LA cities connected: building real-world relationships with virtual networking
Ning Primer: Customize Your Profile Page
Okay, so you joined the Louisiana 2.0 network. Awesome. Now what? You can use your profile page to do a variety of cool (and professionally relevant!) things: promote your (or your company's) blog with an RSS feed, connect with colleagues from all over the state, and build your reputation through blog posts on whatever topic you're passionate/informed/excited about.
There's a lot you can do with the network outside your personal profile, but first, check out the many ways you can customize your "My Page" for maximum impact:
- Upload a Profile Photo: otherwise you're stuck with the default crazy-smiley face avatar. Putting a face to your name builds credibility. If that doesn't bother you, then do it for the people who want to connect with you in person at networking events.
- Answer the Profile Questions: and give us suggestions if there's something that we should be asking you, but aren't. What information are you looking for in order to make new connections through the network?
- Post to your Blog: less pressure than a "real" blog, your ning profile blog gives you an outlet for your opinions, and a way to share knowledge with other members. Who knows, a quality post or two could very well lead to new business!
- Make Friends/Send Messages to Members: unlike Facebook, where everyone is your "friend," joining the ning network doesn't automatically make you friends with other members. You can connect to people you already know and, more importantly, meet new people by using the "message" and "friend" options within your profile.
- Pull in Content from Another Website or Blog: you'll notice that your profile includes your very own RSS reader, which you can use to pull in feeds from your blog/website outside the ning network. Useful for promoting your blog, getting new subscribers, and generally making yourself known.
- Change the Appearance of Your Page: down to the very last detail. Use the "Edit Appearance" link in the upper right corner of your page to choose a new theme, use your own CSS and HTML, change fonts, colors, and so forth. When people visit your profile page, they'll know you're unique.
- Exploit the Text Box: add text, photos, embedded videos, or widgets (portable chunks of code used for anything from polls, twitter updates, news feeds or graphics.) You can build your own widget for free with Sprout Beta, which is very easy to do even if you still have no idea what a widget is. I added a LinkedIn button and poorly built Sprout with my text box. (Currently titled Widget Building Experiment.) Surely you can do better. Be creative!
- Ask a Question (or Start an Argument): by starting a discussion. This will show up on your profile page, as well as under the 'Forum' tab. You can start a new discussion by clicking the appropriate link in the "My Discussions" box on your profile page, or by starting a thread on the main Forum page. Looking for ideas or inspiration? Have a burning question, or something for others to ponder? Start a discussion thread!
Long story short, you have a lot of freedom when it comes to creating your profile page. There are lots of options, so feel free to experiment. (You can always restore the default settings if you hate the changes--they have a button for that.) Your page is all about you, and you can do just about anything you want with it.
Go ahead. Make your profile page a showcase, a shrine to your personal achievements. Once it's done, shoot me a note so we can feature your newly tricked out profile for all the world to see. You'll be an inspiration to us all!
Last updated by Jessica Rohloff Aug. 4, 2008.
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© 2009 Created by Jessica Rohloff on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
