Technologist Bob Gourley: Blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter
Posted on April 17, 2011, by JD Kathuria, under Featured Interview.
Bob Gourley, founder of Crucial Point, LLC and named one of the “Top 25 Most Fascinating Communicators in Government IT” by the Gov2.0 community GovFresh in 2010, explains the most efficient ways to use Twitter and LinkedIn. Bob is all over the net these days, and in doing so is building a brand, visit his website here
What led you to blogging?
As a technologist I found a good way to stay up on the community is to force myself to write about it. Feeding thoughts into a blog forced me to write clearly enough for others and helped me solicit thoughts from others, which has helped me learn more.
Is that the same reason you are in Twitter?
Like most others, I was not sure why I started with Twitter. But I soon realized that some people preferred to learn of my new posts by getting links from my blog turned around into Twitter. And I found 100’s of interesting technologists who were posting interesting links in Twitter. And I found it is a great way to ask for ideas/thoughts/advice on a wide range of issues.
What role does LinkedIn play in your personal branding?
What differentiates LinkedIn is its ability to keep in touch with professional associates, both to stay informed and to assist others in their networking. it is also easy to connect LinkedIn to other social capabilities, like Twitter, so updates to Twitter will automatically update your LinkedIn status. I believe every technologist belongs in LinkedIn, so we can all find each other and support each other in our careers.
How does Social Media play a role in your firms efforts?
Crucial Point LLC is a technology services firm. We support due diligence efforts of private equity firms and in corporate M&A activities. We also provide outsourced R&D services to firms seeking to develop discriminating technologies. On the surface, these functions have little to do with Blogging, LinkedIn or Twitter. But really each contribute significantly to our ability to serve clients. The blog keeps us learning, which really helps in our due diligence. LinkedIn keeps us connected and in dialog with clients and with subject matter experts. And Twitter provides a way to avoid surprises in the emerging technology community.
What advice to you have for technologists in earlier stages of their career?
It is really the same advice I give to companies. If you want to add value to your clients and customers, you need to be the best at something. Consider that your differentiator. Work continuously to enhance your differentiators. And those things that set you apart need to be part of your personal branding strategy. I noticed, JD, that your differentiators come through very clearly on your blog. You are about connecting and building relationships. You are the perfect example of what I advise others to be: a person who delivers unique capabilities and builds them into a brand.
What initiatives can we expect to see from Crucial Point?
We will continue to develop our key web properties, CTOvision.com, CTOlabs.com and FedCyber.com We have also developed and will reveal DoDIISTech.com, a site focused on enterprise technology for the intelligence community. All these sites will be backed up with strong social media connections, of course. And all are focused at providing information relevant to the technology community and the missions we serve.
