All Posts in Business Networking

|In: Business Networking|Last Updated: | 10 Comments
It has been more than a year since I am on Twitter but I was never caught in the the web of Twitdiction [Twitter Addiction].The first question that always comes to mind is “Who would read my tweet” and if at all someone reads my tweet, why would (s)he bother to reply me with a solution.But this turned out to be a misconception just like the one we have about Blogging.

For the past few days, there has been a steady growth in my T-follower count & T-following count, which gave a trigger to this article.

Below are my picks on how to make EFFECTIVE use of Twitter :

1. Use Twitter like LinkedIn:
LinkedIn has been a great tool for Business Networking[link here] and it is a place where you would find guys from the top to the bottom part of the corporate ladder.Seeing Twitter’s phenomenal growth, you wouldn’t be surprised to see the same set of people here as well.The idea is connect with them; check their followers list and follow the relevant people in their network. To take it further, Twitter is one step better in terms of transparency since you won’t require the other person’s email-id to follow him/her [exception is when the profile is locked].TweetSum is an awesome service that helps you more efficiently decide whether you should follow someone back once they’ve followed you on Twitter

2. Understand the time-zone :
Once you have established the network, you need to maintain it properly. How would a follower feel if you tweet “Good Morning tweeple,howz you?” and your follower in a different time-zone reads that in the night sad It is bound to happen that after irrelevant tweets like these you may loose a handful number of precious followers. We are no celebrities like @BarackObama or @ShahrukhKhan or @Padmashree Warrior etc.,that our followers would be interested in whether we had tea or doing coding or sitting with girlfriend; such tweets would surely bring down your follower count. This becomes very important when your precious followers are from various parts of the world.Though Twitter tag line says “What are you doing”, it’s meaning is much more than that !!!

3. Tweet & retweet relevant content :
This is an extension of the previous point, tweet[or even retweet] something meaningful which might be interesting and relevant to you & your network, keeping in mind that each tweet should bring in more RELEVANT followers on board[There should be some ROI for each tweet].Use HashTags or tags like [MY BLOG],[TECHNOLOGY],[STARTUPS] etc. wherever required so that uninterested followers won’t spend time in reading that tweet.The crux is Tweet less , tweet relevant …

4. PASSIONATELY LISTEN to your followers :
This would be the basic usage of Twitter and needs no elaboration. If you are a brand, it becomes necessary to look into what the Twitter(ers) are saying about your brand & be proactive enough to reply to their tweet.For example: Online travel company Cleartip was fast enough to respond to one of my tweets that referred them[Tweet here and Cleartrip’s reply here], I really like their UI but this quick response doubles my liking for them.Freshbooks have proved that Twitter is a great platform to create passionate brand evangelists;their must-read case study here.

5. Use “Social Media Monitoring” tools for your links :
Being only limited to 140 characters, links that are posted on twitter have to be shortened using URL shortening services[list here].Though each service gives us a short URL, many a times it becomes important to know status of the link[how many read, percentage of people reading from different parts of the world etc.];to keep it simple-we need something like Google Analytics for short URL(s).These analytics would help you understand whether twitter is REALLY working for you & your brand. My personal favourite is Cligs, you can find the pros & cons of various services here

6. Maintain an effective Twitter background :
This just came out from my personal experience.Being passionate about Entrepreneurship, once I changed the twitter background to my current one; the number of followers increased at a very steady rate.Compare the profile page with RSS Feed; we read an article based on the title & it’s relevance to us[even though the complete article may not be present in the feed !!!], similarly an effective backgound gives a clear idea about “THE REASON WHY YOU ARE ON TWITTER“. This even saves the other person’s time & his/her decision to connect with you becomes faster !!! TwitBacks also helps you creating custom Twitter backgrounds that would make your profile page more meaningful smile


7. MONITOR your twitter behavior :

One fine day, you realize that ‘N’ followers have stopped following you, hence before this happens it becomes necessary to check your TWIT(avior)- Twitter Behavior.TweetEffect helps in understanding which Tweet of your’s caused a negative effect on your followers and helps you keep a check on your activity.

