Tag: LinkedIn

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Is LinkedIn the ‘red headed stepchild’ in your social media arsenal? It is for me. Read on…

Not a day goes by when we don’t see Twitter and Facebook as being talked about as essential social networks for bloggers to be investing time into – but over the last few months I’ve been investing a little extra time into another social network – one that I wonder if some have forgotten about a little – LinkedIn.

I’ve long had a LinkedIn Account (I’d love to connect with you there) but I’ve not really known what to do with it for a long time – but lately I’m seeing more and more opportunities in the network. Let me quickly mention a few…

via problogger.net

You can follow the ‘via’ link if you want to know the 5 ways. Comment, connect or call if you’d like to talk about how this applies to your situation…

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Google Buzz Off
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Your Sunday morning collection of profound stuff to think about all day long. The big buzz this week WAS Buzz and the ancillary issues it raises…

“I’m having a hard time deciding whom to follow on which network with duplicate shares everywhere. The problem is compounded further by folks who auto-share from one network to another. There is no value in following people who share the same thing on Reader, Buzz, Twitter, Facebook, and so on. Duplication simply amplifies noise and reduces signal.

This is a real problem with social media today. Everyone wants maximum likes, shares, retweets on each and every thing they share. Their hope, understandably, is that each morsel they throw into social media becomes a feast on which everyone will drool.

Well, count me out. If someone is auto-feeding the same thing on all networks, it doesn’t add any value to me to follow them on all networks. Especially if they are not engaging in conversation where their content is landing.” Source: Google Buzz + Reader + Twitter + Facebook = Noise by @ScepticGeek

On to Gina Trapani on adding social media to your already hectic life…

“When you’re active on the Web, keeping up with all your online accounts can feel like a full-time job. You want your high school friends to find you on Facebook, your co-workers to follow you on Twitter, and business associates to find you on LinkedIn. But there are only so many hours in the day, and too many Web sites to check in and update. The good news is that you don’t have to hire a personal assistant to update all your profiles. With the right strategy, you can manage multiple accounts with minimal effort. Here’s how.” Source: Work Smart: Mastering Your Social Media Life | Fast Company

You’ll have to go to the source to read Gina’s thoughts. If you’re still confused, contact me; imho, few people know more about seamlessly integrating social media into your already hectic life than I do… Continue reading “Ponder this 2/14/2010” →

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Long before I was a website developer, I was in sales and sales management. The other day, I had a convo with a fellow sales puke and we were discussing the top 3 sales movies of all time. They were, in our opinions, Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room and, of course, Tommy Boy! Here’s the best sales team meeting of all time imho [warning: NSFW!]…

Blake, Alec Baldwin’s sales manager character says ABC means ‘always be closing’, but if you’re a blogger I say ABC means ‘always be curating’!

In my weltanschauung [worldview for those of you behind on your German], blogging, on one level, is little more than the public e-mailing and bookmarking. After all, what is a blog post but a “to whom it may concern” memo to the world? Because most people save bookmarks and send e-mails and links to one another they already have the basic instincts they need for thought leadership marketing. They are however using tools that are sub optimal for the task at hand. Even the person who has 1 million people in their address book cannot match the reach of a tool that can reach out to 2 billion people on the Internet.

What then are the right tools? I believe they are the 10+ tools in the elevation workflow…

  • Google Chrome
  • Gmail
  • Google Reader and Feedly
  • Shareaholic
  • Posterous
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • MailChimp
  • YouTube
  • Dlvr.it

I firmly believe that anyone who wants to be a thought leader can use this combination of tools to establish their public point of view. Many people are using some or all of these tools but have not aligned them in an optimal fashion.

I want to take a moment to talk about Shareaholic. When teaching social media I tell my classes if you only add one extension to Google Chrome [or Firefox], make it Shareaholic. Why? Because Shareaholic is the one tool that allows you to always be curating. With the Shareaholic extension installed I am always ready to share content to the appropriate channel in my vast Internet publishing empire. Shareaholic, I have said earlier, is the Swiss Army knife of sharing. Allow me to demonstrate…

Curation not only adds authority to your public brand, but it will also rock your SEO. Shareaholic is the secret to my success, because with it, to paraphrase Night Ranger, I’m curating and blogging 25 hours a day…

