Category Archives: LinkedIn

Randy Schrum is considered one of the leading authorities on LinkedIn & Twitter and is co-manager of the #1 LinkedIn & Twitter Strategies groups.

He is the author of Twitter Strategies, which teaches businesses and Twitter users how to build on their business and professional goals using twitter.

I “met” him when I read his great article on seven ways to make LinkedIn work for you. Randy is the Executive Vice President of Sales for DemingHill, a Leading Corporate Social Media Consulting & Marketing Firm.

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful LinkedIn Members

Guest Post by Randy Schrum

So what makes a highly successful Linkedin member? Here is what I have discovered as not only habits, but also “secrets” of the treasure chest on Linkedin.

1. They invest their time strategically by putting fresh content on Linkedin when it’s the best time to do so.

Let me explain, for me weekends are times to prepare Linkedin content, but as you will notice most collaboration does not take place on weekends. So hold the great Q/A’s, the awesome discussion topics, or the great status updates until Monday and never late Friday. Think about what your audience is doing and be strategic.

2. They use their status update to post something new every 24 to 48 hours and 80% of those updates include a link that gives a call to action. Such as signing up for your next webinar, promotions to visit your blog, or visiting your corporate website etc…

3. They answer target-specific questions that are related to their particular market. This is great exposure for your business, and Linkedin Pros are doing it everyday!

4. They change their Picture profile every two months. This creates dialogue and interaction with your network. This is another way to keep your brand in front of everyone. Pictures are worth a thousand _ _ _ _ _ (fill in the blank)

5. They answer every Linkedin email/inmail. Maybe not timely, but they never waste an opportunity!

6. They post their company events on the events application provided by Linkedin and use this as a way to measure interest and involvement for such things as conferences, webinars, or seminars.

The events application has only been recently used by Linkedin Elite, but many are beginning to wise up to its amazing potential.

7. These highly successful members have identified their target markets on Linkedin, their goals on Linkedin, and are executing their plan every single work day.

Social Media can be measured, but most people don’t understand how to begin measuring their Social Media efforts because they have never identified their goals for using the Linkedin space. Once you have identified your goals, then you can build a measurable matrix to analyze your efforts.

Here are a few of the 65 comments that followed Randy’s article:

I would add that developing relationships with those on LinkedIn can be a crucial benefit. Your comments are great for a large company but as a one-person business it is the individual relationships that matter most to me. I have connected with others in my field that I might not otherwise have “met.” — Ann Brauer

They make their content easily shareable by people reading it – know- how is the one thing you can give away and still be left with – so as Janet says, “share the love.” — Kirsten Gibbs

As everyone else agreed, this is a great list of what to do ‘right’ on LI. I would add a few other things to your list:
1) Utilizing all of the LI applications to enhance the profile page…content is king.
2) Joining and actively participating in Groups, especially those where your target audience members are most likely to be.
3) Give to get — provide assistance where you can without including a sales plug, it can pay back significantly. — Terri Maurer

Randy, I love your tips so well that I will be one of many who will re-post this article. I do have two comments, though.
First off, my understanding has always been that one should NOT change photographs online because that can destroy credibility. People who only know you online can feel a sense of disconnect when the person they knew has been “replaced” by a stranger.
Secondly, I’d like to add a link to one of my popular articles on How to Increase Your Linked ROI By Tweaking Your Profile: http://sharisax.com/2010/03/14/how-to-improve-your-linked-roi-by-tweaking-your-profile/ — Shari Weiss

Randy’s recently published follow up article: The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Companies on LinkedIn

FURTHER READING:

10 Videos on How To do LinkedIn

Using LinkedIn Q & A

8 Tips to get Astounding Results on LinkedIn

Guest Post, LinkedIn, Sharisax Is Out There

Which Side of Digital Divide Will Your Company Be On in 2 Years?

May 24, 2010 Shari Weiss 5 Comments

Social Media Academy is an online learning experience for an online world, and I was fortunate to have recently completed their leadership training for social media consultants — where many of the classes were conducted by one of my first mentors SMACAD CEO Axel Schultze.

SMACAD sponsors a LinkedIn group, and member Morris Pentel asked:

What do you think the role of social media will be in 2 years time?

Here was Morris’s answer to his own question:

“Customer Partnerships rather than Customer Management will become the new way to deal with customers moving forward as we start to recognize the power that customers have.”

Axel responded with a not-quite-so-optimistic answer, which he has allowed me to use as a Guest Post.

Lack of Relevant Curriculum Will Hamper Majority of Today’s Business Students — and the companies that hire them

by Axel Schultze

As a customer experience fanatic, I understand Social Media to be the single most powerful mechanism to improve customer experience. But social media is not something you “install” and then have it.

Unfortunately, I see the “social divide” widening in two years.

Social Graph Factor

It takes approximately six months to establish a decent social graph. Within those six months many people will give up, make mistakes, and start all over in another six months. In other words, somebody who starts in the social web today can be savvy and have a valuable social graph by end of the year.

Organization Factor

The democratization of knowledge is another current dilemma. The established experts make way to whoever communicates fastest, loudest and with the largest number of followers (not twitter followers, but followers of their direction).

Today more people say “You have to grow the number of followers” than those who say “Focus on relevant people in your network.”
More people say “Social Media is the new marketing channel” than those who say “Social Media is most successful as a cross-functional customer engagement model.”

The challenge is to identify the most successful way for an organization to create a sustainable success model.

Role Model Factor

In the past, if a company installed CRM, SAP, Local Area Networks, the company or their vendor heavily advertised that fact.

