When You're "Being Networked"

A colleague of mine who is extremely well-connected in the world of broadcast media recently gave me a lesson in what it's like to be "networked."

When you meet someone for the first time here in the Caribbean the first decision that's usually made subconsciously is whether or not this person will become a personal friend.

A skilled networker, however, goes an extra step and asks themselves whether or not that person should be a part of their professional network.  I believe that the answer should almost 

always be "Yes."  So did he.

Once that decision is affirmed, there are a series of next steps to perform that will enable that person to become a part of your network, and hopefully help you to become a part of theirs.  I was on the receiving of my colleague's networking skills, and it was interesting to see him go through what I consider to be a standard set of steps that are worth repeating here for anyone who wants to build a professional network.

Step 1 -- Gather their contact information.  Make sure to get their personal email address, cell phone number

Step 2 -- Enter the information in a place where it's not only safe, but it can be effectively backed up

Step 3 -- Reach out with  social networking offers.  Through your Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo accounts, invite them to connect with you and share contacts, plus select personal information

Step 4 -- Point them to your published content.  (It doesn't have to be written, and could include photos, music, websites, mashups etc.)

Step 5 -- Interact with them by asking for feedback, sharing notes about your networks, requesting comments on your blog, etc.

Step 6 -- Ask them to subscribe.  Request that they join the list of subscribers to your RSS feeds, newsletters or any other frequently published content

Step 7 -- Stay in touch with them as they move around.  This takes work, but try to keep the channels of communication open as they change jobs, move homes, change relationships, etc.

It's important to note that this is not about getting more friends.There are lots of people that we work with, and would work with again that we have no interest in becoming friends with.  Having them in our network is not the same as having them as friends, and while some of the steps might appear to be similar as to the ones we'd take with friends, the motivation for taking the 7 Steps above is quite different. 

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Launching Networking Message Board

Good news to those who downloaded the e-book "The New Networking: Caribbean 2008."

I am launching a message board for everyone who has received the e-book, to act as a place for Caribbean professionals to meet and greet others who are also interested in expanding their networking skills.

If you have downloaded the e-book, you should already have received some instructions on how to enter the message board. If you haven't yet received your copy (it's currently free) simply visit
http://fwconsulting.com/newnetworking and you will receive the instructions a few days after receiving the e-book.

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The New Networking is Still Available

	A note from Francis I want to remind you that my e-book "The New Networking: Caribbean Professionals 2008" is still available for download for free. Simply visit the following page and you can claim your own electronic copy within a few minutes. You'll be joining over 200 other Caribbean professionals who have requested the e-book. Click here to claim a copy If you have other friends who would benefit from owning this 37 page text, you can notify them of the page to visit by visiting the following page and entering their email addresses. An email will be sent to them with the link: Send this link to 2 friends Thanks for being a part of my network! Francis P.S If you act quickly, you might be able to take advantage of a free offer I am making to take my 12-week online time-management programme valued at over US$50. The offer expires at the end of September, and will be sent to you 3-4 few days after you receive the e-book. I am limiting the number, so act quickly if you have an interest.

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A Deficit in Networking Skills

I just came across an interesting article describing a survey showing that 40% of job-seekers say they lack the networking skills they need to find a new job.

Not surprisingly, hiring almost all managers agreed.

Click here to be taken to the article.

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The New Networking: Caribbean e-book

In this blog, I have often posted on topics related to networking here in the Caribbean.

Over the past several months, I have been working with a local designer - Tavia Tomlinson - on an e-book that was recently released to the public, and is now available for free -- for now.

It's called "The New Networking: Caribbean 2008" and is available at http://fwconsulting.com/newnetworking
and includes 37 pages of text, audio and video.

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Gleaner Article on Networking

I wrote an article was published by the Gleaner this morning on networking.

http://go-jamaica.com/jobsmart/view_article_details.php?id=260

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Request The New Networking and Double Your Network

For those who might be interested, I will be releasing a multimedia e-book that I have been writing for some time in June. It's called "The New Networking: Caribbean Professionals 2008."

It's for those who might be interested in Doubling or Tripling the size of their professional network across the Caribbean region, and it's going to be offered for free on June 21st. I am going to waive the US$39 cost, but I don't know how long the free offer will run, whether it will be for 24 hours or 24 months... I still haven't decided. My wife and I are going back and forth on this decision...

Maybe you can help me make up my mind!

