A guide to business networking in the 2.0 century.

Remember when email seemed like a fad – exciting yet likely pointless? Social media is the new email. It is curious, complicated, and at times questionably beneficial. Business is driven by innovation and that means staying ahead of the curve. Many new social mediums will fade, a handful could become the next email. Now is the time to learn to harness these new powers for the survival and success of your business. Let’s get social.

There are many ways to be social on PhoCusWright Connect

Google Friend Connect
The Wall
Disqus
AddToAny
Twitter, Facebook and more

Google Friend Connect

Google Friend Connect may be the single most important social networking tool out there. Harnessing the power of the Google brand and network, your Google identity exists on dozens of sites across the internet. If you already have a Google account, signing in will be very easy. Google Friend Connect lets you see other members of the travel industry – those you know and those you don’t – who frequent PhoCusWright Connect. Using Google Friend Connect you can invite your friends to visit this site, your site, or make professional introductions and view people’s profiles. Later you can easily connect with them via Gmail and other Google services. Including your Web site and brand name will improve your Google rankings as well.

More information on Google Friend Connect

Google Friend Connect overview
How to build your Google profile
Building your community with Friend Connect
Google Friend Connect and Twitter

The Wall

The second piece of Google Friend Connect that you will notice is the “Wall.” This is a message board feature (that exists in duplicate on the PhoCusWright Connect home page and the Wall page) that lets you post your thoughts to the entire community. This is a prime spot to interact, share your thoughts on travel, describe projects you are working on and search for those with answers. Check back often for responses to your posts.

Disqus

The most important goal in creating PhoCusWright Connect was to promote discussion and interactivity. This site is not flat like a newspaper; it contains a depth associated with the multitude of perspectives and opinions offered by the travel community.
At the bottom of every post on this site there is a comment section. We strongly encourage you to leave your thoughts and insight. Posting comments and links improves the visibility of your personal brand and can improve Google rankings. The challenge with many blogs is that your thoughts go no further and conversation withers. With Disqus, you have the ability to receive updates when others respond to your comments. You can also send your comments out to your followers on Twitter, Facebook, LikedIn and more.

• Log in to Disqus (you can create an account or log in with your Twitter credentials). Doing so will help you interact on a growing number of Web sites.
• When you join Disqus, adjust your settings to receive email updates.
• Enter your credentials for services like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious and others so those networks can see what you are doing on PhoCusWright Connect.

Once you have optimized your Disqus account, you will be better able to leave comments that create lively conversations that transcend PhoCusWright Connect to reach your larger social universe.

AddToAny

This service is one of the simplest yet often overlooked of all social tools. There are two AddToAny functions. The first allows you to subscribe via RSS to receive the latest headlines from PhoCusWright Connect in any of dozens of your favorite media.

• Subscribe:
  You may enter your credentials from any number of services to receive the latest headlines as they are posted to PhoCusWright Connect via: Email, RSS, Google, My Yahoo, MySpace, Windows Live, My AOL and dozens more.
• Share:
  Even more important to the ideal of becoming social is the “share” feature. When you see a post or article you enjoy, share it with your own social networks. This is especially important for consultants as it is a way to portray your knowledge of a topic and create debate around it inside the medium of your choice. Share posts by Email, on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Technorati, Digg, LinkedIn and dozens more.

Twitter, Facebook and More

PhoCusWright Connect is just one part of our involvement with social networks. It serves as a community for travel leaders, but this community does not stand alone. You can interact with PhoCusWright via Twitter and Facebook as well.

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