You are Not Going to Take Risk!

Sorry for the seemingly negative title. Am I trying to capitalize on it's shock value? Maybe, but what I really want to happen is that you as well as I realize that  our unwillingness to take risk could hinder us from growing, moving forward and upward.

I have been involved in an unintended social experiment these last few months. Some of my valued employees left my pond and moved on to bigger ponds and I am left with looking for  good (hopefully better) replacements and this is where I saw some patterns.

You see, my company is small and I don't offer a lot in terms of basic salary. However, I offer a lot in terms of income opportunities and if you are enterprising, hard working, strategic minded, unafraid (or capable of overcoming initial terror) and growth oriented. You can succeed here financially and professionally such that after a year or two with me, you will have doubled your market value.

Linkedin Versus BranchOut?

First, I must say that I am no expert in anything Linkedin nor BranchOut. This is not an expert review. This is merely an opinion from someone who has been using Linkedin for a while and has recently joined and completed his profile in BranchOut in the hope that it will bring him similar businesses that he gathered from Linkedin.

I am a big fan of social media for the simple reason that my business would not have reached this point had I not discovered the web as a market place and exploited what it had to offer to the hilt (at least to the best of my abilities). As a recruiter, I found social media as a less costly yet more effective option in finding the needed talents for my clients.  Linkedin has been for the longest time our best source of talents. I'm happy that the number of Filipinos joining Linkedin is getting bigger everyday. More and more people are getting easier to find because of this. I've heard on many occasions that Linkedin is the social network of choice for professionals and business networkers. It looked like linkedin's niched juggernaut is going to be unstoppable. And then comes BranchOut, a facebook propelled social network that seem to follow the Linkedin model.

There has already been several reviews comparing both networks so I won't go that way anymore. What I really like to say is that if any or both of these networks succeed in their business, it's good for all of us job and people hunters!

Here's my word of advice, make sure that you join both and give time to complete your profile. Who knows the  opportunities you're looking for is just around the corner... or your next click!

Enhancing Your Social Capital

They say, it matters not what you  know but whom you know. I do not  totally agree but there's certainly something to be gained with  increasing your circle of influence.

Whom you know will not help you  build the reputation which is a by  product of good work but it will open doors that will allow you to do what you need to do and spread the word about how well you do it.

Your network of highly engaged  friends and acquiantances is your social capital. The size and level of engagement determines how rich that capital is. What you need to do to increase your social capital and how to benefit from it are some of the things you can consider from this blog post.