To sign up not to receive the e-book for free once it's released, simply fill out the form at... http://fwconsulting.com/newnetworking

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Doing Business with Internet Strangers

Here in the Caribbean, there has always been this tendency to want to meet someone before doing business with them. We want to "look dem in dem face" before deciding whether or not we can trust them or not.

We "don't know them from Adam", and we can't imagine putting good money at risk with a stranger. After all, we have no idea what school they went to, who their parents are, or what their friends are like. It all makes sense in a small-town kind of way.

However, this same kind of thinking keeps networks small, and professionals suspicious. It ensures that one's circle remains tiny, relative to the kind of network that is needed to operate a global business.

For example, in a small business, as soon as too many strangers get involved, an owner is likely to slow things down by insisting that he/she needs to meet the people involved himself.

When it comes to doing business on the internet, such thinking is damaging.

In this new era, business-people MUST become comfortable doing business with people they have never met, will never meet and who may not even speak the same language. For older business owners, this is quite difficult to do, having grown up in a time when everyone knew everyone else, and the fact that they lived on an island kept them away from much of the world.
For anyone starting a new business, however, this skill is critical -- knowing how to create partnerships via electronic means.

The sister skill of creating an online presence (by design versus by accident) is just as important., as people need to know whether or not you can be trusted, and are someone to do business with, without ever meeting you.

There is a systematic way of determining who can be trusted, and who can't. The easiest way is to learn who they are by knowing their friends. Facebook is a must in this regard.

Other ways include getting to know them through their content -- what they have written, composed, photographed, listened to, painted, blogged, created, started-up, accomplished, failed at -- anything that is a product of their efforts.

Malcolm Gladwell talks about "think-slicing" -- a way of understanding complex ideas in a moment. Figuring out whether someone you meet on the internet can be trusted can be built on that same skill.

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Weak Networking Skills in the Caribbean

What does it mean to say that a Caribbean manager has "weak networking skills"?

Does it mean that he or she is not charming and charismatic? Does not speak well? Does not follow-through? Is unwilling to take risks? How would you measure the ultimate result --a working, Caribbean network-- and the skill that it takes to build one?

First of all, it might be useful to distinguish what a Caribbean network is, versus a local network. For an island-dweller, a local network is one that ends where the sea starts.

For example, a Jamaican with only local "contacts" would know very few professionals outside their home country, in other countries in the region. A Caribbean network, by contrast, is one that reaches into several Caribbean islands.

Also, a well-built network would have more than mere acquaintances, or a list of names that someone has met "once at a party". The quality of these contacts would be built on more than just having a name and address. It would also include a professional impression, or personal brand -- something that is known about the person that sets them apart from other professionals. They may not be recognized on the street, but their ideas or accomplishments are are known by the persons in the network.

After all, anyone can build a list of key names and addresses from the Yellow Pages. A real network has more than just contact information (although this information must be included).

Someone with weak networking skills would be able to see it in the results -- a "local" network would be evidence. So would a network that does very little of the personal branding that a network is designed to use.

But, everyone starts from the same place, with no network to speak of. That's ground zero.

What would be the essential skills to develop in order to become a good networker?

Skill #1: Personal Branding
A good networker is able to think of themselves as a brand, and of their strengths as specific attributes to be emphasized. They also know that they must brand themselves around the areas that they have a true passion about.

Skill #2: Time Management
While everyone claims to understand how to network, few do the things that they know they should be doing. The common complaint I hear is -- "I don't have enough time."

Skill #3: Internet Relationship Building
This has nothing to do with a skill at a particular technology. Instead, it means understanding how relationships are created and sustained in cyber-space between working colleagues, sellers and buyers, writers and readers, Facebook friends, members of a discussion list and between people who make up different groups on the net.

Someone who is very weak at this skill would insist that "I have to see them face to face in order to trust them, or to do business with them." The world has changed vastly from that restrictive way of doing business, and someone who is not good at building internet relationships will simply be cut off from a great deal of business.

Skill #4: Technology Shortcuts
The cost of trying to build regional working relationships is just too high, and the cost of using the internet is too low to ignore as the alternative.

The cost and time of air travel and communication across the Caribbean region makes it expensive to use these methods to build relationships. A round -trip flight between the 2 largest economies, Trinidad and Jamaica, takes some 12 hours in the air, plus 8 hours to be transfer from airport to home or office. That's 20 hours, at least. The flight costs between US$350 and US$500.

