One such example is BranchOut, which has grown into the largest professional networking app on Facebook. After launching in July 2010, it now has around 25 million users. [...]]]> At BlueSky PR we recognise the value of social media and are constantly looking at opportunities with emerging platforms. We know how important it is to utilise new sites, but we also need to remember that the ones we already have are constantly evolving, and we have to keep up-to-date with any changes.

One such example is BranchOut, which has grown into the largest professional networking app on Facebook. After launching in July 2010, it now has around 25 million users. So, how can it benefit you?

If you upload your CV you can search and apply for jobs from over 3 million opportunities. After finding a role that looks appealing, you are able to see your own connections to the company as well as your friends’ connections. The aim is to add contacts to build up your network so that friends can help friends to find and secure a job.

It’s a nice idea, but undoubtedly it has been compared to LinkedIn as a professional tool. Given LinkedIn’s popularity, the common consensus seems to be that LinkedIn is better and, as they have around 150 million users, I don’t think BranchOut can be seen as a true competitor just yet.

Having said that, it took LinkedIn 65 months to reach 25 million users, whereas BranchOut did it in 16 months. In addition, Facebook has around 850 million users, so there is definitely an audience for BranchOut and it has the potential to expand.

As BranchOut is a Facebook app, it has been suggested that it is attracting first time job seekers rather than professionals. Although businesses do use Facebook, it still has a perception of being more for personal use by the younger generation, whereas LinkedIn has much more of a formal feel. However, perhaps this makes BranchOut more appealing to a wider audience who feel that LinkedIn is just for managers and executives. What do you think?

It’s clear that the two are going to be compared, as they are both using social media in order to achieve career goals, but I’d say there’s space in the market for LinkedIn and BranchOut at the moment. If you already have LinkedIn and aren’t a keen Facebook user, then the chances are you’re not missing out on a great deal. However, if you’re looking to use social media in your job search for the first time, why not give BranchOut a go?

I have attended two recruitment in social media events recently and although I thought I was fairly social media savvy – I definitely learned some interesting new stuff showing that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks!

The first was the UK Recruiter and  HB RIDA Directors’ Networking Event. The first presentation was from Sophie Relf the Head of Marketing Strategy at Guardian Jobs.  While I didn’t actually agree with a lot of her comments (‘social media is a walled [...]]]>

I have attended two recruitment in social media events recently and although I thought I was fairly social media savvy – I definitely learned some interesting new stuff showing that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks!

The first was the UK Recruiter and  HB RIDA Directors’ Networking Event. The first presentation was from Sophie Relf the Head of Marketing Strategy at Guardian Jobs.  While I didn’t actually agree with a lot of her comments (‘social media is a walled garden, for example’ – don’t get Andy Headworth started on that!), there was one phrase she did use which really struck a chord and that was “mobile is the remote control of people’s lives.”
This was a theme that Andy Headworth of Sirona Consulting picked up when he asked “How many of you have a mobile website”? The answer of course was everyone– it’s just that most look crap!  Andy then went on to (in his own words) take down the wall brick by brick and gave some great examples of how powerful the platforms have become.

Next up was Steve Evans of NetNatives who gave some really interesting insights into how Facebook pages are changing.  Likes will no longer be the be all and endall – but visitors will able to ‘recommend’ or say ‘I work here’ – think aboutthe potential branding for a temps recruiter around that!

Will Winch of Mishcon de Reya scared everyone to death (only joking Will) by giving the legal perspectives around data protection, data theft and cyber bullying

The other event was #RTSM11 run hosted by Recruitment International.  Andy Headworth (yes him again) talked about how Facebook is a content management platform – not a social network and so your content has to be relevant interactive and interesting – not just a page of jobs!  He also told us that Google+ is now the fastest growing social network in history and there are certainly some really interesting applications for recruiters.

Patrick Traynor from LinkedIn highlighted the new company status update function and pointed out how few organisations were using the free
products and services tab on company profiles. And a really interesting nugget – mobile searching on Linked In is up 400% year on year!!

