The Difference Between Social Networking For Business and Personal Use

I'm "friends" with a lot of resume writers and careers industry professionals on Facebook, I "follow" lots of you guys on Twitter, and I'm "connected" with many folks on LinkedIn ... and in the course of participating in these social networks, I've noticed there's sometimes confusion between "business" social networking and "regular" (personal) social networking. Business social networking is more than just using social networks to grow your resume writing business. It represents a completely different mindset and approach to social networks.

What Is Business Social Networking?
Business social networking is social networking for the express purpose of making new contacts for your careers industry business and furthering your business development efforts using social networking tools.

In other words, you're not there just to "hang out," to post pictures, to make random comments, or to garner as many likes as possible. Instead, you're looking to connect with prospects, clients, and influential people who can help you improve your life and business in some meaningful way.

It's Goal Oriented on Both Sides
One key difference between "regular" and "business" social networking is that there's a goal on both sides. You're dealing with clients, prospective clients, media contacts (journalists, bloggers), and careers industry colleagues who all have a goal.

Nobody is on these social networks to waste time (and this includes business networking on Facebook). This completely changes the "vibe" of the whole experience. The idea is to create win/win relationships and situations online as quickly as possible, then get back to business. You might be sharing ideas, information, or content -- but it is oriented towards achieving a specific goal (even if that goal is simply to create a stronger connection with someone).

The Favor Bank Is Important
In the standard world of social networking, the favor bank doesn't really exist. Nobody expects you to like their content back if they come over and like yours. (Except for birthday wishes on Facebook and Endorsements on LinkedIn!)

In the business world, however, the favor bank is a very important thing to keep in mind. If you help introduce a resume writing colleague to a career coach in their area, both the resume writer and the career coach "owe" you a favor. Or if you share their content with your business social networking audience (which might be bigger than theirs), they may feel they "owe you one"

It's not a one-to-one trade. Nobody keeps exact score. But you'll generate a lot of goodwill. Next time you need a referral, a retweet, or a LinkedIn recommendation, they're most likely going to say yes. After all, they want you to owe them in their favor bank as well.

The Long-Term Value of Business Social Networking
Standard social networking is mostly about the "right now." It's about posting what comes to mind, liking what you see, and spontaneous interactions.

Business social networking, on the other hand, can have a much more long-term outlook. You build a relationship with prospective clients long before you try to make a sale. If you're looking for a subcontractor relationship with a resume writing colleague, you follow what they're posting on their business social networks (Facebook business page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn personal profile and company page) and engage with them through those channels.

Business social networking can help introduce you to new people, but it can also help you cultivate and build relationships with people you already know. If you meet a colleague at a conference, or attend one of their teleseminars, follow their business page in addition to friending them on Facebook.

As you can tell, the world of business to business social networking is very different than the layman's social network. There's a goal orientation. Time is more scarce. People are out to help each other and long-term relationships matter.

Warn Clients of the Danger of Social Media

All right, all right -- the upside of social media VASTLY outweighs the negatives.

But every once in a while, I come across a story of a job searcher who forgot that the Internet is PUBLIC.

Here's a story of a job searcher who got burned by a tweet on Twitter.

Remind your clients that while Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Twitter, etc. are great ways to communicate with their networks, family, and friends -- that even things that they thought were private aren't 100% private ... so they need to "think twice; tweet once."

MySpace for Job Seekers?

Going through some old articles I'd clipped out, I came across an article from Business 2.0 magazine (no longer in existence, unfortunately), about a website that was touted as "A MySpace for Job Seekers." I looked up the company ("Blue Chip Expert") and it's still in business.

Here's how the concept was explained in the article:

"While interviewing with the CEO of a top Silicon Valley e-commerce firm, Scott Langmack got the idea for a company of his own. Langmack, a PepsiCo and Microsoft veteran, was a shoo-in for the position of chief marketing officer. But then the CEO complained that his headhunters had scoured thousands of resumes and that he'd spent three months interviewing shortlist candidates. A lightbulb went on in Langmack's brain, and he turned down the job.

Instead, he spent his own money creating Blue Chip Expert, a San Mateo, Calif., startup. Blue Chip is designed to make the kind of match Langmack's interviewer was seeking -- but in hours, not months. Think of it as a MySpace for top-level job seekers, except Langmark is offering thousands of dollars to any user who makes a successful referral. As he says, 'viral networks don't have to happen by accident.'"

Resume writers should consider signing up as a "Networker" and seeing what it's all about.

Survey: Social Networks Attract Affluent Individuals

Thanks to Robyn Greenspan of ExecuNet for passing along the findings of this survey.

According to the latest Wealth Survey from the Luxury Institute, more than 60 percent of wealthy Americans (those with an average income of $287K and net worth of $2.1M) participate in online social networks -- compared with just 27 percent a year ago.

These affluent individuals are most likely members of 2.8 social networks (with roughly 110 connections). Those with even higher incomes belong to more social networks (3.4 on average).

Here are some of the most prominent social networking sites:

ExecuNet is a closed network which allows members to have a direct connection with thousands of senior-level business leaders.

LinkedIn: One of the most popular social networks for professionals.

Facebook: Originally for students, this network has grown to encompass more professional members -- but is still more often used by the Generation X and Y sets than the Baby Boomers.

I just found out about a new social networking service -- Ning -- that I'm experimenting with. I'll let you know what I think about it once I've had a chance to play around with it.