For seven days at

BOSS MOVE, DAY Four: Put your 60-second elevator pitch into action.

Have you ever tried to tell someone what you do for a living or about your business, but when you did they looked at you like you were crazy? The truth is, you have about 60 seconds to gain someone’s attention and with all of the information we are inundated with on a daily basis, our attention span is decreasing. Here is a way to talk about what you do in a commanding, yet simple way.

ACTION: Start by saying, “You know how some people have a problem with _________?” (Fill in the blank with the problem or challenge that you solve.) Then continue with, “Well, I offer _________.” (Fill in the blank with how the problem is solved.) It’s not a good idea to describe your business or the process of what your product or service does. You can elaborate on that later.

You want to get their attention in as few words as possible, keeping your dialogue simple, concise and to the point. Use those industry buzz words that make what you do or offer engaging, interesting and in demand.

BOSS MOVE, DAY ONE: Develop a Networking Database

BOSS MOVE, DAY TWO: Cultivate Your Current Relationships

BOSS MOVE, DAY THREE: Maximize Your Social Networks

Cameka Smith is a speaker, educator, social entrepreneur and founder of The BOSS Network, a community of career and entrepreneurial women who support each other through conversation, online and via event-based networking. In addition, Smith provides resources for women entrepreneurs and professionals through workshops and speaking engagements. She is also a mentor and program facilitator for Project BOSS, which matches professionals with youth.

For seven days at

BOSS MOVE, DAY THREE: Maximize your social networks.

In 2012, I still hear people say, “I don’t want to use social media.” Well, get prepared to be left behind. In today’s technology-driven society, social networks—with more than 900 million users—are the perfect platform to promote what you do to an active audience. Also, if you are an introvert, it’s the ideal place to get the networking ball rolling by starting a conversation online and then talk offline later when you feel comfortable. So get in the game and activate accounts that will help enhance and market your brand.

If you’re already on social media, evaluate your friends and followers lists and make adjustments if needed. Do you have 800 friends on Facebook or 600 followers on Twitter? How many of them do you actually know? How many of them know what you do?

ACTION: Using social networks is about reciprocation. Start by following some key people in your industry. Retweet an article, comment on a post, or feature them on your blog. This gets the communication rolling and you find a shared interest in which to base a new relationship. Also, utilize list features on Twitter and Facebook so you can better organize how you’ll connect with people via social media.

BOSS MOVE, DAY ONE: Develop a Networking Database

BOSS MOVE, DAY TWO: Cultivate Your Current Relationships

Cameka Smith is a speaker, educator, social entrepreneur and founder of The BOSS Network, a community of career and entrepreneurial women who support each other through conversation, online and via event-based networking. In addition, Smith provides resources for women entrepreneurs and professionals through workshops and speaking engagements. She is also a mentor and program facilitator for Project BOSS, which matches professionals with youth.

Through a press release the banker and financier announced that his Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) is investing $300 million in Twitter for an estimated 3% stake in the company (unlisted Twitter is valued and just over $8 billion by analysts). “Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” says Prince Alwaleed in the release.

Click here to read the full article at BlackEnterprise.com/BENext

• Use Google Alerts to receive immediate information about topics and issues of interest and to find out what’s being said about your industry or specific company. You can set specific search parameters and terms, and Google will post alerts whenever there’s news or information about it to your e-mail or smartphone. Keeping abreast of important industry information and reporting or commenting on it keeps you relevant and current with what’s trending.
• Optimize your Facebook fan page as effective real estate on which to produce and promote written and video content, including a tab for live Web-streaming video. This could include your speaking events and other professional presentations. Andrews says, “Think about this as your own channel and curate it as such. If it were a magazine you would have to strategize, organize, and manage it the way an editor would.”
• Practice smart listening. “Just setting up a profile to say you have one is not enough,” Andrews stresses. “You need a strategy. Interaction doesn’t require a lot of time, but it does require a system of listening and responding. Listening is just as important as posting. Having a two-way conversation is essential to success in social media and is a valuable way of keeping your finger on the pulse.” Just as important is discernment: knowing which conversations one should listen to and become part of. Know what the market is saying about what’s happening in the industry, and how it relates to your business and expertise.

