogger hasn’t, in fact, covered what you want to cover.

Then, write the damn thing. Attach it as a Word file so it’s easy to read and as a text document so they can cut and paste into the blog. If you know the blogger well it’s sometimes okay to just email and ask if they’d be interested in a guest post, but it’s definitely better to show the finished product from the get go. Plus, think about it from their perspective – it’s always better to know exactly what they’re posting straight from the get-go.

And on a final note, do what you’re say you’re going to do. About 50% of people who ask for a guest post here never actually write it. Don’t be that person.

Why Go Through All This Effort?

Because. If the blog is worth writing for (meaning you’re not just doing it as a favor, but they have a large community you can tap) they’ll have A LOT of requests gracing their inbox.es So not only does your content need to stand out, but they need to know that you appreciate and are part of their community.

Have you started guest posting yet? How do you usually land them?

{Photo credit}

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Using Twitter Search to Help People

by Marian Schembari on November 17, 2010

While I usually answer questions as part of my weekly(ish) newsletter, reader Laura asked me a great question the other day and, since I know some of you aren’t into the whole subscribe-to-more-Marian-thing, I’m going to post my answer here.

Laura wanted to know if there were any resources on using Twitter Search to find people who might be in the same field, interested in what you have to offer, potential blog subscribers, etc etc. “Like-minded people,” she called them. While I’m all for finding like-minded people, my favorite way to use TS is to find people who need my help.

For people unfamiliar with Twitter Search, just go to the site. It’s just a feature to search what people are tweeting about. Here’s a great little intro video care of Common Craft:

The Honest Truth About Twitter Search

Unless you really hone in on search terms, you get bombarded with a lot of spam, retweets, completely irrelevant tweets and messages in other languages. So you have to target people by language. Click on “Advanced Search” and choose “Written in” and then the language of your choice. You can also specify location, hashtag, specific users, dates, links, even “attitude.”

Actually Using Twitter Search

I work with a lot of authors, so here are some examples on how they can use TS to find people talking about:

Their genre
Similar authors
Their specific book
Anyone looking for book recommendations

To give you a quick example, let’s say you’ve written a romance. Do a Twitter search for “romance book,” “romance recommendations” and/or “romance novel ?” Adding a question mark is one of my favorite tactics because you’re reaching out to people who are actively looking for recommendations or asking simple questions. If someone says “Anyone know of a good romance?” or “I just finished a Nora Roberts book, what’s next?” you can jump in and get the party started.

Now, I never suggest authors recommend their own books. If someone did that to you, you’d probably think it was spammy. HOWEVER. If someone suggests you read something and you haven’t talked to them before, you usually click on their handle to see who they are. If you see they’re a romance author and are looking for a book, you’d probably put two and two together. I find recommending someone else is much more powerful that pimping yourself out.

And don’t just look for recommendations! Any discussion about your genre is good Twitter fodder. Check out these great tweets I found that are just begging for a response:

Any sort of service professional can search for people looking for their services. So, a photographer in London can search for: photographer? near:London – what this does is search for people asking about photographers near London. “Photographer London,” “good photographer near:London” etc are all good. Sometimes you just need to try a bunch of variations to find the terms people are using most frequently to talk about the things related to you.

Search for Questions You Can Answer

This is actually how I found the lovely Jeffrey Pia. I asked a question about PayPal buttons, he answered it, offered to help, and we’ve developed and awesome (and hopefully mutually beneficial) professional relationship. I always see Jeff answering questions on his Twitter stream and you can do the same.

Here’s how you can pull a Jeffrey: Are you a web designer who specializes in WordPress? Do a Twitter search for “WordPress ?” or for more specific questions you can answer. So if you always get asked by clients how to switch from Blogger to WordPress, do a search that features both terms and a question mark and see if you can’t help someone out. The karma is brilliant because who will that person go to first if they have another question? You. And that can turn into a new client, referrals, etc.

