Tag Archives: LinkedIn

Facebook, Featured, LinkedIn

Social Media Victories — and how to win them

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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.

Sharisax Is Out There

Can Social Media Predict the Academy Award Winners?

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Chicken or Egg: Which came first?

If I write this blog article about how Jeff Bridges should win the Best Actor Oscar for his authentic portrayal of a washed up, alcoholic country singing legend in the semi-romantic film Crazy Heart –

(1) Will my article get lots of new readers after he wins?

OR

(2) Will he win because I wrote about him?


If you join LinkedIn and completely fill out your profile, enter regular updates, answer questions, and participate in LinkedIn groups –

(1)Will someone find you and offer you the Job of a Lifetime?
OR
(2)Will you connect to some really bright, supportive people who help you create the life you always wanted?

If you spend an hour a day on Facebook –

(1)Will you be found by your long-lost high school buddies [or significant other]?
OR
(2) Will you participate in ways to deepen your current relationships?


If you keep your Tweetdeck desktop application open throughout the day and check it periodically –

(1) Will you accrue 15,000 followers
OR
(2) Will you discover amazing information AND people you could never have found any other way?


Which comes first?

Knowing how to do something OR learning what needs to be done in order to do what you want done?

Sharisax Is Out There

Everyone Is Someone’s Customer: Use Social Media to Reach Them, Listen to Them, and Learn from Them

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Too often companies forget the second part of this scenario:

Firms are in business (1) to make profits by offering products and services

(2) to satisfy the unmet needs of their customers.

Too often they are so immersed in organization-centric thinking, that they don’t even realize their products or services may no longer be in sync with the marketplace, i.e., no one really likes their offerings/brand/support anymore.

This is where Social Media fits into Modern Business:

We are all customers. Everyone is a customer of someone else.

“Social media is important for business because the discussions between so many people bring information to us. We want people to talk and we want them to listen to us.” — [all quotes from Axel Schultze]

In the second meeting of the Social Media Academy Leadership class, Axel discussed how various social media “tools” [ i.e., sites/ platforms] enable businesses to grow their networks.

“If you have products or services, you can have conversations with people who use them. People may not be looking at your advertising, but if you ask someone what they think of your product, you will probably get an answer.”

WHERE DO YOU HAVE THESE DISCUSSIONS

or

Which sites do you use?

The common wisdom is that you go where your customers are. These days, the most popular hangouts are Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Business people need profiles on each of these sites, and businesses can have them as well.

“The demarcation between personal selves and business selves doesn’t really make sense any more. We need to take down these walls.”

The key to online presence building is to be deliberate, thoughtful, and very careful about everything you post online – no matter what the site or platform.

Four Social Media Objectives:

1)    Extend reach with tools
2)    Intensify the depth of your relationships
3)    Broaden your knowledge
4)    Revitalize your influennce

“When you do a survey, you get certain types of people who choose to respond. When you make telephone calls, if you have 20 effective conversations in one day, that is a good day. But with social media, you could easily have 200 interactions in a day.”

LEARN FROM YOUR MARKET: Get your hands around the Concepts. The tools may change, but you will be able to navigate the waves of innovation and continue to build on your experience to get the most from each new communication opportunity.

Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Sharisax Is Out There, Twitter

How Many of These Social Media Questions Can You Answer?

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My Laney College students are participating in social media to build writing and reading skills. For many of them, however, this is a significantly new experience, i.e., creating blogs and signing up for Twitter.

What is Social Media and why is it important?

and . . . here are many of their other questions:

Where can and will SM take me?

How did Social Media get so big?

Is it possible to become famous on SM?

What percentage of SM is business?

How much time do/should people spend on SM?

Who started SM?

What makes SM important?

Why are people addicted to SM?

Can SM help better the world?

Is SM safe?

What are the most popular blogs?

Who can read my blog?

Are all SM sites free?

Why has SM become popular?

What is the average age of a person using SM?

What is the main reason for using SM?

How can you detect if someone is insincere?

Today I am conducting an introductory Social Media workshop for a Mass Media & Society course at Laney. I will begin asking them to tell me which of those questions they would most like answered.

Then I will chat and show the slideshow below.

And, finally, I will ask THEM to answer any of those questions . . . and I’ll be posting their responses.

