Gelie Akhenblit and Matthew O’Brien Help Define Social Networking for Business and Personal

August 29, 2009August 1, 2020 Matthew O'Brien

Networking Phoenix and MINT Social featured on Cha nnel 3 – KTVK. This post has been updated to blend the original from 2009 with an update to what is going on in 2020.

Networking Phoenix founder Gelie Akhenblit says “I have a few sites I use religiously”.

Gelie uses social media to promote her business. Her number one site for referrals is LinkedIn and getting over 500 referral hits per month (back in 2009).

Gelie’s motto has not changed since this news piece was done a year after she launched her business in 2008, half business and half personal in social media.

“You want people to get to know you as a person but you also want them to get familiar with your business.”
Gelie Akhenblit, Networking Phoenix Founder

Gelie has used LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to launch her business and has added many other social media channels along the way.

NetworkingPhoenix.com has become its very own social network for businesses. Her recent pivot to doing her events online using Zoom is proving to be successful for her continued growth and success.

Profiles on social networks, like NetworkingPhoenix.com, are powerful for branding you and your business online. Matthew’s profile and Gelie’s profile on Networking Phoenix and are top search results in Google for their brands.

MINT Social founder Matthew O’Brien says, “if you want to use social media for business, start with LinkedIn (personal and business profiles). It was originally designed to help people find jobs and now is the number one social networking site for businesses (in 2009 and still is).”

Matthew O'Brien MINT Social in News Social Networking for Businesses 2009

“What is cool about social media is it is not always about you but it is also about the community and how you fit in.”
Matthew O’Brien, MINT Social Founder

For example, Pandora.com and Last.fm both are great sites for music enthusiasts and if someone has the same music interests, you will connect. (Update to 2020- The Top Music & Podcasts are Spotify, Google Music, Apple Music, YouTube, and many more.)

Other sites that defined social networking in 2009 – CafeMom.com, Yelp.com, dogster.com and change.org. Surprisingly, all of these sites are still active in 2020 but are they significant players in the social media market?

Social media is about being yourself, doing what you are doing, figuring out what you are willing to share and those people will gravitate towards you.

Since this interview with Gelie and Matthew was done (2009), the business landscape for social media has remained strong and is now, arguably, a requirement for all businesses.

With the business community reinventing itself during the COVID-19 period, what are you doing to reinvent your business online?

Does your business need a social media strategy?

Not sure where to start? Start Here and get a free digital marketing audit (find your Low-Hanging Fruit for quick wins for your business online).

Matthew O'Brien

With over 20 years of experience in the digital media world, Matthew has worked for and with Fortune 500 businesses and has built companies from the start-up stage to exit strategy. He recently helped develop a data insight engine to bridge the gap between search, social, and mobile marketing to maximize the visibility, relevancy, and predictive success of online businesses. Matthew is the founder of MINT Social, an award-winning digital marketing company that accelerates online marketing results to help businesses get found and thrive online. Matthew has developed an educational curriculum for Universities on social media for businesses, is a founding board member of the Arizona Innovation Marketing Association (AZIMA), a board member of HeroZona Foundation and on the advisory board (Vinnies) for St. Vincent de Paul - Phoenix. Matthew is a mentor with ASU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group, a speaker on social media and digital marketing, and is a subject matter expert with many online portals.