Tag: networking exchange

Job Searching? Get Your Mobile Skills in Order

by Curlis Phillip

How Mobility Is Reshaping Personal Career Paths

Curlis Phillip is a Senior Marketing Manager at AT&T. You can find more blog content from Curlis and other experts on mobility on the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog, where this post originally appeared. AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.

App Development. Photo by Ramotionblog.

A recent article by Huffington Post writer Daniel Burrus identified twelve key technologies that will transform careers now and in the future. Toping his list were mobile hardware, software, and services.

Burrus is spot on. Innovation in mobile technology is driving job creation across the mobile industry – from wireless providers to handset makers to software developers. According to a study sponsored by TechNet, almost 500,000 jobs related to apps development were created in the United States, up from zero in 2007.

The growing demand for mobility among businesses and consumers has increased the need for mobile-related jobs. However, a skill gap exists for many employers. Today’s workforce needs to develop its skills to keep pace with this evolving technology.

Here are some of the hottest jobs in the mobile industry right now: Read More

Use Cloud Services for the Perfect Follow-Up

by Mario Armstrong

Last week I broke down my step-by-step tips for how to network and pitch while at conferences, events, and talks. No matter what line of business you’re in, there’s always people to pitch who can help your business or with whom you can create mutually beneficial partnerships. But let’s say you’re just back from a conference, or even better, about to go to one. After you’ve gotten the pitches right, and met all the right people, how can you best make sure you nail the follow-ups to your benefit?

Enter the cloud. There are a variety of cloud-based technologies that can help you manage the data you’re taking in during these events and help you sort it back out when you’re done. While you may have little more than a smartphone with you when you’re interacting with people at these events, using the cloud you can automatically sync everything that comes in with your desktop computer back home. Today I’m going to take a look at some of my favorite ways to use the cloud to make sure you capture all of the data from an event and turn that into an actionable plan for you to work from.

1. Put Business Cards in the Cloud

Every day you’ll be grabbing (and, hopefully, handing out) dozens of business cards from potential partners, potential clients, or even just people you’d like to see again. But by the time you’re back in your hotel at the end of the day, never mind by the time the conference is over, you will surely have forgotten why you took some of those business cards and all will be for naught.

If you’ve already standardized your personal note-taking on Evernote like I have then the best option would be to use Evernote Hello. Far more than just a place to capture business cards, Hello captures people, interactions, notes, meetings, and helps you build a rich history of when you’ve seen someone before and what you discussed. This way, when you run into someone at a conference, you’ll know exactly what you discussed the last time you saw them.

Read the rest of this blog post at AT&T’s Networking Exchange blog.

Making Your Business Connections Count – Master the Art of Human Networking

by Mario Armstrong

Networking online, through social media channels, email, and LinkedIn, is something everyone I know does pretty well. After all, you can take all the time you like to compose your pitches and online networking comes without the stress and anxiety that often accompanies face-to-face interaction. But by no means should online networking be the only kind you do! There are certain things that can only get done when meeting and pitching someone in person.

I’m at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference this week in Austin, Texas, and it occurred to me that while I’ve gotten tons of amazing opportunities through my own networking, including television and radio appearances, this isn’t a subject that’s necessarily taught at business school. Many of you, I’m sure, are constantly attending conferences, events, and speaking engagements but if you struggle with getting up the nerve and pitching your idea then I’m going to try and help you by giving up my best tips. Here are the steps I would take before, during, and after an event to ensure I make the absolute most out of my face-to-face networking.

1. Know your subject

Before heading to an event or conference, get a copy of the program or print one out. Make sure you really study the entire program—you should know ahead of time what all of the panels are about and who all of the speakers are.

2. Make a hit list

With your knowledge of every nook and cranny of the program, you should be able to make a “hit list.” A hit list is your personalized list of everyone who will be speaking or attending the conference that you want to get in front of. Do you have an idea you’d like to run by them? An opportunity to present to them? Whatever it is, come up with more names than you’ll ever be able to meet (after all, some opportunities may pass for reasons outside of your control) and then prioritize them. This means making hard decisions and deciding on a #1, a #2, all the way down.

