October 2011: Navigating Social Media

• You Can Run But You Can't Hide! Embracing Social Media to Build Your Brand
• Could You Survive a Social Media Background Check?
• Resume Vs. LinkedIn. To Do or Not To Do?

Follow OI Partners on these social networking sites! Twitter! @OIPartnersInc LinkedIn Visit OI Partners. As talent management professionals who have “been there,” we will walk closely with you to help compassionately transition employees or effectively develop strength in your executives. We want to help you exceed your business goals through effective career transition, executive coaching, leadership consulting and other talent development programs.

Online media, legal warnings and employment. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+, are changing the way the world communicates. Whether you are building a personal, professional or business brand, you must learn to navigate these new marketing strategies. Yet, the Small Business Success Index (SBSI) reports that only one out of 5 small business owners are actively using social media. This is a surprising statistic given that Facebook reported an audience of more than 500 million users . . . 500 million key potential clients, employees, employers and more. Get your head out of the sand, and get involved! In the October newsletter, we offer you four small steps that you must take to start a conversation online; our perspective on whether or not the social networking platform, LinkedIn, will serve as a replacement for a formal resume; and most importantly, the legal warnings and new developments of social networking and employment. Lateyfa Ali Managing Partner E. K. Ward & Associates Buffalo, NY You Can Run But You Can't Hide! Embracing Social Media to Build Your Brand Facebook has 800 million users; Twitter, 300 million; LinkedIn. 100 million. Do those numbers include you? Like it or not, online networking is a powerful presence in the changing business world. You can market an individual, a company, a product, an event–or all of them at once–to millions even before you invite even one of them to lunch. It's 2011 and time to learn how social media can be used to build your personal and company brand. These four strategies that will give you a running start. Could You Survive a Social Media Background Check? A background check on a potential employee is a longstanding business practice. In the past, that was a straightforward look at public records. Today, however, the internet and social media amass vast personal and professional information that is free for the clicking. That certainly makes it public, but it's no longer straightforward. For social media background checks, there are some important caveats for both employers and job seekers, and some of them may surprise you. Resume Vs. LinkedIn. To Do or Not To Do? A recent study showed that more than one-third of companies feel that resumes will be replaced by profiles on social network sites, but almost two-thirds still haven't made the switch. What's the hesitation? Perhaps it's only a realization that a URL and a crisp sheet of 100% cotton resume paper are not mutually exclusive. Employers and employees, take a look at what can be presented via each platform and how it can benefit you.

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