A phone call for an hour costs some US$16. By contrast, Skype can be used to make an internet phone call for free.

The cost of sending a Christmas card from Trinidad to Jamaica is approximately US$0.90. The cost of an e-card or email is free.

These shortcuts are vital to use in order to break the barrier that these costs have created.

Skill #5: Having a Message, Getting It Out
Weak networkers are unskilled at getting their message out to the region. The weakest networkers, however, haven't even developed a message to send. They have not spent the time to find something unique to say, so even when they are given the opportunity to speak, or write publicly the little they have to say is pedestrian, and routine.

The best networkers are also not concerned about "people stealing their stuff",which would result in them keeping their messages to themselves -- hoarded someplace on their hard-drive. They use multiple channels to get their messages out to other professionals across the region.

Skill #6: Being Persistent and Regular
Weaker networkers may do all of the above things, but they only do them once. When nothing happens, they stop. The best networkers have found ways to continue to be motivated, knowing that they are building an asset for the long-term, rather than just a short-term opportunity. They continue to use their networking skills to expand their authentic interests. If for example, they have an interest in orchids, they merely expand that interest to the orchids of other Caribbean countries. They make friends in the other countries who share the interest, and get to know their friends as well. In this way, they stay interested.

Also, they find ways to make regular contact, ensuring that their messages reach the people who are in their network on a regular basis. They simply refuse to "drop off the radar". For some professionals, the challenge they have is managing their time in order to do these activities. For others, they just don't know that they should be doing these things.

Skill #7: Demonstrating an Interest in Other People
While some people have the gift of being charismatic, this is not really a skill related to networking. Neither is looking the part, or being well-spoken, or being smart. Much more important than these attributes is the ability to be authentically interested in other people, and what they are interested in themselves. This takes a level of awareness and commitment, plus some insight into the unique nature of human beings.

In conversation, the networker knows that people who feel as if they are being heard, and appreciated, are much more likely to enjoy the conversation than those who are subject to the networker's jokes, brilliance or resume. Giving others the gift of one's attention when the networker is tired, distracted or bored is a skill worth learning, by itself.

Weak networkers just cannot be bothered.

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Response to Christmas Cards

There is no mistaking that the advice that I picked up from a website about writing greeting cards was critical.

Basically, it was very simple. Add a personal note to every card. A handwritten note, that is. And no, not just a signature either...

This was tough medicine, as it meant that I would be writing a personal note in each of the greeting cards I sent to some 300 people across the region.

But, I did it -- as painful as it felt. I got writer's cramp, I complained to myself, and I had a strong feeling that I was wasting my time, but I persisted.

In the cards I shared about the difficulty my wife and I had transitioning to Jamaica, and how the second half of the year with its hurricanes, rains, dengue, and elections made it full of chaos and change. I said that I was looking forward to a more stable 2008.

It took a few weeks for me to realize that something different was happening -- many, many more recipients of my card were responding. Some sent email, others send cards, and one even sent a gift.

I was blown away. It turns out to have been well worth the extra effort, and I am very glad I made it.

Here is the original article I read, and here is another one that I just found that also seems to be helpful.

Original article - Personal notes to clients

New article - Writing Greeting Card Messages

All in all, sending a greeting card is such an old-fashioned gesture that it appears to stand out from the majority who just cannot bother, or who can only send a generic e-card (although I was forced to send some after running out of US postage). I credit the 2time - time management approach for my ability to do it without it killing me!

P.S. I found the link I originally got these ideas from: http://longtermclients.hubspot.com/44254/Blog/bid/2333/Personal-notes-to-clients-tip-sheet

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Already, always networking

The finishing touches are being put on Framework's new ebook on Caribbean networking and it struck me that a professional is always networking, whether they want to or not. This can easily be seen with what is currently happening on Facebook, which is making the activity of networking in the region much, much easier than it has ever been in the past.

When the topic of Facebook comes up, the reaction is usually one of two: either they talk about how addictive it is, or they talk about how little time they have and how they are too busy to be on Facebook.

The difference is interesting -- because Facebook does make networking easy. In fact, it makes almost ALL aspects of networking easy, effortless and it saves a great deal of time and effort.

It defies explanation to those who don't understand it, but I am coming to realize that those who don't have the time to be on Facebook are probably also the ones who don't have the time to network. In other words, they are willing to leave their networking to chance. They are willing to squeeze the activity in a little here and there.

