Take It Slowly
You don’t have to dive into every social networking site right away. Start off slowly, perhaps with a LinkedIn account, and allow yourself to get your feet wet before going further.

Don’t Sweat It
Social networking is not a contest or a race, and you don’t get a better score for having more contacts or more links than other people. Don’t miss out on opportunities, but don’t let social networking take over your life either.

Make The Commitment
That being said, stagnation is death in social networking. If you’re going to do it, do it right. You need to post on a regular (but not too frequent) basis.

Analyze And Revise
Your profile shouldn’t stagnate either. Every few months, look it over and see if your wording still applies. Maybe you have something new to add, or maybe you just want to rework what you’ve already got. Fine-tuning your social networking profile is as essential as updating your status.

Offer Invaluable Info
To get you have to give a little, and nothing showcases your talents better than making yourself an invaluable resource. When people need help, you want them to think of you, and the best way to do that is to offer them concise, relevant information they can put to immediate use.

Measure Your Success
What you get out of social networking will be different than what someone else gets out of it. Define “success” for yourself. Twenty new prospective customers? A foot in the door at a company you’ve always admired? Whatever it is will be unique to you and your goals.

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• Prepare
  If you save inspiring quotes and links to interesting articles in a file, you can quickly copy and paste them into your LinkedIn status. Your status can be anything as long as it’s concise and relevant to your industry.
• Schedule
  Make a five-minute window in your day. Dedicate that time only to LinkedIn and, other than that, forget about it.
• Prioritize
  Responding to invitations and messages should be first, posting new status updates second, and managing recommendations third. Don’t forget thank yous! They go a long way toward building relationships.
• Respond
  If John Smith posted that he has a new job, send congratulations. If Mary Jones shares a link to an article, respond with your viewpoint. It only takes a moment and it increases your visibility.
• Integrate
  Do you have a blog? If you’re manually posting updates to LinkedIn, you’re wasting time. You can integrate LinkedIn with blogs, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and other social networking sites.
• Explore
  Take one minute out of your five to familiarize yourself with LinkedIn. Try searching for events, participating in group discussions, asking or answering questions in the Q&A forums. But don’t share too many personal details, because criminals use LinkedIn and other social networking sites to glean information about potential victims.
• Revise
  Every few months, expand your five minutes into a half hour and review your LinkedIn profile. The most important parts are your “headline” or title, your status, and your summary. We are all evolving as professionals, and your LinkedIn profile should evolve with you.
• Relax
  LinkedIn isn’t a contest. There’s no reward for getting 500 contacts or answering a million questions in the Q&A section. The way you reap the rewards of LinkedIn is by using it to expand your horizons.

Join me this Thursday for Leveraging LinkedIn, sponsored by the Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce. More seminars on blogs and social networking available this summer, keep an eye on my Upcoming Events page or subscribe to the Tech Tips e-newsletter for details as they become available.

Leveraging LinkedIn
Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce
Thursday, May 26, 2011, 12pm-1:30pm
Fox River Grove Village Hall, 305 Illinois St., Fox River Grove IL

Discover how to get the most out of LinkedIn. We’ll explore the features of LinkedIn and how you can best use them to market yourself or your business. To register, contact the Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce at 847-639-2800.

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NEW! Grow Your Business With Social Networking
Power Partners Of Cary Grove
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8am-9am
Century 21 Sketchbook, 20 Northwest Hwy (Rt 14), Cary IL

What’s the best way to use LinkedIn? Should you market your business on Facebook? In this seminar we’ll discuss how you can use social networking to grow your business. Guests welcome! Power Partners of Cary Grove meets at Century 21 Sketchbook in Cary, Illinois.

Leveraging LinkedIn
Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce
Thursday, May 26, 2011, 12pm-1:30pm
Fox River Grove Village Hall, 305 Illinois St., Fox River Grove IL

Discover how to get the most out of LinkedIn. We’ll explore the features of LinkedIn and how you can best use them to market yourself or your business. To register, contact the Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce at 847-639-2800.

Coming this summer…

Advanced Blogs For Business
Expanding Your Online Presence With Social Media

..and more! You can always find my latest schedule in the Upcoming Events section of my web site, or subscribe to Tech Tips by email. Hope to see you there!