Note:
If you liked this article, we could get connected on Twitter & LinkedIn.

In case you have some more interesting points to add, please leave a comment and the same would be added to the main article [with due credit to the commenter].

|In: Business Networking|Last Updated: | 9 Comments
Have been busy in work resulting in a short downtime on my blog sad Today, I received an email from one of my blog readers who is connected with me on LinkedIn and just wanted to know about how I reached 500+ connections.I just thought it would be great to share some of my tips; which would also help me to look back and check whether I am using this great tool to the fullest !!!

Below are my Ten tips [starting with my so called own MANTRAS] which makes my LinkedIn usage effective and helpful.

My Own Mantras

1. Target relevant people:
Many of us who are part of startups would be a part of many mailing lists like OpenCoffeeClub, Startup Specialists etc. This would be the best place to build your network.What I do is “While reading the email of a person on the list, if I get a feeling that it would be useful[as well as relevant] to connect with that person , than I send the invitation” and I am sure that there are lot of smart people around on such lists….Figure them out and add them !!!

2. Be Specific and Personal:
Assuming you follow point(1), you feel that a person X would add value to your network and you would like to add him. What next “Send an invitation” smile [check the image below and the part in Red Color which mentions PERSONAL !!! ]

When you are meeting a person for the first time, it is very important to introduce and specify “WHY” his addition to your network and your addition to his network would be very much useful.Remember Permission Marketing by Seth Godin – “The privilege of marketing to people who are relevant to you“, the same principle applies here as well.

It takes 2-3 minutes to be specific but it is indeed helpful. An improved example invitation below:


3. Build a useful conversation and than get the work done :
In case you are connecting with a USEFUL but unknown person, make sure that once you are connected to him/her; you know more about the contact. Write a “Thanks” reply and try to know as much as you can about him/her.
Once you are well acquainted , speak up and let him/her know the NOT SO OBVIOUS reason for the invitation.

4. Group your contacts:
Once you have multiple number of contacts; it may seem difficult to remember WHO,WHY & WHERE of a particular contact.Hence, on a regular basis ; export your contact list into .xls/.csv/other format and align the contacts in proper categories like Friends, Colleagues, Unconferences, Startups etc. to make your search simpler and faster !!!

The Obvious Mantras

1. Be an Open Networker:
The start is always difficult and if you are a waiting for your first connection, than this should be the first step. Just include your email-id in the Last Name field in your Profile page eg. Himanshu Sheth(himanshu.sheth@gmail.com) . This would give an impression that you are open to connect with anyone [with an obvious filter on whether the invitation would be relevant or not].

2. Put relevant keywords:
The difference between “S/W” and “Software” is huge.If you are an engineer and someone searches for Software, profiles tagged with S/W would be filtered out….So, just like coming on Google Search is important, being in relevant LinkedIn searches is important to increase your network.

3. Attach personal photograph:
Imagine being at a conference where you might have many of your new & yet Unknown LinkedIn connections, so “How would they identify you? ” ……In such cases, personal photograph on your profile page would be very much helpful.This may also help you reconnect with your very old colleagues.

4. Use LinkedIn badge:
If you have a blog/website, do not forget to use your LinkedIn badge.Many times, the Blog name is not so obvious eg. ThoughtsPrevail is just a random name and does not convey that “Himanshu Sheth” writes that blog [Though smart people would always google for it smile ]

5. Recommend relevant people:
Always try to write Recommendations for people ; who you feel are worth to be recommended.Many people read the recommendations written for/by a person and a recommendation can really add value to the recommender’s profile [for his openness] and the recommended person[for the great work that (s)he might have done].This indirectly makes searching for Smart people on LinkedIn easier.

6. Ask and Answer relevant questions:
“Q&A section of LinkedIn” provides an excellent platform to gain & share knowledge, not to forget adds lot of Stars to your profile with the golden word – EXPERTISE.

If you have some more relevant inputs, do let me know and I would add them in the Reader Contribution section.

