Internet marketing and branding consultant, public speaker, columnist and owner of Scope Communications ehf.
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Guy Kawasaki posted a great post on his blog today, or an interview actually. It's ten tips about Facebook from Jesse Stay, who wrote "I'm on Facebook, Now What?" with Jason Alba. They actually wrote a book on LinkedIn too but I got to know Jason Alba and his work through the Australian Stan Relihan who is in my network on LinkedIn. (It's amazing how small the world gets when you get active on the social networks).
I highly recommend you check out those ten tips on how to get the most out of Facebook, a social platform with loads of apps and possibilities where alot of people seem to be very lost. Now I'm a little less lost :)
The book is not a manual about LinkedIn and how to use it but a book about the principles behind using LinkedIn as a networking tool and the philosophy behind it. In it Ajay talks about how you can make the most of LinkedIn, the worlds largest network of professionals with over 17 million participants, for your professional career. Let's Connect is based on his research and interviews with participants on LinkedIn and is full of great quotes and real examples of effective use of the LinkedIn network.
I signed up on LinkedIn in September last year and it has turned out to be a great move. I have learned a lot from Questions and Answers, got to know great people and got projects and business opportunities I would never have imagined. Part of it is thanks to Ajay Jains white paper on how to use LinkedIn which was the start of this book.
This new book, Let's Connect, is full of great tips on how to make LinkedIn work for you. I realized there is still so many opportunities on LinkedIn that I haven't fully utilized yet. Business is all about communication between the right individuals and LinkedIn is the place to start that communication. As Ajay asks at the beginning of his book, "Do you want to be Linked In or Linked Out?" The choice is yours. It's a network of professionals on all levels, including executives from almost all the Fortune 500 companies, known authors and specialists. One of Ajay's examples of users of Answers is Barack Obama who posted the question: How can the next President better help small business and entrepreneurs thrive? A smart use of the LinkedIn network.
The most valuable chapter, and by far the largest, is chapter 5 "Ten ways to get LinkedIn to work for you". There Ajay covers these ten topics:
i Your Ever Expanding Rolodex
ii LinkedIn Answers: A Global Focus Group
iii Networking Plus
iv Branding and Marketing Yourself
v Hiring People
vi Finding a Job You Love
vii Finding Vendors and Service Providers
viii Running Background Checks
ix Entrepreneurs: Get Opinions and Investors
x Selling & Brand Building
I would have liked to see more on using LinkedIn for personal branding, but then again, personal branding is one of my special interests. Other chapters where eye opening for me about subjects I had not given much thought before.
If you are serious about advancing your professional career and making the most of your personal brand and your network, LinkedIn is a must and Ajay's book "Let's Connect" is your guide, whether you're new to LinkedIn or not.
I have been thinking more about the effect that Kindle might have on the publishing industry and what role the book has as we know it, since my article yesterday. Ajay Jain from Techgazing.com asked me yesterday if I thought Kindle would have the same effect on publishing industry as mp3 players have had on the music industry. So here is my answer to that:
I think the biggest revolution with Kindle might be that publishing an e-book becomes more real. That is only on digital form and not in paper. Those publishers that will fight against Kindle will lose, those who adapt and see and seize the opportunities it opens will grow.
I can see Kindle rule the textbook market, all those books you don’t really want but have to read. It will also be popular for books you need to read for other reasons, dictionaries, encyclopedias, business books and practical books of all sort.
But isn’t saying that this will kill the printed book like saying McDonalds would kill home cooked food. It’s fast, cheap and easy but we are still going to want “gourmet” books that have the smell of ink, the feel of paper and that have this weight when you hold them in your hand, like it's because they contain some heavy thoughts.
They also make a much better gift than the other one. I definitely see the practical side of having something like Kindle, but as a book lover and collector, I will never give up reading books the good old way.
You can read more interesting responses and comments to Ajay Jain's question on his blog Techgazing.com.
Monday last week Amazon launched their new e-book device which they call Kindle. Coming from a family of poets and printers, I love books and have collected them since before I learned to read. My first reaction when I heard about Kindle was that it would never gain popularity. I want to have the book in my hand, feel the paper, smell the print, sensing if it's old or new, being able to make marks, write on the margins of the pages and so on (well, actually, I would never do that to a book, I take my notes in notebooks).
A few questions come to mind regarding Kindle. From a practical point, when I'm flying I'm not allowed to have my computer on in take off and landing so I pick up a book. Can I use Kindle or is that forbidden too? And what is the cost. If I can read blogs and news on my phone for free, am I willing to pay for it on Kindle? What's in it for me? The cost of the device is $399 but that includes the wireless network. You can connect through Amazon's own 3G network at anytime without ever paying for it. But then again, I pay for reading blogs, newspapers and books. People have different opinions about paying for that stuff when at the same time newspapers like New York Times and Wall Street Journal are dropping their subscription fees online.
I haven't seen Kindle yet here on my arctic island but I've read what others are saying, like Guy Kawasaki who got to be an early tester. And the more I read, the more I would like to try it out. Because from what I've heard, you can add comments, tags and notes which sounds like a nice thing. The screen is made of digital ink so it looks just like ordinary paper with no backlight. That is a very important thing because that means you can read the screen in direct sunlight (which is a problem with my laptop) and you want get as tired in your eyes from reading. I can upload the books instantly which is a big plus and don't need to connect it to any other device such as a computer or phone.
It would have been very nice to get the Seth Godin collection free with the device, even though I have many of his books already, but I guess that is not an option as it is. Another interesting option regarding the payment system is if I can monetize my blog on that. As it is, the subscription to my blog is free (yes, you can become a subscriber via email - for FREE! Just sign up here on the left.). But that would never be much money. I also guess I have to have a few thousand subscribers before they take my blog into consideration. So I don't know. I need to try it to be convinced it's worth it.
You can check Kindle out for yourself in this video here below:
Now the scary part is what will happen if I lose my Kindle. Will I lose my whole library? And all my notes and tags? That would be disastrous. I read the product description and reviews on Amazon and it is obvious they have spent those three years they used on development well, because they seem to have an answer to all my worries and skepticism. That includes an online library where I can store my books and retrieve them at any time.
Unfortunately, Kindle: is only sold within the US so I can't try it yet. But I look forward to the time when I can.
They say on Amazon that the first shipment is sold out but they are taking orders for the next one. So if you hurry, you might get one before Christmas.
written by 
. Coming from a family of poets and printers, I love books and have collected them since before I learned to read. My first reaction when I heard about Kindle was that it would never gain popularity. I want to have the book in my hand, feel the paper, smell the print, sensing if it's old or new, being able to make marks, write on the margins of the pages and so on (well, actually, I would never do that to a book, I take my notes in notebooks).