Here is the slideshow on

Making Sense of Social Media

Making Sense Of Social Media 2010

View more presentations from sharisax.

NOW . . . FOR THOSE ANSWERS: from the students AND from any of you readers. Please do add your thoughts.

photo credit Howard Blum

Blogging, Guest Post, LinkedIn

Avoid These 9 Blogging Blunders: Guest Post by Suzanne Vara

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“Blogging is a way to share your thoughts, knowledge and information like never before.  We blog for many reasons which are  unique to us as people, but yet share a community that is a part of us.” — Suzanne Vara

Suzanne Vara is one of my new online friends/collaborators/role models, whom I mentioned in a recent article about How To Choose A Blog To Read.

Suzanne and I participate in many of the same LinkedIn groups and have built a very supportive relationship, which includes reading and commenting on each other’s blogs and group discussions — truly one of the great values of the Social Web.

Her online marketing agency, Kherize5, Builds  Big Brands for Small Business and her blog offers consistently great advice and guidelines for reaping great rewards through social media marketing. We have such similar interests and goals that I look forward to each one of her posts.

Today’s article on my blog actually ran a few days ago on Suzanne’s, but her thoughtful insights regarding some commonly discussed blogging tips is definitely worth passing along to new bloggers — and experienced ones as well.

How to Improve your Blog — or start a new one

Guest Post by Suzanne Vara

As a new blogger who is trying to gain new readership we look for new ways to get as many eyes (readers) and fingers to the keys (comments) to drive us to continue to write.  Seasoned vets who have been blogging for upwards of 8 years still look for new avenues as technology changes.

Technology is a tool that we utilize to gain new eyes and fingers but the means by which we determine how, what and why we will blog have not really changed over the years.  The same fundamentals that were incorporated to be a success still hold true today:

  • Provide useful and valuable content
  • Acknowledge those who read and comment with a comment back
  • Reach out to other bloggers
  • Comment there as we are all in this together.

Pretty basic but yet there seems to be a disconnect at some point as we get busier or feel that we are not gaining traction as we believed we should.  This is not to say that veering off course from time to time is disastrous but falling off the radar is in a sense waiving the white flag of setting unrealistic goals and expectations of yourself.  Blogging is not always easy as the what if no-one reads or am I a great writer or do I really have the time to commit to this do come into play as the post itself is just a part of blogging.

Everyone makes mistakes and how we identify and correct them builds that confidence and a better blog.

9 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

1. Inconsistency: In the beginning new bloggers have the energy and set out to post every day, even 2x a day. Great strategy if you have planned for it and reasonably set aside time to keep up with this.  As a new blogger it is advantageous to have 20 or so blogs posted when you start to promote.  Set a schedule of when you will post so that readers expect it and do return to see what is next.  Being inconsistent leads to lack of trust as you were supposed to be here but you were not.

2. Lack of Focus:  As a new blogger trying different things to determine where you fit in is what is so unique to a new blogger.  An opportunity to establish yourself and determine  your niche.  Meet the expectations of readers to develop a loyalty. It is inviting to then try and branch out from your niche and expand.  There is opportunity to do so but not always on the main blog.  Seek new ways to expand on your style with guest posting or publishing on other sites.  Grow within yourself while maintaining focus on what you are trying to accomplish with the main blog or in some cases multiple blogs.

3. Burnout:  Blogger burnout is an excuse, an enabler, a way to throw your arms up and admit defeat. There is always something to post.  A quote, an opinion on another blog, a post why you feel burnt out.  The ideas are endless.  Physical limitations are a factor and being unable to even pull a post from the “can” is completely understandable (life happens) but outside that it is setting a standard for not being committed to yourself and audience.

4. Boxed Comments:  We hear over and over again to comment on comments to our blog and comment on other blogs, and we all do, so this is not a mistake in that aspect. But, what happens when the comment is “Great post, found it useful.”  Commenting back at first thought is the “Thanks for reading and finding this useful.”  Expand on that by seeing if they have a blog and refer to their blog in your comment back.  Thank them of course but also include how you liked a certain post as it relates back to yours. What happens if they do not have  a post that relates to yours, either respectfully thank them as above or ask them a question of some sort that relates a post of theirs.

