It is time to fully embrace the information age

Email had transformed my business life and the ability to communicate with my clients, staff and business colleagues was exponential. I joined Linked in and many other social media applications.

But then something happened to rapidly change that trajectory, little did I know I was about to make a decision that would mean I was going to get left behind for a number of years. I don’t know if age has anything to do with it but when face book came, this new type of social media, I really wasn’t feeling it and I decided to opt out. I reluctantly allowed my wife to set up my profile but I had already decided I didn’t want to play. I reasoned I already get in excess of 30 emails a day and if I don’t deal with them daily my inbox gets unmanageable in a matter of days. Getting involved with something else would just be too much.

Two things have made me reflect on the implications of that decision which meant that I have now become a bit of a techno-phobe.

Firstly I put in my goals that by the second quarter of this year I would update my website, start a blog and research how social media could help my business.

The second reason is a bit longer to explain. It starts with Economic Clouds. Let me explain the scene is set – it is a Tuesday evening at the beginning of May, the venue is the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham and David Smith Economics Editor of the Sunday Times is about to address an audience of mainly accountants on the topic “The Economic Cloud and its Silver Lining” I have four guests/mentees with me where I am introducing them to my business networks, coaching them about networking and also exposing them to good intellectual debate.

It was at this event that I started to feel like those people who said they would never use a mobile phone or those that said this email and internet fad would go away. David Smith was taking questions by twitter whilst the talk was going on. I wanted to tweet but I have to admit I felt completely intimidated because the only way I knew how to ask a question was to put my hand up. What convinced me that I needed to change my paradigm was when two of the mentees that I had taken to the talk, where I was supposed to be teaching them how to network, had tweeted their questions and they were being answered right there in front of me.

So what have I done since then?

I share some of my findings to convince some of you to get with it, remind others of why they are already doing it and let those of you who are gurus know how far the rest of us are behind you.

Twitter Tips

• Sharing links to items of interest to your network – just add a link and the update is instant.

• Discover News and Articles You Otherwise Wouldn’t Have – this is one of my favourites I have found articles and information about key topics of interest to me in seconds that I wouldn’t have known about.

• Get Specific Answers and Advice from a Knowledgeable Pool – just tweet and wait for the response.

Linked In Tips

• Join groups specific to your area of interest – I have found some amazing links to governance networks and individuals in such a short space of time .

• Increase visibility – by updating my profile I have had numerous requests and comments• Improve Google rank page and search engine results.

• Improve connectability.

• Linked in answers – get answers from your network or group rather than an open network.

You can check out my new website at www.karlgeorge.com. Use /blog to get straight to the blog. You can check out my governance blog on www.acgpglobal.com. Use /blog to get straight to the blog. You can follow me on twitter @kggovernance and Facebook me or Link me on LinkedIn using KarlGeorge. Read my regular feature in www.thevinepublication.com Techy or what!!!