MediaJoltz

Today I want to share with you a business network site that has helped my business. It is called LinkedIn. LinkedIn works around the concept of 6 degrees of separation, meaning that everyone is connected to each other through no more than 5 people.

The way this site works is that I as a user may connect to people and build my network. When I connect with someone else I am also “connected” to their network to the third degree. So I connect with Bob. When this happens, I not only am allowed the opportunity to connect with those people Bob is directly connected to but also allowed to connect with those Bob’s direct connections are connected to.

Lorri Bob 1st connection 2nd connection

So what does this do for my business? Well there is a story that I can use to illustrate this. I was working on a project and needed to get in touch with someone from a company I had never been to or contacted before. I went to LinkedIn to see if I had any connections there. It just so happened that I did. I had a friend who had a friend who knew the exact person I was trying to contact.

I sent an email to my friend asking them to forward it on. They forwarded it on to their friend who then forwarded my message on to that person. Within a day I had response back and was communicating directly with this person about my project.

LinkedIn has different level of memberships and one of them is free. Sign on today and start connecting. You can connect to me by my CopperRain email lorri@copperrain.com.

I said in the title that you’ll never have to make a cold call again, thats because with Linked In, you can make all the warm lead connections through friends and associates. It helps you use the relationships you already have established to get in touch with other business owners, connect with potential clients and get inside the circles you need to be to make that sale.

Tip of the Day: Use Linkedin for your business calls or podcast!

So many blog pages to visit, so little time. Have you found yourself visiting specific websites of your favorite blogs to see if there is a new one posted yet? There is an easier way to do this and the analogy of how this works is just like getting a newspaper delivered to your doorstep each morning.

When someone has a blog, they allow their listeners to “subscribe” to their media just as one would subscribe to the newspaper. This is done by using RSS or “Really Simple Syndication.” Actually if you don’t understand code, its not very simple-but thanks to our geek friends, they have made it as simple as clicking a button.

You can find the subscribe on anyone’s page, but it might come in different forms. The universal “subscribe to RSS” button looks like an orange square button:

but it might also come in the form of:

No matter the look of the “subscribe to RSS” button, once you click on it, it will add the website you subscribed to, to an agregator: a place that gathers all new episodes or posts. One of the more popular ones is Google Reader. I use NetNewsWire because I am on a MAC.

Once you click on this button the website will be loaded into your aggregator, and then every time a new post or episode is available, your computer will be notified and your computer will downloaded it. Thats it, so everytime I want to find out if any of the blogs I read have a new post I go to my aggregator:

I just hit refresh all and if there are any new posts, my computer gets it for me. No more surfing to each and every website-which saves me time to do more important things, like blog!

Here is a video that does a good job of describing RSS and how it works: It is called RSS in Plain English

Welcome to the first episode of Mediajoltz Podcast! This podcast is dedicated to all those who want to learn more about media and the tools that are out there to help you better communicate your brand to clients.

If you have any questions or suggestions please email me at lorri@mediajoltz.com.

This first episode is casual as I introduce myself and my background-I work with a video production company and had started doing seminars on web video, podcasting and blogging and realized there are a lot of people who have heard these words, but didn’t know how these tools can be used as tools for their company. I found myself many times consulting businesses on how to integrate media into campaigns they were preparing. I started to listen to a lot of podcast and read a lot of blogs to make sure I am on top of the latest in media and online communication and want to be able to provide this information to everyone, not just those locally.
One thing I don’t mention in my podcast: my dream job in college was to be the first female Superbowl Director…who knows, it could still happen….

 Mediajoltz01Podcast [5:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download