5. Fear of First:  First to post or first to comment. Why?  If you find something and see that no-one else has written about write about it.  Being the first to comment on a blog is an opportunity to be able to share your thoughts without influence of others. After you comment share the post as it  meant enough to you to comment so why not share?

6.   Complacency:  Developing your niche and readership that meet your personal goals is wonderful but not a time to sit back. What happens when you do not meet your goals or even expansion.   Complacency is convenient and assumes loyalty.  That warm jacket is nice but yet decreases in size each year.

7. Closure: Closure as it relates to the lack of putting a piece of you and who you are into the post. When providing tips or relating a strategy, throw in what has worked for you (ie this blog) something you want to or are learning more about or something personal that connects people to you. Going outside a comfort zone is not always easy but yet it is welcomed.  Whether we deem ourselves as an introvert or extrovert, we all are a part of both. We tell people what we want them to know whether this be sharing knowledge from people we admire or exposing things about ourselves.  ie every so often my son becomes a part of this blog. As a mom first instinct is to shelter and protect but yet he is a big part of my life and actually inspires my writing though his curiosity of learning all that he can.

8. Lack Luster  Headlines: Think linkbait.  The headline is the what gets the article read. The content can be so valuable but if the headline is not enticing enough to read, many overlook. Headlines for some are the easy part where with others we struggle. Look at others that enticed you to read and incorporate.

9. Blinders to Community Expansion: This somewhat goes back to complacency, the expansion of your community is almost endless.  Commenting on blogs is great but not looking at the blogs of other commentors or the blog roll of people you read is not expanding upon your community.  The opportunity exists but time does not always but at the same time, we make time for what is important to us.

As a blogger who is blogging for the betterment of the business, exposure of the business or just to share thoughts we all have our reasons but all make mistakes.  The way to get around the mistakes is to acknowledge them and improve.  So, tell me how you are improving instead of identifying with the mistakes you have made?

Learn anything new here?

Tell us in a comment below.

One of the new tips for me was #4 “Boxed comments.” You can read my comment about that on Suzanne’s original post here.

Blogging, Sharisax Is Out There

Here’s How Social Media Works — To Build Relationships & Knowledge: and improve customer service, as well!

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Chatting with friends has long been one of my favorite activities — and meeting new friends to chat with increases the joy.

Is it any wonder, then, that Social Media is my Passion?

My online activities in the past year have introduced me to so many wonderful new people from whom I’ve probably learned more than spending the same amount of time in classrooms and libraries.

Here’s today’s story:

1) My email box contained a blog post entitled ” . . . because I’m the customer” — written by Australian blogger & social media enthusiast Sharon Clews.

2) I met Sharon online after following a link on my Twitter stream, and reading one of her first posts.

3) We connected on LinkedIn and have chatted about our mutual passion: Spreading the Word about the Wealth of Opportunities possible with Social Media.

4) We now read and comment on each other’s blog posts — and I believe we add value to each other by sharing insights and suggestions.

5) I read her latest post with great interest BECAUSE it was so true and so relevant:

“I have always failed to understand why one of the most basic abilities as people; human interaction, is so difficult for some people.”

“The most amazing thing to me about customer service is that is free! . . .  It is one of the truisms of my life. It costs me no more to smile or nod or ask someone if they need help.”

“Any retail experience is not just about what things cost. I am saddened that in a world of over consumerism more people don’t vote with their feet. That we mostly still search for the bargain of a lifetime and then moan about the service we get whilst doing it.”

Here’s the REST OF THE STORY:

What’s your latest social media relationship success story?

Sharisax Is Out There

Laid Off and Bored? Use Your Brain and the Net to Become an Expert

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One of my Loved Ones was laid off recently, and now tells me he’s bored.

NO WAY!

NO HOW!

NO EXCUSE!

Not in Today’s World where so much is at our fingertips.

Just DO IT is the Common Mantra

Suggestion One: Do NOT just “fill empty spaces” — i.e., don’t DO, just to DO.

Suggestion Two: Give yourself a goal: Use your computer to become an Expert.

Suggestion Three: Research your industry to discover challenges/issues/problems that you can solve — or learn to solve.

