Foursquare : The next big thing is location !

The newest hype in Social Media world are location-based web-applications such as Foursquare.
Foursquare is a very simple mobile Internet tool to build your network and tell each other WHERE you are. The question is no longer "what are you doing ?", but "Where are you doing it ?"

The big thing in this evolution is of course peer promotion. This new platform has all the keys in hand to become the leading network for marketing and business purposes. Users can add tips to trigger other users to visit locations or businesses.

As my friend Marieke (@hensel) points out : It's just a matter of time before companies will offer free drinks or coupons to people who digitally check-in to their store.

Today Twitter is already recognized as one of the most important business networks. It were the users who invented most of the innovative features and uses of this network. I hope users will also be clever enough to develop the right uses for Foursquare ... there is a lot of potential in this new network ... but it's up to us to unlock it !

Outlook integration with Social Media

Since many years Microsoft Outlook is one of the most important tools in my professional life.
Already a while ago Microsoft announced their plans to integrate connections with Social Media platforms, straight into the contacts and e-mail features of Outlook.

As a Proactive and Professional Networker, this was of course something I was very excited about. Normally I'm not much of a beta-tester, but this time I just couldn't resist and downloaded the Outlook Social Connector, the plugin for Outlook that opens the gates toward the Social Media platforms.

Today there is only one add-in available for this plugin, connecting Outlook to the Nr. 1 Business platform : LinkedIn.
Soon other add-in's will be available too. Microsoft already announced connections to MySpace, Facebook and Windows Live.

The setup and configuration was not the easiest I've ever done. I installed the plugin onto Office 2007 Professional (Downloading a beta of Office 2010 was even too wild for me ...)
My biggest problem was the fact the add-in for LinkedIn wouldn't accept my login and password. After debugging this problem I found out that the client won't accept passwords containing a 'space'. I changed my password and got it up and running.

Result : It does exactly what it says on the box. When I receive an email from someone who's already in my LinkedIn network, I get extra information at the bottom of the page.

Even without the Linkedin connection it's already worth installing because the plugin gives you a history feature to track back all communication.
In the contacts section of Outlook you get an extra file with your LinkedIn contacts.

My conclusion : Bring on those new clients for Facebook and MySpace ... this is good stuff !!!

Wealth Dynamics Profiles (Video)

Roger Hamilton, chairman of one of the largest Premium Networking organisations (XL Results Foundation) is talking about Wealth Dynamics Profiles.
These profiles show you exactly who you are and how you should be working with others around you.

Up until 2005 I was running my business activities in a typical "supporter" style, always having the feeling of running into walls. After attending a webinar from Roger I could understand that I had to change my behaviour. In Wealth Dynamics I have the Star profile, which is still very close to the Supporter, but with a different focus. After adjusting my behaviour to my profile things became much easier.

If you know what you're good at and you can focus on doing that, you will always be successful. If you will surround yourself with people who are good in other things, the sum of your capabilities and skills will make your team stronger.

(un)Fair competition

In this blog I'm talking about the Social Media industry as an example, but I'm pretty sure the same goes for many other industries such as training, ICT, marketing, ...

Lately I see every 'dog with a hat on' organizing Social Media Workshops. Recently I got an invitation for one of those and I looked up the trainer on several online networks.
The largest network I could find where his 140 friends on Facebook ...

I also noticed some other Trainers and Public Speakers who are now on the market as Social Media Experts, but a few months ago they were speaking about Taxes and a few months before that they were speaking about marketing strategies. Whatever's hot is their game.

Lots of people attend these workshops and are often disapointed on the quality of the content.
Most of today's trainers don't walk their talk. I love to learn new things myself but the only way you can really pick something up is in the case that the trainer really knows his stuff ... from doing it himself.

In case of Social Media and Online Networking I do know most experts worldwide. It's not a very large crowd because there are only 4 or 5 in each country. Half of them are on the market as Public Speakers or Trainers and really know their stuff. As a few examples I'll drop the names of Octavio Pitaluga (Brazil), Thomas Power (UK), Louis Gray (Silicon Valley, USA) and Roger Hamilton (Singapore).

I have read a few good blogs with lists of questions to ask a potential Social Media Expert.
I really liked these questions and agree that any of those people I know would have no trouble at all answering them. Most of the trainers now jumping on the Social Media train "because it's hot" would probably have a huge problem finding the right answers.

The best part of Social Media is of course that you have all the tools to check people out yourself. Just tap in the name of the expert or trainer in any of your favorite Social Media websites and watch the results. Don't forget Google because you might even find some comments of attendees to earlier workshops. Nevertheless, I think there is a huge value in these workshops because we need to get the managers and entrepreneurs online now to keep up to level with the new generation of starting entrepreneurs.

