I have always had an easy time meeting people and making friends. As a child, my parents always called me a social butterfly. When I think back to my childhood where my networking skills began, I think of the game follow the leader. It was usually pretty easy to identify who the leader was, all you had to do was look at the front of the line and follow along wherever they went.
How do you play follow the leader as an adult? Utilizing social media tools can get you in front of industry leaders, it just takes a little effort.
Today I will focus on Twitter as I believe it is one of the easiest to participate in and, in some ways opens doors to industry leaders in a way unlike most other social networking tools. Did you know that CEO’s of major corporations use Twitter and LinkedIn? Back in the fall BusinessWeek ran an article about Tweets from Chiefs. You can have open conversations with the experts and build your network and personal brand with ease.
First, you have to sign up for a Twitter account and create your micro-bio (140 word profile). Next, import and search all of your professional friends, acquaintances and family and start to “follow” them on Twitter. Pay attention as you are reading your Google alerts, industry blogs and figure out which experts in your industry are using Twitter and follow them as well. When you follow people many times they follow you back.
Pay attention to the conversations that are happening around you on Twitter and then start to get involved. “Tweet” (reply to) posts when you have something interesting to contribute to the conversation. Add your own insightful observations, links and content about your area of interest or focus. Do this every day and watch how your network will grow and you will begin have real dialogue with industry experts that you would never had access to before.
Follow the leader on Twitter and who knows when the leader might just be you. Want to learn more about Twitter and how to start? Check out the
A Brand New You 