Don't Miss Out on These Social Networking Sites!

I am teaching social media marketing this semester at +Aurora University  and in my day class we have just finished talking about the major social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest/Instagram.  We focused in the first half of class on using these platforms for social networking professionally and improving our personal brand image.  Other forms of professional social networking are often overlooked. I wanted to describe three social networking sties that are helpful professionally in this blog post.  The post will. focus on BuiltIn Chicago, Slideshare and Meetup.

Share Slides, Learn More

Each of these three social networking tools is designed to help people develop their particular interests. +SlideShare Inc provides is a social sharing site designed for sharing content in a user-friendly manner.  I use Slideshare.net to post presentations I have given so that i can get the word out about what I am doing to a broader audience.  I also use Slideshare when I want to find out about something new.  One of my friends said you can learn brain surgery from the site!  This statement is almost true, as there are presentations on nearly every subject posted.  Slideshare also suggests new presentations based on what I post, so I get a lot of recommendations for CRM and customer information management.

Follow Startups in Chicago, Find Jobs

BuiltIn Chicago is a local social sharing site that allows you to connect with people in your industry.  The focus is primarily on start-up and technology companies, so I get an opportunity to see what is happening in our area.  They also have live "launch" events periodically to foster in-person sharing.  The site also has an active job board and an emphasis on blogging.  In fact, I found several entry level jobs and internships on the site in our area of digital marketing.

Develop Your Interests, Network Locally

The final site I want to focus on in this post is Meetup.com.  Meetup is a great way to find people in a particular professional field but also has groups to help develop your professional interests.  I am a member of everything from bicycling groups to groups that focus on 'big data' technology.  I also am a member of the local American Marketing Association group.  Many people in Chicago use Meetup to connect. In fact, BuiltIn Chicago also posts events on Meetup.  Through email updates I learn what is going on with my groups.  I like the local focus as there are events in the Fox Valley I can attend and not just downtown Chicago.

I would strongly recommend adding these social networking tools to your 'toolkit,' whether you are a student, recent grad or have been working a long time.  If you are interested in learning more about a subject, networking with those in the area, finding a job or internship or just keeping up, you should try out these three websites:  Slideshare, Meetup and BuiltInChicago.

By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on Google+ and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.