As part of networking and being a marketer, I feel it’s always good to get an inside look at the leaders of Networking. I was intrigued to see that Sven Johnston was the Founder of We Are Orange County, which through a grass roots approach, had LinkedIn create a separate location for Orange County, CA rather than being lumped in with Greater Los Angeles.
Sven Johnston
We Are Orange County!™ (WAOC™) is a networking group that was established on May 20th 2009. Some of the Group’s accomplishments include:
• Grew the group to more than 3000 members in less than 5 months.
• Designed and executed a successful social & traditional media campaign to convince LinkedIn to give Orange County its own regional location code in less than 6 months.
• Managed to get the group published in multiple articles including the Orange County Business Journal, Orange County Register, and multiple blogs.
So who is Sven Johnston and where did he come from? Sven was born down under in Australia and than moved to Germany at an early age only to return back to his birthplace in his twenties. Sven began his career in the import/export industry back in Germany, before relocating back to Australia. In Australia he was involved in International sales for several years before making his last major move to California. Most of Sven’s business contacts and professional network was spread throughout the globe prior to his Orange County move and he identified the need to build connections closer in proximity.
He first started to visit local networking groups in Orange County and built up his presence. As a result, Sven became more involved with LinkedIn and saw the power of networking and social media come alive.
Through his network contacts and experience with LinkedIn, Sven began to notice that many residents of the OC wanted a separate location instead of being lumped with Greater Los Angeles. For example, some of the frustration included recruiters contacting potential candidates for a an opportunity in Burbank and the person being contacted would be located in Irvine. I don’t know about you, but I would never drive that distance, especially at rush hour!
Sven then led the charge to create We Are Orange County! and began petitioning LinkedIn to separate Orange County out from Greater Los Angeles. After numerous debates/discussions with LinkedIn and developing a petition with over 1,000 passionate Orange County residents, this challenge was overcome. LinkedIn gave Orange County it’s own location. How did Sven accomplish this? Sven used a combination of Word-of-Mouth Marketing at Networking events, Social Media and good PR coverage with local Orange County newspapers/media.
As a result of all the developments of 2009 Sven is now involved in Business Development & Consulting for the Online Marketing & Technology industry as well as teaching and organizing events.
At the end of our meeting, I asked Sven, why do you network? What’s your motivation? Sven replied with, “Networking is part of long term relationship building, planting the seed for future projects and is good Karma.”
Sven has extreme passion for Social Media and is available for consulting opportunities. Please visit his website www.SvenJohnston.com for links to featured articles, video interviews and opportunities to connect with him.
Click here to see some footage from the Orange County Connectors™ January Event.
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
If you would like to be interviewed on my blog, please contact me. I love having guests over!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=655124bb-5be0-4c85-8246-67adb841c725)
Tags: Australia, Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, LinkedIn, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Orange County, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, sven johnston, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
Now that I posted a introduction on Mobile Marketing last month, you are probably asking the next question – how do I implement Mobile Marketing into an actual Campaign. Here is a video providing some insight –
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta Mobile Marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, MobiMarketing Club, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
ProductCamp is a great opportunity to learn from, teach to, and network with professionals involved in the Brand/Product Management, Marketing, and Development processes in Southern California! At ProductCamp everyone participates: by presenting, leading discussions, helping with logistics, securing sponsorships, or volunteering.
Everyone interested in improving their ability to conceive, build, manage, and market brands or products is welcome. Everyone brings different experiences and leveraging that collective knowledge is what makes ProductCamp special–and something you can’t get from any other gathering.
ProductCampSoCal is:
- Grassroots organization – Your participation will make or break the event!
- Highly engaged & creative exchange increasing each individual’s skills & knowledge.
- Building and strengthening professional relationships while having a whole lot of fun.
ProductCampSoCal isn’t:
- A pre-determined set of speakers and topics.
- Polite attention & passivity in sessions nor does sole responsibility rest with presenters for successful sessions.
- Networking only at formal icebreakers and scheduled breaks.
Spread the word! Talk about ProductCamp SoCal, link to this page, follow us on 
, use #pcSC in tweets, and tag online posts with “ProductCampSoCal“.
Click here to learn more.
Guest posted by Mack McCoy.
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
For those of you that blog or wish to in the future, take note of this video from Zemanta.com. Zemanta helps your posts by suggesting outbound links and images based on keywords as you type. Watch this video and give it a try -
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b727575c-58d1-4bec-aed1-f0107b2b4f92)
Tags: Add new tag, Deepak Gupta, Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta, zemanta, zemanta.com
As I constantly review Twitter management tools there are lot out there including HootSuite, TweetDeck, SocialOomph, TweetMiner, Objective Marketer and so on. Each has it’s own distinct features and the great thing about these tools is you can use more than one tool for your single Twitter or multiple accounts.
A friend of mine – Scotty More, a Twitter Guru told me about TweetSpinner and suggested that I take a look. TweetSpinner has some interesing features such as:
Automatically clean spam from your DM inbox
Use their scheduler to archive all of your Direct Messages to their system.
Schedule rotation of Twitter profiles & designs
By alternating different images and bios, you more comprehensively convey yourself to followers.
Customer Relationship Management
Highly configurable filters and analysis help you find and more meaningfully engage new followers.
