The Real Way to Build a Social Network
If there is a guru of networking, it is Reid Hoffman, founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn. Here he explains how to do it right — and wrong — in an excerpt from his new book with Ben Casnocha, The Start-Up of You.
These excerpts are from the February 6, 2012 issue of Fortune.
Many people are turned off by the topic of networking. They think it’s slimy, inauthentic. Picture the consummate networker: a high-energy fast talker who collects as many business cards as he can and attends mixers sporting slicked-back hair. Or the overambitious college kid who frantically e-mails alumni, schmoozes with the board of trustees, and adds anyone he’s ever met as an online friend. Such people are drunk on networking Kool-Aid — and are looking at a potentially nasty hangover. Read More…
How To Take Advantage of Social Media
By Joe Pagano
In the past few years we’ve seen the power of social media at work in elections, the Arab spring, the Occupy movement, and in our personal communications. Leaders of all types of organizations are coming to understand the power of social media to build their online profile, attract visitors to their website, and collect information they need to engage in a two-way conversation.
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