Networking with the Big Oogans

Last night  I went to a networking event in downtown Chicago.  I have to admit that I was a bit weary to go network with a bunch of people who call themselves Oogans, but I was immediately put at ease by the wonderful people I met there.  Let me tell you a little bit about the Big Ooga.

The Big Ooga is run by a wonderful and friendly (but very petite - I say this as a 6 foot 2 woman) woman named Lennie Rose.

Lennie has this to say about the Big Ooga:  

"The Big Ooga started as a simple idea – make it easy for businesses to find great entrepreneurs and make it easy for entrepreneurs to find new clients – divide the resource by zip code to keep it local, and by industry and specialty to make it diverse.

Our events and subscriptions are purposely inexpensive so everyone can afford to participate and we're bringing back the idea of "come as you are" so you can relax and just be yourself.

We have created a forum where networks can network and people can create genuine alliances. We are founded on how fairly we treat each other, a collective professionalism and a generous spirit. We support the importance of local business communities and promote and partner with quality organizations. We are also dedicated to the joy of the journey, the thrill of entrepreneurship and most importantly, the success of our members.

Whether you have chosen entrepreneurship or it has chosen you, you are welcome here and we intend to propel you."

So anyway, I went to the Big Ooga event held at Buca Di Beppo in downtown Chicago and had a wonderful time.  I met some fantastic people, including, but not limited to: Will English, Izabella Stefnis  and Nicholas Economos.

After the usual awkward meet and greet, we sat down to listen to Mr. Jeff Willinger talk about getting your LinkedIn on. LinkedIn is a social media platform that over 45 million professionals use to stay informed about their industry and contacts, find various colleagues and knowledge needed to achieve goals as well as a way to control your professional identity online. 

Folks, I'll be honest.  I only joined LinkedIn a few years ago because I kept getting requests to join so and so's network and finally decided to take the plunge.  I have done diddly squat with it since then, so I was more than eager to find out how to use this tool more efficiently.  J Willie (as he calls himself - also his twitter handle) gave us some amazing key insights into getting more bang for your buck with LinkedIn.  For your convenience I'll summarize them below:

• Join various LinkedIn group within your industry.  Participate in discussions.  You're limited to 50 groups, so choose wisely.
• In the section that follows your name, there is a box that says "what are you working on?"  - Keep this updated, similar to Facebook.  The more posts you put here, the higher your Google juice.
• Put a synopsis under your name of your key talents.  No need to put your title here, since your title and company of employment is below.
• Make a new group!  Be an administrator and have the privilege of being choosy with whom you let join the group.
• Do not sell anything, or attempt to on LinkedIn, except yourself that is; and
• Take the time to write a personal note when asking someone if you can join their network.

I hope this helps bring a teensy bit more insight into the confusing world of LinkedIn.  Now go update your profiles people.

Comments

[brian oogan]

is this the name of the company, how canit be that is my family name in ireland,