What they don't know is that they would get a much bigger bang for their buck if they were to use a networking tool like Facebook. It is an extremely high-leverage activity.

Also, it is easy to see that on Facebook, the number of people using the free service is indirectly proportional to age. In other words, younger people have networks in the hundreds, while older people can hardly find ten.

The fact of the matter is that younger people are better networked than older people, and are using tools to give themselves a tremendous advantage over their older peers. They understand that they are always networking, whether they are thinking about it or not.

Their profile in Facebook is doing the work for them, and their presence in their friends' networks speaks for who they are in an efficient and time-effective way.

Those that "don't have time" to network are stuck with the old practices -- attending functions, giving out business cards, etc. -- that all take time, money and paper and they just have no idea what they are missing.

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Networking vs. Building a Network

It seems that people who get caught up in the idea of "networking" can get confused about the goals of their efforts.

It's easy to think that it has something to do with socializing, selling, making friends or liming. These activities all have their place, but they don't accomplish much in the long term.

Instead, the purpose of the activity is to "build a network."

The word "build" is important here. It implies the slow but steady expansion of something that starts off small, but eventually turns into something substantial.

Of course, once the network is built, it must be carefully pruned, fed and maintained to help it thrive. In this way, a good networker is more of a careful gardener than anything else, who has the patience to allow small actions to produce large results over time.

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The Young Future Business Leader: An Endangered Species? part 1 of 2

This discussion was triggered by the following Facebook.com group forum question: “What do you think of the 80% of the UWI graduates that leave Jamaica???”

I think after receiving an email from an executive on the island in response to my search for a postgraduate job so that I CAN move back home, I can understand why the UWI graduates leave...he reports plenty of bachelor degree-holding intelligent young people answering phones in call centers or stuck in positions that pay US$17,000 a year, because there are just not enough positions at the post-graduate entry level for them.

Then I see another trend as I survey SplashJamaica and other Caribbean job banks, where there are a lot of higher level roles that are empty and the companies are DYING for people to fill them, to the point where they hire expatriates, foreigners who need work visas.

There is obviously a disconnect there...and I know one immediate issue that causes it: the putting down of roots in the years following graduation from college. In the 5 years between graduation from college and the accumulation of enough experience to qualify for the higher level positions, people are not going to stop living their personal lives, and the ties that develop and the roots that are planted become the ties that bind. I for one wanted to reach back ASAP after graduation, and among other reasons, it was so that I would NOT encounter Mr. Right up here, and end up attached to someone whose career and immediate ties are with the U.S.! In those 5 years, people's lives become more complex at a faster rate than at any subsequent point in their lives…between 25 and 35 is the prime time that people are meeting, marrying, and laying the groundwork for advancement up the career ladder.

It becomes so much harder to successfully move back and reintegrate once those roots are set (especially if the other person is not from Jamaica, or at least from the Caribbean), versus the relatively simple shift when you are single, and fresh out of college (read: no roots implanted yet). Even without the relationship and other attachments naturally developing, there is the concept of getting “Americanized”…becoming so comfortable with the American way of life that it becomes hard to adjust to, or even understand any longer, the Jamaican way of life. (And this concept can be generally applied to becoming “foreign-minded” in any other destination country). Think of the analogy of a tributary flowing from a pond out to an ocean: The longer Jamaican companies leave Jamaica’s pool of talent spread out in foreign oceans, the more they assimilate and the harder it becomes to remove them from the masses and return them home.

EARLY BIRD RECRUITMENT (FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGE)

So that 80% that leaves, leave because they have no job waiting on them in Jamaica, and end up staying where they have gone because by the time they are qualified for the decent-paying positions, they have set down roots and become less flexible than they were as new graduates...in the U.S. companies are recruiting on my campus NOW for graduates in December 2007, April 2008, August 2008, and some are even recruiting now for as far out as December 2008! They jump on talent from EARLY. Success for a college program here is measured by what percent of each year’s graduates, on average, are placed in a job relevant to their academic level within six months of graduation. What is the measure of success for the University of the West Indies and other Caribbean institutions of higher learning? Are these institutions being drawn into a commitment to do their part to keep the majority of the brains of the Caribbean IN the Caribbean?

