LinkedIn is the most popular professional as well as business networking website. It is one of the businesses social networking website being used by numerous professionals to share useful information and also for the purpose of networking. Every day the participation at LinkedIn is increasing exponentially.
The excelling features of LinkedIn like listing your professional experience in your public profile and recommendations from previous and current employers, coworkers, clients, and other professional connections make it a quite good platform for building professional network. It is populated by a various types of individuals, including professionals and many entrepreneurs also. These people can become ideal prospects for your business. The profile may be used by the employers and even clients to locate the best available resources. Also, group discussion and Question-Answers sharing at LinkedIn: LinkedIn Groups facilitates discussion and information sharing in areas of common interest. The discussions are focused on specific domain areas and are quite helpful to specialized business needs.
You may find some workable methods for using LinkedIn as below:
a) Establish a credible profile, make it public - Your professional experience matters a lot and the recommendations on your profile make it more credible in order to be taken seriously. To have recommendations means a lot to enhance and in verification of your profile content.
b) LinkedIn Groups - The groups are monitored and administered by owner of that Group like in Facebook. To join a Group at LinkedIn, an application needs to be sent to the Group owner, who validates your profile and checks for your knowledge about the Group’s overall interest area. Do not abuse your membership. Your postings’ gets removed by Group owners in such a case. If they gauge that you are doing self-promotion then its assured you would be deleted from that particular Group.
c) LinkedIn Groups could be an effective feature to be leveraged for your business. If you contribute in group discussions effectively, and provide helpful information to a community, this helps to develop good professional relationships, and eventually establish sound contacts. These contacts could professionally help in future.
d) The views you share and your participation in a Group, determine your effectiveness in making connections and eventually helps to turn these connections into leads for your business.
e) You may use the professional contacts made via LinkedIn to be used otherwise. In case you find some person really interested in your offerings, you may contact them through their personal emails for further communication.
In short, try and focus on the techniques mentioned above and see how fast it could help to build up strong and huge workable professional network.
February 9, 2010
How “Social Media” being quoted by the professionals in Online Media industry.
It is well said "Content is king but marketing is queen, and the queen rules the household". Or we can say “Great Content Market Itself”.This is very true for Social Media. It is all about Word of Mouth. You have to be very communicative and interactive with your networks to keep them engaged with you. They will stay tuned and remain hooked with you unless and until they will find value in the engagements with you.
Its presence in a business today is increasing day by day. According to Forrester Research, it will be rising exponentially by 2014. Here is how “Social Media” being quoted by some of the professionals in Online Media industry.
“It is the future of everything on Web. There will be social networking sites for everything you could imagine. Instead of this, stumble upon mentality, it will focus and more demographically delineated. It will still be wide open but it will have an organized chaos mentality to it”.
“Where Time, Network, and Trust (TNT) intersects.”
“The Wild, Wild West... it's certainly evolving by the minute though. Refinement is coming and several players will emerge as leaders of their particular genres; genre being social, and professional. It's here to stay, no doubt. Jump on board or get run over!”
“To individuals, it is friendship and communication. To groups with a message, it is a way to get the message out. To businesses is it a way to obtain exposure and establish credibility. All together, this is so powerful that it will continue to grow and become major use of the internet”.
"At times remarkable because of its ease of use and ability to connect to a single person or masses, and at times scary because of its immenseness."
"It is not really a new concept. Today we see many different forums and communities for virtually any human need, personality and interest. The one common trait for all of the successful communities (past to present) are that they built value to sustain and then monetize their members."
"SM is marketing nirvana for those that are truly invested in managing customer relationships. The long term focus on Relationship Marketing is back in vogue and illustrates that corporate focus needs to be on a 12-36 month timeline, not a 3 month ROI on tactical ad campaigns. Really depends if the organization has the appetite to go that long."
"It is a tool for broadening conversation and creating community that, if used intelligently, can be valuable for sharing of knowledge and building relationships
It is easy, enjoyable, effective and economical. It seems like a day will come when social networking tools will become fee-based."
"SM is Business. It's the direction that all media is moving. It's not a fad or a temporary thing. In 2008 we called it Web 2.0; early 2009 we called it Social Media. Now, in late 2009 people are referring to it as Media and Advertising.
