How to Use Social Media to Bridge Professional and Social Networks (Day 22)

Towerbridge

This is day one of the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media. Yesterday Glenda spoke about making social media more “wheelchair accessible. Today, Chris Garrett will talk about using social media to bridge professional and social networks.

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chrisg How to Use Social Media to Bridge Professional and Social Networks (Day 22)

Many people find networking challenging. Being an introvert, real world networking is particularly daunting for me, but my geeky side allows me to use social media to be a much more effective networker.

As I try to impress upon my Authority Blogger Course clients, networking is crucial for business and bloggers alike, even the most shy amongst us. From getting links through to reviews, we need the help of other people to get ahead.

You Can’t Do This At Cocktail Parties

When networking online you do not have the problem of walking into a room and introducing yourself. Unlike in a cocktail party or professional networking event, it is ok to just jump into the conversation provided you have something valuable to input, in fact it is kind of expected. Also if someone is becoming a nuisance, it is much easier online to ignore them! The part I love most about networking online though is that you can reach more people, more often, and you do not need to hop on a plane (living in the UK, thousands of miles from the industry networking events, this is a particularly useful benefit!).

Social media is not just a more efficient way of networking, and it is not just a way to avoid some of the less appealing parts of networking that you experience in the face to face world. It can in fact allow you to reach people who would be normally way out of reach.

People have fewer barriers in the way online, the normal gatekeepers (as yet) do not block you from reaching out via Twitter and some of the other social tools. This might well change, but right now we have direct access to celebrities, CEOs, and other influential people. You can also get access to not just individuals but whole groups that you would normally find impenetrable.

Just because you CAN reach out to these folks doesn’t necessarily mean you should. At least, not right away.

Social Media Stepping Stones

The smart way to reach both highly prized individual contacts and groups that you want to get in front of is by using a stepping stone approach. Rather than leap from one stranger to the next in the hope that one will “bite”, instead bridge from an existing associate and make a more friendly contact.

bridging networks with social media

Social media is, as the name suggests, social. This means you can interact in a low pressure, non-salesy way. Just make yourself known as part of the natural conversation, or get introduced by your mutual friend. Doing this allows you to go to new groups and even companies, as you make new contacts and gain new introductions.

Using the “listening” aspect of social media also allows you to prepare to introduce yourself to these new contacts. I have a terrible memory so in the past have taken to using a networking contact spreadsheet to collate information about the interests and needs of the people I work with and meet.

Find ways your skills, assets or knowledge overlap with their needs to make yourself a valuable person to know. Become useful and interesting enough to know, and these introductions will form without your prompting.

How have you found social media has worked with your own networking?

Please share in the comments …

If you don’t want to miss out on the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media, please sign up here.

Posted January 22, 2010
  • I have been part of so many social networks during the past 2 years, and step by step I managed to create my own social network, and I am experimenting new levels of social networking and another side (dimension) of social media through my network!

    I can say that the real beauty started to show up john!
  • chrisgarrett
    It really is a case of the more you give the more you get, eh? :)
  • True Chris, and I have a slogan I have added it to my blog about page which is “Do the right thing and through it into the ocean”!
  • Hi Johnny,

    You're right in that at some point you have to step away from the PC and meet people, especially if you want to make a career in this area. Ever notice how the most successful bloggers are always heading off the events etc.

    People buy from people that know.

    ..and the best way to do this is to go out and meet them.

    Ivan
  • chrisgarrett
    Indeed, it can be scary and expensive, but also incredibly rewarding. If you start online though it is like meeting people "again" rather than for the first time, which helps.
  • Cool tips here Chris. You almost describe the old fashion bridge networking. Or maybe that is actually what you describe. Have not worked with bridge networking since back in the days when I worked with main frame systems.

    I think you made a brilliant connection between bridging and Social Networking.

    Was interesting to see your spreadsheet then with your three friends and their interests; Manchester United, Trains and UFO's. You must have done some serious bridging here.

    Cheers... Are
  • chrisgarrett
    It is possible for a geek to be a social chameleon - just have to seek out the inner geek everyone has but some hide better than others ;)
  • Chris, a very clear explanation of how social media can be used, both professionally and otherwise. Social media has become a medium for creating many relationships that would otherwise have never existed; this post explains how to make the best of that facility and the importance of not abusing it. Thank you for sharing.
  • chrisgarrett
    Isn't it amazing how relationships can be built between people thousands of miles away just using a bunch of 1s and 0s :)
  • . . and that's all it's down to. I like your simplistic view Chris! Then there's the 0 to F etc. but that's spoiling your analogy.
  • I love how social media is described here as a 'bridge' for it 'connects'. It was my dream to study overseas, meeting people around the places but it was not something destined for me to do in real life; social media has opened doors for me to experience the world and meet amazing people at the most unlikely circumstances - without stepping out of the house. From a hobby to a blogging career and the relationships built on various social platforms, each connection brings new potentials. When the link continues greater opportunities discovered, let them be friendship or job offers you name it. I'll say domino effect is on the go. :-)

    Social media led me to my first designing job, writing job and has completely changed my perspective on methods to reach out to people. Chris pretty much had it all covered in the post and I still owed him and the members of Authority Blogger Forum a gigantic gratitude for they taught me the true value of social network.

    @wchingya
    Social/Blogging Tracker
  • chrisgarrett
    We benefit from having you in the AB community too remember :)
  • Great post, John and Chris. I think the stepping-stone approach really captures how relationships have to grow online. I hate when someone thinks that just because you and he are on Twitter suddenly he has instant credibility with you. It doesn't work that way in the real world, why would it work that way online?

    People have to remember that whether online or offline, you're still dealing with people and trust and connection needs to be built, well, one step at a time.
  • chrisgarrett
    Absolutely - just because we can be anonymous doesn't mean decent human behavior can be left behind :)
  • We get this question all the time from local business owners, many of whom have their own personal social media profiles but wonder about the advantages of launching profiles for their business, what extent to cross promote their business on their personal profiles and basically how best to bring the two together without alienating everyone in the process. Thanks Chris (and John) for bringing your expertise to this topic.

    I too find networking in the real world daunting but have found I flourish in the social media world where I find networking a very natural and organic part of the process.
  • chrisgarrett
    I think a lot of us are not "natural networkers" - I call my own process Shy Networking because I had to work around my lack of confidence in social situations, being an introverted geek - perhaps bloggers and social media users find a comfort in 140 character text over handshakes ;)
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