Instead of being a glad-handing poozer, using online resources like Yahoo’s Upcoming.org events community can be a much more effective way to network with the people you need to know.
It was good to see the Yahoo Publisher Network blog post the second part of its publisher advice on networking; part one arrived earlier this week.
In looking at optimizing search traffic to blogs yesterday, we noted that the networking aspect as cited by Performancing’s Nick Wilson was something of a nebulous concept. Upcoming.org co-founder Andy Baio demonstrated a way to use social media to help get the networking juices flowing.
Networking doesn’t come easy; some work is involved. Baio suggested in part one that a site publisher should be aware of events that the site’s audience will care about. Part of being a trusted publisher means sorting through the noise to feature events that should interest the core visitors.
Even better, if you are attending that event and it’s covered already on Upcoming, a badge available from Upcoming can be used to republish those events on your site.
Creating a group in Upcoming about your site or topic of interest can extend the usefulness of the badge. This lets readers contribute events to the calendar, and they can redistribute those notices to their readers through Upcoming badges as well.
Baio’s last suggestion calls for site publishers to get away from the computer (a frightening prospect, perhaps) and go out into the real world (big room, high blue ceiling, bright yellow lighting.) A simple meet-and-greet announced on the site and recorded as an event on Upcoming can bring some of the locals out to see what a swell person you really are.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