It's a platform for having a (meaningful) conversation, in my opinion, through which one may be able to build the authority and influence."
"LinkedIn is the business meeting, FB is the hallway conversation, and Twitter is the cocktail party.
It’s a big honking' volume. Customers share recommendations (good and bad) with their friends. Humans have always wanted to be heard and to connect.
It is taking over as the best way to get the word out and target your message. I've found it very productive already. Work is flying in!"
"Social Media is an Opportunity and a Blessing too, a tool for sharing, collaborating and marketing"
"It is a communication channel to converse and engage directly with your customers, friends, fans, opponents, decision-makers, and thought-leaders.
It is literally changing the way individuals, businesses, governments, etc communicate. The one to one marketing model is over. It is now many to many, there is no turning back."
Some neural or negative quotes are as :
"Social media is expanding our ability to connect and share corporate as well as personal information in ways that weren't available in the past. This presents new challenges and opportunities, but we cannot forget that authenticity and quality are still much more important than quantity when it comes to true and viable business relationships."
"It will ultimately fail since the number of "people" who want to know you for selfish reasons far out-weighs the number of people you know or will ever want to know you for "personal" reasons. This ratio dictates the security platforms that surround all SM's, thus draining their lifeblood (connectivity) before they even get started!"
"When you put thoughts or ads in newspaper, it might reach 1 Lac people and might interest 5K people (5%). But on FB, it will reach approx. 5 crores and will interest only 5 Lac (1%)."
"SM may give reach to mass audience but it makes difficult for business to pull right kind of people to turn them into customers compare to other media. Other media allow you to reach targeted audience, whereas it lets you to connect with the entire pool of users in any network."
"Finding customers through SM is like finding water in desert. It is a try to filter the 10% valuable information vs. 90% waffle. Just like a black hole that sucks you in."
Last but not the least:
"The problem is that so many people still operate in a Web 2.0 mindset! Those days are gone. The two worlds are no longer independent of each other. The relationships we make in real life carry over into the virtual realm, and vice-versa. It’s a marriage and the strength of each will sustain the other. Social Media isn't going anywhere. In fact, there is only growth in the future."
Its presence in a business today is increasing day by day. According to Forrester Research, it will be rising exponentially by 2014. Here is how “Social Media” being quoted by some of the professionals in Online Media industry.
“It is the future of everything on Web. There will be social networking sites for everything you could imagine. Instead of this, stumble upon mentality, it will focus and more demographically delineated. It will still be wide open but it will have an organized chaos mentality to it”.
“Where Time, Network, and Trust (TNT) intersects.”
“The Wild, Wild West... it's certainly evolving by the minute though. Refinement is coming and several players will emerge as leaders of their particular genres; genre being social, and professional. It's here to stay, no doubt. Jump on board or get run over!”
“To individuals, it is friendship and communication. To groups with a message, it is a way to get the message out. To businesses is it a way to obtain exposure and establish credibility. All together, this is so powerful that it will continue to grow and become major use of the internet”.
"At times remarkable because of its ease of use and ability to connect to a single person or masses, and at times scary because of its immenseness."
"It is not really a new concept. Today we see many different forums and communities for virtually any human need, personality and interest. The one common trait for all of the successful communities (past to present) are that they built value to sustain and then monetize their members."
"SM is marketing nirvana for those that are truly invested in managing customer relationships. The long term focus on Relationship Marketing is back in vogue and illustrates that corporate focus needs to be on a 12-36 month timeline, not a 3 month ROI on tactical ad campaigns. Really depends if the organization has the appetite to go that long."
"It is a tool for broadening conversation and creating community that, if used intelligently, can be valuable for sharing of knowledge and building relationships
It is easy, enjoyable, effective and economical. It seems like a day will come when social networking tools will become fee-based."
"SM is Business. It's the direction that all media is moving. It's not a fad or a temporary thing. In 2008 we called it Web 2.0; early 2009 we called it Social Media. Now, in late 2009 people are referring to it as Media and Advertising.
It's a platform for having a (meaningful) conversation, in my opinion, through which one may be able to build the authority and influence."
"LinkedIn is the business meeting, FB is the hallway conversation, and Twitter is the cocktail party.
It’s a big honking' volume. Customers share recommendations (good and bad) with their friends. Humans have always wanted to be heard and to connect.