Reader Contribution:
Ramjee Ganti – Guy Kawasaki on Ten Ways to use Linkedin

|In: Business Networking|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
It has been many months since I am on LinkedIn (with an open profile) and finally, it is fetching some results(good always starts with some smile). Some interesting updates from LinkedIn as well as an attempt to use LinkedIn to get some results and to use a small share of my knowledge wink

LinkedIn photo update:
We can now add photos to our LinkedIn profile and it is one of the best updates on LinkedIn.My profile now also has a photograph.This was very much required since, many times your unique face becomes an identity and some people remember the face(and may rather forget the name).

Thanks Technofriends (for this update on the information) & LinkedIn(for implementation of this badly needed update).

LinkedIn answer rated the best:
Nowadays, along with Blogging , my attempt is to answer some of the questions that are featured on LinkedIn. This is a nice platform where you can share knowledge as well as show your expertise in the subjects that you know.A snapshot of the Q&A that fetched me the “Best Answer” spot !!! You can view my complete answer here

Why should you (effectively ) use LinkedIn:
Many of us count LinkedIn as a normal networking website but there is more to it than Networking, check out Ten ways to get LinkedIn to work for you by Ajay Jain. For example: Check out Recruiter on LinkedIn and you would see 500+ results !!!

Phase of IT is continuously changing and so are the recruitment strategies;lot of Placement Consultants as well as HR professionals from IT organizations have an open LinkedIn profile.This would make job search easy for the candidates and also makes LinkedIn an effective platform for networking, business and niche level recruitment biggrin

|In: Business Networking|Last Updated: | 2 Comments
Few days back there was a post on my blog , which was written with the intention to form a group of Entrepreneurs.This would have the benefits of sharing ideas,finding partners, discussing problems(which would result in generation of new ideas) and the list keeps on growing.

It is quite accidental that there is a similar group on LinkedIn started by Dharmesh Shah of OnStartUps , which has a similar kind of purpose.According to Dharmesh,below are the 5 reasons why you should join the “OnStartups LinkedIn group“

5 Great Reasons To Join The OnStartups LinkedIn Group

1. Find other people in your area interested in startups (even if you live in the middle of nowhere).
2. See if you can locate a co-founder for your maniacally brilliant startup idea.
3. Recruit unsuspecting victims to join your startup team
4. Locate a promising startup to join and try your hand at this whole entrepreneurship thing.
5. Find funding for your current startup so you don’t have to beg and plead with your friends and family.
It’s an amazing step by Dharmesh , though there are lot more reasons to join this amazing group biggrin .I have already joined the group , so go ahead and join the “OnStartUps Entrepreneurial community” and help spread the word of “Entrepreneurship”.

Last but not the least,you can read the complete article here

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 4 Comments
Just started reading the book “How Innovators Connect by Rohit Agarwal“.Each and every line in the book leaves a message but it starts with the difference between Invention and Innovation.Let us see what does WikiPedia say about “Invention” and “Innovation”.

Invention-An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of invention requires at least the awareness that an existing concept or method can be modified or transformed into an invention. However, some inventions also represent a radical breakthrough in science or technology which extends the boundaries of human knowledge. Legal protection can sometimes be granted to an invention by way of a patent.

Innovation–

  1. the process of making improvements by introducing something new
  2. the act of introducing something new: something newly introduced (The American Heritage Dictionary).
  3. the introduction of something new. (Merriam-Webster Online)
  4. a new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster Online)
  5. the successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).
  6. change that creates a new dimension of performance Peter Drucker (Hesselbein, 2002)
  7. A creative idea that is realized [(Frans Johansson)] (Harvard Business School Press, 2004)
  8. “The capability of continuously realizing a desired future state” ([John Kao, The Innovation Manifesto, 2005])
Well,the first line says it all “An Invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty and Innovation is the process of making improvements by introducing something new”.Hence,there is a thin line of difference between the two which means, Innovation can be built on an existing and proven idea(provided it tries to solve some of the problems) in an already existing innovation.

