This is just a quick reminder for you in relation to the Biz Growth Live Teleseminar Masterclass where we will be in conversation with Peggy Murrah and Chris Muccio  and we will be discussing how social media strategies are applicable for solopreneurs growing their business.

Yes, I know I bring you lots of tips, articles and podcasts about social media marketing and communications, but I thought it would be interesting to have Peggy and Chris share their experiences with you.

This is an ideal seminar if you are a solopreneur and want to discover how to best use social media in your business to build your brand online and attract more clients

DATE OF SALES MASTERCLASS: Monday 12 May 2008

TIME OF SALES MASTERCLASS: 6pm Dublin and London/ 1pm ET/10am PT

INVESTMENT: FREE

REGISTER: Register at Biz Growth Live if you don’t already receive a copy of our newsletter which as all the details for the programme in it

If you have questions for Peggy or Chris, you can post your question here on the blog or over at our live questions page.

Some of the areas we will be covering are:

• What Web 2.0 really means
• Why social media is a relevant business development strategy for you as a solopreneur
• Key areas of social media for solopreneurs and what the key platforms are
• The biggest mistake people make when looking to include social media in solopreneur marketing plan
• Tips for making sure we’re effective with our time in implementing social media
• Social media optimisation – What it is and why is it important

And if you are interested in learning more about social media and Web 2.0 you can access your own copy of Peggy and Chris’s report ‘29 Tips to Get Started With Web 2.0′ here.

So I hope you will join me if you’ve questions about social media for solopreneurs and how it can help you cost effectively attract more clients to your business.

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If you are a blogger or microblogger and are in the Dublin area on Saturday this week, the 10 May 2008, be sure to join fellow bloggers at The Market Bar in Fade Street, Dublin, from 4.30pm.

This is a Dublin Blogger and Twitter meetup organised by Bernie Goldbach.

Hope to see you there.

And even if you have not started blogging yourself or have yet to step in the virtual world of online social networks or social media, do come along and meet some of the people behind the blogs.

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If you are writing articles online on your website or business blog, I am sure there are times that you want to link definitions of some of the words that you include in your articles.

Like many people you might be using Wikipedia, however despite their coverage of many terms and definitions, and their editing and approval policy, many people are concerned about how robust the definitions are.

On the other hand the Encylopaedia Britiannica has a reputation spanning back to 1768 when it was first published in Scotland - back then in three separate volumes. You might even recall growing up if you a a Gen X’er or Baby Boomer some friends who were lucky enough to have a set of Encylopaedia Britannica in their home study.

Well if you are a web publisher or a blogger, you can now apply for complementary access to their programme called WebShare, where you can link from your articles on line to the definition on Encyclopaedia Britannica.

You can apply for a free pass - be aware that this is a manual process as all applications will be approved and it took 5 working days for my account to be approved.

This is tremendous value as you can purchase the 32 volume Britannica, which has 65,000 articles and 44 million words, for US$1,400 or you can access it on the web for US$70 per year - and if you apply through the Webshare programme you can have FREE access for 12 months.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica Webshare programme has been supported by Shel Holtz who has been guiding the Encylopaedia Britannica team about how best to connect to bloggers about the programme. Encyclopaedia Britannica has even set up a Twitter account.

Not everyone has been complementary about the launch of the programme, however I do think it is worth considering if you are a web publisher or blogger.

Some suggestions I would have for Enclyclopaedia Britannica to further enhance the programme:

• Advise people at the time of registration that it may take a week for the account to be approved - in todays high speed world, that seemed so long to wait I had forgotten I had applied for access
• Review your website structure - it takes a while for the pages on Encyclopaedia Britannica to load and the frames for scrolling are definately not user friendly for those of us used to quick and easy access to information online
• Update your definitions especially relating to Web 2.0 - you have made the service available to bloggers and many of us may be writing articles about Web 2. I could not find definitions online authored by Encyclopaedia Britannica relating to word searches for social media, podcasting, widget - to name but a few. It seems to me that it would have been an astute online editor that would have ensured that definitions were available for these - and perhaps they might have collaborated with Wikipedia to come up with these terms.

However in summary a great programme to have access to and definatley one worth applying for registration if you are a web publisher or blogger.

And to support users, Encylopaedia Britannica has created a video about how to link your article online to the definition on Webshare. You can view it here:

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As you know I write a lot about the power of social media to help you build your reputation online.

