Does this sound like something you’ve heard me say before?  This time I said it, and was quoted in the paper!

Last week, I was interviewed by Katie Morell for the Business Ledger, a Chicago Suburban newspaper for an article entitled: “You’re on LinkedIn, but are you linked in? Social media experts give advice on the ultimate networking tool” I hope you enjoy the article and that you take away some tips!

I was honored to be featured, and the article even began with one of my favorite”interactiveAmy-isms,” something I share during all of my presentations and client meetings; “There is no such thing as a blind date anymore and there is no such thing as a blind meeting. Before anyone meets you, they research you online. LinkedIn is one of the first things that come up when they search for your name.”   (Side note: Do I put quotes around my own soundbite?! What an exciting question to have, but really – does anyone know the answer?)  Now that we know people are looking for you, let’s talk about how you can prepare your profile in a way that benefits you (for search) and others (so they can learn more about you.)

Digital Footprints – Step Yours Up!

Now more than ever it is important to put your best foot forward when you meet someone, and nowadays you need to put your best “digital footprint” forward.  Your digital footprint is the mark you’ve left on the internet – what does yours say about you?

Have you ever done Google search for your own name? What comes up first is what others will see first.

Is that first  impression you want to make?

For me, it used to be my 5k race time, and that is not what I wanted people to see first.  Unless you run for a living or you are a competitive runner, my 5k race time from years ago is not overly interesting (or fast!) and it is not the first thing I want someone to know about me, I’d prefer they learned about my social media consulting business or my involvement in Social Media Club Chicago.  They might accidentally stumble upon the London-based body builder with whom I share a name, and again – not what I want people to see!

So how did I change that?

I harnessed the power of LinkedIn, oh yeah, I drank their Kool-Aid, and then I shared what I know with others, since having more complete profiles really benefits everybody. Because LinkedIn such a powerful engine, the site naturally ranks highly in search, so use that to your advantage!  LinkedIn is a living and breathing resume so make sure its the best possible reflection of your work experience to date, and where you want to go next – even if you are not actively job seeking.

If you were on a blind date, you’d probably comb your hair and put on a snazzy outfit before leaving the house,

why not do the same on LinkedIn as well!

The more content-rich information you are able to provide in your profile, the more appealing you’ll look to search engines and to future employers/clients/and business partners! How’s that for an incentive to fill out your profile more completely? Having a profile with complete and accurate information also allows someone to get to know more about you, and decide if you are a person they’d like to business with.  Learning about someone in advance of a meeting is a first step in building rapport too, if you find that you’ve attended the same University or know people in common its a great ice-breaker!

I know what you are thinking: “Do I really need to include a picture in my profile?”

YES!

If you have ever had a blind business meeting, you’ll be extra appreciative the next time you see a complete profile with a picture in a future LinkedIn search!  Earlier in my career I sold adverting in the Yellow Pages, and had many first-time meetings with business owners in public places, and I had no idea who I was looking for.  It was much easier when I could say, “I’ll be the one carrying a phone book!”  I can’t say that anymore (thankfully!) but I do come prepared, and I will look you up before we meet.  So be nice to the person you are about to meet for the first time, and please post a picture on your profile!  It really takes away a lot of the anxiety when meeting someone for the first time if you know what the person looks like in advance.

If you have any questions, or if your LinkedIn profile needs revamping, please contact me about how to amplify your online. (See why that’s my tag line?)  Now that I’ve shared my LinkedIn tips with you, please share your LinkedIn success stories and tips with me! And of course, let’s link in!

Related posts:

1. Not Foolin’! InteractiveAmy has a new profile picture!
2. What's in a Name? Personal Branding & The First Year of Marriage

Dear friends, clients and anyone looking for interactiveAmy,

I am on vacation until May 10th! I will be unplugging in Israel, where I will be celebrating my brother’s wedding with family and friends, Mazel tov Josh & Sivan!

You might see me pop on and off twitter, facebook, or LinkedIn, but only for fun and not very often…! Do you know how much it costs to access iPhone data abroad? Probably more than my plane ticket, and if ever I needed an excuse to stay off line, an astronomical phone bill will keep temptation away! But of course feel free to say “Shalom” if you see me online! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of adventures to report!

The past 14 months have been action packed ~ launching a business, working around the clock and networking up a storm. At last count I think I’ve sent over 10,000 tweets for clients… in addition to my own! No wonder I have a million conversations running through my head. Many people who meet me comment on my energy and passion, and that is also a huge reason people choose to work with me. Therefore it is my professional obligation to remain the interactiveAmy you know and love, and to better serve you, I need to recharge!

Until May 10th, I leave you with a classic, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RHTiXvELNg! I am Go-Go’ing on Vacation! (PS – Love the 80′s hair & outfits!)

Do you have any recharge secrets to share, and or favorite vacation spots for me to check out on my next trip?  It’s never too soon to start planning my next getaway!

Talk soon,

Amy

Related posts:

1. interactiveAmy Celebrates One Year Anniversary!

This is NOT an April Fools Joke!

I finally changed my profile picture.

Choosing a picture for facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be.  You want a profile picture to capture your spirit, so it takes a while to find a good one.

When selecting a profile picture, make sure the photo:

• is fairly recent and an honest representation of what you look like
• shows your face clearly, not a distant crowd shot
• have fun (as I clearly did!)
• Expert advice: looking directly at the camera will create connection faster with your viewer than pictures of you looking away from the camera.

Did I miss anything? Please share your favorite glamour shot photo tips, and/or any advice to create a winning profile picture below.

Ta Da! interactiveAmy's newest profile picture!

April 1st marks the beginning of the second quarter – so sadly it is time to kiss the Happy New Year hat picture good bye.