Every day or should I say every minute each one of us would have thought of some idea(which could solve an existing problem) , but you parked your idea aside(for that very moment or permanently) due to various reasons cry A loss of your idea could be a gain for others.Now let me come to the crux of the entire problem.

I was chatting with an enthusiastic and aspiring guy Mahesh Pidhsetti who shared his idea with me but had problems in sharing his idea with others(ie he could not find soulmates).This is not only his problem but a problem faced by many of us.

So,before our ideas die out,I have decided to take some step….These are the suggestions from my side:

  1. Have a GoogleGroup(YahooGroup is banned smile) which would be used for the sole purpose of sharing and reviewing ideas.A record of all the members(and their backgrounds) would be maintained for further reference.
  2. Plan to meet on every alternate weekends to know each other and also see which person is suitable to be your soulmate.
Well,there may be some who would agree with this idea and some may disagree.I would welcome your feedback(either though mail) or through a comment.

Let’s work together to give birth to ideas and to build ventures around those ideas smile

|In: Achievements|Last Updated: | 8 Comments
After winning Art of the Start Contest on Startups in India,there is another small feather in my cap biggrin.This time,the reward is from Rohit Agarwal,CEO of TechTribe.Yes,I received a free copy of “How Innovators Connect” by Rohit Agarwal and Patricia Brown and the reason is (again) my blog biggrin.

I just read the introduction page and guess what,the content is not only excellent but it has also got interviews from Entrepreneurs including one of the my personal favorites “Guy Kawasaki” who is also covered in the book.I would definitely post my personal comments on the book along with the learnings from the book.

Below is a small momento of my achievement:

Letter from Rohit Agarwal



Rohit Agarwal’s personal Autograph


Front Cover of the Book

Thanks TechTribe and Rohit Agarwal for noticing my blog and rewarding my efforts.

|In: BarCampBangalore3|Last Updated:
This was my third BarCamp and I should admit that “It was one of the most memorable unconferences I have ever attended biggrin Great effort by Jace,Arpit,Kesava and his team for organizing such an event.

So,what was different for me in BCB3 as compared to BCB2?
The event (particularly the second day) was excellent and everyone enjoyed the second day a lot.It was discussion and networking for the two days of the event.I met all the old timers in BCB3– Shiv,Ashwin,Kiruba,Syed(K & S of the Knowledge Foundation fame)

Also, after the end of BCB3,I had good conversation with the guys from MobileMonday,Bangalore–Rajan and Rajiv….Along with this,met many Entrepreneurs and to -be Entrepreneurs.Looks like I would get good help for setting up my venture biggrinAnyways,below is one of the photos(At least I look smart in Photos lol), where I am there with my “Love-The laptop”

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|In: Business Networking|Last Updated:
IIT Kanpur is organizing Megabucks,an International Business and Entrepreneurship festival from 6th April to 8th April 2007.Below are some of the details of Megabucks:

What is Megabucks?
Megabucks is the Annual Entrepreneurship Competition of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. ‘Megabucks’, the event that provides a nurturing ground for the ventures emanating from business plans of students and professionals. It aims at serving as the right platform for budding entrepreneurs to act on their ideas and talents to develop them into reality and nurture them to form exceptional enterprises. Transversal E Networks, Kalzoom Technologies and GEO-X are examples of companies that have already bloomed into the corporate world through megabucks. With the passage of time, Megabucks has gained great recognition among the academia and corporate world.

Why should you attend Megabucks?
The event religiously receives participation not only from Indian institutes like IIMs, XLRI, SP Jain , IITs, but also from international universities like Stanford, Purdue and National University of Singapore.

Prominent names that would attend the festival:
Mr. Vinod Khosla,Mr. Amit Gupta(IIM A), Honorable Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Mr. K.V.Kamath, Mr. Muhammad Yunus, Mrs. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Ambanis and Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal and many more

Competitions at Megabucks in a Nutshell:

How do you register for Megabucks:
You can follow the link to register for Megabucks

Registration for the various events have already started from 10th of March,2007
More details of the event can be found on their official website