<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Build your “platform.”<\/p>\n
Build your “brand.”<\/p>\n
How does one go about doing this? How much time do you have to devote to it? I know some people who have done a great job building their on-line footprint. But they work at it — spend 40 hours a week building. It is hard work. It doesn’t come easy.<\/p>\n
I try. I don’t have the time to do it all the time. But I have found success in a focused group. I do get leads and consulting gigs from my network all the time. I enjoy it. I like to post my opinions. Do I think anyone reads? Maybe not — but that’s ok. I am building<\/em>.<\/p>\n Some of the tools I use:<\/p>\n Twitter – a must for anyone on-line. I have heard many people claim it is a waste of time. I guess anything can be a waste if you don’t know how to use it. Twitter is very effective. But it takes\u00a0nurturing\u00a0and\u00a0building. \u00a0You must be on Twitter.<\/p>\n Facebook – everyone is on Facebook. I use it more for staying in touch with friends. I do not have a business fan page. But many do. Businesses are\u00a0finding\u00a0Facebook more effective than their home page. There are 400-million Facebook accounts. You must be there.<\/p>\n WordPress Blog – if you are reading this, then you are on my website. I don’t think everyone needs a website, but a blog is important. It can be substituted by a Facebook Fan page or Tumblr.<\/p>\n Tumblr – They just passed WordPress as hosting the most blogs. It is easy, clean and gaining popularity. I have three Tumblr accounts – one is personal, the other for my art and a third that I am still debating what to do.<\/p>\n LinkedIn – The place to put your resume and so much more. Everyone should have a page. I find it to be the best business network tool period. I drive my Tweets and Blog posts to LinkedIn. I do research. I use it as my calling card. It is very important.<\/p>\n Pandora – The best ‘radio’ on the web. I don’t use it a lot for posting comments, but I find it great to hear various types of music.<\/p>\n Flixster – I prefer this movie site over the others. It is connected with Rotten Tomatoes and one can get both critics reviews and consumer. I use the % to determine which movie I want to see. I post my reviews.<\/p>\n Amazon – I shop on all the various eBook sites (B&N, Kobo, Apple) but Amazon is the one with the reviews and major feedback. I try to hold back on most reviews but Amazon will give me a sense of movement re: books.<\/p>\n bit.ly – A tool I use to shorten URLs. Besides it being a necessity for the 140 character limit on Twitter, it is a great tool for tracking. You need to register with bit.ly and then they will track usage on your posts.<\/p>\n Zite – for iPad only. This is a great tool to sort and curate all the various news on subjects that are of interest to you. I use it and find info to Tweet quite a bit. It is a different way to look at the subjects that interest me.<\/p>\n Klout – a measure of on-line influence. Sure it has it’s bugs, but it is the best way to find out influence. \u00a0Check it out.<\/p>\n Others that I have but don’t use often (should):<\/p>\n YouTube; Digg; MySpace… \u00a0and many others, I am sure.<\/p>\n These are just a few tools that I use. There is only so much time to do everything!<\/p>\n The key — you must get on-line and discover this for yourself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"