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Have you ever participated in a Blog Carnival? Well, here’s your opportunity - the new banner to the right has the link for submissions and I’ll be hosting the very next one on October 10th.

A place to celebrate the diversity of thought and opinion of Aussie bloggers and bloggers who blog on Australia. All topics are welcome from Aussies living here or overseas and from visitors to our diverse country. NO adult content, or abusive and racist comments. One submission per site please. If you keep two or three sites, you can submit one article from each.

Submission time: Every second Monday at 5pm Australian time.

Submission categories: Culture, Food, Politics, History, Outback, Family, Indigenous issues, Slanguage, Travel, Technology, Business, Music, Helping a mate, Mates, Animals, Literature, Sport, Current Affairs, Walkabout

Submit your blog post here.

Tags: Blogging by Kathie Thomas
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LinkedIn has decided to allow members to upload photos to their member profiles from 28th September, 2007. There’s already a lot of discussion about this and some articles. One concern is whether this is going to turn LinkedIn into a social networking site, instead of its current perceived business type of networking site. Some will want to add their photos, others won’t.

I’m in two minds - I do have my photo on my blogs and some of my websites - using professional shots. On LinkedIn I wouldn’t want to see the types of pictures I’ve seen on social networking sites - pictures of Shrek for example, or animals, caricatures, even photos that concentrate on various parts of the anatomy, etc - if members of LinkedIn are going to put photos up I’d prefer to see professional (not professional glamour but professional business) or suitable photos that relate to the industry of the person or at least, how they would look in their work environment - assuming that environment is suitable to have on show. After all, this is a business network and silly photos could work against those who put them up on display.

But I can see some value in it. Possibly people who like to press the IDK (I don’t know) button when receiving an invitation from someone they don’t remember, may just have their memory jolted if they can see a photo of that person. And what about old schoolmates being able to see how their best friend has turned out 20 years down the track? Or, if you’re planning to have a face-to-face meeting for the first time you know who to look for - now, that would have been handy when meeting with Dean for the first time when I was in Japan last month!

Perhaps having photos on the business profiles might not be a bad thing after all! If you want to see my profile, you can find it here. And to find out how the photos will work at LinkedIn, you can read about it at their blog.

business networks, social networks, Facebook, LinkedIn

Tags: Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
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I’ve been spending some serious time learning about LinkedIn this past year and have grown my network considerably - which is great. My newest VA member is located in Brazil and that has come from a LinkedIn connection. And many of the new clients my team are now supporting have come from the same source - LinkedIn.

As a result of my activity I now get a lot of invitations from people wanting to connect - I’ve got a sizeable network and people want to be able to link to it, to grow their own network. But, they insist on sending me what I call ‘empty invitations’. You know, the standard canned invitations that say they want to connect with me, but say nothing about themselves whatsoever. And so I have a reply set up that tells people I don’t accept the canned invitation but that could change if they tell me a bit about themselves, where they found me (perhaps they read my blog for example ) , and so on. It helps to open conversation and make a connection.

Some actually respond and tell me I can look at their profile but say nothing else - I reply and tell them that I have but obviously they haven’t looked at mine as I do specifically state I don’t accept canned invitations from people I don’t know personally.

But the majority don’t reply - what’s with that? Don’t they want the connection after all? Some even withdraw their invitation - seems increasing their numbers wasn’t that important after all… or perhaps they were worried they would get hit with an IDK (I don’t know for those ‘not in the know’ - and it’s a black mark against you). All it would take is a simple introduction of themselves and I would accept in most cases.

To me, the canned invitation (which is always linked to their profile) is like being at a networking event, someone rushing by and pushing their business card into your hand as they move onto the next person - not even a ‘hello, how are you, I’m… and I do …’. <shrug> Guess there will always be the hunters and farmers - I’m a farmer and in it for the harvest, some are just hunters and move onto the next prey…

hunters or farmers, invitation, networking, LinkedIn, business networks

Tags: LinkedIn, Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
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Apologies for my absence over the past 6 or so weeks - with a trip to Japan, a book being published and launched and other events, life has indeed been busy, but I’m back in my chair and at the computer for the most part, so you should be hearing from me more often now.

Readers will know I’m an active member of LinkedIn, an online business network. I’ve had fun exploring how it all works and have made many new contacts and some friends in the process. However I am becoming aware of the growth of networks online and that many of them aren’t run in the same way - they are less formal and more social.

I recently posted this question at LinkedIn and have received a lot of varied and interesting answers and I thought I’d post it here too, so that you, the reader, also get the opportunity to have your say.

I have always thought of LinkedIn as a business networking medium but more and more I hear people mention LinkedIn when they are talking about social networks.

To me there is a difference - social is (in my way of thinking) for spending time with friends or making new friends, discussing personal interests (hobbies, etc) and so on, where I think of business networking as the opportunity to get to know other business people, look at possible business opportunities and build up your business profile so that people think of you first, when seeking your particular service or product. Or seek you out when looking to fill a vacant position. That’s not to say you can’t develop friends in a business network - I certainly have, but I still see business and social as two distinct and different things. It seems to me there has been a blurring of the two for some time now in some circles.

So, what I’m saying is that I see ’social’ as being informal, personal, discussing things that you wouldn’t ordinarily discuss with someone you are working with or doing business with, whereas I see ‘business’ as being formal, discussing things of a business nature, rather than a personal nature, less likely to ’socialise’ with these people outside of business events or business hours, and so on.

I looked up Dictionary.com just to see what it had to say and here are some interesting definitions for you:

Business:
an occupation, profession, or trade: His business is poultry farming; the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit; a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern.

Social:
pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations: a social club; seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable; gregarious

And here’s an interesting one under social which kind of backs up my way of thinking:

involved in many social activities: We’re so busy working, we have to be a little less social now.

So, what say you?

business networks, social networks, Facebook, LinkedIn

Tags: LinkedIn, Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
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