Use Microsoft Outlook? Have a solid, functional LinkedIn network? Bring those worlds together, starting today.

Elliot Schmukler has offered up 3 easy steps to get you started:

1. Download the latest version of the Outlook Social Connector from Microsoft (Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010 is required)
2. Once that is installed, download the LinkedIn Outlook Connector
3. Restart your Outlook and follow the instructions to connect your LinkedIn account to Outlook

Here’s a video to if you’d like a visual introduction to the process. (Click here if the video is not appearing below in your feed reader.)

There you have it. Now go sync up and leverage your contacts and connections!

Oh, wait…hold on, before you go…just one back-to-basics suggestion from little old me on LinkedIn etiquette. (Make that two suggestions…)

1. CUSTOMIZE YOUR LINKEDIN INVITATIONS: Please do NOT use the default “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” unless you literally just got off the phone with that person. Say hello, tell people (especially if you don’t know them well) WHY you thought it would be good to connect. And if you’re connecting to someone you haven’t seen in 100 years or only met once 5 years ago, remind them of how you know them. Remember this is a professional network — so be professional and personable.
2. CHECK YOUR PROFILE, PEOPLE: By all means, please fill in your LinkedIn profile to as close to 100% completion as you can get it BEFORE you start sending out invitations to connect. It sounds obvious, but I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t see a need/reason to say it. Tips for your profile? Be succinct. Address the “here’s-what-I-can-do-for-you,-Mr./Mrs.-Visitor-To-My-Profile” benefit quickly and right up front in your summary. Use keywords relevant to your business/job/industry. Post a logo or image of some kind if you don’t want to use your own portrait, but DO NOT leave the image blank so that default human outline pops up.

That’s it. Link up and link on, my friends.

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The pressure to post an all-encompassing review/recap of 2009 or a big social media prediction/pronouncement for 2010 was not lost on me.

However I opted to step aside and let it pass me by. (Traffic schmaffic.)

When I look back and consider my time in social media in 2009, it’s not the cool marketing tools I’ve experimented with, the great content that I’ve consumed or even the new business opportunities it has created — it’s with complete humility that this anti-social curmudgeon confesses (with uncharacteristic optimism and utter embarrassment at my public display of “joie de vivre”) it’s the people I’ve met and reconnected with that made my 2009 brighter, more interactive, more professionally rewarding and, even, more entertaining.

So as I look at 2010, I hope to continue to experience all of the spectacular and unexpected side effects social media, social business and social networking put before me each and every day.

We are all of us so much more than the sum of our work and it is the people with whom we work that make the work itself more pleasant…or unpleasant.

Social business provides more consistent, personal and direct access to people we like — people we want to be around and work with — which can bring greater value and meaning to how we spend our workdays.

If you’ve interacted with me here on this blog, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, meetup.com, blip.fm, slideshare.net, at a local Panera, at a conference, at a seminar or event, through email, on google wave, by phone, at one of my presentations, on a sailboat or through Social Gets Local… I just want to say thank you.

You have enriched my life — online and off.

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Friday, December 18th is the last day of our “holiday heifer” campaign for Heifer International. Your last chance to own a $5 share of our very social cow. This cow will go to a community in need and provide a gift that keeps on mooing for years to come. If you haven’t pitched in, please consider our request for help: just $5 toward our $500 goal. We even made a quick little moovie (get it?) to inspire you…

If it doesn’t appear above, you can view the video on YouTube: Holiday Heifer.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to our community cow thus far. This has been a wonderful opportunity to experience the generosity of friends — and strangers!

I’ll write a post-holiday heifer recap of the campaign as a mini-social fundraising case study. I learned a lot about social fundraising tactics and tools (and cows, for that matter) and have a lot of ideas about what I might have done differently which I hope will be of value to both individuals and nonprofits.

Heifer International: Passing on the Gift

Thanks again. And we wish you very happy holidays.

Why a Heifer?