I believe that the elevation workflow is a kick ass solution for thought leadership marketing. Comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to your organization — I’m always available for Personal Digital Coaching on the ‘e1evation workflow’…

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

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Dr. D

I recently had the honor of meeting the new president of Marian University, Dr. Steven DiSalvo. The words on the Marian Website cannot do justice to the man I met…

“Dr. Steven DiSalvo currently serves the Marian University community as President. Bringing to Marian a wealth of experience in higher education and philanthropic fundraising leadership, Dr. DiSalvo has a strong foundation in student affairs, student retention, academic programming and institutional development.  DiSalvo earned three degrees, including his Ph.D., from Fordham University in New York, and currently serves as the Board Chair for Fordham’s Center for American Catholic Studies.  Administrative experience at other Catholic universities and not-for-profit organizations, including the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, have suited DiSalvo well to lead the university in living our Mission and Core Values.” via marianuniversity.edu

It’s a shame the world can’t get to know him in the way I did! Our mutual friend Paul Osterholm (who originally had the vision to connect us in the first place) brokered a meeting in Dr. DiSalvo’s office. We spent the first hour talking about life and experiences only to learn that we were twins separated at birth — in fact, we even lived a few blocks away from one another in Flushing, NY in 1983! That, however, was not what inspired me — it was that Dr. DiSalvo is a man with his feet planted firmly on the ground of a sound experience in business with organizations like IBM and the Joe Torre ‘Safe at Home’ foundation and at the same time, he is reaching for the academic stars at a new and improved Marian University with the lessons he learned at Fordham University. Marian is now blessed with a dynamic, gifted leader who, imho [in my humble opinion], could really take Marian to the next level if he makes the right moves now to rebuild the Marian University brand while building on its strengths…

As expected, Dr. DiSalvo faces many challenges in his new role. Here are a few that seem obvious to me…

  • Marian has a relatively weak brand compared to other colleges and universities in the region
  • It has a reputation as a ‘suitcase college’ — the campus is empty on weekends
  • The community — parents and students alike — are disenfranchised
  • The website is a brochure and the university may not be using the website and social networks optimally

I’m sure there are others, but as a Marian parent these are the ones that jump out at me. Fortunately, there seem to be an abundance of “good, fast, and cheap” answers in the form of ‘thought leadership’ marketing and social media that could help Dr. DiSalvo put out these fires and focus on other areas.

I’m going to share with the good doctor one of my all time favorite New Yorker cartoons and I trust he’ll appreciate the source considering his New York roots…

Since I first saw this cartoon over 17 years ago, I have taken it to mean that the internet has the potential to be the great equalizer and pound for pound, it may be the best place for Dr. DiSalvo to create a solid image of the ‘new’ Marian for the lowest overall cost…

Strategy

If it were my job to meet his challenges out on the internet, here are some of the things I’d consider strategically:

Leverage association resources and learn all I could from what other comparable universities are doing.

Closer to home, I’d ask myself the question “What would St. Norbert do?” SNC has recently won a couple awards for effective use of social media. What are they doing right? Evaluate and emulate…

Marian has several different ‘customers’. Pre-students, students and post-students. They need to deliver messages to the media these customers use that helps Marian sell to prospective students, helps current students stick with Marian, and helps alumni stay with the school, emotionally and financially. ‘Sell, stick and stay‘ should resonate in everything Marian does online and in social media…

Marian could do a much better job connecting parents and students to the school. Our trips to Fond du Lac were usually disappointing; events competing with basketball games, bookstore closed, etc. What a difference it would have made if the school broadcast our son’s basketball games live via Ustream or Qik. Free, but priceless in terms of connecting parents to the school. What would happen if the school actually showcased their student athletes as well?

Furthermore? Many non-profits are effectively using the internet to fundraise online. What is stopping Marian?

Tactics

If it were my job to fix some of these problems, I’d remember the words of the great philosopher Andre Agassi who said ‘Image is Everything’…

  • I’d redo the website as a content management system [blog] and instruct Dr. D and other great thinkers at the university in the fine art of ‘thought leadership’ marketing.
  • I’d sit him in front of a camera and get him to effectively communicate the same passion that got me fired up to write this post.
  • I’d take that great content and I’d connect it to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks.
  • I’d put my star professors and their great content online and expand the borders of Marian beyond Wisconsin to the rest of the world.
  • I’d build real and virtual community around the Marian mission, vision and values using best of the “good, fast, and cheap” tools the internet offers.

