LinkedIn is so much more than a “resume repository” advised Dean Guadagni and Susan Hanshaw in a presentation to Marin Professionals.
The two social media marketing strategists outlined a host of ways that online networking on this Web platform can play a significant role in your professional life.
One tip sent me home to update my profile . . .
But, first, three facts for you:
1 – LinkedIn provides a pathway for users to connect with the right people beyond their own network connections.
2 – A large network increases your ability to rank high in searches.
3 – 75% of employers are checking out LinkedIn profiles on prospective employees.
Below is my LinkedIn profile page:
I’ll show you what I changed — and how:
The “change” was on the bottom of the profile page — the SUMMARY portion:
My summary had only been a few key words until Dean & Susan told me what to do:
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?
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.
When you draft your own LinkedIn Summary, think about this quote from Susan:
“Consider your career as a tapestry of different threads of activities and jobs that you have had.”
But getting started is a lot like being a toddler put into a playpen with a bunch of new toys:
What to pick up and play with first?
Q: I’ve got a small business, and I want to begin using social media, so where do I start?
A: No doubt, there are as many answers as there are “experts” to advise you. However, what everyone agrees is that you just need to get going and DO IT!
MARKETING 101
1. What you SHOULD do is spend some time deciding What you want to accomplish with social media strategies:
Do you want to . . .
Drive more traffic to your website?
Build a closer community feeling with your customers?
Establish or change your organization’s reputation?
Find out what your competitors are up to?
Know how to find and hire the best employees?
Discover trends as they are happening?
Share your knowledge and expertise?
Monitor the marketplace to see what people are saying about you, your products, and/or your industry?
Learn how to be a better, more efficient, effective business person?
Or . . . do you just want to dive in to see what Social Media is all about?
2. Once you have chosen a goal — or goals — from the list above, then you may want to describe what achieving that goal looks like, e.g.,
a) Bring 40 new customers to your website
b) Engage 20 clients in a forum conversation
c) Find three skilled and motivated interns
3. This “description” can be your formal objective, for which you should set a time frame — and then you can measure your results and evaluate your program.
SOCIAL MEDIA 101
Note: Of course the exact route you take can vary — depending on your objective.
But here is a 4-step plan to develop a strategy and answer the question: What should we do first? second? third? fourth?
Twitter certainly is one of today’s most popular social media buzzwords, and a platform where businesses are finding real, measureable ways to listen to and engage with customers.
PLUS signing on to Twitter is the easiest social media effort you can make: To take this step, try to allow yourself at least an hour to (a) sign up on Twitter.com; (b) read some how-to information [the four Twitter 101 lessons listed below]; (c) and play — with FOLLOWING people, READING their tweets, and WRITING some tweets of your own.
When I invited John Gumas to participate on a panel for my advertising students at San Francisco State back in February, I had no idea that his views and insights were going to change the direction of my life.
That panel discussion and the meeting I had with John and the other panel members opened my eyes to the huge changes in the world of advertising and marketing.
I put aside my textbook and relied on marketing professionals like John, as well as Internet Ebooks, blog posts, webinars, podcasts, and news stories to help me blaze a trail down the Social Media Revolutionary Road.
SFSU Grad JOHN GUMAS Heads Strategic Marketing Firm GEARED to the Future
Right after graduation in 1984 with his College of Business degree in advertising and marketing, John Gumas opened his advertising agency to serve the needs of Challenger Brands — companies that were being out-spent by larger, more established competitors.
“It was clear to me that Challenger Brand companies needed to be marketed differently. How could these organizations compete?”
“They couldn’t out-spend or out-research the Goliaths. We’ve built our business helping these companies grow profits by distinguishing them in ways that set them apart from their competitors.”
“It was all about helping them play to their strong points, especially those that resonated with their target customers.”
Today, Gumas Advertising is an award-winning strategic marketing, advertising and interactive marketing agency with a host of regional, national, and international clients.
“Cultural Relevance”:
Companies must understand the new world of marketing
John acknowledges that things are changing faster than ever before, but not the basic strategy:
“Marketing is all about anticipating change so your programs are ahead of that change. When brands and companies don’t realize that their offering, messaging, or marketing strategies no longer match the needs of the marketplace, they fall behind the pack.”
“It is all about understanding when you have to do things differently.”
Integrated & Targeted Marketing is the future for advertisers
You have to provide relevant content, and your message is key.
The vehicles to deliver that content are changing all the time.
People want to be courted.
They want to make decisions on their own.
Consumers still want to be sold to, but in a different way.
Marketers need to think more deeply to reach their target consumers.
You can’t be everything to everyone: You must STAND OUT.
You figure out what is working, and what isn’t. Drop the Bad and do more of the Good.
John’s first lesson was his Best Lesson
John loved what he was doing when he first began, and he continues to love it to this day:
“Figure out early on that if you are passionate about what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
John’s advice to students:
1) Know who you are and what you want to do.
2) Don’t get a job for the wrong reasons, like money or prestige. Do a job because you are passionate about it.
3) Find an internship to test the waters. It’s the greatest experience you can have.
With his distinctive voice and great tips for finding money and work, Marty Nemko was certain to be a household name — or so I’d thought.
But many people, whom I told that I’d be going to hear him at the Marin Professionals meeting this week, didn’t know him.
So that’s one of many reasons I wanted to share his advice and relate it to “our” journey down the Social Media Revolutionary Road.