(Image: Thinkstock)

Do you still have that Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Ning profile that has very few updates, outdated info or photos? Have you neglected to log in for weeks, months, even years? Shame.

According to a recent study by Search Engine Journal (SEJ), an interactive marketing consulting firm, 53% of employers research potential candidates via social media, (with 95% of companies using LinkedIn, in particular, for recruitment). That’s more than a good reason to blow the dust off that profile and refresh your professional online presence.

Update your info. Get rid of anything that is old, unflattering, or doesn’t tell the best story about you.

Reconnect with your network via groups and forums. Talk to people, not at people, even if it’s once a day from your phone.

Retweet/share industry news, resources or facts. Post relevant status updates (not so much on your baby’s first tooth or how your boo made you mad).

Use dashboards such as Hootsuite, TweetDeck, or Brizzly. You can update across platforms all at once, schedule tweets and manage your networks.

Purge, please. Maybe tweeting isn’t your thing or you simply have too many profiles on too many different sites. Clean house.

Simple: Just make it a point to evaluate your social media presence today.

A recent survey conducted by Internships.com of more than 500 people, most of whom were undergraduates, shows that job seekers have embraced the use of social networking with friends, associates, and new contacts to find employment and internship opportunities. Consider the stats:

• 79% are comfortable with employers reaching out to them directly through social media for jobs and internships
• 34% posted a general note on their Facebook wall asking for help
• 47% sent personal Facebook messages to at least 10 friends directly asking for help finding internship opportunities
• Undergrads are three times more likely to use Facebook than LinkedIn for help finding an internship

This story originally appeared in the September 2011 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

(Image: Shutterstock)

In this day and age, the world of social networking has infiltrated almost every industry, from film and television to government and manufacturing. The same has become true for those in human resources, recruitment and job placement. Aside from using social networking to advertise career opportunities, HR professionals now rely heavily on sites such as Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to search for and weed out potential candidates. “Social media tools have essentially opened up a new world for HR Professionals, in particular around attracting and recruiting globally,” says Tyese Battle, human resources manager for a Fortune 100 company. “Progressive HR leaders are including LinkedIn and Twitter, among other sites, in their plans to get the word out about critical jobs, and creating controlled communications intended to increase brand and internal company culture awareness.”

Here are a couple of tips on how to establish and maintain a worthwhile presence in social networking:

THE POWER OF THE POST

Social networking can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to job search.  Since so many recruiters and hiring managers seek out prospective employees on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, your status updates or tweets can either make you or break you.

Usage of profanity, expressions of negative character, and display of behavior which is contradictory to the person they interviewed can raise an immediate red flag for employers and result in missed opportunities for job seekers, even if it has nothing to do with their qualifications for the desired position.  On the contrary, posts which display your social consciousness, alignment with the company’s culture, industry expertise, or just your positive personality are much more attractive to employers and less likely to discredit you.

If you’re in the market for a new career opportunity, it’s extremely important that you are conscious about what you post, not only on your profiles, but on the profiles of friends, family members, and colleagues.  It isn’t enough to change your settings to “private.”  The reality is that nothing is really private in the world of social networking.  Everything can be forwarded, copied, and retrieved in one way or another.  The six degrees of separation on earth becomes more like two degrees in social networking.

WORK THE NET

Sites such as LinkedIn and Brazen Careerist are designed specifically to create a forum for job seekers to connect and network with potential employers.  However, these sites aren’t really effective if you don’t maintain a constant presence in the site’s community.  It’s all about consistency.  Many professionals have made contacts, secured interviews, and landed jobs just due to their strategic presence and navigation on social networking sites.