Jorgen Sundberg from Link Humans gave his top five tips on putting together a strategy for your content marketing while Dave Martin from Brave New
Talent told us that mobile will overtake desktops and laptops by 2013 and gave us a brand new buzzword – SoLoMo ( Social, Local Mobile).

Steve Ward from Cloud Nine shared a great story about his social media journey and then Oracle occupied the graveyard slot by aptly telling all
the recruiters how they recruit everything in house through social media !

All in all two great events – and I learned a lot !

On my way on to [...]]]> You only have to glance online to hear nightmare stories of poor customer service, and like most of us I have had my fair share. Only last week I had the ‘pleasure’ of flying Ryanair and experienced its awful service. Whilst I understand the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ – surely speaking to customers with no respect, or worse still, rudely shouldn’t happen regardless of whether you are flying on a low cost airline?

On my way on to the plane, I was forced to prove that my hand luggage bag was the right dimension – fair enough. But it didn’t end there. I was then told I was delaying the flight. Why?  Because I couldn’t get my case out of the baggage size checker. My bag may well have been on the large size but it did fit – I had measured it beforehand! I was then subject to a rant from a representative of Ryanair saying I was delaying the flight (the flight was not due to take off for another 20 minutes) and they would close the doors if I didn’t get on the flight immediately. No offer to help remove my bag which, of course, would have sped up the process – just a barrage of abuse.  Of course I made the flight – in fact we didn’t take off until the scheduled departure time!

It’s experiences like this that make examples of good customer service that much nicer, and surprising.  But should you be shocked when you receive a good service? No, but it appears that in a society where poor customer experiences are rife, to feel surprised is somewhat common.  I shop at Sainsbury’s each week, I like the produce, the staff are helpful and it is convenient.  However, like most organisations they make mistakes – but it is how they are dealt with that is important.

And in an age where the likes of Facebook and Twitter are regularly used to voice grievances about bad experiences, it is even more important for brands to deal with complaints properly. Following a recent complaint, not only did I receive a call immediately from head office, but I was sent a gift voucher and a letter apologising about it. Well done Sainsbury’s – customer service does still exist.  I tweeted Sainsbury’s thanking them for the good experience, and again got an immediate response acknowledging it. But it could have been very different. If I had not heard anything I may very well have taken to Twitter or Facebook but with a different, more hostile message.

This got me thinking about how other businesses have dealt with negative comments posted online.  The very fact that these complaints are in the public domain should, you would imagine, prompt a brand to acknowledge them and act accordingly. But it appears that this is not the case in many instances. Instead the ‘ignore it’ or ‘delete it’ approach seems to be favoured.

The decision to do so speaks volumes about a brands customer service policy. By doing this rather than acknowledging and rectifying the mistake goes to show how ill informed and unorganised a business can be. Take the recent Blackberry fiasco – poor customer service at its best. By not responding to comments on social media made the negative feeling towards the brand that much worse.

So is customer service dead and buried? And has social media made businesses change their policies? It appears some have, but for those who have chosen to ignore it – the decision may well prove costly.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am a huge fan of social media and you’ll regularly find me tweeting away, ‘working’ [...]]]> I have just returned from just under three weeks away.  I had a great time travelling around the States.  And as I always do when I am on holiday, I take my blackberry but I turn off data roaming. No e-mail, no Twitter, no Facebook…. and definitely no logging on to free wifi ..nothing.  And it was soooo liberating.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am a huge fan of social media and you’ll regularly find me tweeting away, ‘working’ LinkedIn and checking in on Foursquare.  But just recently I have begun to think about all the ‘noise’ and how incredibly disciplined you have to be. If I log onto Twitter, there are so many genuinely interesting articles/links that people are sharing that are relevant to my world that I could spend literally all day reading them.  I get weekly LinkedIn group updates in my in box – sometimes I just have to grit my teeth and ignore them – and then stress in case I have missed anything  important. And, because we are in the PR business and need to keep abreast of all new developments, I have also been playing around with Google +. 

So now I have the drumming back inside my head – what have I missed, what have I missed, what have I missed.

