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12 posts tagged Farhana Rahman
#TapTime with @SKJask!
By: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with Shoshanna Jaskoll, cofounder of REACH3K
You can tap Shoshanna for: “I write and work with communications- i.e. getting your message across. I’m good at helping people analyze a problem and narrow down the best way to solve it. I also like to tell people whats so great about them. Not enough people do that often enough and its so important.”
Shoshanna would tap you for: “Its helpful for me to know whats going on in nonprofit- who’s running the best campaigns, how they are using the realities of the new world and web to further their reach and cause. Also, branding, marketing, and corporations looking to get involved in good causes is a big one.”
Shoshanna is just as much a bold tough cookie, as she is a gentle loving friend. Her warmth and friendliness comes though in most photos and videos. But if you catch her in the midst of activism- my does she become quite the warrior!
As a cofounder of REACH3K, Shoshanna works with nonprofits to help understand their needs and how to reach their audience. Her first exposure to social media was Facebook, by impulse. Twitter came along soon after. Like most people, she chooses to keep Facebook to a more personal level for her family and close circle of friends. Twitter, she claims, “made it possible for me to reach people and agencies I would otherwise never - or at least not without a lot of work and time- have gotten to. The next thing that became clear was the incredible way people look out for each other on Twitter. People are happy to hook you up with others they know, with their experiences, contacts, and knowledge, it’s really amazing. People on Twitter understand that far from losing their edge by sharing, they actually increase it.”
Shoshanna respects genuine people who speak of life and their surroundings, and make attempts to make it better. She is a firm believer that people should be there for one another, support one another, and at the very least- help others with their knowledge. Shoshanna seldom directly asks people for assistance, because she is open about her involvements, and that prompts others to step forward and offer assistance to her, or link her with someone else who could help.
Shoshanna’s network consists of “everything from techies to travel ind people to nonprofits, to writers to housewives … and everyone has value.” She even provided examples by saying, “…every time my site crashes I have techies that have it back up for me. When I’m planning my conference people suggest speakers and sponsors, I have people who help with my Mac, my PC, with a word I can’t find, with a nonprofit question I need to hash out, and mostly I have great friends to share life’s ups and downs with. They even send me clips of comedy when I need to be cheered up.”
When asked what kinds of goals get fulfilled through her social networks, Shoshanna says it’s a mix of both personal and professional.
Click here for more info on REACH3K.
#TapTime with: Daniel Feldman, #SocialMedia Manager of @Waze
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with: Daniel Feldman, Social Media Manager of @Waze
You can tap Daniel for: Customer engagement advice, help building a fantasy football team. I’m going to tap him for Hebrew lessons.
Daniel will tap you for: Networking purposes
Where do I start talking about Daniel? He’s one of those personalities that makes look forward to getting on Twitter. When asked of his interests, Daniel responded, “I play squash, fantasy football, cook, go salsa dancing and study for an MA degree in conflict research resolution and management. I also work at Waze which is an amazing, top of the line startup. Shameless plug: For those who aren’t familiar with Waze, its a free GPS application that routes you around traffic http://www.waze.com”
Daniel landed his first position in Social Media in 2008, ‘before anyone even knew what social media was,’ while living in Israel and seeking a position as an English teacher. He originally used social media to keep in touch with his friends. As time went on, he used it to “keep up with my interests, get useful ideas that I can use at my company, as well as make connections that could serve me well in the future.”
He also likes connecting with people of positions similar to his, such as: Liz Heron (Social Media editor at New York times), Meghan Peters (community manager at Mashable) and Martin Beck (Social Media/Reader engagement at LA times). In approaching people of such influence, Daniel simply tweets them with direct questions, and comments.
Most of Daniels connections are in the U.S, Canada, Israel, Taiwan, the U.K, Hungary, and Australia. But from what I have seen, he really has ‘em all over. Feel free to reach out to him through Waze, or his personal Twitter handle.