Will Dr. DiSalvo succeed? Time will tell, but I’m betting he will and I think I’d like to help. My only regret, however, is that my son, basketball standout Colin Lohenry, only has one semester left…

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Time to revisit LinkedIn? The time might be right to reconsider its importance in your social media strategy…

So you heard that a company called LinkedIn just went public, and want to find out just what the hype is all about and how you can use it? TNW is here to get you up and running on LinkedIn before this very day is over.

LinkedIn is a social network, research tool, and job platform for professionals, although the site’s draw has been bringing in a more diverse group of users in recent months, including many still in university.

The site was founded in late 2002, launched in early 2003, and now claims more than 100 million members to its name in over 200 countries. In short, for the educated working person, LinkedIn is a website in which having a profile is quickly becoming mandatory.

More to the point, as use of the site has grown, and as the willingness of its users to upload increasing amounts of personal information has risen, a person’s profile on LinkedIn is slowly morphing into a living resume of their work that is, for the most part, generally accessible.

Let’s hop into the fun, but before we get you into the site we need to talk about how you are going to use LinkedIn.

via thenextweb.com

LinkedIn is the oldest, and in many ways, the least popular of the ‘Holy Trinity’ of social media [Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn]. You can follow the ‘via’ link above to start rocking LinkedIn if you’ve been left behind…

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I found a great post on the Duct Tape Marketing site that was very timely for me…

To help website owners take full advantage of the most important online marketing opportunities, here are 3 things small businesses can do to attract and engage new customers.

Content Publishing & Marketing – Consumers are interacting with multiple content sources before purchase and businesses that provide useful information beyond product features and benefits can attract more traffic and referrals.

Tips, articles, videos and experts interviews provide customers with the information they need to buy and refer to others. Useful content optimized with keywords also attracts more search engine traffic and links.

Social Media & Networking – 90% of marketers say that social media is important for their business according to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Report. Word of mouth, referrals and buzz on social networks can increase awareness, build trust and influence sales.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube offer useful platforms for small businesses to be helpful and share information with networks far beyond their customer base.

Local & Mobile – By 2014, mobile Internet will take over desktop Internet according to Microsoft Tag Lab. Small business websites can increase page views by offering a mobile friendly version of their website. They can also increase visibility on local search by making sure they’ve claimed their listings on Google Places and Bing Business Listings.

via ducttapemarketing.com

I just spoke last night to a group of independent home inspectors about these very issues. Some didn’t even have a site. Those that did had ‘brochureware’. The problem, I explained to them, is how will someone know you’re an expert if they can’t google you? That’s now this next generation of buyers will make there decisions…

The answer is as easy as using a free WordPress site as your business blog and adding Google Apps for corporate email. Next, link the rss feed from your blog to your Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn account and your MailChimp newsletter. Then all you need to do is use Google Reader to ‘listen to the internet’ and make the information you need come to you. Out of that listening will come a lot of great ideas for you to create or curate on your website. This is the ‘lather, rinse, repeat’ cycle of ‘thought leadership’ marketing. I call it the ‘e1evation workflow’.

Anyone who can send an email can use these tools to get known by Google and the best news is every single one is free and completely cross platform right down to the smartphone level. Comment or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to your organization…

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First Impressions

First, your headline matters. It’s what people see when they accept your invite, and it’s probably the fastest first impression one receives. If you work for a company, put that name in the headline. When I don’t see a company name, I wonder if you’re solo.

Your Summary

Here’s where I think the most work can be done. When I look at my profile, I think it’s a bit long, but otherwise, I’ve done the following:

  • Lead with what I do most.
  • Lead with the type of business I want to do.
  • Move into the reasons why you’d do business with me.
  • Move from there into all the nuances of what I do.

In every case within the summary, your plan should be to write from the mindset of the prospective employer (or client), such that when they read it, they think, “I need to hire this person.”

Tip: refresh your summary every two weeks.

via chrisbrogan.com

Thanks, Chris, for posting this. My LinkedIn profile is the ‘red headed step child’ of my social media empire! If you’re like me, you can follow the ‘via’ link above to spiff up your profile…

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Citibank
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In a sign that small businesses are finally emerging from the recession and looking to grow, an increasing number of business owners are adopting social media as a way to better market their business and reach more customers, according to the latest Citibank small business survey. The increased use of social media represents one of several findings in Citibank’s survey that shows small businesses are taking concrete action to grow in 2011.