Here’s information direct from Heifer International:

Heifer
Heifers Equal Hope

When a family has a cow, every morning there’s a glass of rich milk for the children to drink before heading off to school. Classes are paid with the income from the sale of milk, and there’s even enough to share with the neighbors.

A good dairy cow can produce four gallons of milk a day – enough for a family to drink and share with neighbors. Milk protein transforms sick, malnourished children into healthy boys and girls. The sale of surplus milk earns money for school fees, medicine, clothing and home improvements.

Better still, every gift multiplies, as the animal’s first offspring is passed on to another family-then they also agree to pass on an animal, and so on.

And because a healthy cow can produce a calf every year, every gift will be passed on and eventually help an entire community move from poverty to self reliance. Now that’s a gift worth giving!

Socialnomics, By Erik Qualman

I had social media ROI on the brain today and as good fortune would have it, up popped this little YouTube gem about socialnomics in my RSS feed reader. I follow Rax Lakhani via his very awesome RSS feed at raxraxrax.com and his post about Erik Qualman’s new book, Socialnomics, was as timely as could be. (Being impatient, generally speaking, I just love it when this kind of serendipitous synchronicity happens so quickly.)

You can check out the Socialnomics blog or learn more about the book, of course, but this video should provide a nice little teaser. It certainly was the healthy dose of social business I was looking for today.

If the image does not appear above, click here to view Social Media ROI: Socialnomics on YouTube.

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IgniteBaltimore #4 provided yet another entertaining, energizing Ignite success. I’ve already shared how much I love the Ignite events, so I’ll cut right to the recap. And this time, I even created a little YouTube video to go with it… (Go, me).

Click here to view my Ignite Baltimore #4 video on YouTube.

To begin, the Walters Art Museum proved a great venue for this event. True, the high ceilings and marble surroundings made for a literal echo chamber in ironic contrast to the virtual one often cited on Twitter, but I think it added to the grandeur of the evening and the overall ebullience of the atmosphere. (Besides, “grandeur” can be hard to come by in Baltimore, so when you come across it, you embrace it.)

First up was Betsy Gordon, a rogue museum pro who turned a question about a skateboard graphic into an art show on a world tour. Then Braddock “The Haddock” Spear chatted with us about sustainable seafood. Not sure which fish has too much mercury or whether farm-raised beats wild? Mr. Spear provided a few resources to help out:

• The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Guide
• The Blue Ocean Institute FishPhone (Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. They’ll text you back with their assessment and better alternatives, if needed.)
• The Sustainable Ocean Project blog

We learned about green mapmaking from Janet Felsten and were inspired to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off by Jennifer Cohen. When Cheryl Taragin got to her slide showing the Baltimore Colts sneaking out of town in the middle of the night in her review of Baltimore’s historical moments, I heard a crowd hiss for the very first time. (I don’t get out much.)

Ryan Boddy gets an extra hat tip here because when he talked about the highly creative process of making beer — the mysterious and enchanting blend of art and science — I swear I saw a glimmer in his eye and a smile on his face that is the kind of glimmer and smile born only of a true, deep and abiding love. It may have been the spotlight in his eyes, but I’m telling you I’ve never seen a man express a deeper love for beer than this man. Don’t believe me? Go talk to Ryan for yourself. He’s over at BaltiBrew.org spreading the hops/love.

Jason Slanga, a Latin teacher in Baltimore County, killed with his lessons on how not to be a zombie. And then Shodekeh and friends Kate Porter and Ian Hesford brought down the house…er, museum…with some very cool “conversations without words” set against slides of various pieces of art.  You can give a listen to his unique hip-hop, beatbox stylings over on his MySpace page.

Adam Borden begged us to “unshackle the grapes” as he explained Maryland’s convoluted laws which prevent Marylanders from purchasing wines online or by phone from any vineyard outside of Maryland. While Maryland wines are getting better every year, Maryland houses only 38 out of the 6,500 wineries in the U.S. Just think of what our palates are missing or, better yet, take action at Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws.