Many thanks to Adam Daniels, event photographer at the Chicago Twestival on March 25th, 2010 – he came prepared for glamour shot fun! Here are more pictures from the SMC Chicago / Chicago Twestival event, held at the Catalyst Ranch – one of my favorite event spaces in the city.  It was a great night of networking for a great cause!

A bit about Twestival:

A Twestival or Twitter-Festival is a global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause.  Twestival is run 100% by volunteers and independently from any not-for-profit; although the organizing teams do work closely to outline an achievable and measurable fundraising target.

Twestival also sets out to identify key skills of volunteers and match these with the needs of the cause; particularly communications strategy, tech integration and social media training.  The Chicago Twestival supported Concern Worldwide, a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.

Now back to fun and games:

Did anyone get pranked/pull a prank for April Fools Day?  Please share the joke with us – it’s never to early to start planning for next year! Don’t forget to share your favorite glamour shot tips too!

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1. interactiveAmy Celebrates One Year Anniversary!
2. New Year News

I am so proud to celebrate a fantastic first year of business!  It feels great to say that I have one year of solo-entrepreneurship, and owning my own social media consultancy under my belt…and what a year it’s been!

Reflecting on the past year – I have so many things to be thankful for:

I’ve had the opportunity to work on two national consumer product launches, plan fundraisers, meetings, and monthly Social Media Club Chicago events, and in doing so, I’ve worn a variety of hats -  marketing manager, promotional and sponsorship director, event planner and brand enthusiast!  I’ve served as Social Media Community Manager for a multitude of clients in as many industry verticals – including business to business, not-for-profit, hospitality and retail.  I love public speaking and have presented on various aspects of social media at leading conferences including – Social Media Bootcamp Rockford, Cool Twitter Conference Chicago, TweetCamp Chicago, and most recently at the Chicago Association Of Direct Marketing Educational Foundation’s (CADMEF) Okner Symposium at Northern Illinois University.

And that is just scratching the surface!

If you measure in business cards – back when it all began, with my newly minted logo, and go get ‘em attitude I ordered 1,000 interactiveAmy business cards. I remember the day the business cards arrived,  I couldn’t wait to start handing them out – each card presented an opportunity to meet someone new!

1000 Business Cards - one year later!

One card at a time,  I grew my personal and professional networks and built my business.  I love meeting new people and when I did, we exchanged business cards… I filled my entire box of cards with the new ones I collected along the way – the more I gave out, the more I got back!

If business cards represent the social currency on the business networking circuit, I am rich!  I value each and every connection and the knowledge and lessons shared by each person along the way, I’ve learned from all of you!

I would love to embed the Seasons of Love video from my favorite musical Rent, but I am afraid of copyright infringements. So instead, I’ll cut and paste the lyrics, and send you to YouTube to watch the video later…

From Rent, “Seasons of Love”
“525,600 minutes – how do you measure,  measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In  inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes – how do you  measure a year in the life?
How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of  love.”

This really captures how I feel about the past year!  Among all else, I value you: my friends, my colleagues, my community!  I learn from you each and every day – my passion and my energy are two of my greatest attributes – and I feed off of yours!

I appreciate the encouragement, the learning,  and the camaraderie you’ve shared along the way.

As you can see, I am armed with another box of 1000 business cards – I hope I have the opportunity to connect with you in the year ahead!

Here’s to many more years of interacting!

Share and Enjoy:

Related posts:

1. Social Media Club Celebrates 1 year in Chicago!
2. What's in a Name? Personal Branding & The First Year of Marriage
3. interactiveAmy is looking for a Social Media Intern!

Who wants to work with me?  interactiveAmy is looking for a Social Media Intern to work in the exciting world of social media!

Are you passionate about social media, marketing and branding?

Are you looking for a more than just a boring 9 to 5 job? Do you want real world work experience to add to your resume? Are you a go-getter with people to meet, places to go, and life to experience?  Do you have experience reaching out to online communities (WordPress, Blogs, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, message boards, photo and video-sharing sites, etc?) Are you passionate and highly energetic?

If so, I want you!

This is internship is a great opportunity for anyone looking to learn skills and build a network in the marketing/social media world.  You will learn business development, social media and marketing skills and will have the opportunity to make lasting contributions and connections.

RESPONSIBILITIES (including but not limited to):
* Help develop social media and community management strategies for our clients
* Assist with developing content for clients on various social media platforms, Upload and organize photos, video and text content
* Research potential ways to improve client presence in social media
* Measure and report on the impact of marketing/public relations effort
* Develop and execute marketing campaigns

REQUIREMENTS:
* Have excellent writing skills
* Pay close attention to detail
* Knowledge of PowerPoint, Excel, and Word
* Internet savvy: knowledge of social networking web sites & social media; able to do online research
* Website Design and Development, and HTML knowledge is a plus
* Be passionate and energetic!
* Be able to provide a resume and examples of success you have had with social media

COMPENSATION:
This unpaid social media internship position will be offered on either a full-time or part-time basis.  Course credit can be established with your college or university.

HOURS:
Qualified candidates must be available to work a minimum of 15-25 hrs, 2-3 days a week and available to work at any evening or weekend events associated with the assigned clients’ programs.
Location: Chicago (remote and at various downtown client locations)
Start date is February 1st, 2010, or sooner.

TO APPLY:
If interested, please e-mail a cover letter  and résumé to Amy@interactiveAmy.com.  Subject of e-mail should reference “interactiveAmy Internship.”

Please send links to communities managed in cover letter (examples would include a facebook page, your LinkedIn page, blogs you’ve written, examples of your tweets.)  Include: Organization Name, Link to website and/or social networking profiles, Number of fans/followers on each platform.

Phone calls, facebook messages and tweets will not be accepted. Please apply by email only!

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1. Happy Social Media Day!
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