When 6 becomes 3.4!

Another great article from the BBC! There is the belief that the six degrees of separation have become three point four!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15844230

For those of you who may not know, the ‘six degrees of separation’ have been widely talked about for many years. We cover the process  in “…And Death Came Third!”co-authored by Andy Lopata and myself (shameless plug!).

Essentially, the suggestion has been you are only a maximum of six people away from being connected with anyone in the world. I have tried this approach on many occasions with audiences, asking “Who would you like to connect to?” It’s staggering how you can link to the person you want to with just a couple of connections.

Facebook are suggesting it is now even less than six, using their platform and the style of approach that social media allows. I would suggest it may also be the case with LinkedIn – especially for business.

The key for me here is it’s always been the case that we can connect; whether it’s three, four, five or six people who make the connection actually makes no odds. But as the old quotation goes “To know and not to do, is not to know!”

In other words, it doesn’t matter which platform you use, or how many people you speak to, you need to apply two simple rules:

Know who you want to speak to…

Ask!

Until next time…

Peter.

For more media information please visit http://www.positiveground.co.uk

Should you say yes to all invitations by social media?

I don’t know about you but I get lots of invitations to connect with others every day, particularly through Linked In and Twitter. The question is, should you connect with everyone?

It’s so easy to take the simple road and click accept isn’t it? It takes just a second and you forget about it.

But is that the right strategy?

My pal and co-author of ‘…And Death Came Third!’ always suggests spending time to check out the person by asking blunt but fair questions like “Do I know you?” and “Is there good reason for us to connect?”

He, and many others, feel that networking is about being clear what your strategy is and then applying that clarity to everyday life. This sentiment I believe is absolutely right for sanity in these times of instant accessibility, but it can be challenging to implement!

As an individual I say yes too easily and perhaps always will do. That means my personal networks are probably bigger than they could be, but I still feel good in myself that I said yes when others would say no – it’s a challenge isn’t it?

I think it’s partially the British need to be polite – which doesn’t always fit with business.

But don’t beat yourself up too much if you have an attack of politeness, it isn’t the end of the world and you never know!

Recently I was contacted by someone through LinkedIn who I had connected with a long time ago. I didn’t know them from Adam when I received their invitation, however they had seen me speak so I had just clicked accept and that was it! It was against my strategy but I had caved in.

They had remembered I was their contact though….

They connected me to someone else and now we are having a serious chat about business.

Bottom line: You never know!

Until next time….

Regards,

Peter.

Become A Flashing Success!

You may have seen one of the latest ‘Flash Mob’ videos doing the rounds on the World Wide Web at the moment; it features a small group of singers who break out into the Bill Withers classic ‘Lovely Day’ on the 19:57 train from Euston. As the song reaches it’s climax, a nervous young gentleman proposes to his girlfriend (who accepts!) , the singers finish their song and in true flash mob style return back to their seats as if nothing happened…. it’s a really lovely ‘good for the soul’ video!

Here at Positive Ground, we are particularly proud of this YouTube smash – one of our family members (Emily our sister-in-law/daughter) is part of the group of singers! But while we are excited to share the video because of this, we also think it makes the perfect example of the power of social media…

Within 48 hours of being uploaded to the site the video had received over 100,000 hits and was starting to go global! The couple who became engaged were invited onto ‘This Morning’, it was mentioned on the BBC national news and in the Daily Mail (amongst many others) and even more excitedly, reached the other side of the pond – Good Morning America and CNN – and even Australia!! As I write this, the video has had over 1,145,885 hits in just over 2 weeks; we think it’s pretty impressive!

What the video demonstrates to us is just how quickly you can get your name and what you do out into the world… if it’s done well, you have the opportunity of connecting with millions of people in a very short space of time! And even better, it doesn’t have to cost anything!!

So don’t let this simple and easy way to promote yourself pass you by! Get broadcasting yourself and see where it leads – if you’re not sure where to start contact us and we’ll help you on your way!

If you haven’t seen the Adam Street Singers video yet follow this link http://youtu.be/3mWXrHi1Rks

For more information check out their website http://www.adamstreetsingers.com

Until next time!

Hazel.