Recent college graduate, Deandra Francis, knows a little something about making the most of social networking to find career opportunities. She has mastered the art of connecting with professionals in her desired industry of fashion and e-commerce.  “A couple of weeks ago, I sent a request to add an HR recruiter for a national retailer on LinkedIn.  Ten minutes later he sent a message back asking if I was looking for work, because there was a position open. Three weeks later, I had an offer letter in my inbox.” Francis says LinkedIn has become an excellent tool because it has allowed her to establish lasting relationships with seasoned professionals in her field. “I sent requests and messages to former employees at companies I was applying to just so I could get more insight on the pros and cons of employers.”  As she builds her resume, Francis is confident that LinkedIn will continue to be a very powerful tool in closing the deal on her dream career opportunity.

Once today’s professionals realize the importance of social networking in job search, the possibilities for success are endless.  A simple search engine inquiry can determine the future of your career.  So, tweet, post, and update your status with caution.  The results could land you that dream job or leave you in the unemployment line.

Aisha Taylor (@realTAYLORmade) is co-owner and chief consultant at TAYLORmade Professional Career Consulting, a Web-based, full-service career consulting company committed to “equipping, preparing, and empowering today’s professional” globally. Check out her weekly insights on job-seeking and interviewing success every Friday on BlackEnterprise.com.

It can be tough navigating today’s job market, and even tougher if you’re trying to use social media as a job seeking tool. Particularly Twitter– with a reported 145 million registered users (including @BlackEnterprise and our staff of thought leaders)–can be a great resource to use to connect to opportunities, network with prospective employers, and market oneself for job seeking success. Sift through the chatter by following these Tweeps, and get that much closer to the job of your dreams.

Adrienne Graham — @TalentDiva

This 18-year recruitment veteran is the CEO of Hues Consulting & Management, Inc, a consulting firm that specializes in diversity recruitment, employment branding consulting, and recruiter training. The author of Go Ahead, Talk to Strangers, The Modern Girl’s Guide to Fearless Networking (Adrienne Graham; $19.95), this career guru tweets and retweets career resources and job opportunities from her network.

Francine Harrison — @CareerEngineer

Better known as The Career Engineer (TCE), Harrison is a career, business, and employment coach, and CEO of her business of the same name. The career expert’s Twitter account has useful lists categorized by industry or interest and centered around career advancement and employment. She also makes a point of retweeting insights and resources from other great career experts, making it a one-stop shop for those looking for a boost in their employment pursuits.

Daisy Wright — @CareerTips2Go

Wright is the founder and chief career strategist at The Wright Career Solution, a full-service firm that provides job search and career transition coaching and resources. Her Twitter account features a mix of tweets replying to follower’s questions about interview and resume best practices as well as quips about job seeking do’s and don’ts.

Job Events Calendar– @JobEvents

Follow this Twitter account to find out about job fairs and open houses held all over the U.S. Included are straight-forward links to job fair information for industries ranging from hospitality to engineering.

Jim Stroud — @JimStroud

When Stroud’s not providing insights on job search and interview strategies on his blog, he works as co-founder and editor of The Hidden Job Report, a Website that lists job leads from various industries across the country. The social media development manager, who has consulted for companies including Google, Microsoft, and MCI, keeps tweets quick and to the point, infusing links to news on mass job openings, employment issues, and job stats.

TweetMyJOBS — @tweetmyjobs

This Twitter account is managed by TweetMyJOBS, a Charlotte, N.C.-based company that connects employers and recruiters with targeted job candidates instantly when new job is posted to its site. Their Twitter aggregates job openings from companies ranging the Gap to Coca-Cola to CBS, and includes lists broken down by industry and region, making job search that much easier.

For more on the Who’s Who of Twitter, from black digerati to college student resources, see:

• 11 People You Should Follow on Twitter Now!
• 10 Twitter Accounts That Can Prep You for College
• 20 Editors and Writers to Follow on Twitter