Are Jamaican companies providing relevant, detailed internships for college students with progressive levels of responsibility that give them exposure to the business, the normal duties of the position, and to the executives? Are companies in Jamaica, and across the Caribbean, developing leadership programs to develop talent from early in the way they want that talent to go? One of the places I am interviewing with has a 2 year rotational leadership development program that gives you 6 months in each major facet of the business, which is crucial knowledge that would take way too much time (years-wise) to accumulate by working up and laterally through the ranks! Is anything like that happening in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, or anywhere in the Caribbean?

To Be Continued…

By Michelle Graham Day
Contributing Business Writer

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HR Trend #2 -- Social Networking

CEO: "We need a social networking site in this company to enhance our CRM efforts and to enable knowledge sharing."

VP-HR: "A what?"

Last year, a friend of mine shared with me the fact that he was joining a new company that specialized in social networking in companies.

I had an idea of what he meant in theory. I thought I knew what Facebook, MySpace and the all the rest of these sites were all about.

That is, until I joined Facebook -- and I was amazed. Not only did was it interesting, and addictive, it actually fills an important business need that I have always had to stay in touch with a large number of people.

I discovered that it makes the effort easy, efficient and that it saves ALL sorts of time. It has not only come, it is bound to stay.

Now, what my friend said to me makes perfect sense. Facebook, and social networking sites are coming to companies near you. And the larger the company, the more it is needed, especially for those companies in the region that are geographically dispersed. Here is a link to the company he works for: SmallWorldlabs.com

For the HR professional, it is a good idea to get into the swing of things NOW, before the conversation listed above happens. In fact, it would be a good idea for HR professionals across the region to pioneer the idea and demonstrate some leadership in implementing a tool that will be taken as a requirement (I think) in just a few years time.

To folks on CaribHRForum -- this is a great application that we could use to deepen our current level of networking. People have often asked me for a list of contact information for people on CaribHRForum and it just does not exist. Their idea was that if they visited another country it would be great to arrange to have lunch with a member here and there.

Great idea! A tool like Facebook would be quite helpful to all of us, even if only a half were to use it.

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Caribbean CRM and Facebook

Here is the genesis of new possibility...

In an earlier post, I mentioned the idea that doing CRM properly here in the region would benefit from a way of finding out who are the people in a prospect's network.

Funnily enough, I am discovering that Facebook is precisely and exactly the right solution to the problem of finding out who is in one's network. Here in the Caribbean, this equates to opportunity, as everything important is done through "who you know" and for the first time, you can find a LOT of people that are known and trusted by each other without asking them directly.

I am amazed that no-one seems to have taken advantage of this in any way that I can see.

Amazed.

But I am sure it's just a matter of time before someone sees Facebook as more than just a cute application, and an addictive pastime, and starts using it to get into the world of influential people.

Actually, maybe the folks over at Boom Networking may have gotten the right idea. They have opened up a page on Facebook to advertise their next event this weekend. If I weren't on Facebook, I wouldn't have heard about it, and I have been trying to attend one of their events for the longest time. (Once again, I'll be missing out, too.)

Stay tuned for more on this topic.

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Discovering Facebook

Recently, I checked out Facebook (and also Myspace) to find out what the fuss was all about.

Something about the whole social networking thing left me feeling like it was too close to match.com, and too far from something that had a serious business application.

Well, my initial suspicions were terribly wrong.

Here in the Caribbean, Facebook is a excellent way to maintain business contacts, given the geographic distance that we have to overcome, Ironically, in recent speeches I have been giving on the power of using the internet for networking, I never imagined that these tools would have a regional use, but they sure do.

As I experiment some more I'll probably be writing about how users are able to get to know someone on all sorts of levels at the same time. Knowing someone in business terms is only a part of the overall picture that one can have, and the truth is that we in the Caribbean rely as much on social connections as we do on those related to family and business.

I am sure to get into this topic more in the future, especially as I am writing an ebook on the very topic of regional networking. More on this to come.

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JobSmart Series: Staying in Touch

This week's edition of the Jamaica Gleaner's JobSmart series: Staying in Touch.

Written by me.

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Following the Lines of Trust

What is the most effective way to hire an executive in a different Caribbean country?

Is it a matter of finding the right newspaper to place the best advertisement in?

Or does it have something to do with finding the best online employment job board to use?

I have found myself giving a different kind of advice to different companies across the region.

The reason why an advertisement might work in-country is that there already exists a certain amount of trust between the reader and the company. The company that tries the same approach, however, will easily run into problems when they apply it to a different country.