Hand Out Those Business Cards in a Natural Way
Author: Farhana Rahman
The biggest rule-of-thumb when it comes to handing out business cards is to not hand them out like playing cards. Presentation is key. That doesn’t mean presenting your card on a mini silver platter though! If handling a small number of cards, you don’t even need a business card holder, so long as your cards are easily accessible, and neat. Also-do make an impression in your delivery. Show your personality, and add a humanistic element to your card.
I like to perk myself up before handing one of my cards over to a person-of-interest, and I like to come off as a personable professional, rather than a pitchy annoyance. Below is one approach I take. Works very well for me:
Clearly you could see that I am being personable and professional- not pitchy or ridiculously fake. People love praise, so praise them. Let it all come naturally, because the whole point of exchanging business cards is in the prospect to have a professional future with the contact.
One thing I learned the hard way: Business cards- never leave home without ‘em!
#TapTime with: @AboutDotCom #Video Producer: @Pelpina Trip
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with: About.com Video Producer: Pelpina Trip
You can tap Pelpina for: Production and hosting of videos, host events, conduct presentations, help with brand awareness, review products/websites on video, etc.
Pelpina will tap you for: “I would love to help with a company or product’s brand awareness if someone wants to talk about their social media/marketing/PR expertise on video with me (Skype works), and I would love to teach you Dutch over Skype if you can create a cool Twitter background for me!”
I must say, Pelpina is as close to ‘Superwoman’ status as a woman can get. She’s smart as a whip, oozes with intelligence, has an endless list of accomplishments, is a proud mother, and is super humble! And she’s also very pretty. :-)
Pelpina first gave social media a try after she noticed a co-worker checking out ‘The Facebook’ in early 2005. Like many of us, she hesitated to join, but got addicted within weeks. As she continued using it, she came to realize that social media than sharing photos and funny websites, “Reading stories in the news about the impact of social media on politics in other countries truly made me think about social media’s influence. And when I was an intern at a local TV news station, I decided to give it a serious try. I worked my way up, became a web producer, and within months - became their social media reporter.”
While holding that post, Pelpina turned to social media “to find interesting stories, connect to people, and build a network of social media professionals.” This led to her finding her next job, as the host/producer of WebBeat.TV. She loves connecting with anyone who uses social media to benefit themselves and others in a positive manner, typically entrepreneurs, internet influencers, and social media professionals/techies such as bloggers, podcasters, and video producers.
Feel free to connect with Pelpina on Google Plus, Twitter, and Facebook. You can come back to me anytime, to tell me I was right about the ‘superwoman’ part.
Approach Successful People with Ease!
Author: Farhana Rahman
Are you one of the many people who feel a degree of intimidation in approaching successful people? This could include anyone… a superior at work, management of an establishment, affluent people with a high level of influence, etc.
Personally I’m not afraid to approach these people, because of a little outlook that I taught myself. Works great for me! Allow me to explain in the video below:
In addition to treating successful people as… people, you can’t allow yourself to worry about making the other person ‘like’ you. We all have a lot to learn from each other, so allow your confidence to shine through in a personable manner. Talk about what the person would find useful and fascinating, don’t just throw a bunch of trigger words at them (that’s annoying.)
It’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to risk losing what could be a valuable relationship. Even so, what really matters is making an impression. That’s what plants the seed. Even if you flub here and there, you can redeem yourself as you follow-up, because the connection has been made, and the seed has been planted.
#TapTime with #PR & #Media Maven: @SabrinaGFadlun
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with PR & Media Maven: Sabrina G. Fadlun
You can tap Sabrina for: Multilingual, PR and media support. She’s also fantastic in editing documents. And oh, she also says, “I can also teach how to cook great Italian home meals once I learn how to do it myself!”
Sabrina would tap you for: Insight on tech, journalism, convos on the arts and movies. Plus points for anyone with a sense of humor!
Sabrina acknowledges that social media is the present and the future. She calls it “the real way of communication and outreach to millions of people all over the world sharing similar passions and interests.” And trust me, she is a fantastic communicator with an outstanding understanding of cultures around the world.