Mary Spiro enlightened us on nanobiotechnology and Randy Sovich of RM Sovich Architecture looked back to 1984 to recap his look ahead to 2010. Helen Glazer, who’s looking at clouds from both sides now (borrowed that joke), shared her artist’s viewpoint of the clouds, which may further enhance our perspectives on what we see when we look up.

Kale in hand, Steven Mandzik walked us through a few simple steps for living a cleaner life and healthier eating:

• Eat quality food
• Eat 1/3 less
• Eat “real” food (the more packaging there is, the less “real” it is)
• Eat seasonal foods

Adam Meister stepped up in his tuxedo to warn us against hyper-consumerism. Consensus is he issued the quote of the night:

You don’t have to be cool. This is Baltimore.

No truer words…

To bring it all home, Tracy Gosson, @SagesseInc on Twitter, reminded us all that the fear of fear can — and should — be overcome. She asked, “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” And she reminded us all how vital facing our fears is to learning, growing and experiencing all that life has to offer.

It was a great night and I look forward to Ignite Baltimore #5, to be held on March 4, 2010. Want to read more about number 4? Click here to see what was said about #IB4 on Twitter.

Also might want to keep your eyes on:

• Ignite DC
• Ignite Annapolis
• Ignite Wilmington
• Ignite Philly

Or look for the Ignite event near you!

Naturally, I don’t think Social Media is a fad anymore than the telephone, the fax machine or email. The communication tools and platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) we use may evolve and change but the concept of social connectivity that is “social media” is here to stay.

Rise Up Right-Brain Thinkers!

The fact is, we are still in the very early stages of a period of virtually unfettered creativity in how we communicate — whether it’s with friends and/or business prospects. Opportunity is everywhere and accessibility is only increasing via the Internet. I’ve been reading a book that, astride the following video (below), make for a compelling look at the future for creative, right-brain thinkers…A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink (Audible.com link, Amazon.com link). And while I know there are many people struggling right now with unemployment rates so high, I also know many people who are seizing this very moment in their lives to reinvent themselves by way of reinventing their career identities by engaging their right-brain thinking.

The Right-Brain Revolution Is On!

It is with that spirit of optimism and opportunity that I post today’s FileShare, “Social Media Revolution.”

If you are unable to view the image above, you can watch the video on YouTube. Here’s a link to the original Socialnomics blog post which provides sources for the stats in the video. Shout out to Kyle Lacy who featured the stats from this video in his recent blog post. If you’re not a subscriber of Kyle’s blog, I highly recommend it for high-quality content if you’re interested in social media for business.

Are you a left-brain thinker or a right-brain thinker?

Here’s a fun little test to see which hemisphere of your brain is more dominant (source: The Herald Sun).

The Right Brain vs Left Brain Test

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS	RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic detail oriented facts rule words and language present and past math and science can comprehend knowing acknowledges order/pattern perception knows object name reality based forms strategies practical safe	uses feeling “big picture” oriented imagination rules symbols and images present and future philosophy & religion can “get it” (i.e. meaning) believes appreciates spatial perception knows object function fantasy based presents possibilities impetuous risk taking

I’m back. Did ya miss me? (Don’t answer that.) Been off the blog for almost 30 days.

Where did the time go?

Well, I’ll tell you. I was still plugged in, but to a bunch of new stuff…spent some time exploring tools and technology I hadn’t before so as to expand my social repertoire. I invite you to walk with me for a minute to see where I’ve been, in case you’d like to go a-wanderin’, too.