What should be done?

My hypothesis is that Caribbean professionals change jobs when they believe they can trust the company, board and the executives that are doing the hiring. I think that there is a threshold of trust that must exist for a top executive to change jobs, and the better the executive, the higher the threshold.

The two exceptions are not attractive ones. A desperate executive might take an job that looks half-decent. A greedy one may take be willing to work for anyone who bids the highest.

(This is where Jamaica may be very different from Trinidad and Barbados, both now and in the foreseeable future. Both Barbados and Trinidad are virtually at full employment, and there is no shortage of executive opportunities given the barriers to entry that exist for professionals. Jamaica's economy remains in the doldrums, yet it remains a relatively easy country to gain entry to work.)

I have been advising clients and colleagues who are engaging in job searches to conduct the search through warm channels, using people that they already know, and friends of friends. In other words, follow the lines of trust.

These lines of trust run through each of our countries, and in the smaller countries, they play an even more important role.

Perhaps hiring the right executive is all about following the lines of trust until they reach the right person.

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Networking Articles in the Gleaner

This week, there were a couple of articles on the topic of networking in the Gleaner, referencing some of the work of Framework Consulting.

May 15th

An article entitled: Building an Online Presence was written primarily for young professionals in the JobSmart section of the Gleaner Online

May 16th

Also, an article entitled: Networking: Moving Beyond the Cocktail Circuit summarizing the JEF convention 2007 speech recently given.

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Links to JEF Speech

Here is a summary of the speech given over the weekend to the JEF Convention 2007. To access the speech, check the following links:

For Audio: http://fwconsulting.podomatic.com/

For the Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/fwade/networking-strategies-for-the-csme-professional

Here is the press release:

New ways to network for Caribbean Managers

Kingston, Jamaica, May 5, 2007: Attendees at the JEF Convention 2007 in Ocho Rios on May 5^th, 2007 were challenged to upgrade their networking skills to keep pace with the threats and opportunities of CSME. The speech they attended at the conference was entitled “Networking Strategies for the new Breed of Caribbean Managers.”

The workshop was lead by Francis Wade, a Jamaican consultant and President of Framework Consulting In., headquartered in Hollywood Florida, USA. Mr. Wade, the founder of the 14 year-old firm, has been working with companies in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica to address business issues that have a particularly difficult people dimension. During that time he has had to develop some innovative techniques for networking that “violate accepted wisdom.”

In his speech, Mr. Wade noted that the old ways of networking – on the golf course and on the cocktail circuit - were only suited for a small subset of professionals. He said “business-people who force themselves to attend these kinds of events give networking a bad name.”

Instead, he advocated an authentic approach that anyone can follow, building on real commitments, rather than manufactured interests. He gave the following 10 tips:

1) Be Brave: Don’t follow the crowd, and allow yourself to be distinctly different from everyone else

2) Know What You Are Passionate About: Pursue whatever area of interest you have, and become an expert in that, rather than following areas that are popular, “logical” or even areas in which you have current skills but no real interest

3) Drop the Miami mind: Think of yourself as a Caribbean professional rather than having half your mind in the USA, Canada or England

4) Reach Out From Your Interests: Take the areas you are passionate about, and find others in the Caribbean who share them

5) Ignore Distractions: If someone tells you what you “should” be doing to network, and it doesn’t fit your natural interests, ignore them! Also, if the actions you take feel forced or contrived, stop them.

6) Embrace Internet Technology: If you have a distrust of new technology or the internet, overcome it, knowing that your future as a professional is inextricably tied to how you are presented in cyberspace

7) Google Yourself: Use a Google search to see what is already being said about you on the internet. Make this your baseline

8) Design an Online Self-Portrait: Define the online “portrait” of your accomplishments, skills and interests that you would like people to see on the internet

9) Actively Participate: Join in and contribute to online discussions related to your areas of interest especially if they are Caribbean based. If they don’t exist today, create them by sending out invitations to regional partners

10) Write!: Find interesting ways to use ezines, blogs and mentions on web-pages to share your thoughts on your authentic areas of interest. Write frequently!

The Bottom Line is that professionals must take advantage of the changes coming with CSME and the existence of internet technology to network in a way that feels natural. While our literacy rate in Jamaica puts us at a disadvantage compared to countries such as Trinidad and Barbados, we are often seen as being more assertive and outgoing, and we should use this to our advantage.

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