According to the survey, use of social media increased significantly over the last year, with 36 percent of small business owners saying they use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to market their business, compared to just 19 percent a year ago.

Additionally, when asked what steps they will take to attract more business in 2011, 68 percent of small business owners say they will increase marketing and 54 percent say they will offer new products and services. Of those who plan to do business in a larger geographic area this year (38 percent), 49 percent plan regional expansion, 18 percent plan national expansion, and 16 percent are looking toward international expansion.

“As one of the main drivers of job creation and economic growth in the United States, small businesses are crucial to a robust and sustained recovery,” said Raj Seshadri, the head of Small Business Banking at Citibank. “We are thrilled to find that many small businesses believe the time is right to expand their business and find new customers, and at Citibank, we are committed to helping them succeed and grow.”

via businesswire.com

Interesting information from Citibank that indicates social media is becoming more and more mainstream for small business. Personally? I think the reason why is that smart business owners know that social media is one of those activities that takes more time than money — while both are scarce, owners are willing to get more efficient at some activities so that they can effectively engage in others. Comment below or ‘connect’ above to discuss how this applies to you and your organization…

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Social media is a tool that, on the surface, appears to only have use in certain areas- such as simple interpersonal relationships or business-to-consumer marketing.  However, experienced users recognize the benefits of social media in establishing and maintaining business-to-business marketing.  Those in marketing may claim, “Well, people who are into social media aren’t the audience we are going after.” or, “My distributors are too old- they don’t even use email!”  Certainly these arguments are true in some cases, but you will not gain anything if you don’t step out of your comfort zone and try.  Remember that your future network of distributors will most likely be experienced social media users.  If your business peers aren’t deep into social media, their interns and new hires will be.

Many people are still not sure what “social media” is.  Is it Facebook, Linkedin, or Youtube?  Actually it is not any one of these things on its own.  It is a means of communicating, sharing, and listening.  It’s all about sharing your ideas with your distributors so that both of you can be more successful.  Tips, tricks, and success stories help build relationships.  Social media, in all its forms, is all about posting questions to your networks, listening to ideas, and getting timely feedback to create better business partners.  It’s about sharing presentations and demonstrations to help build credibility in your industry.

Social media in the business-to business realm is all about connecting, learning, and growing- it is building and fostering relationships so that businesses can grow together. And remember, its all about the relationships!

via hcmiller.com

tommytrc @ HC Miller [the author of this post] belongs on your follow list! Not only is he the nicest guy in social media but he’s an ‘a-list’ content aggregator and creator as well…

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via chrisbrogan.com

I love Chris Brogan! Here’s an excerpt from his latest post:

“STACKING WOOD: A LIST

  • Blogging is stacking wood. More content means more readers, more search terms, more opportunities to sell.
  • Email marketing is stacking wood. Reaching out to people with useful information that maintains your relationship lures in more sales.
  • Connecting on LinkedIn is stacking wood. The larger your network, the more potential you have to help others, or find help for yourself.
  • Getting coffee with a friend is stacking wood. I owe Jon Swanson another long phone call soon.
  • Reading is stacking wood. The more I learn, the more I can improve on my execution and my abilities.
  • Fitness and nutrition are stacking wood. The more fuel you have in your body for the fire, the better your chances at success become.

You could add to this list, couldn’t you?
And how are you doing at stacking wood these days? Are you preparing and doing the chores that keep the fire tended? Or are you burning and enjoying the warmth?”

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John Jantsch
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“These days I can’t get through a presentation on the use of social media in marketing without someone inquiring whether they should use Facebook as the primary web presence for their business.

“I mean, it’s free and look at all these cools tools you can add to your Fan Page.”

Let me be very clear on my thinking on this: Facebook is not the house, Twitter is not the house, your social profiles spread far and wide are not the house.

Your hub, your blog, your website—that’s the house. Build the house, fix the house, decorate the house and invite the party to the house, because it’s the one thing you can own and control. It’s an asset you can grow rather than space you simply rent.