I think it’s time to go and have a drink and try to forget. But obviously I’ll check in on Foursquare in case you want to join me

Now, we don’t need to tell you that it’s inadvisable to badmouth your employer on social networks. It’s about as subtle as writing “I hate my job” on your forehead and even if it doesn’t get you in trouble, it certainly won’t single you out as an ideal candidate for promotion.

Under normal circumstances I would argue [...]]]> This week, David Rowat was fired from his job at Argos for taking to Facebook to have a moan about a bad day at work.

Now, we don’t need to tell you that it’s inadvisable to badmouth your employer on social networks. It’s about as subtle as writing “I hate my job” on your forehead and even if it doesn’t get you in trouble, it certainly won’t single you out as an ideal candidate for promotion.

Under normal circumstances I would argue that, assuming a company has a proper social media policy in place, bringing your employers into disrepute in any way is enough to warrant at least a warning, at worst a dismissal.

However, as more context began to emerge I found myself, oddly, disagreeing with myself. While I still think Mr. Rowat was beyond foolish for posting anything negative about work on Facebook, let’s examine what he actually said. Having come back from holiday to find that work had not been done to a high standard, he grumbled:

“”Had a great day back at work after my hols who am I kidding!! Back to the shambles that is work.”

For a start, Mr. Rowat didn’t mention the company by name. To add to this, at the time of writing a quick search shows he has fewer than 100 Facebook friends – and he posted this to his private wall. While his comments may have been inappropriate, did they really constitute the “gross misconduct” for which he was sacked?

The plot thickens. As it transpires, David Rowat has cancer of the lymph nodes. He had worked at Argos for thirteen years, and even met his wife (who is also in ill health) there.  Facts that the media was all too quick to pick up on.

The story soon became a tabloid’s dream. An extremely unwell man, fired for having an ill-advised yet probably harmless moan on Facebook about a bad day at work, a story of company loyalty being paid back with callousness – you couldn’t make it up.

I’m not an expert in employment law – and I understand that social media needs to be used carefully and that companies need to stick to their policies in order for them to be effective.

But overall, what has caused the company more damage? The poorly thought out ramblings of someone fed up with a bad day at work? Or the business that fired a loyal employee with cancer and a family to support? You decide.

However, I have heard a lot of people talking about how we should celebrate the [...]]]> I bought the last copy of The News of The World last Sunday. Not because I supported the paper in any way shape or form but, from a professional point of view, I wanted to own a piece of publishing history. I can’t remember a time in my whole life ( almost half a century)  an instance of a newspaper closing down in the midst of such a scandal. 

However, I have heard a lot of people talking about how we should celebrate the fact that  ’people power’ and public opinion closed a newspaper.  In fact on Friday’s edition of Newsnight, the founder of Mumsnet said; ” we saw what social media can do…when individual people decide to take direct action…ordinary people on Facebook, on Twitter, on Mumsnet have made a difference.

Errr…I don’t think so

Come on now folks,  lets’ not kid ourselves that it was ‘people power’ that closed this newspaper. As Will Self said on Newsnight it was ‘the people’ that bought the paper year in year out because of their ”ubiquitous appetite for what the gutter press have peddled.” 

It was, in my opinion,  a carefully orchestrated move by the Murdoch empire to try and ensure that the Government had no grounds to refer NewsCorp’s bid for BSkyB to the OFT.  In fact in an article in the Guardian back on 30th June: News International facing job losses , it was reported that Rebekah Brooks had sent an e-mail to staff saying: ”Let me be absolutely clear: there are tough decisions coming. Costs will need to be cut and savings made in overheads and personnel… and that “a seven-day operation will be a reality in some common areas.” Additionally, the article stated  that earlier that week: “News International announced there would be a single managing editor for the Times and Sunday Times, and another for the Sun and News of the World, in an indication that the daily and Sunday titles are preparing to pool some editorial resources in a move to a seven day operation in some areas. Previously each of the four titles had a dedicated managing editor.”

Then there was the regsitration of the sunonsunday.co.uk on 5th July – which News International have taken ownership of today.

