Networking in India - BNI India Blog

I have to say I was amazed when I heard the other week that Dell has generated over US$1 million in revenues through using Twitter (to read more about this click on this link ). Twitter has been making waves in the last few months on the social media scene and many people swear by it. I’ve been using it for a couple of months now, but it’s only now dawning on me how useful it could be. I thought I would give you a low down on 4 important social media tools out there that can help you collaborate, communicate & network better.

Twitter

What is twitter? Well simply put it is a micro-blogging tool that allows people you may be connected to (think customers, vendors, potential target markets, colleagues,  etc). Many will be familiar with status update that you can post about what you are doing right now on the social networking site facebook or business networking sites such as linkedin . Twitter is a tool that allows you to give such updates to a community of users following. Twitter becomes more valuable as you get more relevant followers to connect, share and network.Dell used it to let its customers who were following it on twitter get news of special discounts available at stores. I use it to let people know about updates to my blog or other BNI related news. I also use it to follow other excellent influencers who could update me about key things related to their expertise. For example I have been following Tomas Power on Twitter where constantly updates it with key news from the world of social media.

You are able to attach links to articles and sites that may be of interest. So for example if you have just come across an interesting article or blog you can post a link to it.

The great thing about Twitter is that you can get updates on your mobile phone via sms so you don’t need to be logged on to the internet to get your updates. Just make sure that when you follow someone you update your settings to make sure status updates are sent to your mobile device. I only do this for very important people I’m following. To follow me on Twitter click on this link

Yammer
Yammer is the equivalent of twitter but for your company. Everyone in your company can get updates and it’s like the things you pick up when you meet colleagues around the water cooler. I think this is particularly powerful for collaborating and communicating. You have the added privacy of having your own network.

You can download this on your windows smart phone or Blackberry so you can have it on the move. A friend of mine travels a lot and this is a great way to figure out who has been doing what while he has been away.

I’m just trying this out but I can already see how exciting this is as more people from our company get yammering! J

Brightkit
Brightkit is a brilliant little tool that allows you to post updates on your twitter account. It has 2 very cool pieces of functionality

(a)    It allows you to create mini urls for web links that are very big

(b)   It allows you to create “Tweets” in advance and then decide on a date and time when you want it posted. Simple but brilliant!

Yoono
Yoono is another great tool that sits on the side of your internet browser so that it can help you manage various status posts through one service. For example I can update my status on Yoono and it will automatically update my facebook and twitter account.

It also gives me updates of my friends from both these sites so that I don’t need to keep logging into them.

In 2009 every business will have to have a social media component built into their overall marketing budget. So have FUN out there and get your business much needed VISIBILITY by using these social media tools!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Trackback URI | Comments RSS