In the wild early days of the commercialization of the Internet, I was fortunate enough to work for Neoglyphics, a design / development / strategy shop that built the very first websites for leading brands such as Abbott Laboratories, Ameritech, Citibank, Hallmark, Motorola, and Sears. Sure, accessing the Internet was in my job description yet somehow I managed to look past dancing babies and get my work done. Around the world, people still managed to get their work done. So I have to chuckle when someone tells me they can’t access Facebook from work. Unless you are in a highly regulated industry, shutting down access is not the answer. It will never be the answer.

The answer is education.

If you don’t have a plan to help your employees understand smart, safe social networking, what are you waiting for? Give your staff the benefit of the doubt and lead by example. Exhibit trust. Establish guidelines for what information can be freely shared and what should be safeguarded. Leverage social channels to foster employee camaraderie, communicate with remote workers, and heighten your employees’ sense of autonomy and inquisitiveness. Position your business as a desirable place to work.

Are there risks? Of course there are risks. Bad tweets happen to good people. Talk about it now so that in the event of a Facebook faux pas you are prepared to deal with it. Not ready to go there? Well you do have choices. You can hope Facebook falls, Twitter tanks and LinkedIn stops growing at two new members every second.  Or you could confiscate your staff’s web-enabled smartphone every morning. Yeah, that could work…

I confess, it has been nearly a month since my last post but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. I recently penned another column for Social Media Marketing Magazine about personal branding and bias.

If you’re a business owner, a rainmaker, a career climber, or a job seeker  - have I left anyone out? – then I encourage you to give it a read (it’s short) and give this important topic some serious thought.

No one likes to talk about it, IT being the snap judgments we make about people when we first meet them, be it online or off. A quick Google search and I can find your LinkedIn profile, your G+ updates, your Twitter stream – and depending on how well you’ve been keeping up with the never-ending stream of Facebook privacy changes – I might be able to find out that you “Like” Celine Dion.  On the other hand, if we first meet in person first, there’s a good chance we’ll get connected one way or another online.

Be it an ill-timed tweet, a typo in a LinkedIn profile, or some politically charged post on Facebook – the opinions we have about one another continue to form over time. What can we do about it?

For starters, be aware of it!

The heart of the issue is this: try as we might to manage our personal brands, we’re not exactly in control. We are judged, right or wrong, by the actions we take online. The challenge is to be true to ourselves yet mindful of how we may be perceived by the prospects, customers, and hiring managers that matter to us most.

This particular column is extra special because I had the great pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite columnists Erika Napoletano, aka Redhead Writing, a woman who owns her personal brand and readily admits that she’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

Read it here and then come back and let me know what you think but be forewarned, right or wrong, someone will read what you write and judge you for it. Think about it.

My point? Don’t relegate your social networking to someone who doesn’t understand the nuances of your business, the complexity of your sales cycle or all the moving parts of your go-to-market strategy. Don’t confuse enthusiasm with skill. To be blunt, beware of the overnight social media celebrities. If it was as easy as learning to tweet, wouldn’t we all be working that mythical 4-hour work week by now?

Some months ago I received an email from LinkedIn Co-founder and Chairman Reid Hoffman thanking me for being among the first million people to join the increasingly popular social networking site. I was #141,212 and joined on January 20, 2004 to be precise. Does being a early joiner make me an expert? No, joining is easy. As evidenced by the infographic below, more than 100M people have figured at least that much out.

You become an expert by doing. Success is reserved for those who do.

Those of us who practice social marketing are doing just that – practicing. Experimenting. Taking thoughtful risk. Monitoring. Measuring. Listening and learning.

Want to become an expert? Take action. Want to hire one? Look for a strategic thinker, not a superstar.

Yes. And no. Allow me to explain.

To be successful on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site requires first and foremost your time. And we all know that time is money. So the short answer is that if you’re not routinely using LinkedIn to make new connections, nurture currents contacts and research your sales targets than there is no point in upgrading. You’ll have more reach but not more time.

You’ll know it’s time to upgrade when you hit brick wall after brick wall. What’s a brick wall? It’s a profile you can’t see… a connection you can’t make. It’s road block on your path to networking nirvana. If you’re feeling short sheeted by what you can’t see on LinkedIn then perhaps it’s time to pull out your wallet.

But be forewarned, an upgraded LinkedIn account will not write on-brand status updates for you, or add new connections, participate in groups or drop off your dry-cleaning either. As my pal Leah is fond of saying, “It only works if you work it.”

Compare LinkedIn upgrade account types or watch these short videos on premium account features for more information. Or better yet, use the time to update your status instead.

For my social media consulting clients, this is a familiar refrain. Create content once and repurpose it in every way possible. Got a white paper? Break it up into blog posts, a video interview, a slideshare show and Twitter strategy.

Sounds simple enough but the truth is it takes time. And planning. And execution. While I badger my clients to do as I say, I must admit I struggle to drink my own champagne. So on this lazy Labor Day afternoon I’m going to heed my own advice and repurpose an article I recently wrote for Social Media Marketer Magazine entitled “When Personal and Professional Worlds Collide Online.” It’s an opinion piece that explores the pros and cons of keeping your personal and professional contacts separated online.

Loyal readers will instantly know that I’m not a fan of this behavior. I believe fiercely in the golden rule of social networking: People buy from, hire and refer people they know, like and trust. By segregating our contacts and limiting what they learn about out, we do nothing but limit their potential to add value to our network.

