Yesterday, I attended the New Media Atlanta, a conference organized by Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix. (In the picture, I pose (from far left) with my friends Stephanie A. Lloyd and Stephanie Frost with key note speaker and social media guru, Chris Brogan.)

Listening to the speakers and panelists, one message came across very clearly to me:

Advice to entrepreneurs and business owners for using social media to improve their prospects parallels the advice I offer job seeking clients.

Below is a recap of my tweets from the conference. (In reverse chronological order.) See if you don’t agree that job seekers can learn a lot from information aimed at business owners!

For non Twitter users, #nmatl is a “hashtag” used for the conference to make it easier for people to follow the conversation on Twitter. If you search that tag on Twitter, you will find the entire stream of tweets about the conference.

MY TWITTER RECAP

. @chrisbrogan talking about “share vs. hoard.” Good for #jobseekers to think about-SHARE. You may be surprised at results

Don’t collect business cards like Pokemon via @chrisbrogan at #nmatl. DO: LISTEN-ASK-RECIPROCATE-COMMENT-COMMENT BACK

Business opportunities come to people who connect ppl to other ppl – via @chrisbrogan #nmatl

.@chrisbrogan reminds us that #jobseekers shouldn’t start looking for a job after they’ve been fired. Manage UR relationships along the way

“Your competitor is doing it.” @chrisbrogan on social media for businesses. SAME for #jobseekers. Find your niche & what you offer. #nmatl

. @chrisbrogan says “Reciprocity is a powerful thing” – YES. #Jobseekers – listen up! #nmatl

Integrate social media with all of your marketing efforts-advice for businesses from #nmatl. Also ++ for #jobseekers. Don’t rely on 1 thing.

Branding advice works for #jobseekers-Simple story, be articulate and intelligent! Take the time to KNOW YOUR STORY! #nmatl

#nmatl – Branding – Find a simple story in product and present it in articulate & intelligent, persuassive way – Bill Bernbach via @tobydiva

Brent Leary says “Listening to customers yields more than asking.” Same idea for #jobseekers-use your ears and mind to connect. #nmatl

Jeff Turner shares useful tool to monitor # convos: http://tweetgrid.com/irc #nmatl

Jeff Turner: “important to take risks.” Lesson for job seekers: Take a chance! Connect w/someone new. What’s worst that’ll happen? #nmatl

Relationships matter in web of interconnections. Key for jobseekers-networking = relationships. No matter what you call it. #nmatl

I posted a blog on the day of the conference that I’ve been holding for a while, but seemed perfect: Job seekers (and business owners) pitch what you offer, not what you WANT. I think this is a good reminder of many of the lessons that speakers shared. A lot of it boils down to a very basic message:

USE YOUR EARS FIRST! Listen, respond, connect.

It’s not rocket science, but clearly not everyone is doing this or doing it well. If you do it well, you can fuel your job hunt and/or entrepreneurial plans. Don’t get left behind!

Since this is all about connecting, here are some people I had a chance to either meet for the first time and/or spend time with again at the event and links to their Twitter accounts:

Stephanie A. Lloyd, Stephanie Frost, Marna Friedman, Taryn Pisaneschi, Robyn Cobb, Marisa Sharpe, Stone Payton, Todd Schnick, Jenny Devaughn, Chad Rothschild, Jeff Turner, Bert Dumars, Victoria Dunmire, Chris Jordan,  Kevin Metzger, Willie Jackson,  Andrea Walker and Sandra Spiller.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get to know some of my new friends and to possible business opportunities in the offing!

If you need help using social networking (Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc.) for your business or job search – I can help! Please learn more about what I can do to help you!

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