Not so in Social Media. Social Media is a powerful competitive advantage and those who figured it out won’t advertise it. The majority of leadership teams are followers — following the market leader.

But if the market leaders do not promote what they do, the followers will fall back more than ever before.

Educational Factor

The vast majority of business education still teaches traditional techniques. Many of the instructors are business consultants who were pretty successful 10+ years ago and are now teaching their success model to others.

There are only a microscopically small number of business-relevant social media training institutes or consultants with both — sound business experience AND a profound social media background. Look at the major sales training institutes: You won’t find them in the social web; some even require their trainers to NOT use social media at all.

As such – the “social divide” will widen and the distance between market leaders and followers will get bigger in the next two years. In most industries the market leaders are heavily engaged in the social web while their B-Class competitors are still busy wondering if “the economy is coming back.”

Which side of the Digital Divide do you want to be on, and what will you be doing about it?

Social Media Academy’s next Leadership Class begins June 9.

Guest Post, LinkedIn, Sharisax Is Out There

8 Tips to Get Astounding Results from LinkedIn

May 21, 2010 Shari Weiss 23 Comments

Social Media Marketing Mavens is one of my favorite LinkedIn groups because the discussion topics always seem to provide opportunities for me to learn new tactics, tools, and techniques for Social Media Marketing.

. . . just one more reason why LinkedIn is such a phenomenal place to “live” and learn. So when I read Victoria Ipri’s advice on helping LinkedIn members maximize their participation and increase their bottom lines, I knew I needed to share her suggestions with my readers.

Confident Copywriter Victoria Ipri “is the epitome of the type of professional you hope to connect with on LinkedIn and in all of your business dealings. She is generous, helpful, and a dynamic writer. She gives freely of her time and expertise and asks little in return.” — from her first LinkedIn recommendation

No Business from LinkedIn? Here’s What May Be Wrong

by Victoria Ipri

So you’ve been on LI for months and you haven’t gotten one shred of business…except maybe a few inquiries here and there that didn’t pan out; a couple nibbles from companies that were wrong for you; and those endless MLM offers you won’t even consider.

That leaves you wondering what all the fuss is about. Who are all these people who claim they have gotten new, profitable business on LinkedIn?

Bad news: It’s not LinkedIn. It’s you.

To drive business on LinkedIn, you need an action plan and a system, just like any other business strategy. You’re only going to get back what you put in. Without a plan, you’ll waste a lot of time being sociable, with no real business to show for it.

This is the biggest complaint I hear about social media marketing…it takes a lot of time and results never seem to materialize.

I agree, it is time-consuming. But when done correctly (which means planning SMM into your day, maximizing that time, and maintaining a narrow focus), the results can be astounding.

It’s kind of like cleaning your house. You start out enthusiastically enough. Two hours later, though, you haven’t moved from the bedroom. You end up sidetracked, going through closets and drawers and…“ooohhh! What’s this? My high school love letters!”

Before you know it, you’ve walked so far down Memory Lane you’ll need to catch the bus back to the corner of Main & Reality.

8 Steps to Optimizing Your LI Connections

1. See the future: How much new business can you comfortably handle? Be realistic. One new client a month is 12 for the year. Not bad.

2. Choose a target market and do not stray from this focus.

3. Join groups for those markets and actively participate in a meaningful way.

4. Educate yourself on effective LI search…there are ways to search and find specific information about specific people.

5. Stand out: Be active! Be proactive! Be visible! Get out there and get involved. Create a highly compelling profile; not a resume rehash.

6. Answer questions to highlight your subject expertise.

7. Accept connections and request connections. People want to connect with you!

8. Talk to people. I mean, really talk. Show an interest, look for ways to help each other…seeking connections isn’t only about having lots of connections!

Remember…this is social media marketing. You wouldn’t walk into your neighbor’s BBQ, announce your arrival, then sit in your neighbor’s favorite chair and start dominating the conversation, would you? The beauty of social media marketing is the opportunity to use natural, social strategies of communicating, connecting and collaborating to build your online visibility and attract the attention of companies you really want to work with.

What LI strategies have worked well for you?

Check out my article on Tweaking Your LinkedIn Profile for Maximum ROI

LinkedIn, Sharisax Is Out There

Do or Die. There is no “Try”

May 15, 2010 Shari Weiss 17 Comments

Perfecting one’s LinkedIn profile is the first step to maximizing ROI on this popular business social site. If you stop there, you can be found . . .

But if YOU are looking to find customers, partners, problem solutions and knowledge, the next step is to join LinkedIn groups and participate in their discussions. That was exactly how I came upon one topic asking for motivational quotes. Below are 24 I liked.

Two Dozen Motivational Quotes

— from LinkedIn group eMarketing Association Network

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
The lips of wisdom are closed except to the ears of understanding.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky
If you can dream it, you can do it! — Walt Disney
When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it. — Yogi Berra
Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way, you’re right.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Meade
If you are going through Hell, keep going. — Winston Churchill
When life kicks you, let it kick you forward.
Attitude is not the result of success, success is the result of attitude
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do, or do not. There is no “try.” — Jedi Master Yoda
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every Obstacle Yields to Effort. — Leonardo da Vinci
You become what you think about.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. — Thomas Jefferson
Imagination is more important than knowledge. — Albert Einstein
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it — Charles Swindell
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently
The twin killers of success are impatience and greed. — Jim Rohn
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. –Henry Ford
When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
Every great oak was once a nut that stood its ground.