Sailing Out Of Twitter
Would you believe I have Twitter to thank for reconnecting me to a love of sailing that I lost track of more than a decade ago? A Twitter contact put the idea back in my head. And, as these things do, the cosmic connections started to stir around me. Twitter sailors started popping up everywhere, and the next thing I knew I was back on a boat trying to remember my topping lift from my twing. Because of Twitter, I rediscovered a little piece of me I thought was gone forever. Cool, huh? (And people think it’s just full of people talking about what they ate for lunch.) And then…

CafePress
I needed a red shirt to wear for the next sailing race. So I figured, why not get one with the name of the sailing team with whom I was racing on the front pocket? Of course I’ve known about CafePress for quite some time, bought from it and recommended it, but I wanted to figure out how it worked from a creator’s standpoint. So I set up my own storefronts at www.cafepress.com/GrayMatterPress and www.cafepress.com/GrayPicturesLLC for no other reason than because I could. And then…

A Very Social Snow Cone
As serendipity would have it, I got together with an old friend and fellow entrepreneur to chat about life and biz and sailing-thanks-to-Twitter, and before I had finished my snow cone (coconut flavor with marshmallow in the middle), she had decided to start a new networking group and a blog to boot. The first event she hosted was a smashing success. It is my pleasure to introduce www.FreeBirdsUnited.com/blog, a blog for women entrepreneurs. (Go Betty, go!) As I scraped the marshmallow from the bottom of my cup, I suggested she set up a store at CafePress (having just done so myself), so we could buy FreeBird stuff to showcase our affiliation. And then…

Flip Mino HD
I thought I should go back in and actually add some products to my stores on CafePress, and that’s when I saw that you can put your logo on those cool little flip mino HD digital video cameras. So, naturally, I did. Then I bought one. And then…

YouTube
With my hot little (branded) flip mino HD cam in hand, I realized how easy it would be to shoot and post something to YouTube. So I did that, too. And it was fun. Fun, I tell you. So much fun that I decided I could have even more fun if I had a little something (and I do mean “little”) to sail myself, from which I could shoot more fun stuff. And then…

Craigslist
As with all other things in my world, I realize that hands-on experience (whether you’re building a blog or sailing a boat) is the best kind. I was always a bit of an eBay snob, but search results for little sailboats kept churning up Craigslist links (anyone who has heard me talk about social media, has heard me talk about the power of “search”…this being a case in point). And, it turns out, I ended up having a very positive Craigslist experience. Saw a good listing, chatted with the seller by phone, met him and then bought a little tiny itty-bitty Sunfish.  And then…

Audible.com
I had to go pick up the little itty-bitty boat, so I downloaded a book — a memoir — to my iPod to listen to on the drive that broke my heart and reminded me, yet again, that life is short and every day is a gift. It also reminded me that you never know where new connections may take place or where those connections may take you. It’s hard to put the power of this book in the context of anything else because it tells a story that is more important than anything I will ever say or do in my lifetime. I will carry it with me in my mind forever, count my blessings and continue on…

Facebook
I then posted a wall-to-wall “thank you” to the friend who recommended the abovementioned book, and then I joined a few sailing groups on Facebook in case I have questions while fixing up my little Sunfish. I also connected with the new sailors I have met racing so we can stay in touch on shore, virtually speaking. Facebook has helped me get to know each of them a bit better beyond our chatter between tacking and jibing. And then…

I realized it’s been a month since I posted to GrayMatter Minute!

So as I settle back down into blog business, I’m looking forward to refocusing my efforts on Social Gets Local, where I am sharing case studies about how local Baltimore-Washington-Annapolis area businesses are using social media successfully. (Ping me if you’d like to be added to the directory.)

Why do I think any of you care about what I’ve been doing over the past 30 days?

Well, I don’t. However, I do think my adventure presents an interesting example of how social media connections you make online can move offline and then back online again and take you to places you might not otherwise have traveled.

Meet online. Move offline. Maintain your network.

Technology doesn’t have to be overwhelming or all-consuming. It’s what you make it. All of these social tools are there to make it easier for you to connect to the things that matter to you — from business to blogging to boating to books or whatever moves your needle. I LOVE being plugged in because doors keep opening all around me. So if you aren’t getting anything out of Twitter or you think Facebook is stupid (and that’s cool if you do…it’s your dime), I just want to suggest that if you explore them in earnest you can learn a lot about whatever you want.