Suggestion Three and a half: Join and build strong profiles on popular social media sites including, but not limited to, today’s Top Three: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (so that you can become a more effective researcher).

  • Ask questions about your industry and your interests on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.
  • Build relationships with people who answer your questions.
  • Look on LinkedIn and Ning for groups of people with similar backgrounds, and then join the conversation.
  • Build relationships and look for opportunities where you can help others.
  • Check out the websites of prospective employers; then look them up on LinkedIn to find more information that you won’t find on their websites — especially LinkedIn members who now work for the company and those who have left.

Suggestion Four: Think positive; use your brain and good intentions to become productive, happy, and valuable to yourself and others.

PS Check out these two previous posts: Updating your LinkedIn profile and Twitter 101 lessons

Your turn: What advice can you offer my bored Loved One?

Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Use this Checklist for Managing Online Presence

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CHART YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROGRESS:

Want to manage your social media sites? Yesterday’s post reviewed Chris Brogan‘s 19 tips: Resolve to Manage your Online Presence.

Today you’ll find a handy spreadsheet to use for weekly check-offs. And there’s space to add other tasks . . .  like writing your blog post 🙂

Now you can Check-off when you Do-It

Click HERE for a JPG of the chart

Blogging, Facebook, Twitter

Resolve to Manage Your Online Presence — Lists only go so far . . .

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“Social Media: Step-by-step”

The End of The Year is made for reflection, clean up, and planning for the future.

Six months ago, social media luminary Chris Brogan published 19 tips to manage your SM online  presence.

And I most likely did what a lot of my friends might have done, i.e. LOOK at the List and THINK “What a great list” and then [most probably] moved on to something else to read.

What were we missing?

A lot!

An Actual Roadmap for DOING & LEARNING Social Media!!

So I thought I’d take a few of our moments here to actually study Chris’s list and chat about each item, i.e., more active reading and more opportunity to “internalize” some of his great advice.

Note: Chris’s 19 tips are in blue. [And he recommends you do them Daily. That, of course, is up to you.]

Twitter

1. Find seven things worth retweeting in your general feed and share.

  • When starting a new regimen, EASY is good. And finding valuable info on the Net to share will make you feel good as well. Of course, if you have really read the information and can add an insight of your own, that will help you as well as your audience.

2. Reply to at least five things with full responses (not just “thanks”).

  • Commenting on other people’s blogs is Not Easy, but it accomplishes so much: e.g., adding to the conversation, recognizing the writer’s hard work, and getting your name out there . . . for just three benefits.

3. Point out a few people that you admire. It shows your mindset, too.

  • Hmm. Have to do a bit of interpretation here. I’m assuming that Chris suggests we use the @name and pat them on the back in a Tweet. That’s very cool, but every day? It might be more realistic to find new person to applaud every day. If you keep praising the same people, that seems a bit spammy.

4. Follow back at least 10 folks. (I use an automated tool, but this is a personal preference. If you want such, I use SocialToo.)

  • Following people back is easy — but deciding WHOM to follow back is another story. I, personally, am not a fan of anything automated and that alone may slow my popularity growth online. Many people do follow you automatically, most often after you Tweet something with a keyword they are following. And, in most cases, I follow them back — but NOT if their last comment was spammy or missing. And I also look at the Avatar. If I feel it is “inappropriate” in any way, I don’t follow back.

5. 10 minutes of just polite two-way chit chat goes far.

  • Every time you or I go onto Twitter with some time specifically devoted to participating, I think this is fun to do. If your closest Twitter friends are not posting at the moment, you can engage in some conversation with anyone who posts something you like. The poster could be someone you are already following — or better yet [and a way to accomplish #4] — do a search for an area of interest and converse with someone who writes something interesting, whom you were not following before.
  • Because I use Tweetdeck and have a steady stream of real-time posts about my key search terms, I can always find new people to chat with.
  • BTW, I just Tweeted @chrisbrogan asking if I could use his photo, and he said ‘Sure” [only 9 more minutes of 2-way chat to go for today]
  • Thought I’d take this opportunity for a shameless plug for my own Twitter Cheat Sheet post: http://sharisax.com/2009/12/03/twitter-basics-workshop-cheat-sheet/

Twitter Button from twitbuttons.com

Facebook

1. Check in on birthdays on the home page. (Want a secret? Send the birthday wish via Twitter or email. Feels even more deliberate.)