Do you see any patterns here?

Do any of these stand out for you — and why?

What’s your own favorite motivational quote?

LinkedIn, Sharisax Is Out There

Should You Be Doing Webinars? Should I?

May 13, 2010 Shari Weiss 16 Comments

Webinars have become a part of my New Life as a social media evangelist because there is so much great information Out There and so many experts offering 60-minute web presentations on a host of topics that I want to learn about.

But do I want to be on the other side of the phone/VOIP line? Do you?

A few of my friends and prospective business partners have suggested giving webinars, so I’ve begun research by asking questions on LinkedIn and Twitter AND attending a webinar on webinars.

— LinkedIn question

Friends/partners want me to do Webinars. Do you think they work? Why or why not?

I just listened to a webinar on webinars and they sound remarkable for lead generation and building reputation. What has been your experience. Other friends think that Teleclasses are better. What do you think?

— LinkedIn answers

Definitely Webinars are the way to go. For the participant, if done right, having the live graphics and especially using the Q&A/Conversation feature really gets things engaged!
Tele-seminars miss some interaction. With webinars, the presenter can make an impression with the knowledge/skills that can affect perception of a product. Plus, the participant can even move around, stand up, etc., but still see and be enthralled. Go that way! — Ned O’Doherty

I have seen MANY webinars! and I think they are great! Gives all the information needed, establishes you as an expert and you start a relationship with audience. I agree with your friends/partners. Go for it. Have fun! — Vanessa Cabrera

I believe that FREE Webinars are excellent ways to promote products and services.
They should never be more than an hour long and be 90% about the “subject” and 10% on the company selling services to the subject . — Trevor Lobel

Like any medium, they will attract some people, put off others. The real question is, is it a learning curve you want to master and spend time using, or is there something else that suits you and your business better?
For me, blogging suits not only my personality, but also my business. Webinars might be good, but time-value ratio is flat enough that it’s not beating me on the head to do it. Same with podcasts.
There’s no one golden ticket to business success, so pick the media you’re most comfortable with and go for it! — Erica Friedman

I think webinars are smart ways to communicate and educate prospects about products and services. I have found that producing a really informative and successful webinar, however, consumes a lot of resources when you consider:
– the time it takes to promote the event
– the resources used to produce presentation decks
– purchasing/understanding the webinar platform technology
– high attendance attrition rates of about 50%
My advice is examine the above factors to estimate the hard/soft costs of the webinar and then determine how many people need to take next steps to meet your goal cost-per-lead. Once you have a clear picture of what you need to accomplish in terms of attendance and lead gen in order to make the webinar successful from a monetary perspective, you can decide if it truly makes sense. — Elizabeth Sklaroff

There may be many reasons why you or your organization may benefit from doing webinars.
Case studies: a great way to help your customers or potential customers understand your specific value proposition.
Announce a new feature and demonstrate it’s new benefit.
Highlight your areas of expertise: either directly or indirectly.
HPCareer.net began doing webinars each week in early 2009, in the midst of our massive economic downturn, budget cuts and the resulting job losses. Our webinar series solved a number of issues faced by our organization, our customers and professionals. Because there were fewer jobs available, we were less busy and thereby able to redirect a portion of our human resources to focus on this new venture.
Our customers are able to save money on continuing professional education for their health promotion staff by encouraging them to participate in live and/or archived webinar content. Individual professionals benefit regardless of their employment status by expanding their knowledge directly from the nationally and internationally recognized experts we select to present each week. —Michaela Conley

5 Reasons Every Marketer Must Do Webinars & How to Get Started

This was the title of a webinar sponsored by Focus and featuring Craig Rosenberg — a webinar on webinars! Here are some of my “take-aways” regarding the WHY’s and the HOW’s.

Eight Attributes of Remarkable Webinars

Helpful: Always be Helping is the new Always be Closing.
Timely: Make certain your target audience can relate to your topic.
Interruptive: Your presentation must stand out above the noise, i.e., the diversity of online information clamoring for attention.
Entertaining: Participants want to enjoy the experience and feel they are not wasting their time.
Shareable: Would an influencer want to forward this? Any chance of going viral?
Versatile: Content can be used for white papers, newsletters, etc.
Crowd-sourced: Customers and partners share in the spirit of cooperation.
Efficient: Information should be concise; list formats are effective.

A webinar can position you as a trusted adviser.

Four Key Steps to Planning the Presentation

Choose a broad topic to start with, so that you can attract a wide audience.
Keep things simple: Experts make great speakers.
Create a lean registration page.
Leverage phone and email lists, and focus on a few potential customers/prospects.

Content lives forever. You may not hit a big number on your event, but you will get people over time.

Promotional Communication Tips

Promotional email: Subject line is critical; must be arresting and eye-catching. Solve business problems, don’t sell. Be clear about your content. Include Calls-to-Action.

Landing Page inclusions: Explicit details of date and time; broadcast what benefits participants will receive. Sell the experts because people want to know their instructors. Keep registration form as simple as possible.

Reminder emails: Send confirmation immediately after registration; reminders 4 days and then one day before event.

End of Chapter One in my research: Have you been convinced one way or another?

Please add your experiences and advice AND/OR read on for Chapter Two.

Guest Post, LinkedIn

Webinars Work . . . When Everything Works

April 24, 2010 Shari Weiss 5 Comments

People are so darn smart!

And social media platforms like LinkedIn offer experts in every field a great forum for sharing their expertise — and for the rest of us to benefit.

