:The Flash Advancer

With at least 60% of job-seekers finding employment through networking, it’s no wonder that people are turning to their colleagues and acquaintances for advice and help in finding employment. The old adage, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” rings true when it comes to sources of labor in today’s economy.

The Traditionalists

In the recent past (and even today for some unbending traditionalists), if you were unemployed you would focus on perfecting your resume, scour through the classifieds, or spend $5K getting help from an employment firm only to end up with outdated job leads and generic career advice - but still no job.

While these tactics are still important to employ as part of an overall job hunt, it seems like a lot of work and energy (never mind monetary resources we don’t have) when you consider the 60% of people who are finding jobs via referrals and relationships they’ve built.

Dinosaurs can Change

But even old Traditionalists can learn new tricks. Take my close colleague, J.M., for example - an experienced traditionalist and professional in the insurance agency who is just now ’succumbing’ to e-mail technology and implementing it in his daily interactions with customers. Some people are slow to adopt new technology. J.M. is slower. So when I told him I was launching ViralCommerce.com (a social networking tool for professionals) and explained it helps people to create new contacts and build their network via their existing contacts, I fully expected him to turn and run. Instead, he replied (via e-mail) “Give me a demo sometime. You never know. Dinosaurs can change. “

And he’s right. People change… but only when the old way isn’t working anymore. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. No one wants to be insane.

Enter the Social Network

Social networks provide a fresh avenue for professionals to make new contacts without the time expenditure incurred attending mixers or scheduling lunches. Based upon the six degrees of separation theory, whereby you and anyone you could want to meet are separated by a maximum of six people/connections, social networks have become an extremely helpful resource tool for job hunters and employers alike.

Unlike sites built on classified ads, social networks like ViralCommerce.com promote traditional networking, building relationships by e-mail and interviews. Instead of hunting for a specific job, members of the network look to reach out and expand their network - in turn expanding their job opportunities. Often, building connections with other members results in accessing top jobs that aren’t published in classifieds or traditional job postings.

The concept behind using social networks to find a job is easy: The more connections you make within the network, the more friends-of-a-friend you can
meet, and the better your chances of finding an employer or key contact who can make an introduction resulting in employment for you.

Networking Online

Why do it all online? Why not take the concept and just apply it to your own existing inner circle? The answer: Diversity. Chances are, the people who are already in your network probably feel the same way you do about pretty much everything. You probably agree on most matters and likely have a large number of similar contacts. And those contacts that you don’t already know, you probably weren’t even aware your colleagues knew. They didn’t think to introduce you because the obvious synergy between you wasn’t obvious to them.

Using a social network like ViralCommerce.com gives you access to your colleague’s contacts without them having to determine who you would or wouldn’t benefit from knowing. You can search through contacts and request an introduction with ease. In addition, because most social networks aren’t limited by demographics the diversity is incredible. Take ViralCommerce.com for instance, where you can request a connection with the Chaplain of the Oakland Raiders, a Norwegian Software Programmer, a Sales Professional representing Usana Health Sciences, or a Professional Recruiter from Illinois.

Mixing it Up

Of course, it’s recommended that you use online tools to complement, not replace, traditional efforts. Networks aren’t an instant fix. It takes time to build relationships, but once they’ve been established the pay off is great. Think of it as a whole new set of contacts and opportunities, or perhaps the tool that might just help you land your ideal job. After all, it’s not what you know - it’s who you know.

About the Author:

Sherry Schuller is President of Viral Commerce, Inc. and Zabbo Communications. She is the founder of the Conference on Strategic Growth for Businesses and Entrepreneurs, co-author of 222 Ways to Entrepreneurial Success, and has assisted many organizations with strategic planning, branding, marketing, advertising design, training, and application development. She was previously an Internet Specialist for IBM’s leading North American distributor, Business Partner Solutions (now Avnet), and an independent consultant for various firms, including PRIMEDIA, Inc., the leading provider of targeted content and integrated marketing solutions in consumer and business-to-business sectors.