Read the rest of this post on AT&T’s Networking Exchange Blog

First Louis CK, Now Jon Stewart: The State Of The Online-First Video Strategy In 2012

by Mario Armstrong

Even Major Media Properties Are Launching New Video Series Online—What’s Your Content Strategy?

The online gold rush today is in video, and if you’re looking to cash in it’s time to get started. Over the last year, YouTube has spent $100 million to help kickstart the careers of its content partners. Twitch.tv, a streaming video site that spun-off from Justin.tv to let video gamers stream live feeds and interact with fans just raised $15 million to build up its site and services which already reach an estimated 20 million monthly viewers. Mobile video app Socialcam recently sold to Autodesk for $60 million, which should help it reach the ever expanding audience of people who want to create and watch videos on their iPhones or Android devices.

This money isn’t just for the companies hosting these videos—by running ads or seeking sponsorships, video producers are able to monetize their videos on these various platforms. Even Vimeo long known as a great place to share cutting-edge videos in HD but also as a place without intrusive ads—is now allowing its content producers to accept tips on their videos.

You can read the rest of this post on AT&T’s Networking Exchange blog, where I’m a guest writer!

Our Mobile And Social Media Future: Talking To The Experts

by Mario Armstrong

What A Backstreet Boy, A Tech Journalist, A Social Media CEO, and A Facebook Employee Say About The Future Of Mobile And Social Media

From left to right: Me, Backstreet Boy AJ McLean, Mashable’s Andrea Smith, Duracell Powermat CEO Ron Rabinowitz, and Facebook’s Kevin Knight

I recently had the chance to chair a phenomenal panel in New York City where I was able to talk with a wide variety of entrepreneurs, business professionals, and social media experts about where we are today with mobile and social media and what’s coming in the future. While this event wasn’t televised, I was able to get some great quotes and invaluable content from the panelists to share with you today.

How a Backstreet Boy uses social media to connect with his fans

The most interesting panelist had to be Backstreet Boy AJ McLean, who has a major social presence on Twitter, Socialcam and Instagram. Using social media, AJ has created Internet memes like #booomb videos on Socialcam, and has cultivated a huge online audience almost 20 years after the band he was originally known for rose to fame.

While the Backstreet Boys are still recording and selling millions of albums, AJ has created a strong brand for himself as Mr. Skulleeroz (pronounced “Skull-e-rose”) on social media channels. What’s his secret? According to AJ:

Someone like myself who’s in the music industry, we’re not always that accessible to our fans and to the media except when we do [things like] a press event. [With social media you] get a direct contact and get an immediate response. That’s something that I’ve never seen before… It just brings my fans, my personal fans and the Backstreet Boys fans, closer to us as people. Bringing them into our homes, our everyday life. Not just backstage or onstage, but like ‘come take a ride with me down the street to the 7-11.

You don’t have to be a Backstreet Boy to see the value in what AJ is saying. No matter what your business or brand, social media and video allow you to connect with people when you can’t be there in person. If you can get even a few hundred views on an online video, the time you take to make it is immediately more valuable than trying to meet with those same hundred people in person. If you can get a few thousand views, you’re suddenly an online content producer capable of monetizing your content because your online audience is now suddenly as valuable as your real-world audience.

Read the rest of this post on AT&T Networking Exchange to hear some great quotes from the CEO of Socialcam, a journalist from Mashable, and a Facebook employee!

Avoid Security Holes and Access New Features by Keeping Your Apps Up-to-Date

by Mario Armstrong

Finding out about apps to boost your productivity while on-the-go is an increasingly important part of using your smartphone or tablet to better your business. While the default mail, calendar, and web browsing apps your device came equipped with are a good start, specialized apps often mean the difference between being able to work from a conference and having to wait to head back to your hotel. Whether you’re making a move in the mobile video space, trying to build a following on Twitter, or just organizing your digital life, apps can make a world of difference in your mobile productivity.

One often-overlooked feature of apps, however, is the ability to update them. Unfortunately, apps don’t update themselves—you have to manually install new updates. There are a variety of reasons we get behind in updating our apps: limited space on mobile devices, updates that require a WiFi connection, and even just forgetting to check for them. But there are some very good reasons to make sure you’re keeping your apps up-to-date. Read the rest of this article on AT&T’s Networking Exchange blog.