When she first started using social media, Sabrina wished to gain professional contacts. But as she progressed, she came to realize that she was losing sleep from the enjoyment that came with engaging with a multitude of people “despite language, religion, ideology, belief or any other kind of barriers.” Most of this Italian beauties current contacts are in Israel, and are English speakers in their mid-late 30’s.
In addition to collaborating with her on TapTank, be sure to reach out to Sabrina on Twitter, and you’ll see why so many high-profile people in many industries adore her. And here she is on LinkedIn!
#TapTime with: #Entrepreneur & Buff of Finer Things in Life, Lori Lewis
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with: Entrepreneur & Buff of Finer Things in Life, Lori Lewis
You can tap Lori for: Assisting charities through Social Media. She is always willing to help out a great deal, and rarely asks for anything in return.
Lori would tap you for: Making connections to add to her tribe of people that appreciate the performing and visual arts. She also wants to be connected to people that love food, wine, and travel. But no snobs please- only average people! She also would love to connect with writers and photographers for her site.
Lori would tap you for: Making connections to add to her tribe of people that appreciate the performing and visual arts. She also wants to be connected to people that love food, wine, and travel. But no snobs please- only average people! She also would love to connect with writers and photographers for her site.
Lori Lewis is the founder, and owner of everydayopera.com. It is an online magazine and 24-hr podcast that features food wine and travel. Celebs in each of those fields frequently pop in (she’s just so well-connected like that!) Her friend, Michael Sean Wright of Nice Fish Films previously worked with her in radio. They wanted to bring the world of finer things together by building a platform. Michael came up with the name, and designed the blog.
Lori feels that “social media is the best thing in the world. now I can Skype with people overseas, the reach is worldwide- not just people in the country. Many people became real friends.” She is not afraid of approaching anyone famous, or execs, “…cause I’m excited about what they are doing, and what I am going. I rarely have anyone not respond to me.” Lori’s background in media helps her quickly identify her tribes. She believes that you should talk 80% about others, and 20% about yourself.
Lori feels that “social media is the best thing in the world. now I can Skype with people overseas, the reach is worldwide- not just people in the country. Many people became real friends.” She is not afraid of approaching anyone famous, or execs, “…cause I’m excited about what they are doing, and what I am going. I rarely have anyone not respond to me.” Lori’s background in media helps her quickly identify her tribes. She believes that you should talk 80% about others, and 20% about yourself.
Her secret to approaching persons-of-interest is to do so the old-fashioned way: call them directly. It’s particularly easy for her to approach people in the music industry because she was in radio, so it’s easy to call other radio stations. Meeting people in person is the most important thing to Lori. She absolutely enjoys collaborating with people she met through social networks, that sense of unity and everyone helping each other out is very gratifying. She’s on the computer at least 12 hours a day!
What I personally appreciate most about Lori is that she treats up-and-coming artists with the same level of respect as established artists. That’s a rare find for someone as connected and sought-after as she is. Connect with her on Twitter, and you totally have to check out her site (I know I felt a little smarter and more refined after my first few visits!)
#TapTime with: #Master of #Marketing: Gary J. Nix- @Mr_McFly
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with: Master of Marketing: Gary J. Nix (@Mr_McFly)
You can tap Gary for: Marketing strategy tips. He also has a fantastic sense of humor that is known to perk people up!
Gary will tap you for: Strong connections and good conversations.
Aside from being a Global Influencer, Gary J. Nix is a high ranking MIB Agent and an Online Marketing Specialist for a Digital Marketing & Design agency.
Gary has been known to be an early adopter evidenced by my days of using IRC, ICQ, AOL Chatrooms on dialup, BlackPlanet, etc.—all of which can easily be considered prevenient forms of social media. He additionally taught himself HTML to learn how to create, design and deploy effective email marketing campaigns. In turn, meshing social media into his work seemed natural.
He originally sought networking and learning/teaching opportunities through social media. He told us, “You never know who you’ll meet in life’s travels and social media clearly expands on that hypothesis. Global Influence and its upcoming, subsequent world domination are cheerfully gained byproducts.”