Which type of network fits you like a glove ?

In earlier posts I already wrote about the various differences between networks, based on their average users. In this post I'm looking at the basic offering of various types of networks.

In general I can see three types of networking going on at various meetings, events and online platforms. In these three types of networks I can spot significant differences in the offering to their members, trying to satisfy specific needs.

1. "Old school" Networking

These networks offer the essential basics for a starting entrepreneur, but also established managers like the simple style of networking in these organisations.

You have the opportunity to grow your network at various events, but you'll also find a lot of top-down advice, training and learning opportunities. Most of these networks also offer mentoring programs, where experienced managers will help startups through their first years in business.

These organisations will give you a fast answer to any business question. As a member you will have a feeling of belonging to a strong and large group, which is defending your rights as an entrepreneur.

Typical examples : Chamber of Commerce, Unizo, ...

Costs :

- Membership fee (Often related to the size of your business)

- Entrance costs for most events

2. Social Business networking

These are the average networking clubs of today. Lots of networking events will give you the opportunity to grow your network. Leads and referrals will come to you, based on trust and reputation. Indirect business and recommendations will be the automatic result of online and offline networking. These networks will give you a feeling of belonging to a large club of entrepreneurs, handing each other some business.

Typical examples : Ecademy, Xing, M4M, ...

Costs :

- Moderate membership fee

- Entrance cost for most events, unless already included in the membership fee

3. Premium Networking

Unlike the typical social business events, the focus in this style of events is on advising each other or helping each other with typical business problems. You will build deep relationships with the other members of your group. Meetings usually have a concept based on a Mastermind group and offer secrecy. Most Premium networks will also have tresholds for entering the network, often based on industry, geography and expectations.

These networks will give you the feeling of having your own 'board of directors', helping you to grow your business.

Typical examples : Blackstar, BNI, ...

Costs :

- High membership fee

- Entrance fee for most events, unless already included in the membership fee

Since the offering is clearly different for all three types of networking, the combination of all three is probably the best choice for a full networking experience, satisfying the needs for your business. I'm a member of several networks and clubs in all three types and I don't think I could miss any of these three types ...

(Picture: M4M Networking event)

Networking into the New Year and a new economy

My very best wishes for a successful and recession-free 2010 !!!

As we enter a new decade, social networking gets more important every day. If you are an entrepreneur or a small business owner it will be close to impossible to survive after the recession without a solid and trusted network.

In general there are three large groups of entrepreneurs :
Starters (18-25) - The middle generation (25-50) and the Senior Managers (50+)

Senior Managers have built up a solid network during the many years of their career. They can rely on their trusted connections for support and referrals whenever needed.

The middle group (25-50) are the people with the least experience in social networking. This is the generation which was raised with "sales, sales, sales" as the main message. Often they think networking is just another marketing technique which needs lots of effort and isn't really profitable.

The group that we often forget to think about are the starters (18-25). Today, when students graduate they already have a network on Facebook or MySpace of 1000 connections on average.

Entrepreneurs always laugh with this fact because those connections are just other students and people they hang out with in weekends. Right.

What we forget is that this entire network ALSO graduates and enters the professional business world at the same time. When students finish school and enter their first job, their entire Facebook/MySpace network instantly transfers into a professional business network.

Young people today start their professional life with a 'warm' and trusted network of approx. 1000 contacts ... and they keep on growing their network in the next years.

My fear is the simple fact that the middle generation is not ready for this "competition".

The middle generation has to embrace social networking and learn how to apply the tools.

My contribution to this will be a new training course 'Social Media for Business', brand new and available as from now ;-)

Press Release - Succesful launch of book 'Friends with Benefits'

PRESS RELEASE 30/11/2009

Diest, Belgium – Very successful launch of book ‘Friends with Benefits - Networking in a new economy’

Saturday 21/11/2009 Geert Conard’s new book ‘Friends with Benefits’ was launched during a special Booklaunch event in the Cultural Centre of his hometown, Diest.

From all over Belgium and even some neighbouring countries, 70 people had found their way to the historical beguinage of Diest. This great group of people enjoyed a unique booklaunch event in three parts :

- Red Carpet Photoshoot
- Official part in the Auditorium with speeches and presentations
- Networking Event + Book signing

The event started with a promo-movie, produced by Cineworks : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bh3D477hgc

Photos of the event, including the Red Carpet photoshoot : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136553&id=560297038&l=fca9a01e7e

Press page including Press Releases and Press Pictures : http://www.friends-with-benefits.eu/presspub.html

This book is available through the official website or through webshops such as Amazon.com

Promo Movie Friends with Benefits

Dear friends,
As many of you know in the past weeks I have been setting up a booklaunch event for the official release of my second book 'Friends" with Benefits'.
One of my contacts (Erwin De Laat) brought me in touch with Johnny and Nick of Cineworks, who produced a very nice promo movie for my book.

