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Ah, the sweet irony

May 14th, 2005 by mhjones

Y’know, it’s amusing to think that a blogger like yours truly has gone to work at a big media company that buys ink in bulk. Even funnier that the job’s demands basically prohibits posting during the day. Although, having said that, at least I don’t have to worry about feelings of guilt for blogging during the day.

However, it’s still just as interesting to write about some of the trends that are influencing the online culture that’s feeding blogs, social networking and worldwide conversations.

This weekend’s Financial Review carries a story by yours truly in which I quote Michael Chanter from local ISP Bullseye, and my mate Mick. The essence of the piece is that Michael has secured some business from Telstra via relationships he established through LinkedIn.

If you’re curious, the article came about after I pitched a different story about a new social networking company setting up shop in Australia (news I’ll break this coming week in the Fin’s Information section). One of the news editors piped up during our daily news conference (the Fin’s edit managers planning meeting) and questioned whether social networking actually works. He was implying it didn’t, and you can’t blame him.

The suggestion was made that if I can find someone who’s actually making money from social networking, it would probaly get a run in the national news pages. And that of course is one of the Information section’s goals – the more stories we get pushed forward into general news the better it is for my Information section team, and the IT industry itself gets better visibility.

So I took the challenge and started calling my LinkedIn contacts. Michael was probably my second call, and there it was, a Telstra deal. Bingo. 

If you’ve got a subscription, this link should work. If you don’t, here’s a few lines from the story to give you the idea:

Online social networks can be strictly business

Author: Mark Jones
Date: 14/05/2005
Words: 431
Source: AFR		         Publication: The Financial Review
Section: News
Page: 8
Professionals-only websites can help users find the right contacts, writes Mark Jones.

Michael Chanter was looking for an insider at the country’s biggest phone company but wasn’t getting very far. Finding the right contact inside a large organisation like Telstra can wear down even hardened professionals.

Instead of getting angry, Chanter, managing director at Bullseye Internet Solutions, flexed his social networking muscle and looked to the internet for help.

Once the domain of the desperate and dateless, business people like Chanter are discovering professionals-only networking sites can deliver the goods.

Chanter is a member of a social networking website called LinkedIn, one of dozens of business-only networking sites with dotcom names such as Orkut, Ryze, Friendster and Ecademy.

LinkedIn stores the personal information of 2.5 million registered users from around the world, 40,000 from Australia. It works on a confidential referral system. If you can’t find the right person, a friend might direct you to a valuable contact.

Chanter discovered one of his LinkedIn contacts worked inside Telstra and, over coffee, they discussed how he could pinpoint the right decision maker to discuss business.

"It can be a useful way to get an entree," Chanter says. "If we believe there is an opportunity somewhere we will use it to see if it can give us a bit of leverage."

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