Like many people who want to learn “everything,” I register for many online webinars. Unfortunately, too many of them experience technical difficulties that detract from their usefulness. When I saw Bret Smith’s Discussion Topic on Webinars in our group Social Media Marketing Mavens, I wanted to broadcast his great advice, so asked if he would publish his views in a Guest Post.

Bret has 20 years’ experience in Global Sales, Marketing, Alliances, and Business Development. He is co-principal of WebAttract, a global leader in informational webinar production and demand generation. During his career, he has established himself as a master of the science and art of audience recruitment as well as solution selling.

Like the Boy Scouts’ motto: BE PREPARED

Guest Post by Bret Smith

Webinars can go wrong in any number of ways. You are in charge of making things work out. Here are four common problems to prepare for:

1. Missing Presenter: Webinar speakers sometimes confuse the start time’s time zone —“Was it EDT, EST, or GMT?”

If the presenter doesn’t show up on time, be sure to have his or her emergency contact information on hand so you can call their cell phone or hotel room or have their assistant track them down.

2. Audio Difficulties: The telephone or Internet audio may cut out midway through the webinar. You may lose the presenter, lose the audience, or lose everyone at once. This situation can quickly become overwhelming unless you act quickly and decisively.

a) If only the presenter cuts out, verbally inform the audience what has happened and tell them the presentation will begin again shortly. That gives the speaker time to call in again or call in with a backup phone line.

b) If just the audience cuts out, post a note on the webinar screen with instructions for what the audience needs to do. They may need to exit the webinar room and login again or hang up and dial into the conference call again. Before the presentation resumes, confirm everyone can hear the audio. The easiest way to do this is to have several co-workers be attendees. They can run over to tell you if the audio is working again.

c) If everyone cuts out at once, first post an explanation, then get the presenter’s audio back up, and finally make sure the audience’s audio is back up, per the instructions above.

3. Presentation Slide Control: The speaker may lose the ability to progress from slide to slide during the webinar.

Sometimes the presenter can log out and log back in to regain access. If not, the presenter should have numbered the slides and have a hard copy nearby. The presenter can then use the hard copy to present from and instruct the facilitator when to move from slide to slide.

4. Doomsday: Webinars depend on many variables: the Internet provider, the telephone provider, the webinar technology, and your computer, to name some. At times these variables collude to get the better of you and you have no choice but to cancel the event.

Don’t make yourself wrong for this happening. Just deal with it.

First communicate with the live audience what has happened, what they can expect from you, and how to reach you.
After that, you’ll want to email or call every attendee.
Your message should include an apology, information about the rescheduled event, and some kind of compensation for their lost time, like free access to the next webinar or a complimentary e-book or report.

You never want to have these problems but, if you do, be excited: Any failing gives you the opportunity to impress the audience with your client service.

Bret Smith invites everyone to join his own group: WebAttract Thought Leadership Webinars and Webcasts

Guest Post, LinkedIn

Social Web to Get More Social

March 28, 2010 Shari Weiss Leave a comment

One of the coolest social networking activities I’ve been enjoying lately is a discussion on the LinkedIn group “Future of Social Media.”

Member Endaf Kerfoot posted a great topic in April 2009:

“Introduce yourself to members of the group – who you are, what you do, where your social media strategy is at/going, what you want to know more about, where you see your own Future of Social Media.”

At last count, 405 of the 3000 members had introduced themselves — including me and Michael Sherman.

Michael is from Long Island, NY; currently resides in South Florida; and has worked in marketing positions for seven years. Like me he is enamored with All Things Social Media, so I asked if he’d like to contribute his insights to my blog . . . so here’s Michael . . .

The Future of Social Media for 2010 and Beyond

Guest Post by Michael Sherman

So many people think Social Media is in its infancy. I don’t agree. I think it’s been around longer then you think.

Back in the late 1990s when I first experienced the World Wide Web. I would come home from school and jump onto my father’s computer and go on those famous AOL chat rooms. It was great. Instantly, I could interact with people from all over the world.

To me, that was social media — real time conversation.

Now when you think of social media today what comes to mind?

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn: Amazing communication platforms with capabilities we haven’t even thought of yet. Hey, I wouldn’t have met Shari without using them.

The thing with learning social media is that you can’t just read a book and become a genius. Technology is changing faster then you can change your clothes.

Anyone who considers him or herself a social media expert is just bragging. It is impossible to be an expert in this area because of the constant changes.

If I was writing for this blog last year, the article would have been about MySpace and Friendster. Next year it may be Google Wave or something we can only dream about today.

So if I had to make some predictions for the future of social media I would have to say that it’s a medium that isn’t leaving us anytime soon. It is going to keep getting better and better.

Two Predictions

Social TV: Video will become even more important and relevant as we go forward. It will be intertwined with live television like never before. No longer will you need to vote for your American Idol on the phone. You will be able to do it right from Facebook and be able to interact with the hosts and producers in real time to turn Reality TV into Social TV. Television is made for consumers, and they will have a say on what they want to see. Social media can make that happen.

Even more social: People will be partying virtually. No matter if you are in New York, San Francisco or Hong Kong — social media will allow you to experience the same party experience no matter how far away you are from the other people. The amenities will be the same, and everyone can see and hear everyone else: A Tweetup on Steroids.

In a nutshell, social media is going to allow people to be able to interact with each other faster and quicker then ever before — in ways that they never thought were imaginable.

Michael can be reached via his LinkedIn profile. If you want to make predictions for the future of social media, you can join our LinkedIn group FUTURE SOCIAL MEDIA [check out Groups Directory] and/or write a guest post for this blog.

