Love is (still) the killer app!

That's the title of a very cool book by Tim Sanders. A book about networking and creating value for others, kinda a pay it forward approach to business.

This post combines the wisdom of three of my favorite thought leaders and authors into resources to help you through this downturn (whether you are out of work or not). The thought leaders are Tim Sanders, Debbie Weil, and Seth Godin. The books that every young professional needs to own are Love is the Killer App, The Corporate Blogging Book, and Tribes - We Need You to Lead Us.

I got to meet Tim at my all-time favorite annual conference, Association Digital Nowin 2005. I think Tim's book is THE handbook for professional networking. Then I read Debbie Weil's post titled, Digital Cupcakes: Smart Marketing in a Downturn Whether You Are Out of Work or Not, Debbie (our uber blogging coach/consultant that got us started here at www.cpasuccess.com and www.newcpas.com) uses the cupcake metaphor to describe how to market yourself in a down economy. Here is her recipe for making your own digital cupcakes,

"Imagine you've created a digital trail of cupcakes. But they're not cupcakes. They're blog posts, Tweets, Facebook updates, Flickr photos and YouTubevideos. Taken all together, these digital bites add up to your digital footprint or your on-line presence.

If your digital steps are delicious enough (are they satisfying to others? provocative? useful?), folks will follow you and subscribe to you and pass around your (delicious) content.

Ultimately, they'll hire you or do business with you. Even now, people are hiring the brightest, the quickest, the smartest for short-term gigs or project work. Make yourself irresistible. Create some delicious content."

It is hard not to smile when you hear the word, cupcake, not to mention when you eat one! I am also pretty certain that cupcakes = love.

I immediately smiled and thought about Tim Sander's best practices for these digital times - building your knowledge, network, and compassion (love) and then helping others to help yourself. In other words, Love is (still) the killer app. That brings me to Seth (and Debbie).

Seth talks about networking that matters in this brief interview with Debbie Weil at the INC 5000 Conference in Washington, D.C. He talks about helping others achieve their goals both on-line and off-line. Take a minute to watch and listen to what he says about networking.

Here is Debbie interviewing Seth Godin about social media and networking:

So there you have it, Love, digital cupcakes, and creating your own tribe as the new way for new / young professionals to weather the economic storm.

What are you doing to survive and thrive in this downturn?

Don't miss our New / Young Professionals Leadership Track at the MDBIZEXPO on JUne 16th & 17th at the Baltimore Convention Center

And our own New / Young Professionals Network on Facebook, website

Follow MACPA's digital cupcakes on Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube

Comments

[Debbie Weil]

Tom,

You're the coolest! Ultra flattered to be in the company of Seth Godin and Tim Sanders.

[Julia Smith]

What great insight by Seth Godin! Great point about the superficiality of mindlessly adding friends just to add friends. He sees the underlying motivation. Am I doing this to help someone else? Do I genuinely care? Am I genuine or superficial? "Ouch" Thanks, Seth. Love those green frames, too!

[Johnny Galaga]

Networking does not matter when unemployment is 10%+. If all the same people go out and network or post stuff real carefully online, then you still have the same mass of people competing for the same few jobs.

And besides, half the employers do nothing more than tell you tell apply online which we all know is a waste of time.

[Tom Hood]

I disagree with your riff Networking matters for job hunting, for success in a career, and for maintaining relationships (in work and life).

Johnny, it seems you continue to rant from every angle and every subject you can find on our blogs. I am sorry you have seemed to have a bad experience in the CPA profession. Having a job that allows me to work with CPAs from all sectors and from students to retirees, I have to say that most have found it to be an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience.

I hope you find your calling soon.

[CPA Website Guy]

Seth is a marketing GENIUS. His blog is required reading here at the CPA Site Solutions Tribe. ;)

I'm not that familiar with Tim, but I love the title concept. I'm always pushing my clients to stop chasing Google rank and get down to some good old-fashioned networking!

[Daniel Stoica]

Those with pure motives will be successful in networking both on and off line.

Successful networkers derive an intrinsic satisfaction from contributing to others' success.

Thank You For the Awesome Post and vid.