One of the case studies I share in my speaking about social media, personal branding and career success is of my good friend and mastermind buddy  Jessica Bowman who is an SEO expert.

After relocating across the US, taking up a role at Yahoo, Jessica lost her role in the recent massive shakedown to everyone’s surprise in just 90 days after taking up her appointment.

Jessica has a blog that is well regarded in her field of expertise and as she has been providing excellent advice and tips there, she is well known by key influencers in the world of SEO.

This has led to her story and how she has successfully managed career transition since leaving Yahoo to be picked up by a major US glossy where she will be featured in their July edition (sorry can’t tell you who until she makes it public) and she is attracting great opportunities from consulting to speaking, all through her network both online an offline.

So Jessica is using the power of her social network through blogging to manage her career transition.

But here’s the thing - you actually don’t need to be blogging yourself to make sure of the power of blogging and social networking when in career transition or when searching for another job.

I can not recall the thousands upon thousands of speculative CV’s I have received through the post or email over the years. And unfortunately it is rare that those speculative CV’s ever amount to someone landing a new role in the businesses I have been recruiting for- the reasons for that warrant an article or two on their own so I won’t go into it here.

I must declare that I get really frustrated when someone connects with me by email with their CV looking for a new role and they have not gone to the time to research who I am or how to correctly spell my name.

Take a situation that happened just this week when someone addressed their email to me ‘Dear Sir’. You see I am not a man. 

So take note of the following - this is something I can guarantee most career coaches, recruiters, HR professionals and executive recruiters will not even think to tell you…

A little time researching online would have told the job hunter that I have a business blog where they can find out a lot about what I am interested in, what services I provide and what kinds of clients my company serves. They can research me online before even applying fingers to their keyboard to send me their speculative CV or resume.

They could also have found me on Facebook or LinkedIn, noted who is in my network and who are mutual contacts so they could have had someone introduce them to me in a more personal way.

They might even have followed me on Twitter where they could get a feel for other things that are going on in my life, not just work and business.

Even better would have been if they invested a little time in building and nurturing a relationship with me online before they email me about looking for a job move.

For example they could have added insightful comments or experiences about the issues I cover in my articles or podcasts.

You can be sure I would have taken more notice of them when I received an email about them looking for a new role. 

I would probably even have connected them to my network to assist them in their job search.

So before you hit the send button on that next email, whether it be a job opportunity you are looking for or a new assignment, why not use the power of the Internet and the accessibility of social media to research and nurture  relationships with the people you are connecting to.

That will ensure that you are more specific and relevant in who you connect to and what you say in your letter or email.

The result is that your personal brand will stand out from the crowd of people interested in that same next job or assignment you are interested in.

So why not access the power of social media and social networks in your career research - I’m sure the results will surprise you.

And if you are not looking for your next big gig, why not pass this guidance on to someone you know who is.

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Are you looking for a current understanding of the scale of social media across the globe? Well look no further than the extensive study undertaken in March 2008 by Universal McCann - Power To The People - Wave3.

The research covers input from 17,000 internet users across 29 countries and was undertaken to understand the rise in consumer generated content and how people are using social media.

It is certainly the most extensive global report I have seen on the subject of social media adoption.

Key notes from the Power To The People - Wave 3 report include the following statistics:

• 83% of people are watching online video, an increase from 62% at the time of the last study in June 2007
• 78% of people are reading blogs, an increase from 66% in the previous study
• 57% of internet users are members of social networks
• RSS consumption has increased to 39% from 15%
• 48% of the people surveyed listen to podcasts.

There are also some interesting differences about social media adoption across geographies:

• Blogging - China leads the way with 70% of internet users writing a blog (that’s 42 million bloggers versus 26 million people in the US), followed closely by the Philippines at 66% and Mexico at 60%
• Social networking - the Philippines leads the way with 83% of the people surveyed being a member of a social network, followed by 76% in Hungary and Poland alike.

Unfortunately there is no specific data for Ireland - I guess we are such a tiny dot on the social media landscape and as we have discussed here previously we are still behind the curve in the adoption of social media of business blogging an podcasting, though increasingly more people are a member of social networks from Linkedin to Facebook, from Bebo to MySpace.

You can access the Universal McCann Power To The People - Wave3 social media report online.

A word of warning - the file is over 25MB.

Thanks to Theresa Houlihan of Universal McCann for sharing the report with me.

I do recommend that you check out the Universal McCann where you can access other reports including their Anytime Anyplace report that covers mobile phones and portable technology.

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