It’s time to talk….

This is pretty much the only blog I’ll write on this, as it is not for me (or anyone else come to that) to say what people should and shouldn’t do with their privacy.

Anyway, cutting straight to the point – like you, my single most personal possession is my mobile number.  I’ve had it longer than the house I live in and have no intention of changing it.  It’s the keys to the door of me.

Now the strange paradox is – as my networks, groups and contacts grow I have to give this cherished possession out more and more and effectively surrender control of it.  But like you I know the single most important and powerful way to connect and communicate, to build a relationship of any kind is….to talk – so where do we go?

Through paginglist.com I can now speak to my world – but on my terms and without giving out my phone numbers ever again.  With my paging tag I can tell the world how to contact me but choose who can and who can’t call me.

I can be in absolute control of my connection – I can talk to my networks, groups and friends safe in the knowledge that at all times I am in control.  If I don’t add them to my paging list then they can’t call me.

So think this through – what could this mean to you?….think….LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, e-bay, match.com, gaming and on and on and on…..

And now consider what it means to you to know that your daughter (or son) no longer needs to hand out their phone number in the playground, or at the school disco, or in a chatroom…..when your daughter finally splits up with big, bad Bob she deletes him from her paginglist and he can never, ever contact her again – period.

Think about looking for work – not wanting to put your number out into the ether, but wanting to be connected.  Think about how powerful your networking can become.

Think about selling your car – think about buying something on craigslist – think about talking to an online buddy even when they are offline – think about choosing which phone rings and when – think about being always connected.

Finally and importantly think about your personal brand – think about how you can build it, strengthen it, cement it and expand it by talking more.

Today Paginglist.com is vanilla – the flavours will begin to flow – we have lots to share with you.

Talk to more people, build your network, truly put the social into your social media – but always enjoy your privacy.

Hope you like it, hope you share it and hope you have fun!

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Take my footprints….I won’t walk on your beach!

OK a very dramatic title, but think….part of the pleasure we take in walking down a beach is looking back at the story our footprints tell.  Now what you don’t want is some Gumbo running up behind you trying to sell you something that could improve the way you walk, or even worse a Neil Sedaka CD because that’s what they thought they heard you hum….even though it was Back in Black by AC/DC!…Now how did they get to these conclusions….by looking at your footprints and not at you.

So it’s the old ramble on Social Media, communication and privacy is it Smithy?

…well not quite so much of a ramble this time, more a call to arms…more of a knowing wink that there is a new way coming.  A way by which more, far more information and communication can take place in social media land than ever before.  Even voice connections at anytime – you could even put your the whole of your social DNA out to the ones who you want to share it with WITHOUT risk of it being hijacked in the name of advertising “something-that-we-think-you-might-like-lots-and-lots-because-once-you-or-actually-it-might-have-been-a-friend-of-yours-said-that-you-drank-Cherry-Coke-but–wanted-Pepsi-and-that-Costa-is-better-than-Starbucks-blah-de-blah-de-blah-please-buy-please-buy”.

Ironically the about face on this is….if we have the privacy, then the degree of communication we share with each other is more valuable, more often and becomes more meaningful….which of course increases the value of the “social” bit of social media.

Anyway, put simply if you know you are only ever heard by the people you want to be heard by….then the strangest of things happens…you share more, with more people – you actually become more connected and more integrated into your networks – social and professional.

Imagine a world where you could even look for work and speak to employers without giving out  your contact number…imagine the day you find the dream job you can turn recruiter and agency calls off….the day you want calls you simply turn them the calls on again….imagine selling a car without paying to advertise it, but only for the calls from people who want to buy it….and….(you know where this is going)…the day you sell it you simply switch off the calls about your car….one more for the non believers – just imagine being able to connect a whole social network of your choice and enabling them all to speak to you WITHOUT EVER compromising your own personal privacy.

Now take all of this communication and all this privacy, and imagine that there are no constraints….Employers/Candidates/Sellers and Buyers don’t have to be online to make it happen….it can just happen….

Imagination is a wonderful thing, best of all its landing at a mobile near you and sooner than you think.

Thanks for putting up with me folks!  Rest assured I’ll lift the cloak up at the end of June…

Cheers all,

Chris.

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In the last month tremors have been felt in social media land….tremors that have begun with the Jericho trumpet calls of – Twitter  turn your tweets into gold, YouTube turn your content into cash and Facebook turn your friends into funds!…..the tremors are going to get worse as to date the best thing these social behemoths have come up with (from the sensory room with all the cushions in)…..is…..wait for it…..advertising!

Do not get me wrong, I love Amazon telling me that I’ll probably “like this if I like that” BUT at that point in time I am shopping and happy to be sold to.  To me this is fine, normal and expected, (after all people talk to me when I go into a shop on the high street and try to sell me more than I need).  However, when a company milks a personal profile, scours a social footprint and then bundles it all up to enable someone to punt their wares I think their world starts to shake a little more!

The founders of these phenomenally successful sites, that were after all set up with a greater purpose in mind, are almost apologetic about the need to make money.  This said, to try to do it from advertising is just devoid of the creative juice which runs through their veins and makes me think the suits might have won.

Social medias strength is that it is a “social” experience,  an extension of the human condition to communicate – you don’t mind when a mate comes in the pub and tells you about the new trainers he’s bought for about 30 seconds over a pint, but you would find it a little odd if he came in, did a presentation about them, tried to bring up the subject every time someone remotely mentioned exercise or fashion and compelled you to try them out…in fact you’d probably get up leave him there and go somewhere else.  Therein lies the problem…..so what to do?

Right Smithy no adverts then…..so where will the money come from?

Well just appreciate and improve what you’re  good at…..and to me the simple key to the success of social media is COMMUNICATION…..so to my mind, what to do is even simpler ; improve this bit the opportunity to communicate,  make advances here, charge pennies for it and hey presto people gladly pay and continue to come in their droves.

So…..enter the world of Mobile 2.0…..marry the media to the mobile and everyone wins.  I’ll say no more but watch this space.

Cheers all,

Chris.

P.S. What if anything does this mean to recruiters?  Well the good guys out there are the kings of communication – and if social media could finally mean turbo charging their ability to communicate, (say with a virtual resourcer) then it’s something to empower us and something we should embrace.

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Here’s a little bit about me…

Born and bred in the West Midlands – up the Villa!…..no choice born to that one.

University (ahem Poly) in Swansea, BA Hons in Business.

Then  20 years in recruitment…in a nutshell;

Started at the telco recruiter S.Com as a resourcer and 7ish (great) years later left to set up on my own.

So, in my old back bedroom, founded and took ecrmpeople (with my long time friend Steve Morrisey) from  ”start up” to a GBP£12 Million company. It was acquired in its entirety by the Interquest Group in 2007.

My latest venture is yourpeoplemarket.com, which is a bit like marmite, but is all about delivering market forces into our exciting market and creating an environment where people buy from recruiters and not brands…..NAKED RECRUITMENT if you like!

Very briefly, yourpeoplemarket.com is an online talent marketplace that is all about driving service levels up and delivering value to employers, whilst at the same time giving recruiters (of all sizes) real, immediate revenue opportunities.

Our goal after all is to become a normal part of an employer and recruiter’s day.

My other business interests sit around leveraging what I have learnt to date and include an interest in a music agency and just about the greatest application of mobile technology (Mobile 2.0 as I like to call it!) we will see in a generation….watch this space on that one!

What else…well, I like spending time with the family (two amazing kids and a beautiful wife) and boxing – I try not to combine the two though!

Cheers all.

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