And while the bid has indeed now been referred – how long before Newscorp no longer owns News International? We shall see.

A celebration of people power? Don’t make me laugh.  A lot of ordinary people lost their jobs last week because of a few bad apples. Rebekah Brooks still has hers. Not much to celebrate there.

Technology has brought us all closer together.  Social networks have provided platforms making it easy to connect with long-lost friends and family, new friends, business colleagues and other people who have similar interests, aspirations and goals. They have also become crucial in job search and career management.   

However good etiquette is still essential. Its infuriating when you get inundated with asks and requests [...]]]> Having just heard the new phrase ‘Connectiquette’ I decided to look into the etiquette of managing connections online.

Technology has brought us all closer together.  Social networks have provided platforms making it easy to connect with long-lost friends and family, new friends, business colleagues and other people who have similar interests, aspirations and goals. They have also become crucial in job search and career management.   

However good etiquette is still essential. Its infuriating when you get inundated with asks and requests from people you don’t even know.  A simple please and thank you also goes a long way. Social media mimics real relationships. Would you do the following within real face-to-face relationships?

• Jump on the friendship bandwagon without properly introducing yourself?
• Consistently talk about yourself and promote only yourself without regard for those around you?
• Randomly approach a friend you barely talk to and simply ask for favours — repeatedly?

In order to manage and maintain online relationships there is certain etiquette that needs to be followed!

1. Typically only connect with people you know and who know you. 
2. If you are on a professional social network such as LinkedIn and you want to connect with someone you have not met, ask for a referral from someone you know who does have a connection.  Explain your rationale for wanting to link and don’t forget to offer to reciprocate.  
3. Connect.  If you know the person and have had positive interaction, your decision is easy. The larger your personal network of people on sites such as LinkedIn, the better equipped you will be in your business or in a job search. 
4. Unlike traditional face to face networking, your ability to write including grammar matters. It’s shocking how often this element is overlooked.
5. Humanise your profile. Social networking is also about real relationships. Let people know who you are and add an avatar and a bio to your profiles on twitter and LinkedIn.
6. Be honest and respond.  If you’re not interested let them know (in a friendly way).
7. Add value to the site- At the end of the day, the thing that will earn you great connections with others is if you add value to the community. This means not submitting content that nobody cares about and not constantly promoting your brand on networks such as Facebook and twitter.
8. Think about the consequences of your actions. When commenting on Facebook or writing blog posts, you’re leaving your digital signature. Racial slurs, criticisms without warrant, and blatant abuse don’t work in real life, and they really have no place in the social media world.
9. Consider how your comments would be perceived before you actually post them, and think about logic above emotion at all times. Once it’s in the public domain you can’t take it back. It may even be used against you when looking for future jobs.

All of these points add up to one thing—just be nice. Call me old-fashioned if you like, but there’s nothing wrong with being nice to others online.

I had the pleasure of being one of the guests at  Jobsite’s Fresh Thinking event on Wednesday. I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I see myself as fairly social media savvy and so wasn’t sure that I would learn anything new. What I forgot was that sometimes you may not learn anything  new – but you  learn how the apply the things that you do know in a different way – and Scott Stratten  certainly did that for me.  Some of the takeaways [...]]]>

I had the pleasure of being one of the guests at  Jobsite’s Fresh Thinking event on Wednesday. I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I see myself as fairly social media savvy and so wasn’t sure that I would learn anything new. What I forgot was that sometimes you may not learn anything  new – but you  learn how the apply the things that you do know in a different way – and Scott Stratten  certainly did that for me.  Some of the takeaways for me were:

People spread awesome not average: Which made me think about  the blogging schedule we have in our own organisation – and how I berate  people when they don’t blog – or tell me that they don’t know what to blog about!  And that by doing that I may be actually stopping the spread of our content. Slapped wrist for me! 

