Breaking Thru The Noise!

Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin….the list is endless of apps that you can use to connect to people  personally or professionally in the ever-changing internet world of the 21^st century. I have been reduced to looking for apps that combine all the apps I want to use into only one app to save clicking time! My conclusion – one app is never enough!

I guess many could ask – why bother?

Besides being an undiagnosed internet addict, I guess my answer is – welcome to the newest morph of global communications. If you want to live or work effectively in the year 2009, you better get on the learning curve and get on it quick. The days of tin cans and string are long over. Now you have to tweet and dig and link!

For the uninitiated, here are four great reasons to jump feet-first into the social media pond:

1. Speed – one small blurb of info can go out to thousands in multiple locations all at one time.
2. Convenience – you can specify what info you are looking for and you simply filter out the rest.
3. Professional Contacts – it’s the newest version of who do you know and we all know why that always matters.
4. Leads – need or want something or someone? Throw the request out there and it is easy for them to find you.

If you’ve already got your feet wet in the social media world, it really seems to all come down to three simple questions:

1. Who do I follow?
2. Who will I lead?
3. What content will drive either of the first two questions?

 Okay, yes, the simpler life of some off-grid, self-sustaining small rural farm in the scenic countryside will always be appealing. This lifestyle has a specific charm – learning to make butter, create soap, pick wild strawberries, and grow heirloom veggies while the orchard by the red barn just keeps on producing. As an avid fan of Walden Pond, I can enjoy caning chairs, making simple wood crafts and pondering the art of growing white asparagus, but there is simply too much out in the internet landscape to go without a high-speed window to that world. That isn’t a bird in the tree out the window chirping – those are tweets that can drive your professional success or failure.

 Break thru the noise – follow, contribute, and discover the power of countless minds helping to inspire innovation in your world. I dipped in my toes – and now I am ready to jump into the pond – laptop and all!