BTW, if you click the photo of the panel above, you will get to a past story on a panel discuusion of the Roadmap for Social Media’s Future featuring Steve Rubel, Michael Brito, Angela LoSasso, and Richard Brewer-Hay.

How To Help Your LinkedIn Group Members

March 27, 2010 Shari Weiss Leave a comment

Creating your own group on LinkedIn is one of the advanced strategies [Video 5] that the professional site’s members can implement to build their reputations and accomplish other business goals.

A “not-so-advanced” technique, and one that is extremely important and valuable, is participating in groups. LinkedIn allows users to join as many as 50 groups, and another 50 subgroups.

But once you have joined a group — especially if you are new to groups — you may not automatically know the etiquette and accepted behaviors . . . unless the group has a manager like Stephen Coates who wrote the following guidelines for posting on the eMarketing Association Network’s group page.

New Posting Guidelines for eMarketing Association Network

As this is the eMarketing group, it is for posts relevant to electronic marketing. If your post has been removed, see below. Here are the rules:

1) Posts must be by real people with real names – pretend names will be removed from the group. Real persons must have a surname.

2) Discussions must be relevant to eMarketing (no wineries, face cream or handbags)

3) The title must be brief (1-2 lines with no blank lines or underlines etc.) with the bulk of the information in the additional details section of the post.

4) The following are not permitted in any tab:

“we have lots of jobs”
join our group posts
expanding my network
MLM schemes and other get rich schemes
“vote for me”
“review my Internet site”
overly broad or unfathomable questions
“seasons greetings” (Robert Fleming excepted, of course)

5) Redirection URLs (tiny.cc, bit.ly etc.) are not permitted. Why? because although a few might lead to a site with malware and no one knows until it’s too late and they’re used when multiple people flog the one site but want to hide it.

6) Any URL must be accompanied by some explanation of what’s there (eg. “read by blog” or “take this survey” must include a few sentences summarising the blog topic or survey objective).

7) Posts must be posted only once, the deleting of old posts notwithstanding.

8- As 6/5/10 is the 6th May in the entire world except the USA and the 5th of June in the USA, dates are to include the Month by name (6 May or May 6).

Discussions Tab

9) Posting multiple posts with different titles and text but all of which contain the same message from different persons are equally unacceptable.

10) Ads for services must not hide that they are ads, must clearly state the product or service being advertised and must not be titled with a leading question.

11) Business opportunities (in the discussions tab) must state:

that they seek people to sell services and/or products
that the scheme is not multi-level
what products or services are to be sold (and these have to be relevant to eMarketing and no snake oil)
what a prospect will have to do (and “invest time and effort” is insufficient)
provide genuine contact details of yourself (a gmail address will not do)
include the phrase “business opportunity”
be posted only once
must not be titled with such grand statements as “be your own boss,” “make lots of money,” “ride the wave,” “take control of your life” or other such gibberish
the name, address, phone number and URL of the company advertising (“it’s on my profile” notwithstanding).

Job Tab

12) Only actual jobs that pay a salary or contract ($per day or per hour) are to be posted in the job board.

13) Posts must state:

the location where the person would be working (city and country)
what the job entails
what experience is required
the salary range
the name, address, phone number and URL of the company advertising (“it’s on my profile” notwithstanding).

14) “I’m looking for a job” posts belong in the jobs tab.

15) Jobs posts must be removed when the job or the search for one has been fulfilled.

News Tab

16) Event notices are to be put in the news tab and they, too, are to be removed when the event has occurred, unless there is significant IP such as conference proceedings on the site referenced.

Comments

17) Comments must be relevant to the post and not be used to flog an unrelated site, product or service.

18) Personal insults will be deleted and may lead to the person being removed from the group.

If your post has been removed:

I cannot restore it
I won’t pre-vet something you want to post or explain the rules further
please DO NOT send me a note either to say sorry or to object
just ensure that your next post is in accordance with the rules and all will be well.

Many of the group members who commented on Stephen’s guidelines suggested that All groups post such suggestions, and Stephen agreed to allow me to re-publish his.

What do you think? Would this be helpful for all groups? Are there some other guidelines you might suggest? Does your group publish such guidelines?

Facebook, Featured, LinkedIn

Social Media Victories — and how to win them

March 25, 2010 Shari Weiss 4 Comments

Bay Area Consultants hear SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS from popular speaker Patrick Schwerdtfeger

Back by popular request, Patrick presented more detailed online marketing tactics — building from his earlier talk on social media basics delivered last fall.

Author of Webify Your Business, Patrick spoke at 127 events around the globe in 2009. He shares social media success stories and practical strategies that inspire his audiences to go home and start creating plans of their own.

Below are 14 videos taken at the 90-minute presentation — from how to introduce yourself online to maximizing the professional opportunities on LinkedIn.

First, however, read the reactions from 10 of the more than 70 entrepreneurs in attendance.

I went into Patrick’s presentation knowing nothing about social media except that someone told me I was being reviewed on Yelp and joined LinkedIn because I was invited.
The one step I decided to implement was making a video for YouTube on how to do something specific in QuickBooks and start a blog to connect to my website.” — Pamela Lyons

Pamela teaches companies to leverage technology with their accounting practices using training, part time CFO, and bookkeepers onsite or remote. She takes QuickBooks to the next level to get results on your financial information.