As he continued using social media, his goals have not shifted. In fact, the opportunities to influence and be influenced have grown virtually exponentially. Valuable information is easier to obtain, or at least accessible in a swifter manner than before. You will find Gary in Twitter chats such as #brandchat. He believes that “conversing with others is an absolute social act.”
Check out these 3 links Gary suggests you check out:
- A post he did on Keeping Media Social;
- His Twitter page; and
- His personal blog.
Crowdsourcing: An Entrepreneurs Best Friend
Author: Farhana Rahman
The dictionary definition of ‘crowdsource’ is to outsource work to an unspecified group of people, typically by making an appeal to the general public on the Internet.
This is a common practice amongst entrepreneurs of any level, because sometimes they simply don’t have the time to complete tasks, or aren’t capable of completing tasks on their own.
First-time entrepreneurs can easily make their loads lighter with the help of a crowd! From coming up with catchy names or slogans for your new venture, to the creation of logos or compilation and editing of videos- the possibilities of what can be achieved through crowdsourcing are endless.
According to Astrophysicist Chris Lintott, there are three surprise perks that he noticed came along with his projects: 1) Crowdsourcing led to serendipitous discovery. 2) Crowdsourcing led to impromptu collaboration amongst strangers. 3) Crowdsourcing kept people engaged with the project.
But think about it, there are just so many other perks to it! Through crowdsourcing, there is a huge pool of talent working on the side of the entrepreneur- and in record time! Plus, there costs get cut dramatically because large projects get broken down into much smaller groups- and because of that you can make sure that only the cream-of-the-crop tackles your tasks.
Have you ever crowdsourced? What are your thoughts on it?
#TapTime with the #Entrepreneurs Behind @Rawporter!
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with: The Entrepreneurs Behind @Rawporter (Learn more of their raw news app here!)
You can tap the men behind Rawporter for: marketing, branding, and design help. They can also help advise you on how to make new connections to open new doors, and on how to work with different frameworks. One of them even volunteers to teach kayaking!
The men behind Rawporter would tap you for: feedback on their free app, and connections with other people who would be interested to download it.
The co-founders of Rawporter spend the bulk of their time keeping up with the hustle and bustle that comes along with enhancing their recently launched app. They consistently make sure that the beta is polished and functioning properly while working on adding to their user base. They are consistently planning for the future, because they know that it is just one thing to just build a product, but they go an extra mile by doing a lot of research, and working off of user feedback. A lot of feedback from immediate network circle.
The founder of Rawporter, Kevin Davis, took his first jab at social media when his younger brother introduced him to Friendster. Kevin found it interesting and automatically knew it was something that would stick around and get increasingly popular. Kevin originally depended on social media to share things with his family members, and slowly gain popularity. Co-founder Rob Gaige originally heard about people using social media from a marketing perspective. He independently researched peoples trends, to make his marketing approaches more current and real. Rob started connecting with professionals to build a larger user base. Kevin and Rob, as well as their developer Michael Robinson, acknowledge that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter serve different purposes. They turn to LinkedIn for media connections, Twitter to reach out to large masses of people, and Facebook to create stronger bonds with their followers and cultivating relationships.
The men of Rawporter noticed that a large amount of people enthusiastic about their app hail from the music and entertainment industries. Bearing that in mind, they envision themselves cultivating relationships with them through our service for additional exposure, and for crowd sourcing. They admire the fact that their users collectively have many diverse interests, and seek many ways to cater to them.
Rawporter is always happy to connect and engage with people through their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. And iPhone users- don’t forget to download their app!
#TapTime with Marketing Consultant and Leader: Jim Dougherty
Author: Farhana Rahman
TapTime with: Jim Dougherty @LeadersWest
You can tap Jim for: Advising, and promotions. If you can spark his fascination, he will passionately promote you and your cause/product/service. “I follow hundreds of blogs and send out hundreds of tweets a week simply promoting. In reality everyone that participates in social is a media channel.” Promos from Jim truly make a difference, the bulk of his followers cling to his every word.