  • Honestly, it was fun  back in October to have all the birthday greetings on my Wall. But I imagine Chris is right and that a Tweet or email would have been even more “personal” and warm.

2. Respond to any comments on your wall.

  • Actually this tip sounds like a No-Brainer, unless you have 5000 friends — which I don’t . . .
  • But from what I understand, if we want to use Facebook for Business purposes as well as Personal, then we all will need to connect with many, many people through Facebook. If you are reading this post, please Ask to be my Friend. Chris, you, too. 🙂

3. Post a status message daily, something engaging or interesting.

  • This advice gives me the opportunity to spout my own viewpoint on “Updates”: At this moment in my social media learning curve, my opinion is that updates to Facebook will Not always be appropriate to other platforms. I am really anxious, though, to hear/read other people’s opinions on this.
  • I know there are sites like Ping that make posting to all your sites simultaneously a breeze. I don’t do this [yet], do you?

4. Comment on at least seven people’s status messages or updates.

  • Now this is WORK, but the kind of “social capital” that pays off huge rewards. As a matter of fact, I’m going to stop writing right now to comment on my friends’ updates.

  • This reminds me of a related tip: Do things NOW. If you wait, they are forgotten.

5. Share at least 3 interesting updates that you find.

  • Honestly, this is ONE tip I’d never thought of, but I can see that ANY TIME you share someone else’s thoughts, you make them very, very happy . . . and spread the good words.

6. If you belong to groups or fan pages, leave a new comment or two

  • Again, something New for me. I’ve been joining a few Fan Pages, but I can’t remember even looking at them.
    🙁 Let alone, commenting. This will take some thought; however, that being said, I, too, have a FanPage that would love to see some “love,” i.e., comments: Performance Social Media. [Become a Fan . . . and comment 🙂 ]

LinkedIn

1. Accept any invitations that make sense for you to accept.

  • A “no-brainer” . . . except for deciding what “makes sense” for you. I’ve heard of people who are VERY discriminating in accepting LinkedIn invitations: their practice is to ONLY connect with people whom they know well and would write a recommendation for.
  • My own practice follows the advice of many LinkedIn gurus who suggest that the real power of LinkedIn is in your second and third degree connections, i.e., the people who are connected to your connections.
  • Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shariweisssf

2. Enter any recent business cards to invite them to LinkedIn (if you’re growing your network).

  • Great suggestion and a practice I do subscribe to. Of course, this means you need to keep up your F2F [Face to Face] networking as well as online. My friend and one of my personal social media gurus Dean Guadagni gave a great networking presentation to a networking group I belong to.

3. Drop into Q&A and see if you can volunteer 2-3 answers.

  • EXCELLENT ADVICE! LinkedIn is so much more robust and  powerful than most people know. Personally I’ve been on the “receiving” end of the Q & A function. I’ve met some great new contacts from all over the world — a few whom I’ll be collaborating with on future projects.

4. Provide 1 recommendation every few days for people you can honestly and fully recommend.

  • WOW! Wouldn’t this be sensational! I do see that Chris has modified this practice to “one every few days”: I bet that’s do-able. So much more auathentic when you give the recommendation without having been asked.

5. Add any relevant slide decks to the Slideshare app there, or books to the Amazon bookshelf.

  • Another item for my To-Do List. I know that creating and sharing Slideshows is a fantastic way to build your online authority . . . and I Resolve to do some.

Blogs

1. Visit your blog’s comments section and comment back on at least 5 replies.

  • WordPress makes this easy as I receive email notifications [and not enough comments . . . yet . . . let’s change that. I do promise to reply to EVERYONE who comments on this post! Chris?]

2. If you have a few extra minutes, click through to the blogs of the commenters, and read a post or two and comment back.

  • GREAT IDEA: You comment here and I’ll comment back — Be very happy to.

3. While on those sites, use a tool like StumbleUpon and promote their good work.

  • Absolutely, but I like Digg and Delicious . . .  hint, hint. [Check the end of the post for an easy click through to those sites.]