“I’m going to follow-up on Patrick’s suggestion that we choose one standard head-shot photo to use in all of our online media outlets, as these will become our brands.” — Steven Tulsky

Steven offers financial Expertise for the Nonprofit Sector: The Benemetrics Consulting Group partners with nonprofit executives, directors, and finance staff to develop, evaluate, and communicate meaningful financial information, enabling them to implement good decisions that assure the financial well being and mission effectiveness of their organizations.

“Patrick’s presentation showed me that “doing” social media could be easy and fun! The big thing – get started!
The best tip for me was to create educational videos for You Tube, leverage them with similar related videos, match my current branding and then, get the word out there. Patrick is a great speaker – he loves “this stuff” and enjoys sharing the information.” — Deborah Myers

An acupressurist and Health Educator, Deborah unravels the mysteries of the body, bringing health and wellness to your personal and business life.

” Patrick has a wealth of useful information on Social Media Marketing; he has a gift for simplifying and giving practical tips. I immediately put to use his tips on doing a YouTube video.” — Diane Parente

Diane’s company Image Development & Management, Inc (IDMI) is The Professional Image Resource based in San Francisco providing services and products to fit every aspect of your image from visual to verbal.

“Here is my One Tip that we will be implementing: Adding a Yelp profile for our company and asking clients to write reviews.” — Terry Gault

Terry’s organization, The Henderson Group, helps business professionals transition into high visibility roles where communication skills are critical for success.

“One powerful tip I got from Patrick’s presentation is the fact that there are 400 million users on Facebook and that I need to start utilizing that resource. As a result of hearing him speak, I plan on creating a Fan Page on Facebook to help direct people to my website.” — Carrie Cheadle

Carrie has dedicated her career to helping athletes of all levels enhance their athletic experience by coaching them on how to approach their sport with more confidence, more enjoyment, and empowering them with the necessary support and skills to achieve their goals and perform to their potential.

“Social media can be so overwhelming – lots of choices with little understanding of real marketing value. Patrick’s presentation made both sense and cents, as I feel I can better implement social media to my advantage.” — Bruce Burtch

Bruce, the Cause Marketing Catalyst, develops cause marketing campaigns, joining for-profit and nonprofit organizations, with the focus of building win-win partnerships for the greater good.

“Instead of getting overwhelmed by social media, I plan to commit to taking one step forward each week! ” — Carol Seebach

Carol’s company Executive Gears provides support for executives and boards to bring order and efficiency to organizations.

“The main idea I took away from the presentation was to be redundant on the web: Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, YouTube, all are excellent platforms for getting the word out about your business. I feel more confident about moving forward with this branch of our marketing efforts after listening to Patrick.” — William Buchanan

Bill’s 51 years of federal law enforcement experience combined with an efficient business model assure our corporate and law firm clients the highest quality of investigative services.

“I suppose I have to put my business on Yelp, which I have resisted doing for years. It still doesn’t seem to me like the kind of place people look for my type of services. (After last time, I created a Facebook Fan Page for the Podcast Asylum, though I refuse to have a personal profile on Facebook.) Patrick is a convincing guy.” — Sallie Goetsch

Sallie’s service, The Podcast Asylum, helps you podcast without losing your mind — or driving

your listeners crazy.

SOCIAL MEDIA VICTORIES – and how to win them

More and more people are searching online every single day
Driving traffic to a website is a difficult challenge
Introducing yourself online will spread your influence

Outrun your competition

It’s not difficult to outshine your online competition
Do more than them
Example: 40% of Tweets are useless babble

Raging Rivers – post info for people to find

Understand how every action online can support your business objectives

Digital Divide — embrace the new media

Centerpiece is your blog
Your website meets your customers on a different level
Examples of how “age” shapes opinions:

“If an online transaction goes wrong, I have no recourse VS. If online transaction goes wrong, I can personally destroy their business”

United Breaks Guitars — online payback for customer neglect

YouTube gets real results
Lots of things may fail, but some things really work

Conversations are Markets

Is marketing dead? Of course not, but it is changing
Find the conversation and participate
Awareness leads to interest . . . and more

Facebook — and what to do with it

Your headshot online becomes your brand
Difference between Profiles, Groups & Fan Pages
Facebook ranks really HIGH on Google
Google Juice is the SEO value of what we are talking about

Building Facebook Pages

Do people read updates?
Posting on the Walls of friends
Increasing number of companies have Facebook rather than traditional website
You can create Groups & Fan Pages for your business on Facebook

Tagging People in Photos

Successful winery case study
“That looks like fun” – Fun events to share

Get to 300 Facebook Fans

Viral effect of people engaging will grow your page
Run campaigns and ask questions to grow exposure
Interactions lead to trust

Facebook URL & stunt that “worked”

Losing friends and gaining Whoppers

LinkedIn – searchability

Stats
Excellent Google visibility
Allows for precision email communication
Go to Google: search for LinkedIn success stories
Make sure technical keywords are included in profile

Maximizing your LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn Recommendations

Mixed views on recommendations, but get them

Having a LinkedIn Profile – is not marketing

You have to work
Ask and answer questions
Join and create groups
Post your blog URL in group news items

Members of BACN are independent consultants who are interested in expanding their professional practices through effective networking and professional development programs sponsored by BACN. Attend a BACN meeting to become a member.

10 Videos on How to do LinkedIn

March 23, 2010 Shari Weiss 4 Comments

LinkedIn Video Series by Butterscotch.com

LinkedIn definitely merits its place as one of the Top Three social media sites that business people — and those seeking to enter the workforce — ought to understand how to use and benefit from.