Here are some tweets I found using these keywords that would be perfect for a WordPress expert to respond to:

Homework

So here’s your homework for this week: Check out Twitter Search if you haven’t already, and start playing around with keywords. But don’t just take the traditional route and try to find people who are talking about one topic like publishing or photography or bird watching. That’s too easy and won’t give you the kind of results you’re looking for. No, instead search for people you can help. Instead of people in publishing, search for those looking for book recommendations. Instead of searching for everyone talking about photography, search for camera questions you can answer. This is not only going to help put you in touch with like-minded people, but actually get you in their good graces and establish a long-term relationship.

If you’re up for it, try this tactic right now and post your results in the comments section! I’m curious to see how you guys get on and what kinds of questions you answer!!

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Does networking make you want to vomit? I have the solution…

by Marian Schembari on November 10, 2010

For those of you who don’t wait for each tweet with bated breath, you probably don’t know what’s happening ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. And you should… Because it’s gonna be awesome….

Ready?

You sure?

Networking for word nerds!!!

Oh. Yuck…

Networking.

I’m with you. I hate everything about networking: I hate crowds, I rarely drink alcohol, I’m awkward at the best of times and I’m completely horrible at introducing myself to real people.

Online, I can network my little face off and have made so many wonderful and supportive friends by tweeting, blogging, Facebooking and, um, LinkedIning?

Anyway, online I never get awkward, or embarrassed. Online is my ‘hood. But, and I’ll be the first to admit this, there is no substitute for meeting someone in person. NONE. Thing is, unless I’m the speaker (I guess I just like telling people what to do), I won’t go to big events because I just can’t. I hide in the corner and pretend I’m texting, or will root around in my purse looking for something I don’t need. I drink gallons of water just so I have something to do with my hands, and on the rare occasions that I actually drink? Well, it’s not pretty.

The Creation of Word Nerd Networking

A little over a month ago I tweeted about this problem of mine. Only a few minutes after said tweet I got an email from one of my favorite online people, Steph Auteri. The email subject line was called “The Convergence of Awesome” and was a brilliant idea of hosting not just a networking event, but a speed-networking event so people are basically forced to talk to each other without feeling like they’re butting into a conversation. But it gets even better…

It’s specifically for people in the publishing industry – writers, editors, career changers, freelancers, you name it! We’re calling it Word Nerd Networking and I’m actually excited about it. Because – wait! – there’s more:

This speed networking is going to give you the chance to meet some incredibly awesome people. People you might not have met otherwise because you were standing in the corner texting. People who have been generous enough to give some of their time and expertise to sit on one side of the table, brains just waiting to be picked.

You will not get the chance to be in a room so full of Awesome again.

Who’s Gonna Be There

I’m so excited to meet Steph’s half of the group and apparently Steph has wet herself with my half. Ready for the reveal?

Marie Forleo. Yes, that Marie Forleo.

Sam Apple. Uh huh. Editor in Chief of The Faster Times, anyone?

We’ve got authors: Michael Elsberg, Dave White, Jeff Wilser, Jason Pinter…

We’ve got literary agents: Jason Allen Ashlock, Kate Garrick, Leah Spiro…

We’ve got editors: Iris Blasi, Amelia McDonell-Parry, Charlotte Roh and Genevieve Lill...

There’s more, but I’m running out of space and you can click here to see the whole lineup with their bios. In total we’ve got 24 people from all corners of the publishing industry. Just look at their pretty faces:

In New York? Get Over Here.

So if you’re in New York next Wednesday, November 17th I will be horrified if I don’t see you there. Horrified. This is an amazing opportunity to soak up the delicious knowledge of so many experienced publishing folk all in one place! Here are the specifics:

Date and Time: Wednesday, November 17, 7 – 10 p.m.
Location: Galway Hooker, 7 East 36^th Street, b/w 5^th Ave. & Madison Ave.

Tickets are also only $5. Which is, like, free.

Thing is, we’re hosting this in a bar and our 24 experts are gonna need some time to breathe. Maybe use the bathroom. This means spots are limited, so if you want in, you need to book asap.

So buy your tickets NOW. Click here to go over to the event page and reserve your spot (or click the pretty ticket button below).

Not in New York? Poop. Still, would you mind tweeting this out so your tweeps in NYC can have the opportunity to meet some bona fide publishing celebrities? Click here to tweet.

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