We can be dismissive:   New things are coming onto the market all the time – some will look like a pile of crap ( as Scott pointed out  the company that created Farmville has just been valued at $8 billion.)  The point he made is that if  it is consumed then it’s worth looking at just to investigate whether it can be of any use in terms of your clients. And crucially – you have to be where your customers are.  You may hate Facebook – but it depends who you are trying to reach!

Twitter is an entrepreneurial water cooler ( I just liked that qote)

Don’t be an app tart – give options – people may not want to go through an app!

Scott has delegated everything in his business except making relationships – I’d like to get to that!

I’m now reading his book – and I’m hooked !

Next up was Amanda Hite  who talked  about the importance of realising that brands don’t own communities  they need to be part of them – and they may need to join different communities depending on what their objectives are. And one of the big takeaways for me was her take on the whole ‘time’ issue. Yes – social media takes an investment of time – but it can also save so much time and give you what Amanda calls “Superpowers.” You can get advice within minutes, you can connect with someone within seconds – you can carry all your business contacts around with you in your pocket – and talk to them whenever you want.

She also made me think about how brands should be using social media to find out what their communities want from them – and letting the communities drive the communication. And what of research? There are focus groups on line all the time so use them.  Amanda gave the example of an organisation that had spent an enormous amount of money on an employee enagement survey, the results of which could be pretty much replicated by looking at social media profiles! Food for thought!

Another great point that she made was that when organisations ban their employees from using social media then they are only sliencing the people that will says great things about them.  The people that are going to diss you will do it anyway!

But the real takeaway – and one that will stay with me for a long time is when she began talking about how we can change lives using social media - from multinational communities raising funds for Japan to a community in Alabama using Facebook for lost and found items after a bout of tornadoes.  Communicating with thousands of people across the world at the same time is something we just can’t do offline. So Amanda thank you for making me think about building our social capital by doing something good!

Oh and  the breakfast pastries and  lunch were both fab

The internet is a wonderful thing. Online shopping has enabled me to so far buy all of my Christmas presents without physically visiting a single shop, and thanks to Facebook I know that my friend in America is having a baby and has put up her Christmas tree. But when it comes to businesses and their use of online marketing, are we heading for a backlash?

Ahead of moving into my new flat I’ve been searching [...]]]>

People take Facebook very seriously

The internet is a wonderful thing. Online shopping has enabled me to so far buy all of my Christmas presents without physically visiting a single shop, and thanks to Facebook I know that my friend in America is having a baby and has put up her Christmas tree. But when it comes to businesses and their use of online marketing, are we heading for a backlash?

Ahead of moving into my new flat I’ve been searching online for bathrooms and sofas. Now every time I login to my email account, I am bombarded with adverts for these products. But my email provider is not the only one – Facebook is perhaps the most well known website for its targeted advertising. A few years ago I was faced with “Are you 23 and single?” adverts (thanks for the reminder, Facebook!) and now I’m listed as ‘in a relationship’ I get engagement ring ads instead! Twitter has also launched sponsored tweets. There is no escape.

Despite some brands having great successes using these forms of online marketing, a survey by PR Moment showed that 57% of people have never become a fan of a brand on Facebook. And of the 43% that have, only 40% find them useful. Are people sick of being sold to? Are we reaching saturation point? Will we soon be facing a ‘brand backlash’ where consumers rise up against the world of marketing? Will we find more people willing to pay to use these sites without being faced with marketing and advertising?

Perhaps. But the chances are that as long as brands go about marketing in the right way, we will avoid this. People will continue to take advantage of things that are useful to them; and I think that’s the key. When faced with this kind of marketing, people think ‘what’s in it for me?’ – if it’s entertaining, informative or useful then it’s likely to be a winner. Take the campaign by Shreddies to find the next ‘Knitting Nana’ as an example.

By using online marketing in the right way, brands can avoid alienating their customers. As long as they remember:

• Put yourself into the shoes of your customers – who are they, where are they and what do they want to see or hear?
• Make content interesting and useful – remember that what’s interesting to you as a company won’t necessarily interest your customers. Give the people what they want.
• Don’t be too corporate – when it comes to social media, engagement and a human touch is key.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment – there are no rules when it comes to social media!