Introduction to Socially Connected

Uh, yeah, I'm Googling myself. I mean, come on, we've all done it right? But the question is, when you do it, do you see thousands of results or do you hear the proverbial crickets chirping? Chances are you want some kind of presence online. So, let's talk about how to get you out of the game and get you started. Life is crazy. I mean who has time to keep up with all the latest in social networking. I'm Carley Knobloch and if you stick with me, I'll show you all the tech tools you need to get socially connected. Okay, first things first, let's start with your why. Do you want to share what you love, connect with your friends or strengthen your business network? Having a social presence online is kind of like being the star in your own show. It can be anything you want it to be. But, whatever your reason, there is a platform to suit your needs. For instance, I love cooking and eating and pretty much anything that has to do with food. So, I love to write about recipes that I tried or restaurants I've eaten at or new uses for rutabagas. What, there' some! A blog is a great place to share all that information. It's kind of like a journal for anything you want to say to the world. It only takes a couple of minutes to setup. I promise you don't have to be a nerd to figure it out. And programs like blogger.com or wordpress.com are completely free. Once you're all setup, just start typing. Each entry is called a post and chances are, if you like reading your posts, other people will as well and they are your audience. See, I told you it was like being in your own show. Now, I'm just a home cook, but if cooking were my business and I was a caterer, it would be even more important for me to have a blog. Writing about the events that I've done or posting mouth-watering pictures of food that I made would be a really cool way to entice customers. Oh, and search engines love blogs. So, you'd be surprised who can find you, just put yourself out there. Hey, it's not called the worldwide web for nothing. Now, if you want to connect with family and friends, then Facebook is the place for you. There's a reason why over 800 million people have joined. Yes, 800 million. It's easy to setup, it's fun to use and warning, it's a little addictive. But, you'd be surprised who you can connect with. Talk about blast from the past, I just friended a guy who I haven't seen since kindergarten. Wow, he looks good. And you keep everyone up to date using status updates. You can tell everyone about something great that just happened to you or ask their advice. You can also share photos, videos or websites that you love. Your friends are doing the same thing and will see their status updates in the ever current news feed. There, you can leave a comment on something that they've shared or just hit the like button which is Facebook shorthand for, "That's cool". If short and sweet is your thing, then you might want to check out Twitter. Twitter is like speed sharing. You only get a 140 characters to write or tweet, a funny observation, a quote that you love or a link to something you think is cool on the web. Short and sweet is good if you're someone who always has their hands full. Now, it can't be all about hobbies and friends; I mean sometimes mamas got to work. So, when it comes to my professional life, the network I want to be on is LinkedIn. It's kind of like a resume but turbo charge. It lets people know what you're working on in real time. It highlights your accomplishments and it even showcases recommendations from other people you've worked with. Connect with all your business associates on LinkedIn. Now, not only will you have a direct line to them, but you'll be able to see who they're connected to which opens up your networking opportunities immensely. I know, it's a lot to take in. But stay tune, I'm going to break down all of these social networks and more so that you know exactly how to build your social presence online that takes your interests, your friendships or your career to the next level. See you next time.