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“No time to network!” Is this something you grapple with?

I can certainly relate to not having enough time in the day to do everything I want to. With a toddler and an infant, ALL my time is spoken for — for now, at least. Yet I continue to network (successfully, I might add).

How do I manage?

Before I answer the question, let me ask you this: do you consider “networking” to be a distinct and separate activity (like an item on your “to do” list)?

That could be part of the problem.

Well, here are two ways you can network, even when you “don’t have time”.

1. Integrate “networking” in your normal day.

People “network” all the time. You too. Except, you may not think of what you’re doing as “networking”.

Here is an example of what I mean:

Let’s say you’re looking for a landscape maintenance company, that will take care of your yard year round. Mowing the grass in the summer, raking the leaves in the fall, clearing the snow in the winter. But perhaps you’re new to the area, or maybe you know the area but are a new homeowner, and you don’t know how best to find someone who is reliable, affordable and does good work.

So what do you do? Chances are, you probably ask people you know who are homeowners, for information, recommendations and references.

This is networking.

And as I said, you probably do this kind of thing without thinking.

Now, if you consciously applied the same concept to your business needs, you wouldn’t need to carve out extra time for “networking”. It would become integrated into your normal day and how you did business.

2. Leverage technology whenever you can.

In this day and age, it’s possible to get to know and work with someone without ever meeting them in person. In my previous career, I successfully built and led a team, whose members were located in 4 different continents.

How did we work successfully without ever meeting each other? We simply used technology (nothing fancy — common stuff like phone and email) to get to know each other, keep in touch and coordinate our work.

You can do the same in networking.

Here are a couple of examples of how you can use technology to your advantage when networking:

A client of mine asked me once if I could recommend some Executive recruiters to him. I didn’t have this information. However, I did belong to several online groups that had people who could provide me with this information.

So I posted a question on a few of these lists, describing exactly what I was looking for. Within a couple of days I got a list of Executive recruiters from people I trusted. And I passed this information on to my client.

Note a couple of things here though.

First, this information came from “people I trusted”. Even though I’d never met many of them in person, I knew them (or got to know them) through email and/or phone conversations. Second, I posted my question on *some* lists — I chose only those lists whose members I thought would be best able to help me find this information.

In terms of generating referrals for my own business, here is one way I leverage technology to help me with this:

I regularly ask my customers and subscribers, especially those who find my articles and products useful, to refer people to me.

Specifically, I ask them to tell their friends and associates about these resources, and provide an online form to help facilitate this. I ask for referrals (and present this form) during key interactions, such as when someone requests the free self-paced program, or buys one of my products.

My point is, even when I’m unable to ask for referrals in person, using technology I am still able to ask.

(c) Copyright 2006, Srirupa Dasgupta

Sri Dasgupta helps business professionals get better results from their business networking efforts. She is the author of the Effortless Networking, and writes regular articles offering business networking tips and related resources.

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Global Warming is the most talked about topic, and the evidence of global warming are all over the world recently. The phenomenal increase in the Earth’s temperature due to the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide etc is the main reason for global warming. The greenhouse effect is the most important cause for global warming. It is very important to have these greenhouse gases, but at permissible levels, as these gases trap the heat rays from the Sun and provide the much needed thermal blanket for the Earth which is ideal for us human beings, animals and plants to survive in this world.

But, in the last couple of decades, there has been an alarming increase in the emission of CO2 in the atmosphere that has made the Earth warmer than usual and hence we find an increase in the temperature. So, we see more and more temperature being absorbed in the atmosphere, which increases the temperature of the Earth gradually causing global warming. But, more then presence of CO2 in the atmosphere, the more will be the effects of global warming on Earth. The causes of global warming are many like emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from man made factories, industries, vehicles etc; deforestation of natural vegetation and forests; Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) used as jet propellant and in aerosol sprays and refrigerators; emission of methane gases from marshy places etc.

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