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Is Voicemail Becoming Obsolete?

by Tom Williams on March 2, 2010

in Social Media, YouTube

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I admit it - I still leave voicemails.  However, I have found myself hanging up on voicemails more and more lately.  I don’t do this because what I have to say is unimportant…just the opposite usually.  I have information that is too urgent to drop it into someone’s voicemail box.

Voicemail Monster

Voicemail Monster

So, instead of trying to call again and again or simply giving up on the first try, I hang up on the automated voicemail and  immediately employ any number of OTHER communication vehicles to reach my target.  These could include cell phones or text messages; emails or twitter!

One more thing about voicemail… It’s been around for a LONG TIME folks.   You don’t need to be all polite and thank me for calling.  You definitely don’t need to tell me to leave my name and number after the freaking Beep, and I assume that you will call me back at “your earliest convenience” - so scrap that line too.  If you actually want me to leave you a message, just say “This is [insert name here]  please leave a message”.  Done.

I decided to do a little experiment on myself recently.  I counted how many different ways someone can get in touch with me.  Depending on how well you know me, there are a huge number of ways to reach me, should you get the dreaded voicemail.

  1. My physical office (you could stop by)
  2. Direct Office phone
  3. The InnoGage 1-800 number
  4. Home phone
  5. Cell phone
  6. Google Voice Number
  7. Fax
  8. Text message
  9. AOL IM
  10. Facebook IM
  11. Facebook message
  12. Twitter @me
  13. Twitter DM (which also sends me an SMS on my phone)
  14. InnoGage Email Account
  15. Gmail Account
  16. Yahoo Email Account (yes, I have one…had it since 1994…can’t give it up)
  17. GoogleTalk
  18. Foursquare
  19. LinkedIn
  20. Skype call
  21. Skype IM
  22. Comment on the InnoGage blog
  23. ‘Contact’ form on the InnoGage website
  24. Message via YouTube Channel
  25. Message via Vimeo Channel
  26. Message via Flickr Channel
  27. Message via SlideShare account
  28. Message via my Delicious account
  29. GoogleWave
  30. GoogleBuzz

So, drop me a voicemail if you must, but if you really need to reach me…you know how to find me!!

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LinkedIn Recommendations - Valuable or Waste of Time

by Tom Williams on January 20, 2010

in Recruitment, Tools, Web tools, Web2.0

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tom-williams-85-percent-complete1My LinkedIn profile is only 85% complete and sadly, it’s going to stay that way for as long as I can foresee.  Why?  Because I don’t have any recommendations on LinkedIn.

Now before you start feeling sorry for me - like I’m some kind of friendless Schmuck who no ones likes, realize that this is largely self-inflicted.  You see, I don’t really WANT any recommendations on LinkedIn because honestly, I just don’t see the point.

why-complete-your-linkedin-profileNow LinkedIn claims that “Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn”.  In order to get “complete profile” status, you have to have, not one, not two, but  THREE recommendations!  So, I guess I’ll be missing out on all those “LinkedIn Opportunities”…whatever that means!  In MBA speak, I would define that as a completely benign and unmeasurable metric.

When I interview someone and they provide me with a list of “referrals” the first thing I do is resolve NOT to contact any of them.  These are the people who have been hand picked and coached by the prospective employee.  It’s worthless feedback - you might as well ask the prospective employee what they think of themselves!  Instead, I work the back channels and find people who know the person well, but who have not been coached.  Past work associates and/or clients are a much better source of real information.

Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours!

Scratch My Back & I'll Scratch Yours!

I believe the same is largely true about LinkedIn.  One person says “hey, you recommend me and I’ll recommend you back!”  How valuable is this information?  It’s crap.  It means nothing.  Now, I don’t know the circumstances of the situation above.  I’m sure they are both good guys.  Perhaps one received an unprompted recommendation and then reciprocated.  But does this boost the value?  I don’t think so.

Stuck at 85% for the rest of my life

So, I guess my LinkedIn profile will remain at 85% until I die.  But I’m cool with that.  If you want to know if I’m smart, if I do good work, if I can be trusted…then track down my friends, colleagues (past and present) and my clients.  Ask them, don’t ask me.

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Google Caffeine – Good for Business Blogs and Social Media content on Blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook

August 24, 2009

There has been some talk going around the Internet about Google working with a new web search. Of course, this makes most entrepreneurs and web programmers nervous as all the hard work they have been doing for years to get secure organic search rankings may come undone with a flip of a switch. This is [...]

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Social Media Marketing – how big is it and how to use it

June 18, 2009

By now most of us have heard the term “Social Media Marketing”. Some of us are probably even using it, hopefully a good amount effectively. But there are still some that say that it’s just not that important or not that big. But the sheer numbers may surprise you.
Twitter grew 3,000 percent in April [...]

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IT superstars at 2.Ohio - Columbus

October 11, 2008

If you were fortunate enough to attend 2.Ohio yesterday at the Hilton Polaris, you had the pleasure of hearing from Reid Hoffman (Founder of LinkedIn), Judy Estrin (author of Closing the Innovation Gap, former CTO of Cisco and current CEO of JLabs) and Mike Nelson, (Professor at Georgetown and volunteer for the Obama campaign).
If [...]

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2.Ohio Event in Columbus This Friday!

October 9, 2008

This Friday (10/10) at 5:30 pm, there is a very cool event taking place at the Columbus Hilton-Polaris.  Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) and Judy Estrin (author of Closing the Innovation Gap:Reigniting the Spark of Creativity in a Global Economy and former CTO of Cisco) will be speaking at a 2.0 technology event in Columbus [...]

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