Your activity in social media is all about building a persona and brand that draws people to the house, whether you’re a plumbing contractor, consultant, or someone that wants to create a path to a better career. Build rich and engaging hubs on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or wherever your prospects hang out, but remember you’re always going home.

Focusing too much attention on your Facebook play is like spending a bunch of time decorating and fixing up a neighbor’s house while they are traveling Europe for a year or two. It may be a nice place to throw a party or entertain, but you don’t really own it.” Source: Facebook Is Not the House :: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Of all the social media luminaries, John Jantsch may be the one I most closely identify with. Why? His style is so practical and tactical and he communicates in a way that inspires me.

John nails it again with this post. Building your internet presence solely on Facebook is like building your home on rented land. Not recommended. At the same time, Facebook is a force too powerful to ignore. My advice? ‘Hold on Loosely’ as the great philosophers .38 Special advised…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJtf7R_oVaw

I strongly encourage you to go to the source and get the rest of John’s perspective. Comment below or ‘connect’ above to discuss how this applies to you and your organization…

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It’s always interesting to go back and see where you were a year or so ago thoughtwise and what you may have learned since then. My ‘old post promoter’ randomly brings up old posts and this one, looking back on 2009 is very interesting to me. In it we find the genesis of what I now call the ‘e1evation workflow’ which now consists of 10.5 tools — many of which have stood the test of time since 2009. The mainstays of this process have been working for me for over 18 months now and continue to produce consistent results across a wide variety of industry verticals. What follows is the original post…

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LOL! Here I sit looking back over the past decade, thinking that it seems like only yesterday that we were sitting in fear of Y2K. Now I’m making a living using tools that for the most part didn’t exist back then. It’s a wonderful [tech] life, eh?!

Wrapping up 2009, here’s the list of my favorite social media tools, organized according to their position and role within the e1evation system. This may look like a simple list but it took over a year to develop and that’s not because I’m a slow learner — it’s because I use rigorous filters for inclusion in my social media toolkit. I also am constantly using Einstein’s Razor [“Things must be as simple as possible but no simpler.”] to keep the toolset small. With that intro, here they are…

Perception

  • Google Reader
  • Feedly
  • iTunes [for sme podcasts, silly!]

Publishing

  • Posterous
  • ScribeFire
  • Shareaholic
  • FriendFeed
  • Facebook Page [along with key applications]
  • WordPress

Propagation

  • Facebook Page
  • Twitter [along with Hootsuite]
  • LinkedIn
  • Feedblitz
  • Tumblr

Preferences [other favorites tools]

  • Delicious
  • Evernote
  • Instapaper
  • Scribd
  • SlideShare
  • YouTube

Effectively using these tools together has elevated my business blog to #474,040 in the United States and #1,612,683 in the world in just 6 months according to Alexa. Imagine what you could do if you added one of these tools to your toolkit every month or so next year!

Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page. And, have a great 2010!

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My first (solo) Guest Post on Mashable
Image by cambodia4kidsorg via Flickr

Anyone who wants to rank socially networked cities is going to be in for a fight. But the brave souls at Men’sHealth aren’t shying away from a tussle, placing the top 100 most socially networked cities in order for all to see.

How did they do it? It appears to be a fair and scientifically valid procedure. First, Men’sHealth figured out each city’s LinkedIn and Facebook users per capita, and then tapped the NetProspex marketing database to figure out each location’s amount of overall Twitter usage.

Not stopping there, the next step was to consult online ad network Chitika to quantify traffic from MySpace, Friendster, Reddit and Digg, and finally, SimplyMap helped determine the percentage of households using chat rooms and blogs.

The list below is as much a study of how to find this information as it is a valid assessment of which city has the bragging rights to calling itself The Capital of Social Networking. Speaking of capital, who knew our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., would be at the top of the list, or that Milwaukee (#45), the location of Mashable’s humble Midwest Test Facility, would rate higher than the mighty New York City (#53), home of Mashable HQ?

See how your city ranks, and feel free to trash-talk those other lesser bergs in the comments.

via mashable.com

You can follow the ‘via’ link to see where your city ranks, but if you’re from Northeast Wisconsin, don’t bother! Green Bay and Appleton aren’t on the list. How do you feel about that? Does that mean social media is still a breakout strategy for you or does that make it officially a waste of time in your mind?

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