Also, don’t miss my Blogs For Business seminar this Friday, April 1, 2011, from 8:30am-10am, part of the Crystal Lake Chamber Business Builder Breakfast series. To register, please contact the Crystal Lake Chamber at 815-459-1300. Here are more upcoming seminars in April and May. For registration details, see my web site.

Social Networking For Business
Business Networking Group
Friday, April 22, 2011, 7:30am-8:30am
Routes 176 and 45, Mundelein IL

Leveraging LinkedIn
Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce
Thursday, May 26, 2011, 12pm-1pm
Fox River Grove Village Hall, 305 Illinois St., Fox River Grove IL

Hope to see you there!

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Years ago people asked this same question about computer games, specifically Windows Solitaire. Some businesses found that access to the game actually helped employee performance by allowing them to blow off steam or entertain themselves while on break. Others made it standard policy to remove all games from corporate computers.

In the case of social media, there are other dangers besides lost productivity. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are some of the hottest entryways for viruses and malware. And, as a business, you want to make sure that those who speak for you online are presenting a consistent marketing message and refraining from inappropriate comments.

However, you may be stifling your business if you don’t permit your employees to interact with customers and business contacts via social media. A presence on LinkedIn, Facebook and/or Twitter is becoming as necessary for businesses as a Web site or an email address.

There really is no one right answer. Whether you permit social media sites at work depends on whether the business use outweighs the risks, and whether you consider reasonable personal usage a benefit you want to extend. If you do choose to allow it, make sure you educate your employees on how to use it in a safe, secure, and effective fashion.

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Leveraging LinkedIn
by Triona Guidry
Tuesday, March 15, 2010 7:45am-8:45am
(networking starts at 7:30am)
Old Towne Hall, 54 Brink St. (across from Starbucks), Crystal Lake IL

Discover how to get the most out of LinkedIn. We’ll explore the features of LinkedIn and how you can best use them to market yourself or your business. Q&A session to follow.

The B2B meeting is from 7:45am-8:45am. You’re invited to come at 7:30am or stay afterwards for additional networking opportunities. Guests welcome!

Mark your calendar for my next seminar, Blogs For Business, on Friday, April 1st. More information is available on my web site.

Hope to see you there!

A top-quality web designer will discuss your goals with you, and develop a site that is professional, clean, and easy to navigate. Ask for references and examples of previous work. Once you have chosen your designer, don’t hesitate to ask questions. You may have your heart set on a particular design, but keep your options open. Your web designer may have suggestions that will increase your site’s appeal and marketability. He or she may also have advice about content that will increase your traffic and search engine rankings.

If you’re interested in changing an existing site, ask your designer what information he or she needs. Text changes are relatively simple, while changes to graphics can be more complex. If your site looks outdated, it may be better to create a new one than modify the existing one. Your web designer can help you evaluate.

Be wary of web “designers” who have no references or experience, or who try to upsell you on services like search engine optimization. While SEO is important, unscrupulous people may try to talk you into expensive and unnecessary options. Know what you’re getting and how much it will cost. When in doubt, ask for clarification. A good web designer will keep you informed of your costs and let you know if the price is going beyond the original estimate.

Some Web designers can help you integrate your blog with your web site, or teach you how to use LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for marketing. You can also ask about followup services such as making site changes or learning how to change the site yourself.

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Advanced Social Networking
Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce
Thursday, October 7, 2010, 12pm-1:30pm
Fox River Grove Village Hall, 305 Illinois Street in Fox River Grove

You may submit your questions ahead of time to info@guidryconsulting.com.

Discover real tips for using Facebook, LinkedIn and more. Learn advanced techniques for staying on top of today’s social media, and bring your questions and issues for our expanded Q&A session. To register, contact the Cary Grove Chamber at (847) 639-2800.

Maximize Your Membership Benefits
Cary Grove Chamber Of Commerce
Wednesday, October 13, 2010, 12pm-1pm
The L.O.F.T. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 2107 Three Oaks Rd. in Cary

Join our panel of Chamber experts over lunch to learn how to maximize your Cary Grove Chamber membership benefits. I’ll be participating in the panel, talking about how to use Social Networking with the Chamber. To register, contact the Cary Grove Chamber at (847) 639-2800.