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b6b8fedd-54d9-4896-87ed-86d5834af69c)
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
I was fortunate enough to find this presentation on SlideShare from Acxiom on the State of Mobile Marketing. If you take a look at these slides, look over the trends and are a savvy marketer, you know what you need to do -
Use discount code “dgupta5150″ and receive 20% off.
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c12fafb5-18f5-4929-bbba-809e235d374c)
Tags: Acxiom, Acxiom Corporation, Add new tag, Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta Mobile Marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Marketing and Advertising, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
I still remember the first scene of the Godfather in which Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, is the well-connected figurehead of the Underworld. Not that I agree or partake with that type of profession, I was impressed by the power he had and mostly through connections. The second movie shows how he began helping people after knocking out his competition and becoming respected.
So why should I network? I think it is the best way to learn something from someone else and have an inside to companies or industries you may be interested. Networking is also a great way to find an expert at something without you having to be the jack of all of trades and master of none.
Often we have heard, “it’s not what you know, but who you know”. How many times have you seen certain people move up the ladder at companies or in business? Trust me, they do are not doing it completely on their own.
Look at a great video that solidifies my point in detail –
I would add some caveats with networking as well. Do not network with selfish or toxic people and do not chase rejection. Personally, I have noticed Accountants and Finance professionals do not understand the power of networking.
Be sure to visit my Blogroll for other networking resources.
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
Have you ever visited a site and had interesting thoughts to share or contribute? Before you could do this by telling your friends and now you can contribute your comments online to other site visitors. I am sure this sounds confusing, but I think you will get it within 60 seconds:
Click here to download Google Sidewiki.
Posted by Deepak Gupta.
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Google Sidewiki, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
I have been hearing about a new(er) collaborative tool called Google Wave. Per Wikipedia “Google Wave is a self-described “personal communication and collaboration tool” announced by Google at the Google I/O conference on May 27, 2009.[1][2] It is a web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking.[3] It has a strong collaborative and real-time[4] focus supported by extensions that can provide, for example, spelling/grammar checking, automated translation among 40 languages,[2] and numerous other extensions.[4] Initially released only to developers, a “preview release” of Google Wave was extended to 100,000 users in September 2009, each allowed to invite twenty to thirty additional users. On the 29th of November 2009, Google accepted most requests submitted soon after the extended release of the technical preview in September 2009, these users have around 8 invites to give.”
Here is an Overview –
Since, I have not used this yet and would love to hear your feedback and reviews. Here is a shortened down version:
Posted by Deepak Gupta
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, Google Wave, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop in Orange County hosted by Neal Schaffer, the Author of Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn: An Unofficial, Step-by-Step Guide to Creating & Implementing Your LinkedIn Brand – Social Networking in a Web 2.0 World. The workshop was called Twitter 101.
Before attending the workshop, I noticed that Neal Schaffer has 36,000 plus Twitter followers, which is quite impressive for not being a famous Actor! I wondered how did he do this and still have time to travel and speak at various events. At the workshop, I asked Neal how many connections he had on LinkedIn and he replied with around 19,000 plus!
During the workshop, he spoke about Twitter and that it should reflect your personal brand and you should Tweet about things that offer help or educational information to your specific audience tied to your personal brand. For me, that is anything SEO, Marketing, Networking or Career-related. Every so often, I throw out information regarding sports or miscellaneous subjects.
Anyway, Neal showed the class his preferred tools for Twitter and the one we discussed the most was HootSuite. I used to think that people Twittered manually all day, but that is not practical. HootSuite allows you to Tweet away from your computer by scheduling Tweets and even having automatic RSS feeds from your favorite blogs. It also allows you to see your Tweet Stats and tells you when someone mentions you thereby making Twitter easy to manage. You only have to logon once a day or two if you do it right.
Neal also discussed Hashtags, which help you be found on Twitter. Hashtags.org and Twubs.com provide some great information and you can even create your own Hashtags.
So that you make the most of out Twitter, you should follow these steps. For instance, with one my Clients – HelpMyResume.Org, I would say Tweet something like -
“RT @SpinStrategy @HelpMyResume – What is a Solo Sheet? – http://bit.ly/123 #jobs #resumes #careers” <<== stay less than 140 characters
RT means retweet and you are crediting that person and then the Hashtags allow people searching on those keywords to find you via search.twitter.com.
So using HootSuite, plugging in about 5-10 useful posts (Original, RTs or from RSS Feeds of Blogs) a day and crediting people @person will help you increase followers. Then you need to follow them back (real persons or businesses).
When you have about an hour to spare, I suggest learning HootSuite by watching a tutorial (less than 6 minutes long) and using Hashtags or creating new ones to do a lot more with Twitter via auto RSS feeds and so on. I have gained quite a few followers! In addition, I am just a personal branding blogger. Let me know if you have any questions. Here is a helpful video:
And here are some other useful sites –
http://search.twitter.com/
http://www.twellow.com/
Posted by Deepak Gupta
Tags: Deepak Gupta LinkedIn, Deepak Gupta marketing, Deepak Gupta social media, dgupta5150, HootSuite, Marketing by Deepak, Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Neal Schaffer, SEO Tips by Deepak Gupta, Social Media by Deepak Gupta, Social Media Marketing by Deepak Gupta, Tips by Deepak, Tips by Deepak Gupta, Twitter Marketing by Deepak Gupta
Subscribe to Us!