Jim would tap you for: Developing a genuine friendly relationship. “I’d like to think of social media reflecting real-life relationships. When I chat with a friend, or recommend someone’s work, I don’t do it with the intention that I’ll receive something in kind.” Jim appreciates the value in people reciprocating something out of the genuine goodness of their heart, not out of obligation.
Where should we begin to describe the joy that is Jim Dougherty? Aside from being a Marketing Consultant extraordinaire (and one of our shining supporters) Jim is also a humble family man, and adored Twitter personality for his engagement.
Jim decided to give social media a go when his wife was pregnant with their daughter. He found it a really helpful way to keep their family and friends informed of the latest developments with the pregnancy. Of course, in doing so- he also used to keep in touch with his immediate family and closest friends. He was just beginning to see the potential in social media taking him even further, from a professional perspective.
In a few short months Jim managed to build up a few thousand followers through his social networks. By the end of 2012, his goal is to exceed 20K. By showing clients click-through and rebroadcasting data, his hope is that they’ll see the competitive advantage to investing in social media. Jim told us, “A very common apprehension to social from small businesses is that they don’t see the value, or they want to have a Facebook or Twitter presence without properly participating in their community. I’ve always intended for my social media presence to be an example to client businesses of the capability (and maybe necessity, even) to build their own media channel.” Couldn’t agree more, but at least the awareness of the importance of social media is steadily increasing.I’ve seen Jim win the hearts of practically everyone on Twitter, whether they have 10 followers, or 100K followers. He even says, “I enjoy people who are more social, but that’s just because I enjoy active engagement more than reading and replying to posts. I wouldn’t have as rich of an experience if I did filter my audience.” It is because Jim is always willing to talk to people for the sake of pleasant conversations (having nothing to do with professional goals,) that he was able to come across people like his new good friend, Samantha Luy.
Jim turns to his social networks for personal engagement and growth. The professional aspect only plays a small role. “It’s a mistake to build a social network based upon business objectives, because there’s inherent insincerity in building a ‘personal’ relationship with a brand.” His followers are scattered across the world, with higher proportions in Seattle and Portland. He’s excited to be able to strengthen relationships and leverage exchanges through TapTank, especially because “you could easily find people who want to collaborate, and have a fun way to show your appreciation for their work.” He’s such a fantastic person- reach out to him, and you’ll see what I mean.
3 Obstacles Faced by Entrepreneurs
Author: Farhana Rahman
Before the success stories, there are many obstacles faced by entrepreneurs. Don Marquis once said, “The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race, is the human race.”
So what are some of the obstacles faced by entrepreneurs?
Finances
Aside from the typical expenses that are expected, there are just so many additional costs- hidden costs, untraceable costs, unforeseen costs. The task of seeking resources for funding can get tiresome, but true entrepreneurs know that it will all be worth it in the long run. It is always helpful to make connections with others who are either more experienced, or can introduce you to someone who is more experienced. These people could guide one in saving time and energy to help turn ideas into reality much sooner.
Time
Understandably, a tremendous amount of time is invested as entrepreneurs dive into the unknown. They are expected to wear several hats at once as they juggle multiple roles. This generally leads to less time being spent on family life and/or a social life. Research alone drains a great deal of time: market interest, demands, trends, competitors. The list goes on and on of what entrepreneurs must master at in order to be successful. With the proper connections however, one can pick up on (and implement) some tricks of the trade, which therefore makes start-up life that much less hectic.
Stress
This is an inevitable, everyday reality for an entrepreneur. There are constant negotiations, and they must have a keen eye for assessment of value. It calls for the ultimate test of endurance and stamina, which simply isn’t taught in classrooms. However, once connected with a circle of like-minded people, entrepreneurs learn different different techniques from one another, such as communication and presentation.
But how can one quickly get connected to the right people to beat the obstacles?
TapTank is a free service that allows people to tap into their social networks to achieve goals and pursue interests. It extracts the strengths of followers and friends, and helps users collaborate, develop professional relationships, and barter services.
Click here to learn more, and sign up for TapTank. With everyone helping one another, the obstacles will slowly dissipate.