Getting The Most Out Of Your Mac Computer
Crystal Lake Chamber Of Commerce Business Builder Breakfast
Friday, November 5, 2010, 8:30am-10:00am
Crystal Lake Chamber, 427 W. Virginia St, Crystal Lake, Illinois

Discover how to get the most out of your Mac computer. We’ll review the basics, discuss the similarities and differences between Macs and PCs, then delve into some of the Mac’s advanced features. We’ll also talk about Mac security and troubleshooting. To register, contact the Crystal Lake Chamber at (815) 459-1300.

PC Troubleshooting
Crystal Lake Chamber Of Commerce Business Builder Lunch
Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 11:30am-1:00pm
Home State Bank, 611 S. Main St., Crystal Lake, Illinois

Learn how to fix your own computer with the same techniques used by the experts. We will discuss troubleshooting, preventative maintenance and security tips for PC (Windows). To register, contact the Crystal Lake Chamber at (815) 459-1300.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself, not just from hijacked accounts but also from viruses, spyware and other Internet threats:

• Use strong passwords that are unique on every system, and change them every few months. Earlier this week I posted an article about how to create secure passwords. This is the number-one thing you can do to prevent your accounts from being hijacked.

• Use a high-quality security software suite. I used to recommend free solutions for Windows like AVG combined with Spybot or AdAware, but these days I’m finding the freebies aren’t enough to protect you. Norton and McAfee will do the job, but Norton in particular tends to take up a lot of memory which may make older machines run more slowly. I prefer AVG’s paid Internet Security Suite or Trend Micro’s Titanium Internet Security or Titanium Maximum Security. If you’re using free AVG, you can get a discount on the full AVG suite if you buy through the “upgrade from free version” option.

Whatever solution you choose, be sure it is a full suite—containing antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall—and not just antivirus. And be sure it’s real software and not one of the many rogue security programs that are actually viruses in disguise.

Mac users, you need security software too. My personal favorite is Intego VirusBarrier or Internet Security Barrier. If you run Windows on your Mac through Apple’s Boot Camp or a program like VMWare or Parallels, try Intego’s Dual Protection options: VirusBarrier DP or Internet Security Barrier DP. These include BitDefender for Windows to protect the Windows half of your computer.

• Make sure ALL of the software on your computer is regularly updated. In one of my previous Northwest Herald columns, I talked about the dangers of old software. Here on my blog I’ve also talked specifically about the risks posed by old versions of Adobe (Acrobat) Reader and Flash.

• If you’re on Windows, use a browser other than Internet Explorer. Using Firefox or Opera instead of Internet Explorer offers you that much more protection. If you must use Internet Explorer, find out why older versions of Internet Explorer pose a greater risk of virus infection.

• Watch out for poisoned search engine results and learn how to spot bad web links.

• Never click on links or open attachments in email. Always visit the site directly. For example, if you get an email saying you have a new Facebook message, go directly to facebook.com from your Web browser instead of clicking the link in the email.

• Learn about social engineering and how hackers will do anything and everything to trick you into letting them in.

• And, finally, subscribe to the free email version of Triona’s Tech Tips for easy-to-understand tips you can use to protect yourself from the latest Internet threats. You can click this link or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe.”

Let me teach you how to be a hacker’s worst nightmare by using strong passwords that are:

• At least 6-12 characters in length
• A mix of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols if allowed
• Not common words or proper nouns found in a dictionary
• Not in use on any other system
• Changed regularly (at least once every few months)

The most common password mistakes I see are:

• Using no password at all (e.g. hitting Enter)
• Using common passwords like “password,” “123456,” spouse’s name, or pet’s name
• Using a common dictionary word with an exclamation point at the end
• Using the same password for everything
• Rotating through the same two or three passwords for everything
• Sharing passwords with others
• Sending passwords via email
• Sticking passwords on Post-It notes on monitors or under keyboards

Why not take this opportunity to change your passwords? It’s the best thing you can do to protect yourself against identity theft and cybercrime.

Subscribe free to Tech Tips and receive bonus tips, tricks and product reviews. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.