4. Write the occasional post promoting the good work of a blog in your community.

NEXT POST: Handy Checklist to manage all these tasks

Well “we’re” finished with the planning. Now it’s time for the doing. Please let “us” know what that “Doing” entails.

Facebook, Interview, Sharisax Is Out There

Do we need an Emily Post for social media etiquette?

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linkedin-facebook-twitter

“To be or not to be . . .”

“To DO, or NOT to do . . .”

I got a “dressing down” the other day when I asked a question on various social media platforms.

This was my message:

“ARE PRESS RELEASES DEAD?  I would like to publish an article on my blog,”

I received many relevant opinions and this surprising response:

“Don’t use my wall to promote your blog.”

Had I missed a rule?

Honestly, I was quite taken aback. What on earth had I done that was WRONG?

So I looked to the ‘wisdom of the crowd” and asked a few of my social media friends — many of whom had received and responded to my question: “What rules had I violated?”

Most said that they hadn’t been offended in any way, but one suggested that some people can get very “persnickety” about their Facebook profile — and that if I really wanted the Scoop on “Doing the Right Thing,” I should ask Etiquette Expert George Kao, a social media coach whose webinar I had attended and written about a month ago: The Circle of Reciprocity begins with Free.

George-Kao-

“People are forgiving of your social media mistakes — if you don’t keep repeating them. Someone will usually let you know if you’ve done anything wrong.” — George Kao

George suggested to me that people should not be afraid of making mistakes. “The social web is so new, that the rules for etiquette may not be obvious,” he said. If in doubt, take action, he suggested.

“Focus on adding value to people’s lives and business.”

If you want to do the Right Thing online, then think of the Golden Rule: “Do Not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you.” AND “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.”

Here are some of George’s suggestions:

  1. Give others the experience you would want.
  2. Be aware of actions that would be intrusive [like over promotion].
  3. Build “Social Capital” [i.e. authentic relationships] before you spend it.
  4. Duplicate the types of online actions that you like AND don’t do the ones you don’t like.
  5. Be “Open Hearted.” We tend to be open-hearted with those who are open-hearted with us.

Facebook Walls: What to post and what not to post

Many people seem to be confused about Facebook Walls, George agreed. “Think of the Wall as someone’s Front Porch or a public office space,” he said. “Your Wall is where you post messages for all visitors. Your updates go on your wall,” he explained.

When someone clicks through to another person’s Facebook profile and writes on that person’s wall, it should be about that person — like a birthday greeting or an endorsement. The only people who see that Wall message, however, will be the Facebook friend and any mutual friends, according to George.

When you comment on one of your friend’s updates, it’s visible by all the person’s Facebook friends as well, so be aware of that.

“Everyone has a responsibility to manage his or her own Wall. If someone writes something you don’t like, you can remove it — and you ought to.”

George’s final caution: “When you are communicating and updating on Facebook, make certain that you don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the world to see.”

Do you have any online pet peeves that you’d like to share — or resources for rules? We’d love to know them and help spread the word.

LinkedIn

728 FAQ’s for LinkedIn: Who Knew?

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Photo by Susan Ambrosini

Getting your LinkedIn ???s answered is a piece of cake

 

It all started because I couldn’t “link in” to the new Twitter/LinkedIn sync.

I checked “here” and I checked “there” and VOILA, I found that Help [in the upper right hand corner of the LinkedIn home page] has 728 Frequently Asked Questions — and the Answers.

Here are the first 30:

  1. Company Profile – Frequently Asked Questions
  2. Ten Tips on Building a Strong Profile
  3. Removing a Connection
  4. Email Address Not Associated with Account / Duplicate Account
  5. Closing Your Account
  6. Subgroups – Frequently Asked Questions
  7. Exporting and Transferring Your Contacts
  8. 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn by Guy Kawasaki
  9. Creating a Group
  10. InBox Changes
  11. Frequently Asked Questions about Applications
  12. Who Has Viewed My Profile
  13. Downgrading Your Premium Subscription
  14. Editing / Withdrawing a Sent Recommendation
  15. Changing Your Primary Email Address
  16. Contacting Customer Service Online
  17. Frequently Asked Questions about DirectAds
  18. Merging Accounts
  19. Connections List Missing and Correct Marked Fields Error
  20. Origin of Incoming Data for Company Profiles
  21. New – Adding a Twitter Account to Your LinkedIn Profile
  22. Promoting My Public Profile
  23. Receiving Error Message when Adding Email Address
  24. Editing a Company Profile
  25. Removing People From Company Profile
  26. Customizing Your Personal URL
  27. Sending Invitations
  28. Adding a Company Profile Page
  29. Shared Connections Not Viewable
  30. Job Searching Tips

. . . and 698 more. Check them out.