It is taking over as the best way to get the word out and target your message. I've found it very productive already. Work is flying in!"
"Social Media is an Opportunity and a Blessing too, a tool for sharing, collaborating and marketing"
"It is a communication channel to converse and engage directly with your customers, friends, fans, opponents, decision-makers, and thought-leaders.
It is literally changing the way individuals, businesses, governments, etc communicate. The one to one marketing model is over. It is now many to many, there is no turning back."
Some neural or negative quotes are as :
"Social media is expanding our ability to connect and share corporate as well as personal information in ways that weren't available in the past. This presents new challenges and opportunities, but we cannot forget that authenticity and quality are still much more important than quantity when it comes to true and viable business relationships."
"It will ultimately fail since the number of "people" who want to know you for selfish reasons far out-weighs the number of people you know or will ever want to know you for "personal" reasons. This ratio dictates the security platforms that surround all SM's, thus draining their lifeblood (connectivity) before they even get started!"
"When you put thoughts or ads in newspaper, it might reach 1 Lac people and might interest 5K people (5%). But on FB, it will reach approx. 5 crores and will interest only 5 Lac (1%)."
"SM may give reach to mass audience but it makes difficult for business to pull right kind of people to turn them into customers compare to other media. Other media allow you to reach targeted audience, whereas it lets you to connect with the entire pool of users in any network."
"Finding customers through SM is like finding water in desert. It is a try to filter the 10% valuable information vs. 90% waffle. Just like a black hole that sucks you in."
Last but not the least:
"The problem is that so many people still operate in a Web 2.0 mindset! Those days are gone. The two worlds are no longer independent of each other. The relationships we make in real life carry over into the virtual realm, and vice-versa. It’s a marriage and the strength of each will sustain the other. Social Media isn't going anywhere. In fact, there is only growth in the future."
February 8, 2010
Transparency in Business
There is hardly a conversation about social media today without discussing the concept of transparency. Customers and stakeholders increasingly expect it as the new operating standard.
Transparency is to be open, honest, and accountable and about responsibility. People listen and make evaluations and decisions based upon what you say. To make your business more transparent:
a) Be Real — Spread Awareness about What You Know
Talk about the things that you are aware of. Just stick to this. Then make sure to specialize in specific related areas.
b) Share Opinion, But Listen as well Stay Open to Other Views
You are fully responsible about the information you share. If you find someone else’s views good, then do appreciate. That kind of openness earns respect. Sharing your opinion is actually a part of marketing strategy.
c) Be Honest
Put all the appropriate details. Do not neglect anything that could be important for anybody else, it might affect your online credibility.
d) Be Well-timed and Responsive
Respond instantly. Being a part of social media, remember that timeliness impacts your success and failure. At the moments of controversy, timeliness plays significant role.
e) Consider Grouping
None of us can work as an island in social media world. Transparency means creating groups and communities. Educate customers and generate ideas for new products and services. Targeting right audiences makes lot of difference.
Sometimes, it’s hard to share the truth openly. But adopting transparency would definitely help to be more real, honest, and creditworthy and connects better with customers makes lot of difference.
Transparency is to be open, honest, and accountable and about responsibility. People listen and make evaluations and decisions based upon what you say. To make your business more transparent:
a) Be Real — Spread Awareness about What You Know
Talk about the things that you are aware of. Just stick to this. Then make sure to specialize in specific related areas.
b) Share Opinion, But Listen as well Stay Open to Other Views
You are fully responsible about the information you share. If you find someone else’s views good, then do appreciate. That kind of openness earns respect. Sharing your opinion is actually a part of marketing strategy.
c) Be Honest
Put all the appropriate details. Do not neglect anything that could be important for anybody else, it might affect your online credibility.
d) Be Well-timed and Responsive
Respond instantly. Being a part of social media, remember that timeliness impacts your success and failure. At the moments of controversy, timeliness plays significant role.
e) Consider Grouping
None of us can work as an island in social media world. Transparency means creating groups and communities. Educate customers and generate ideas for new products and services. Targeting right audiences makes lot of difference.
Sometimes, it’s hard to share the truth openly. But adopting transparency would definitely help to be more real, honest, and creditworthy and connects better with customers makes lot of difference.
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