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The Transferable Skills of Networking & Flirting

It’s Friday night after a long week at work or school and you head to the bar with a couple friends to unwind. Yep, you’re single. You’ve been too busy focusing on project deadlines and reaching targets, that your love life has been pushed aside. You walk up to the bar, order yourself a beverage and bump into an interesting person beside you. You make casual conversation and begin to build a connection with that person.

Surprisingly, networking and flirting share a number of similarities.

1) It takes confidence to network or to flirt.

The hardest thing for either of the two is initiating conversation. The biggest mistake is to not make the first move. Whether it’s a casual setting or a professional environment, take the initiative to introduce yourself. It both scenarios it proves you are a self-starter and self-reliant, qualities both valuable to the workforce and relationships.

2) Talk about them. It’s the topic they know most about.

When at a loss for what to say, ask them casual questions about themselves. If the conversation is genuine and comfortable, they’ll be willing to share just about anything. Keep the tone of the conversation light and positive.

For example, in a professional setting ask them their occupation. A fun follow-up question would be what it was they wanted to be

when growing up.

To translate this tactic into the world of flirting, ask them entertaining questions like what Disney character they’ve always wanted to be, or how they tie their shoelaces… with the bunny ears or through-the-loop?

3) Finish off with getting their contact information.

Whether it be flirting or networking, a good conversation and connection should always be followed up with exchanging contact information. In both scenarios, asking for their business card would be appropriate way to proceed along with offering them yours.

Personally, if you’re looking for love, I would suggest giving them your personal number as well. The business card exchange is merely to prove you have a career and not just a 9-5 job.

Follow-up with your new contact in both scenarios to be able to build a relationship based on your first impression.

Although the skills of networking and flirting share similarities, I would never recommend flirting your way into the corner office. Both flirting and networking hold one key factor a priority: Respect.

What other skills or tactics do you think prove valuable to both flirting and networking? Tweet your response to @brandon_sousa or comment below.

How Bitcoins will change the world

People are getting frustrated with the state of the world. These days, with our crumbling global economies, our depleting natural resources and the increasing popularity of Justin Bieber, there doesn’t seem to be much optimism in governments.

Enter bitcoins. The revolutionary idea was introduced in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoins are an online currency; an electronic, open source, peer-to-peer currency that has no central banking server, these coins are secured, non-taxable, and untraceable.

Here’s why they’re great:

· Bitcoins can be sent directly through the internet, without going through any medium (like a bank).

· There is a finite number of bitcoins in existence. This means that no one can artificially inflate the money supply and lower value.

· When bitcoins are transferred, an electronic signature is added, guaranteeing authenticity.

· All transaction records are published, but ownership can remain anonymous.

· Bitcoins can be traded and exchanged for US dollars, Euros, etc.

Users can buy video games, gifts, books, and many other physical items with their bitcoins. Online “wallets” are used to keep a record of a user’s available bitcoin balance and transaction history. Although there have been a few setbacks, bitcoin is taking steps to ensure security.

The internet has already changed the way we connect socially; now there’s a good chance it will change the way we connect financially.

Do you think the Bitcoin movement is the new social media frontier?

Sorry, can't work. Tweeting.

Admit it, you’ve tweeted at work before. Or checked Facebook for newly tagged photos of yourself. I’ve done it. It has become almost second nature for our generation to pull out your smartphone and share a funny picture with your followers. This all happens much to the dismay of employers. Previous employers banned the use of Internet for personal surfing, but I couldn’t resist going on Facebook in that limbo time between three and five p.m.

If you are one of the rare ones who has never surfed the Internet at work or school for personal reasons, you might want to start. According to a Socialcast study, employees who engage in workplace Internet leisure browsing, or WILB, are 9 per cent more productive than those who don’t. “Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days’ work, and as a result, increased productivity,” said Dr. Brent Coker, University of Melbourne.

These are the main reasons 54 per cent of employers ban personal Internet use:

• It’s a distraction leading to decreased productivity
• It uses up precious bandwidth
• Potential for legal liabilities
• Corporate information can be leaked
• The risk of viruses

In her post, Amanda mentioned the Cisco Connected World Technology Report and the importance of the Internet to our generation. Out of the 2,800 college students and recent graduates surveyed, 56 per cent said they would refuse to work at a company that bans social media. This not only shows the changing mindset of young professionals, but it’s evidence that companies need to be more aware of what new employees expect from them.

Here's an infographic Socialcast made from the study:

What are your thoughts? Would you turn down a job offer if the company had banned social media use? Do you find taking social media breaks increases your productivity?

Electric courage or digital downfall?

Electric Courage is the free social media application that is turning the awkward “breaking the ice” in dating scenarios into risk- free texting. Electric Courage was launched in October, 2011 for Iphone, Blackberry and Android by four Hamilton, Ont. young professionals.

Electric Courage offers shy people in the same location a place to flirt online in real-time before they make any human to human contact.

 To post an online ice-breaker on Electric Courage here are the steps:

     1)   Log into Electric Courage

     2)   Check in to the location.

     3)   Connect with flirt wall.

     4)   Look at all the texts posted on the wall.

     5)    In your post include descriptive words about the   person you  want to talk to (ex.hair colour, eye colour or clothing etc.)

     6)   Write a brief message.

     7)   Connect!

Who is Electric Courage for?

1)   People who are too shy to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation.

2)   People wanting a low-risk form of interaction. The rejection level is minimal.

3)   People who don’t want to replace face to face conversations, but just need a boost to get them started.

The potential downside to Electric Courage is that some people are focusing more on their virtual  lives than their real lives.

Do you think we should “electrify” the dating scene or stick with our roots and simply work up some courage on our own?

Managing your online reputation

The internet has a far wider reach than small town or campus gossip, this can be both positive or negative depending on how you manage your online reputation.

Nowadays, your digital footprint is the mirror to your personal and professional success. Simply avoiding an online reputation actually appears to be more suspicious than having one.

Almost everything you do and say online is easy to track and can have an impact on your reputation, both online and offline. The internet has a vast catalog of details and you may be surprised at just how much information on you can impact how you are perceived as a person and professional.

We are all well aware of the fact that many, if not all, recruiters and human resource professionals do basic searches, explore personal websites and check social media sites of potential hires.

Now that we’ve ‘grown up’ and are considering crucial steps to our careers and futures, it is definitely a good time to re-evaluate the content about us that is available to everyone via the internet.

Show off you best side by managing your online reputation with these starter tips:

1. Start by doing a basic google search on yourself and continue to check every so often
2. Deactivate unused accounts and remove yourself from unprofessional groups
3. De-tag yourself from inappropriate facebook or online photos, or if possible request the owner of the picture to remove it
4. Update your emails or aliases from the old "hot_sexy@hotmail.com" or "@hotsexy" to something basic and professional like your first and last name
5. Don't let someone else create your reputation--from now on control photo tags and
6. discriminating or false information on you
7. Use the online world positively to create a desired presence and to counter any negative information about you- ensure there is more good than bad
8. Make sure all online account are secure by having strong passwords or regularly changing them
9. At all costs continue to manage your online reputation

Starting to manage your “whuffie”, or online credibility, now while continuing to keep an eye on it can save you some embarrassment and ensure there won’t be anything to hide in the future.

Have you begun to tackle this? Do you have any online reputation management tips to offer?