Blogging as a networking tool...
Category Blogging
An email I received today has started me thinking more and more about how blogging has become a personal networking tool for me...
As you've read, I'm very high on the Head First Java book by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates. Well, today I saw that I had a Google hit for that book title on my blog. I also received an email from Ms. Sierra thanking me for the blog entry and saying I had make her's and Bert's week. I returned the email, and it would be great to see this become an ongoing exchange with some very talented writers. I was also able to hook up some other Notes bloggers with copies of the book based on the feedback via the blog. My contact at O'Reilly is interested to see how this type of publicity might work out.
There have been a number of other things that have happened lately that I attribute to the blog. After meeting Ed Brill at Lotusphere and reading his blog, I was able to have a part of his coming out to Portland to speak to our user group and to some of our clients. After meeting Rocky Oliver at Lotusphere and through blog interactions, I've started to write some articles for Advisor. This could also lead to speaking at conferences... who knows?
Chatting with Rocky this morning, he mentioned that he views his blog as part of his marketing efforts now. I'm sure Ed would view things the same way.
When you mention that you have a blog, you get a variety of responses. Some people are very excited to read it and become regular visitors. Some people look at you with that look that says "like YOU have anything to say that people would care about". Regardless, I'm starting to see this as a vital part of my efforts to network in professional circles. I've had a number of emails and personal meetings where people have introduced themselves and related that they follow my blog. That means I'm connected with a number of people in ways I don't currently know, but that may become important down the road. As a consultant, that is a very important thing. Between Lotusphere 2003 and this blog, I have improved my networking skills by an order of magnitude.
For people like Rocky, Rob, Ben, Richard, and others, this is very important. It's yet another way to promote their business and expertise. And in today's sluggish economy, every little bit helps. While I'm not a sole proprietor like they are, I still need to be out there "beating the bushes", so to speak. Working for a small consulting company means that you have an impact on the bottom line when it comes to meeting with others and recruiting new business.
Just curious to hear how others view their blogs and how the blogs relate to their professional/personal networking efforts...
An email I received today has started me thinking more and more about how blogging has become a personal networking tool for me...
As you've read, I'm very high on the Head First Java book by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates. Well, today I saw that I had a Google hit for that book title on my blog. I also received an email from Ms. Sierra thanking me for the blog entry and saying I had make her's and Bert's week. I returned the email, and it would be great to see this become an ongoing exchange with some very talented writers. I was also able to hook up some other Notes bloggers with copies of the book based on the feedback via the blog. My contact at O'Reilly is interested to see how this type of publicity might work out.
There have been a number of other things that have happened lately that I attribute to the blog. After meeting Ed Brill at Lotusphere and reading his blog, I was able to have a part of his coming out to Portland to speak to our user group and to some of our clients. After meeting Rocky Oliver at Lotusphere and through blog interactions, I've started to write some articles for Advisor. This could also lead to speaking at conferences... who knows?
Chatting with Rocky this morning, he mentioned that he views his blog as part of his marketing efforts now. I'm sure Ed would view things the same way.
When you mention that you have a blog, you get a variety of responses. Some people are very excited to read it and become regular visitors. Some people look at you with that look that says "like YOU have anything to say that people would care about". Regardless, I'm starting to see this as a vital part of my efforts to network in professional circles. I've had a number of emails and personal meetings where people have introduced themselves and related that they follow my blog. That means I'm connected with a number of people in ways I don't currently know, but that may become important down the road. As a consultant, that is a very important thing. Between Lotusphere 2003 and this blog, I have improved my networking skills by an order of magnitude.
For people like Rocky, Rob, Ben, Richard, and others, this is very important. It's yet another way to promote their business and expertise. And in today's sluggish economy, every little bit helps. While I'm not a sole proprietor like they are, I still need to be out there "beating the bushes", so to speak. Working for a small consulting company means that you have an impact on the bottom line when it comes to meeting with others and recruiting new business.
Just curious to hear how others view their blogs and how the blogs relate to their professional/personal networking efforts...
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Comments
http://www.javaranch.com
They always used to have a "round-up" (the cowboy / ranch theme is persistent throughout the site
Posted by Ben Poole At 13:05:42 On 30/06/2003 | - Website - |
I can also see how many consultants would be wary of putting "useful" technical information out on their sites, because they might feel that the code they write is part of the expertise that they're selling, and if you're giving that away for free then why would someone pay you for an engagement. However, you've got to remember that (A) not everyone has time to implement a solution by themselves, even if you hand it to them, (B) not everyone will even understand the technical information that you give them (they'll just realize that it's really useful and want you to make it work for them), and (C) most solutions are custom, so no matter how much generic code you put on your site, someone will need to pay you to customize it for them.
That being said, I'm not a consultant so I'm sure there's more to it than than; however, I've been a part of hiring several consultants and contractors, so I know what companies are often looking for.
My 2 cents, anyway (if it's even worth that...
- Julian
Posted by Julian Robichaux At 07:38:44 On 29/06/2003 | - Website - |
Having a blog, however, makes it much easier for me to keep in touch with my many supporters around the world, especially in France and Germany. This is an important propaganda--um, I mean communication--tool for me, and one that wasn't even available as recently as , say, 1991.
Well, gotta run. Someone's looking for me.....
Posted by Saddam Hussein At 17:22:36 On 29/06/2003 | - Website - |