I was in this for the FYI, not the ROI.

We’re each the skipper of our own little boat and that can be rather empowering. I’ll save the “ROI of Social Media” discussions for Social Gets Local. In this post, I just wanted to make the point that when you make the investment in filling your own social sails, you may be surprised (and delighted) to see where the wind might take you.

Sometimes the journey itself is the destination — and the reward.

Give a listen to this commencement speech given at Tulane University’s 2009 graduation. Why? Because it’s about taking chances. It’s about being true to yourself…being who you are, no matter who that is. It’s about not knowing, trusting and leaps of faith. It’s about passion. It’s about fear, overcoming fear and embracing personal freedom. It’s about success and failure and success again. It’s about what we all do every day: we take chances. And if we don’t, it’s about why we should.

Live every minute of your life with intention and share a laugh whenever you can.

Congrats to the graduating classes of 2009 and the parents who believe in you.

(NOTE: YouTube has pulled the video, however you can listen to the audio version at http://www.entertonement.com/clips/wfxbjlpnnh–Ellen-DeGeneres-Commencement-Speech-at-Tulane-University )

My objective here? To make this the shortest post ever (I fail at this repeatedly) in communicating a very simple idea: the power of information.

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/edu

No really. Right now. Go check it out. (Well, here’s a screengrab to keep you here for another second:)

This is all about power. Power in the form of easy-to-access information – on ANYTHING – and it’s getting easier to access by the microsecond. It’s about CONTENT CONSUMPTION (if I could write the code to make that word blink, flash or otherwise pop about on the page, I would…there’s probably a tutorial on it somewhere on youtube!) and what you do with it.

These are amazing times. You can learn something new every day – for free. You can become smarter, more resourceful, better informed…virtually bionic, man.

How cool is that? Still not convinced?

Think all of this doesn’t tie into your business’ bottom line?

Well get your kaizen on, friend, and take a look at this: http://www.ted.com/

Wow. I’m excited. Are you excited?

Web 2.0 is an opportunity for each of us to engage our inner student. Whether you’re on youtube, facebook, twitter, blogs, your iPod, whatever…it’s a chance to absorb new information and feed our hungry brains in a multitude of different, fun and innovative ways. It can actually be entertaining at times, but if you think it’s all about silly videos, irrelevant status updates or how many “friends” have “friended” you then you need to go back to school.

I’ll save you a seat. (I can’t get enough of this stuff!)

Created by vm-people, a Berlin-based company. Click here for a direct link to youtube.

image source: iMediaConnection

With so much information and technology available, changing and churning, it’s a challenge for any busy person to keep up with new social media outlets without feeling like you’ve been pulled into an endless “time suck.”

But don’t let the potential perception of social media (SM) as time-wasting technology override the long term benefits of keeping up with the “Joneses, Inc.”

You may not think you have the time, but your customers and clients do. And after dipping your toes in the SM water, you’ll be surprised how many of your peers are using the latest online tools to communicate, network, link, blog, SlideShare, bookmark and boost SEO. It’s not a bad idea to take a closer look at how you want to define your social spectrum.

By reading the leading bloggers or following the most twitterful tweeters, you’ll also be able to find ways SM can act as a “time saver” instead of a “time suck” when it comes to generating leads, finding resources and staying current on innovative marketing trends.

Here are a few articles that offer a few of the WHY’s of why Social Media is becoming a Social Must:

Why Social Media? Bridging the “productivity divide.”
Why Blog?
Why Twitter? How to use Twitter for Marketing & PR.
Why is it that if I’m not LinkedIn, I’ll be LeftOut?
Why should I use SlideShare? What is SlideShare?

What’s the bottom line?
The SM technology train is moving fast. Now is a good time to find out how you can enjoy the ride…