I imagine we all know lots of people who “think” they are on LinkedIn . . . but aren’t sure. Or is that you?

It did take me awhile to discover just how robust this social media platform is, expecially, if you “work” it.

Preparing to teach a LinkedIn workshop on GROUPS, I found a set of wonderful video tutorials from Butterscotch.com, which go from the most basic steps like signing in to more advanced ones like adding applications to your profile. Below the listing of the ten topics are the videos themselves, which you can view by clicking on the appropriate screen. All the videos have been embedded from YouTube where you can learn how to do just about everything:

How to Sign In to LinkedIn
How to Make Connections on LinkedIn
How to Fill out Profile
How to Search for Connections on LinkedIn
How to Join and Create Groups
How to Get Introduced
How to Add Applications
Your Home Page
Privacy Settings
Paid upgraded account features

Video 1 – How to sign in to LinkedIn

Video 2 – How to make connections on LinkedIn

Video 3 – How to Fill out Profile

Video 4 – How to Search for Connections on LinkedIn

Video 5 – How to Join and Create Groups

Video 6 – How to get Introduced

Video 7 – How to Add Applications

Video 8 – Your Home Page

Video 9 – Privacy Settings

Video 10 – Paid upgraded account features

FURTHER READING:

How to improve your Linked ROI by tweaking your profile

728 FAQs, Who knew?

So you’ve joined a LinkedIn group . . . now what?

What you need to know about LinkedIn Q & A

Making your LinkedIn profile work for you

How to Improve Your Linked ROI By Tweaking Your Profile

March 14, 2010 Shari Weiss 60 Comments

How do I love LinkedIn?

Let me count the ways — and share them — so everyone can improve their Return on Time Investment.

This week I’m conducting workshops entitled:

“I’m on LinkedIn . . . Now WHAT?”

Below is a list of what we discussed until time ran out. So this article is two-fold:

1) For those who may be missing some key tips and features for maximizing their LinkedIn profiles

AND

2) For those who already know how robust this platform is — and can add more suggestions.

8 Ways Updating a LinkedIn Profile Will Increase Find-ability

1. PROFILE HEADLINE: Too many people, myself included, initially neglect to maximize the power of the Title or Headline. That is the 120-character message to the left of your photo icon. When you post on group discussions and Q&A, your photo AND that title will “brand” you.

At first, I simply wrote “Community Manager at Performance Social Media” because I was proud of that label. But what did the “label” do for my readers, i.e., anyone who viewed my profile?

Nada, really. Most people don’t even know what a community manager is.

And, then, there are my friends who are proud to tell people they are the CEO of this or that consulting agency.

Daah? What does that do for me? How can they help me?

The key here is to use those 120 characters to broadcast exactly how you personally [because it is all about people helping people] can help me, i.e., give me a reason to want to find out more about you.

So what should you do?

One recommended format is to aim for two “problem solutions” and one “descriptive title.” Here’s how I changed mine:

Social Media Strategist: training&blogs I PR2.0 writer/editor | Chief Blogger: SHARISAX IS OUT THERE I sharisax@aol.com

Here is how my friend Kay Karchevski, the H2o Water Lady updated hers:

Source for purified water | sustainable&healthy | Independent Distributor of Multi-Pure water filters

Another friend Diane Castro, senior living consultant, changed hers from “Founder of SOS4Seniors” to this:

Senior Living Consultant | Finding the Right Fit For a Vibrant Healthy Life

Don’t tackle this “simple” fix alone. Ask a friend or two. You’ll be amazed how their suggestions can help you frame just what it is you do.

2. YOUR UPDATES: Remember that your updates, i.e., the messages that you write on your LinkedIn Home Page appear beneath your name, photo, and headline.

So, post accordingly.

Some people love automated tools to post the same messages on every social media site they belong to.

Not a good idea, especially for your LinkedIn connections.

I love the analogy I’ve heard that MySpace is like meeting your friends at a bar; Facebook is meeting them at your backyard BBQ; and LinkedIn is meeting them at the office.

Post accordingly.

Twitter does allow you to add the hashtag #in to the end of your Tweets and they will automatically post on LinkedIn, but be deliberate how you use this.

While you may post many times a day on Facebook and Twitter, Common Wisdom & “Business Etiquette” would suggest that you not post more than once or twice a day. That being said, DO POST. Let your connections know that you are engaging in valuable activities that will support your value in their minds.

3. POSITIONS & EDUCATION: Let your resume help here . . . AND in achieving the sought-after 100% completeness.

Fifteen percent of the total is devoted to whether or not you have imported your resume.

LinkedIn helps you upload the information on the right sidebar under “Edit my Profile”: you will see a link to click on with instructions.

But don’t stop there — like I did.

“After the fact” i.e. a few months after my profile was 100% complete, I learned that several of the “past” positions had errors — either repetitions or the incorrect company name. SO BE CERTAIN to go back and check those entries.

How do you do that?

You are in Edit Profile and you CLICK on the word Past [see below]:

Carefully read through each entry and click the “edit” link where a change needs to be made.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS: This topic probably needs an article article on its own, but your profile must have recommendations — to achieve the 100% completion, but, more importantly, to show that people do value your expertise.

How to get those recommendations? Do good work, of course.

In the beginning, however, you may have to simply ask customers, clients, and friends who know your accomplishments. Many times if you offer an unsolicited recommendation to someone else, they may reciprocate.

5. CONNECTIONS: The magic number is 500. Once you surpass that number, your total will remain 500+, whether you have 501 or 5,001.

Whom should you connect to?