Unfortunately I didn’t get my Twitter situation fixed, but now I’ve got lots of homework to do to learn about hundreds of LinkedIn features I can take advantage of.

If you check out this section and find an answer to one of your questions, please share the experience; after all, I can’t get through all 728 of them on my own.

Photo by Susan Ambrosini
Guest Post, LinkedIn

So you’ve joined a LinkedIn Group . . . what’s next?

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Photos by Howard Blum
Photos by Howard Blum

No matter what level of social media understanding you are at, you will ALWAYS find exciting new information and ways to get the most out of your online experience.

Sometimes it’s a matter of being READY to appreciate the information.

And I, personally, am ready to dive into Group conversations.

How about you?

  • Joined any groups yet?
  • Did you know what you were doing?
  • Are you in the right groups?
  • How are you participating?

All of the above are great questions, and I’ve now joined several groups on LinkedIn BUT I’m not so sure that I (a) knew what I was doing; (b) joined the right groups; or (c) knew what was expected of participants.

So when my SOCIAL MEDIA MAVEN group included a discussion on groups, I was really intrigued.

And then when I read Delores Wilson’s article, I thought “WOW, I have to share this.”

Delores was kind enough to allow me to re-post her article on my blog, so you can read her insights on HOW GROUPS WORK – AND HOW YOU CAN MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU:

which oneI’ve Joined a Group….Now What?

by Delores R. Williams:

http://www.socialmediadiet.blogspot.com
You’ve finally set up all of your profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and all of the other seemingly endless social media platforms. After wading through the plethora of applications, plug-ins, connections and friending, you suddenly find yourself in the world of Groups. You scratch your head, deepen your breath while you ponder this new social media frontier.
What the heck is this? Nobody told me about this “group” thing! Do I join a group? Host a group? Does this require more time? …I don’t remember signing up for this! Now what?

Understanding how communities REALLY behave is important to know BEFORE you either join or/and host a group.

People that join groups may have agendas/goals that may/may not align with those of the host or other group members. Making the mistake of assuming that community members are all on the same page – that once someone joins a community, they are going to abide by the rules & guidelines- could be further from the truth.

How do you get around the daggers that may put holes in the successful functioning of your group?

Best solution – a discussion of objectives, goal and rules for, both, the group and its community. In essence, what I refer to as – THE ROLL CALL. Short and sweet, this is it:

The Moderator:
aka, Host, Admin, Organizer. The Moderator is the ‘mayor’ of the community. It is the job of the Moderator to ensure that the goals, objectives and rules are abided by all of the community members. Monitoring and enforcing group guidelines ensures that the group runs smoothly and that community members feel ‘safe’ and have their basic needs met at all times.

The Influencers:
These are members who, naturally, take on roles like policing ‘bad’ behavior, welcoming new members, inviting other new members and attributing to group discussions. Influencers are self-motivated, enthusiastic community members who are invested in the success of the group.

Second Tier Influencers:
These are members who, through listening to the discussions and conversations from others in the community (usually The Influencers), are learning to appropriately utilize the group for its said purpose. Second Tier Influencers often times are converted into becoming Influencers themselves.

The Individual:
The individual, despite being aware of the guidelines, objectives and rules, has his/her own agenda for joining the group. Behavior is often times contrary to the rules set by The Moderator and results in creating discomfort within the community. These members push the envelope by constantly testing the rules (i.e., blatant product advertising instead of discussing brand/industry standards). The ‘Individual’ keeps The Influencers busy and definitely requires prompt intervention from The Moderator.

That’s it! Social Media Communities…in more than 140 characters.

Tell me your thoughts? Did I hit the mark? or am I way off?
I’d like to hear from the community….

Click on photos to link to other Howard Blum photos or go to his website