I can HIGHLY recommend their services as excellent, tailor made, personal and very professional.
Here is the result of what they have put together for me in just a few days :
(We shot the footage on 18/11 and had the movie in Premiere at the event on 21/11)



(Click on the movie to go to YouTube and watch in original size !)

Network with your target audience

Networking is not about direct transactions, it's about getting to know people. Nevertheless it might be a good idea to network with people who have access to your target market. This could be the key factor in deciding which platforms to keep on using, after trying out a bunch of them.

On Ecademy you will find lots of small business owners, while Xing seems to have more production companies on board. The corporates are present on LinkedIn while you'll easily find the younger generation on Netlog. On Facebook you'll discover a nice sample of the total community, perfect for launching new products or ideas.

If your professional activities are aimed at a small and very specific piece of the market (e.g. lawyers), you might want to be part of a niche network for that target audience too.

Of course each network also has a strong memberbase from it's own origin. Ecademy was founded in the UK and still has a large percentage of UK members. Xing was launched in Germany and still has a huge amount of German members. This also gives you the opportunity to have a quick and easy access to the market in that country.

Some time ago I was helping one of my contacts to find a high-tech company in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh (Scotland), ready to accept an internship from a highschool in Belgium.

Because I knew Ecademy was probably the network with the strongest UK memberbase, I posted a cry for help on their blog and two days later the problem was solved.

If you want to do international business with a certain country, it's always a good idea to locate the top networkers in that country and meet up with them. They probably have all the contacts you need to get started.

Of course the best way to use online networking is to make the perfect combination of multiple networks, covering all your needs. More about this coming soon !

Adding extra value to a successful concept

As a passionate and proactive networker, I'm always trying to have a good balance in online networking and meeting people face-to-face at networking events. I'm also trying to find a good mix in target groups, which are often to be found in different online communities.

Large corporates are mainly on LinkedIn, small businesses are on Ecademy, production companies seem to like Xing and a broad market to test your new products is of course to be found on Facebook. If your target audience are teenagers, have a look at Netlog.

One of the most established organisations which originated in my country is Managers 4 Managers, organizing offline networking events in several large cities in Europe. I discovered these meetings already in 2005, when I was testing multiple concepts for a chapter in my first book. For several months I was even part of the local team which was running the events in Leuven.

Recently I made a new change in my professional life and put myself on the market as a Public Speaker, Writer, Trainer and Consultant on Social Media and Social Networking.

The team of Managers 4 Managers almost immediately contacted me and asked me to accept the role of M4M International Ambassador, promoting their events and helping them with their online presence on Xing, LinkedIn, Ecademy and Facebook. I also offered them to bring extra value to their events by adding a slight change to their proven meeting concept. Let's take a look at their concept as it was before :

- In the first part of the event a guestspeaker is being interviewed by a professional host. Speakers are successful entrepreneurs, politicians or other high profile people.

- In the second part of the event the attendees are divided into small groups of 8-10 people, with a moderator at each table. All participants have the opportunity to present themselves and their professional activities in a 5 minute timeslot.

This is already a very strong and valuable concept and during the booming years of 2005-2006 this concept attracted hundreds of businessowners to these meetings. Of course it's not possible to have 50% new people present every month and sometimes it happens that the same people are at your table again. This is also excellent because you get to know them even better, but you automatically distract from the original concept.

This is where I wanted to add the slight change. After all, my good friend Jan Vermeiren writes in his books that you should be able to give your 'elevator pitch' in no more than 20 seconds.

To be honest, I couldn't do it myself in 20 seconds, but I can do it in 2,5 to 3 minutes ... which leaves me another 2 free minutes within the M4M concept.

In these 2 minutes we should focus on the 'now' : What are you doing right now ? Which are the projects you are working on right now ? What are you looking for right now ? How can we help you right now ?

When any of these questions can be addressed by the people at your table you will receive tremendous value from this one single session.

Even more, this will give you a totally different experience at each networking event, because people aren't always looking for the same things. A company might be looking for a new salesagent this month ... and next month they are looking for a company to put publicity on the new car of the new salesagent ...

I think this is an excellent example of how a slight change to a concept can add big value, without damaging the original concept.

This is not an earthshaking change to the original concept .. just a little twist ;-)

The new and improved M4M concept was launched at the M4M Beveren networking event in October 2009 and is now introduced to all other chapters of the organisation. If you want to experience this yourself, visit their website and register for one of the next events.