Some people choose to keep their LinkedIn community close, i.e., only folks they know personally and would be happy to recommend.

On the other side of the LinkedIn world, you will see “LIONS” — LinkedIn Open Networkers, who accept every LinkedIn invitation and display their email addresses.

I, myself, fall in the middle. In addition to people I know in person, I like to “meet” people in Group Discussions and through Q&A, check out their profiles, and send invitations if I think we can support one another in some way.

If you, personally, are FOR or AGAINST being a Lion, please add your opinion in the comment section below.

6. WEBSITES: Here’s a big opportunity that many people miss when they opt for the default titles “My blog” or “My company” or “My website.”

Edit this section, and in the drop down box, click on OTHER. Then you have the chance to write the actual NAME of your blog, company, and website — another opportunity for key words on your profile AND increased “Find-Ability.”

7. PUBLIC PROFILE: Another simple “fix”: Edit the default URL from a long unwieldy string of numbers and letters after your name to just your name. Of course, like me, someone with your exact name and spelling of the name has probably already secured that URL, so add something like your city.

Here’s mine: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shariweisssf — I merely added “sf” for San Francisco after my name.

And Here’s the Biggest Opportunity – Fine-tuning your Summary

8. YOUR SUMMARY: Last October I wrote an article titled “The Magic of LinkedIn: Making your Profile work for you,” based on a presentation I’d attended.

But, like most of you, I’m learning a ton of new things every week, and so I’m going to “sum up” the meat-y part of that article and add a bit more.

A) Here is the 3-paragraph format I believe is effective for most of us:

FIRST PARAGRAPH: Communicate quickly and clearly the type of opportunities you are seeking.
SECOND PARAGRAPH: Highlight 3 or 4 key career accomplishments that demonstrate your qualifications. [Don’t use bullet points. Make it a friendly narrative.]
THIRD PARAGRAPH: Answer the question: How are you UNIQUE? How are you DIFFERENT?

B) After these short, clear, and concise paragraphs, include a COMMON MISSPELLINGS line like mine:

[Common misspellings: Wise, Wiess, Sharon, Sheri, Sherry, Shari Sax]

If people are looking for you, don’t let them miss you simply because they don’t know how to spell your name.

C) Finally, there is the SPECIALTIES section which is hugely important.

Here you put the KEY WORDS that employers are looking for when they search the LinkedIn site. My latest understanding is that keyword PHRASES are better than single words — to help you differentiate yourself from the many others who mostly put in single words.

YOUR TURN: How can you help the rest of us love LinkedIn even more? Add your thoughts and suggestions, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

PS I just found this Video on Filling Out Your LinkedIn Profile from Butterscotch.com

And here are a total of TEN videos on How to do LinkedIn

Marketing Profs Describe Their Ideal New Hires

March 7, 2010 Shari Weiss 35 Comments

If you were in a position to hire a new employee for your company, what would be the most important quality (in your opinion) the candidates you interview should have?

Recently Al Bagocius, CEO of The A & I Consulting, posted the question above to the 6800+ member LinkedIn group MarketingProfs. Al explained: “I posted the discussion as a learning tool for those looking for & trying to keep a job. I wanted them to see responses & suggestions from the group that may help them become better employees and groom themselves in the search process.”

Here are nine responses:

Superb talent and creativity in his or her field. Then, reliability — Sara Thurston

Would I be willing to have them as guests for dinner at my home with my family — Bill Doerr

Honesty – Art Shapro

Personal Integrity: We can mentor and teach him/her everything else but that …. and without it we’d be attempting to fill a ‘cracked’ vessel — John Weber

First attitude and flexibility, second creativity and out of the box thinking — Dr. Cande Tschetter

Honest and integrity are critical, but without passion for what he/she does, you could easily end up with a reliable chair-warmer — Cindi Smith

Follow through – absolutely! If they have that, it lets me know that they have integrity, as well — Mary Kurek

I think what I would be looking for is self drive and passion. I try to surround myself with people who have the same motivation to achieve and succeed as I do. Sales and service skills can be taught, but candidates who have that inner drive to succeed will always be first on my list to work with. — Mia Porlaje

Finally: Chris’s Compatibility Test

I always looked for somebody with the skills we needed, and the personality to fit into the team well. I guess we must have done both well because most of the people I hired are still successful in their field, and many of us are still friends.

Believe it or not, this is the way we used to test for compatibility. We’d ask candidates if they could recite from any Monty Python movie or TV show, any Star Trek movie or TV show, or sing 60s rock and roll. We did accept one candidate who said she could only sing in German, and another who asked if we would substitute the X-files. Both worked out well.

The one who didn’t was a young man who clearly thought I was an escaped lunatic when I asked him this. It was his first “real” job out of college, and I assume this was the only tie he owned–because he was wearing a Winnie the Pooh necktie that I suppose his mother bought him for Sunday school or something–when he was 10. So I told him I’d accept it if he could tell me what was the most wonderful thing about tiggers. By this time he was nervously looking over his shoulder as if looking for an avenue of escape. But he did answer the question and we did hire him. He didn’t last very long.

It may have been goofy. But it seemed to work for us.
— Chris Finnie

Students: Do you have these traits? Can you demonstrate them during an interview?

Employers: Have you been lucky enough to find new people with these qualities?

Note re: video above – Fikre Tesfa, a student in a recent Business Communication class has stayed in touch with me to tell me that my predictions about him are paying off. He is now working with independent film producers.

One day we’ll see Fikre up on The Academy Award stage.