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Social Media—Chit Chat or Serious Connecting?
Copyright © 2002 - 2010 by Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.
Who Are Your Friends, Anyway?
I'm a featured expert on
SelfGrowth.com and I'm
being bombarded with other experts asking me to be their "friend." Many just send the standard form with no personal
note. At first I was a bit put off by this. Out of curiosity
I checked out a few of the "no note" senders, and decided
not to accept their invitation. But the invites kept
pouring in. Why? What's so good about having friends you
don't know? I'm not sure, but I'm collecting them like Tupperware now, just in case.
Less Than 6 Degrees of Separation
A few weeks ago, I was at a fancy gala party for a high tech
start-up company that was looking for investors. The view
was gorgeous, the food fresh, the people plentiful, wealthy
and happy. If you want money you need to look like you've
got it already. Or, as my Nana says, "Money goes where money
is."
In the kitchen at the pu pu island I saw a former client who
sold his company during the dot com craze for 60 million
dollars. Someone from
LinkedIn,
a social networking spot for professionals, had contacted me
about possibly becoming a client, and we discovered that we
had my former client in common. Small world.
I told my former client I didn't really get how to use LinkedIn. I often get contacted to become friends of these
strangers as well (also with no personal note or details of
what we might have in common). He explained that he had made
some contacts with "friends of friends."
But what if those "friends" were like the
SelfGrowth.com "friends" I'm making? Does it matter that we don't even know
each other? I don't know the answers to these questions yet,
but although I make many connections on the Internet, I'm
more comfortable meeting people "warm hand to warm hand,"
like Zen Master Suzuki Roshi recommended, through people I
and other people REALLY know and share something in common.
And PR is as much about creating relationships as it is
about having a good story and product to promote.
Speed Dating for Publicity Seekers
I still like old fashioned connecting, but fast. That's why
I recommended to one of my clients that she attend the
Publicity Summit.
There is no substitute for meeting the media in person,
shaking someone's hand, speaking to them eye to eye and
handing them your press packet. There is something about
skin touching skin that you just don't get digitally. And
at the Summit, you get more time with National TV producers
pitching your product or story than you'll typically get on
the air with the host!
My Space is Your Space
I recently interviewed a woman whose social networking
helped her become a contestant finalist for Oprah's new
show, "The Big Give." Her YouTube.com video
helped her land a national TV spot as well.
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Susan Harrow, CEO of
http://prsecrets.com, is
a top media coach, marketing strategist and author of
Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins),
The
Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah, and
Get a 6-
Figure Book Advance. Clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, bestselling authors and entrepreneurs who have appeared on
Oprah, 60 Minutes, NPR, and in TIME, USA Today, Parade,
People, O, NY Times, WSJ, and Inc. |
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