I hope you enjoy the column as much as I am enjoying not working (too hard) this breezy Labor Day in Chicago.

Being part of this publishing project also afforded me the opportunity to talk to other people about how they manage their connections… what tips, time management tricks or best practices they have developed for growing and nurturing their own personal network.

I wanted to take a minute and share with you a note I received from Michelle. She heard me speak earlier this summer and we stayed connected via LinkedIn. When my book came out she wrote to me not out of self-interest, but on behalf of  her teenage son, that she may teach him the importance of caring for his connections as he grew into manhood.

It made me pause and reflect on where I learned the fundamentals of networking. Credit first goes to my parents – caring, giving and generous people who even when they had nothing, went out of their way to help others in need. I was the first of my family to go to college and it wasn’t until my first corporate job  that I fully realized the importance of having a strong professional network. Oh if I could go back in time and do it again… Alas I learned the hard way, one handshake, one blunder and one business card at a time.

Both of my parents are gone now but the lessons they taught me about giving of yourself still play a significant part in how I lead my life today. I wanted to share Michelle’s note with you in the hopes that it causes you to pause too…

I started a business book collection for my son when he was born (16 years ago) and I have amassed quite the eclectic collection (only those whom I have personally met and interacted with). I have requested very personalized autographs from each based on the message of the book and the author. I hope once he is an adult he will be able to appreciate the wisdom and value of the collection. So my request is:

To Jake,

Your connections are the greatest asset that you have in life. Please treat each connection with the respect they deserve and offer some of your gifts to them – networking is what makes the world go round!

How do you teach the people around you to be a great networker… to give of themselves so that others may benefit? You lead by example: One handshake, one business card and quite possibly, one paperback at a time.

Now my loyal readers know that it’s a best practice to prepare a meeting by researching the other parties online first. Be it a sales call or simple meet-n-greet,  I search Google and then check Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter before jumping on the phone with almost anyone these days – it’s expected behavior!

So I had to smile when Michael shared the note below with me, proof positive that I’m not the only one. Consider how Michael felt knowing that his person took the time to review his background; and consider how differently Michael might relate to the caller knowing that he too has a son and shares a love of The Holy Grail!

If you’re not yet using LinkedIn to tell your story, research your prospects and connect with your customers, it’s time to get off the bench and into the game. Like the other Michael Jordan.

Michael,

In my harried attempt to actually do some preparation for our call today, I stumbled upon your linked-in profile. That is THE best one I’ve ever seen…subtly salted with awesome one-liners. Love it. I really look forward to meeting you in person.

P.S. My son is 13 now, and I can relate the challenge of teaching boys classic quotes. He never quite got the hang of the best Caddyshack lines, but he sure can nail Airplane and The Holy Grail.

When I first logged in I found articles about Marketing, Online Media, Internet and IT. Articles are selected not by an editor but rather because “real people shared or tweeted them,” according to the site.

I’m still tinkering with it but at first blush, it looks like a useful way to share news with my network and save interesting articles so I can read them later. I’ll be curious to see if the articles displayed are actually useful, or if the “popularity” vote just generates more noise. To learn more check out the LinkedIn Today video on YouTube.

Look I’m the first one to tell you to be buttoned up and professional on LinkedIn, but a little personality goes a long way! Remember the Golden Rule: people buy from people they know, like and trust. And we refer and hire those same people too. So the more I think I know you, the better!

Your personal brand is a combination of character, competence and charisma. Anyone can share their accomplishments on LinkedIn, but to be noteworthy takes a little extra effort. Consider your LinkedIn profile and how you can let your own light shine through.

*Full disclosure: Jones Lang LaSalle is a Parlay Communications client but I do not personally know Michael Jordan – either of them.

Yesterday I moderated a panel discussion for the Chicago chapter of the Business Marketing Association on social media. It’s part of a 5-event series we’ve created expressly for B2B marketers. In January we tackled social media strategy, yesterday we drilled down into social content, and up next are legal implications, public relations best practices, and everyone’s favorite – measurement.

Although most B2B marketing is complex, with long lead times and volatile sales cycles, we can and should still try to measure Return on Marketing Investment. I once worked for a company where a 60:1 return was the benchmark; that’s one way to nix boondoggles in the bud.

If you are a business owner, sales professional or general rainmaker, I’d like you to start thinking about your RONI… what  return can you expect for your networking investment. What’s a round of golf or a pair of tickets to the game going to set you back? How about your association dues and the monthly luncheons? Or the opportunity cost of missing poker night because there’s an industry event you just can’t miss? Because when we talk about investment, we’re talking about much more than dollars and cents. Networking represents time away from your office, from your family and friends, from your hobbies or from doing nothing at all.

When trying to calculate your RONI, consider too how you do or don’t parlay those shiny new “connections” into lasting relationships. If there’s a stack of other peopele’s business cards growing cold on your desk, was it really worth your time?

This is where the power of social networking comes in. Online networks such as LinkedIn can amplify your offline efforts. Add velocity. Extend your reach. In my experience when you integrate your online and offline activities, you can truly see exponential returns. In the months ahead I’m going to tackle the RONI equation full-throttle. I have some ideas sketched out on the back of a napkin but I’d welcome your contribution to the discussion.

How do you calculate your RONI?

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