In case you didn't think LinkedIn is for you

An interesting post on LinkedIn today reinforced the notion of six degrees of seperation...and that through social media those degrees are reduced to one or two. A man in Bahrain posted about a bet he made with his boss: that for ever comment or "like" on his LinkedIn post, his boss would pay him a dollar.

Now, whether or not his boss holds up his end of the bargain or whether this bet is even true, the image below clearly demonstrates how quickly people can connect. For me, this post was highlighted by two of my own contacts neither of which have direct connections to the original poster I suspect. In less than five days, this post made it my way....and yes, I liked it!

Don't underestimate the power of social media and the desire for humans to connect. For good, bad, or otherwise, online communication travels quickly and in directions you cannot always plan. Here's the result:

The art of time suckage is contagious

I have always been early. Overly early. I would much rather arrive well in advance and end up waiting for someone, than be making a mad dash to be on time or running late. And for the most part I realize that I am one of few people built this way and so it doesn't bother me when someone else is a bit tardy. Life is busy right? The public transit is tricky. A neighbour stops to chat. And forgetting something can force a quick run back home. I get it.

But in business I find myself getting more and more agitated at the lack of respect for the function of time. And not because I find myself waiting. But because I now find myself pushing meetings (3, 4 times), rescheduling tasks, adjusting timelines, and making excuses because the :00 and :30 that signify a meeting start/end have seemingly no value to many other people.

Infographics....why are they awesome?

Today Kobo posted an infographic about the romping fun of readers to help promote our Fifty Shades of Grey titles. It's the first infographic I've been personally involved in from conception to completion and it's been a great exercise.

Things I like about infographics:
1. If the subject matter is remotely personal/embarrassing/controversial, creating an infographic will send you on wild searches for imagery.
2. In our case, we used the infographic to present survey results about romantic rendez-vous-ing. This infographic is now like a badge of honor for all the hard work that went into the overarching campaign.
3. Infographics are easy to share through social media. People look for these things online which means a simple #infographic in your Tweet can go a long way.
4. Your friends and colleagues will love you. Seriously, I'm amazed at what an infographic can do to have people recognize the work you do.

Things I learned about infographics:
1. Online tools like Easel.ly are pretty amazing. If you've got basic design skills and have access to PhotoShop you can create some amazing things. Keep in mind however, that the templates may limit your creativity.
2. You can post the infographic as a JPG or PNG, but it's so much better if you get your web guys to host it for you so that you can embed URL back to your site.
3. Remember to post the infographic direct to Twitter pics as well as URL (even if in separate Tweets). Otherwise, you'll miss an opp when people check out your pics online.

Have you done an infographic lately? Tell me about it!

Here's ours: