Tag Archives: what is beknown

How To: Effectively Use Professional (social) Networks

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Joining the website, i.e. Twitter, Google + and LinkedIn etc.. isn’t the hard part. The hard part is figuring out what to do once you’re on it.

I am not ashamed to say it’s taken me a little over two years to grasp Twitter, LinkedIn still being a work in progress. It’s a little terrifying to put yourself out on the Internet, especially on a platform where future employers are watching. 

It used to take me hours to construct the perfect tweet, that I would then not send because I was too afraid that something would be wrong or someone might not understand the joke I had attempted to make. It was endless, I was a year in and had only sent 100 tweets.

After awhile, and some pushing from professors I started caring less about how frequently I was putting out content, and more about the quality of the content.

One of the most important things to find is your niche. What do you like to do? What are you good at? I just realized mine is Dating/Career (topic wise). It may seem like these two don’t go together, but they have more in common then you would think.

The next stop is to start connecting with people who are bigwigs in your area(s) of expertise (or at least the areas you want to be a leader in). You can do this by googling who is influential. For me it would be googling top 100 influential career blogs, and then finding the founders on LinkedIn and BeKnown.

Once you find the people you want to connect with it is important to send a personal message about why you would like to network with them. Keep it short and sweet: ” Hi, my name is Courtney and I’m interested in learning about career coaching. I would love to chat about how you got into the business if you have any free time.”  Short and to the point, a lot of professionals aren’t going to have time to read some long-winded message about how much you idolize them. And please don’t feel offended if you don’t get a response back, just move on to the next one.

The point of networks like BeKnown, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google + is to magnify ones ability to network. So instead of sticking with your inner circle, why not take a leap out of it and find people who will help you get ahead? Just a suggestion.

Who wouldn’t want to Beknown?

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So Monday I started a new job as a Community manager for Monster.com‘s new Facebook App Beknown.  I was really excited to start working on this project (one of my main reasons being that we would get to work with Ryan Paugh ..and he had worked with Penelope Trunk..so technically it would be like I worked with Penelope Trunk (who is my writing idol). I mean it makes sense when you think that if you kiss someone it’s like you have kissed everyone they kissed..right?)

Although the prospect of working in close proximity to one of my favorite writers was thrilling, I was a little hesitant to take the job. I’m always terrified that I’m going to set myself up for disaster when social media gets involved, not to mention I am horrible at recruiting friends to do things (probably something I shouldn’t mention on a public forum..but oh well). Instead I sucked it up, because I’d rather “beknown” for trying something than giving up before even getting my foot in the door.

This is a screen shot of my home page on beknown, figured I should throw it in

In today’s job market it’s important to make a name for yourself, actually put yourself out there. Not only are we always searching for jobs, but head hunters/recruiters are searching for people to fill jobs. It’s always been like this, but we didn’t always have the social media tools to showcase ourselves in a bright flashing light that says “hire me god dammit!” Well maybe not just like that.

App’s like Beknown have taken this flashing bright light to the next level. They have made it so even the least social media savvy person can have a chance  to”beknown” by employers, the best part being they give this to them on a network they already know and love (could you ask for anything more?) .

I’m on day 7 of using this app. and although no job has popped out at me, I have already made some great connections. Which in all honesty is why I join sites like beknown and LinkedIn, to make that connection with someone who could eventually know someone looking to hire an extremely talented writer/editor/ex-PR wannabe, and that is when my awkward little big face will pop into their head, then I’ll get hired. Well at least this is the hope.

Hopefully my ramblings hasn’t gotten you too lost yet. Basically, what I am saying here, it’s better to beknown on the internet than hide in some  private area pretending it doesn’t exist. Yes, the internet is a scary place to put your information on. But it’s worth it, online you can make more connections in one hour than an entire week in person. Connections that can help with a career change, friendly advice on moving, or a stepping stone to getting your dream job.

I’m not opposed to Facebook Apps (just check out my farm), so joining beknown wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Free job searches, free connecting, plus you can create a competition between friends to see who can own the most badges..let’s be real I’m already hooked. I’m not saying that this is for everyone, there are a lot of people who just think job search sites are a waste of their time (which is fine, and if they have a better way I would love it if they could let me know ASAP). But regardless, I do think everyone should at least try it, give it a whirl. Test it out and see what this baby can do. I mean, really, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You land a great job? Make new friends? ..I know horrible, tragic, things.

So, check it out…and you should absolutely connect with me (I’m only in the 20′s for connections..gotta beat out the other community managers! –good thing I use my sports competition logic for Facebook App..)