WHEN “FEAR OF FAILURE” IS NOTHING MORE THAN L-A-Z-I-N-E-S-S
Many people try to work as little as possible, so they have time for family and fun, according to Marty Nemko, but that’s why they are either un- or under-employed. And that’s why they are neither passionate about their work, nor satisfied with their lives.
Marty wanted us to think about this:
The life well-led is lived by the person who spends as many hours as healthfully possible making the world a better place
Too many people are procrastinators, but they’re really just plain lazy. And laziness will NEVER cut it.
Our work is defined by how much we make the world better.
Marty feels that the “vaunted” family is over-rated and the best role models — both moms and dads — are those who work hard and then spend quality time with family members.
People who feel good about their lives are very productive. Focus and effort are key. Dabbling is suicide. Real passion comes from being the Go-To Person, no matter what the job title.
So how do I connect the dots from Marty’s advice to Social Media?
1) Developing an Online Presence, whether personal, professional, or for an organization will take time, focus, and effort.
2) Understanding the unique opportunities we have — as individuals — to connect with family, long-time friends, and brand-new friends through social media platforms can build deeper relationships more easily.
3) Translating these practices from the simply personal venues to the marketplace will bring much needed changes to our business lives– AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
I’m reminded of a golden lesson learned from Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa: In her research, Mead learned that for the aborigines, “Work was Play, and Play was Work.” That was an idea, a message — a mantra, even — that I have never forgotten. And it really has made all the difference.
This BabyBoomer does. But nowadays Saturday morning seems to be a great time to catch up on a lot of web stuff that’s going to get me thinking about the FUTURE . . . of marketing, advertising, PR, media and our lives.
So I figured I’d share some of what I liked this morning:
1) Seth’s Blog: “Fidelity vs. Convenience” – Seth commented on a new book that shows us that successful new products/services must EXCEL [x10] vs. their competition in either Performance [fidelity] or Convenience, e.g. movie theater vs Netflix.
2) Future of Advertising slide show by Paul Isakson: One of my favorite quotes tells us that Revolutions Happen When Society Changes Its Behaviors, Not Its Tools.
3) Ad Age story on how Advertising Will Change Forever: The OLD ways do take a long time to “die,” but the future is clearly digital and social.
4) Viral Video: The Ulltimate Word of Mouth. 17-year-old sparks huge sales of Web Cams – Logitech paid $0 for advertising.
5) 21 Tips for Twitter from Forbe’s Mag: (a) short & direct; (b) coupons; (c) viral; (d) customer service; (e) focus groups — to name a few. You can even let customers know their deliveries will be delayed. And don’t forget Employee Recruitment is another use, i.e., publicizing open positions.
6) Creating Newsletters that Work: 5 steps: (a) Plan; (b) Don’t sell too hard; (c) Offer value; (d) Be consistent; (e) Make it interactive.
7. Nourishing Web Relationships: I actually read this blog post a few days ago, but Adam Singer’s “The Future Buzz” is my favorite blog, so I wanted to include this. I love his take on current — as well as “evergreen” — ideas and strategies. As a teacher of public relations, I do know it truly is All About Relationships. Do check out The Future Buzz.
8. A Brief and Informal Twitter Etiquette Guide: I like DM’s for 1-to-1 plans, rather than: broadcasting personal business to everyone. And . . . not every DM or @mention requires a reply. We don’t return every phone message, do we?
9. Five Ways Traditional Media are Using Video: This idea is my understanding of the Future of Advertising, so I was really interested. What I read, however, was a bit disappointing . . . for me. It shouldn’t have been, though, when I thought about it. The Mashable article simply outlined the ways that traditional media are using video . . . to advertise their “wares”: e.g., magazines with private online video channels and publishers using online videos to promote literary works.
10. Social Media Marketing slide show: Pretty basic, but good principles, examples, and tips. Shows what Wal-Mart has done wrong by trying to “control” the process. Also points out how offline activities translate online for entrepreneurs: large and small.
TEN social media marketing slices is a pretty filling meal for one post. But I think I’ll try this again. Let me know what you think. What was most interesting to you. What other sites have you read lately that you’d suggest?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment or sharing it with your followers on Twitter! You can also subscribe by email for more cool interviews and articles from Sharisax is Out There.
Last post we tried to address the responses of naysayers — the “non early adopters,” the social media non-initiates.
Common challenges in any evolutionary cycle. But the fact remains that life does change, and so do we.
And nowhere are these changes more dramatic than with engaged students in our colleges and universities. I’m seeing this “Ah-Ha Awareness” particularly strong among scores of individuals in my Public Relations and Advertising classes at San Francisco State University where many are hearing of this revolution in marketing for the very first time.
After 10+ weeks immersed in All Things Social Media, I asked the students to comment on this experience. Here following are the thoughts of Yoshiko Hill who is currently on a team studying the future of radio advertising:
I had no idea that social media was impacting the advertising, and entire marketing, world in such a significant way. I now realize that social media is being fully utilized by companies as a more cost-effective, targeted method of reaching customers.
Social media creates a dialogue with customers that most traditional media lack. It is especially attractive as an alternative to costly traditional advertisements — especially given the current state of our economy.
Social media is no longer your sibling’s hobby. It is a rapidly evolving revolutionary tool, and if more businesses do not begin to embrace it, they will soon be left behind. — Yoshiko Hill 5-5-09
Hey Businesspeople — small and large:
Are you listening?
Listening to the marketplace in general?
Listening to your customers in particular?
If you aren’t, as Yoshiko warns above, you will be left behind.
