One of my objectives for this blog was to facilitate networking with internet marketing professionals in Adelaide. I have compiled a table below listing the people who I have met as a result of this blog and related activities and would now consider to be part of my network. There is also information about how the initial contact was made, how we tend to interact and whether or not we have met in person. Beneath the table is a run down of the different tools for professional networking and how I think they should be used.
My loose definition of someone I count as 'in my network' is someone I have interacted with on numerous different occasions and through different mediums.
| Name | Initial Contact | Interaction | Met in Person |
| Tony McCreath | Email (re interview) | Email, Twitter, Blog | Yes, Net2ADL |
| Clayton Wehner | Email (re interview) | Email, Phone | Yes, Interview |
| Ian Reilley | Email (re interview) | Email, Phone | No |
| Anna Peterson | Blog Comments | Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin | No |
| Loc Tran | Faceboook | Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Youtube | No |
| Tom Williamson | Linkedin (via Blog) | Twitter, Linkedin, Email | Yes, Interview |
| Jonathon Weston | Net2ADL | Yes, Net2ADL | |
| Andrew Montesi | Linkedin (via Twitter) | No | |
| Michael Soininen | Linkedin (via Blog) | No | |
| Shai Coggins | Yes, Net2ADL | ||
| Peter Cornish | Email (re interview) | Email, Blog Comments | No |
This table only covers people I have met since starting the blog, people I knew before that are not included in this table.
Email
Not a great tool for networking as unsolicited email can be taken as Spam. The law in Australia allows for emails related to their business so there is some leeway here. I used email initially to look for interviewees but I wouldn't consider using it again as a firth contact method until all other avenues had been tried.
Twitter
Twitter is my favourite tool for networking at the moment. It's really easy to start a dialogue with someone you have an interest in networking with. Just join in the conversation whenever you can add some value and don't be salesy or spammy.
Linkedin
Linkedin is meant to be 'the' professional networking tool but its more useful for visualising your existing network than for finding new people to network with. You can use it to find potential connections by examining the 2nd and 3rd connections in your network, but Twitter is much more useful for making initial contact and interacting with your new connection. I invite people to connect with me on linkedin on my blog (sidebar and below each post) and use it to consolidate connections made elsewhere.
Facebook
Networking via facebook can be problematic if you want to keep your profile private and your professional networks separate from your personal ones. The recent updates allowing users to 'use facebook as a page' have made it slightly easier, although its more about networking your brand rather than yourself. I tried to sidestep this by creating a page for myself but it hasn't really worked so far. In the future I will probably only use facebook for first contact as a last resort.
In Person
Meeting people in person at networking events and conferences is still a great way to network. You can learn so much about a person by meeting them face to face that you can't get very easily through online mediums. However, I think the combination of both offline and online interaction is the path to the strongest network connections. As of now I have only met a few of my network connections in person but I hope to eventually meet all of them.
[This article is part of the Internet Marketing Adelaide Case Study. Read the latest articles in the case study here or go to the Internet Marketing Plan Index page.]
Posts
I think you're showing great initiative mate, keep up the good work!