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I live on LinkedIn. So nothing is more aggravating than logging in and getting the error message, “The network is not currently accessible”, or some variation thereof. The feeling is akin to the high anxiety of a computer crash.
As well, I often hear members complain, “LinkedIn never listens to suggestions from its users!”
Recently, LinkedIn has been listening and, while network inaccessibility still occurs at the most inconvenient times, positive changes are taking place.
Four of the newest changes are small but helpful. A Premium account is needed – another reason to upgrade.
In case you haven’t noticed them, take a moment to view the bottom blue border of box directly underneath your Public Profile link. Here you’ll find four new buttons: Share, PDF, Print, and vCard.You’ll also find the “Flag” button, which is not new, but has been moved to this location for convenience.
SHARE
The Share button offers yet another opportunity to connect and engage with other members. Click on this button, and an email box pops up with a standard greeting:
“Check out my new profile — I’ve made a few changes recently and wanted to get in touch and let you know. When you get a chance, send me an update. It would be great to hear from you.”
This is a great option for new LinkedIn members who want to get a jump on network growth, or current members who have worked hard on profile optimization. At the end of the day, it’s smart to make use of the many varied methods for connecting with others. (Watch for our new whitepaper on this topic!)
PDF & PRINT
I really like this option, because we work with member profiles all day long during the optimization process. Previously, printing a copy of the profile before optimization was a messy affair. Now, the profile prints clearly, without numerous hyperlinks. I suggest printing your own for safekeeping!
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VCARD
A vCard is an electronic business card, commonly attached to e-mail messages, but exchangeable online in many ways. As LinkedIn becomes more sophisticated with features such as Profile Organizer, the vCard will become an important tool.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
Share This Profile: This button, previously relegated to a tiny space, is now larger and brighter, placed at the top right of the profile. Why would you want to share a profile? Perhaps you want to introduce two members, are working on a joint venture, or want to make a private comment to one member about another.
Drag and Drop to Rearrange: This is not exactly a new feature, but many members are not aware of the ability to customize the look of the profile. At the top left of each section is a crossed-arrows symbol. Simply place your cursor over the symbol, and drag the section to another place on the profile. Maybe you’d like your Recommendations to appear first, or perhaps your Contact information. Perhaps your blog is most important. Be creative and create the profile look you really want.
Hide Network Updates: Some connections share a great deal of content. The Home page, where Network Updates post, can become quite noisy. Often, these are tweets that may or may not be professionally relevant. If you’d like to avoid ‘annoying’ your network with constant Twitter updates, one option is to link Twitter to your LinkedIn account, instead of the other way around. In this way, your Shared Updates post to Twitter, instead of every tweet posting as a Network Update. This may not be a good strategy for you if Twitter is important to your lead generation efforts.
Now, what to do about others in your network who update too often? You may choose to hide those connections from view to ensure your feed stream remains relevant to your professional interests. To do so, simply roll over an update and click ‘Hide’. If you decide later on to restore the feed, it only takes one quick click.
Adjust Your Member Feed: Again, not totally new, but a feature many members are not aware of. Did you know that every time you make a profile change, your activity posts to your network? If you’re making lots of updates and changes, you probably don’t want to notify the network of every small action…especially if you are employed, but job seeking. The solution is to log into your Account settings, (a completely new dashboard, by the way!), choose “turn on/off your activity broadcasts”, and uncheck the box. This will disable the feature, so you can make changes in peace. Just don’t forget to turn it back on when you’re done! Otherwise, Shared Updates and other activities will not be viewable by your network. Incidentally, you can also make the choice to allow your activity broadcasts to be seen by only a select few.
Need more help with LinkedIn? Don’t hesitate to send me your questions.
Which new LinkedIn features are you enjoying?
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc.,an e-marketing strategy firm specializing in LinkedIn marketing. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly via LinkedIn or at: Victoria@ModelloMedia.com
Feel free to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Tod Plotkin, Sara Evans, Jennie Nowers. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
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Of all the questions circulating about the usefulness of LinkedIn, this is perhaps the most frequently asked.
The answer, in a word, is no.
Networks like Facebook have skewed perception about what it means to “do business online.” Although Facebook has made great strides in catering to the business crowd, it remains a casual hang out, a place where anyone can sell anything.
LinkedIn is not about selling. LinkedIn is about relationship building. It is not a sales tool; it is a lead generation tool.
I know you’ve heard this before, but how has this knowledge impacted your LinkedIn activity?
If you have a LinkedIn profile, but your network activity is dormant, you may be wondering where you’ve gone wrong. Or, perhaps you’ve optimized your LinkedIn profile, but still are not connecting as deeply as expected.
Here’s what you need to know:
LinkedIn is actually two delivery channels in one, the outbound and the inbound. On the outbound side, we have the profile, (most notably, your headline) shared updates, employment history, and other items that tell the world who you are. On the inbound side, we have invites, connections, recommendations, and group discussions.
You simply cannot achieve your lead generation goals using LinkedIn without taking full advantage of both channels.
This means you not only need a fully optimized profile, but you must be consistently active. The profile is the hub of your activity. And yes, you’ve got to connect and grow your network. But the true power of LinkedIn membership lies in your value to others.
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This can be a tough pill for business owners to swallow. For example, how long must you continue to connect before something good happens? How do you know you’re connecting with the right people? Which groups should you join? What do you do when you get there?
It all seems like so much wasted time to many members…until that first hot lead appears. Then, the skies open up and the angels sing and, Eureka! You get it!
Before we had great tools like LinkedIn, salespeople used other lead generation activities to find prospects and close business. In truth, not much has changed. Perhaps we rely more on technology, and less on the telephone. We’ve certainly reduced overall participation in live events, like trade shows and conferences. No doubt, we spend less time face-to-face with prospects and more time engaging online. But the core goal of sales, to make solid connections that lead to business, remains the same. All that has really changed are the tools we use to get there.
So, can you really make money using LinkedIn? No, but you can certainly access key decision makers like never before, become an expert in your industry, reach out and touch your target market, and build brand buzz right from the comfort of your office chair…and these activities, my friends, are what lead to real revenue.
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc.,an e-marketing strategy firm specializing in LinkedIn marketing. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly via LinkedIn or at: Victoria@ModelloMedia.com
Feel free to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Tod Plotkin, Sara Evans, Jennie Nowers. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
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Companies of all sizes are pushing to buckle down and implement effective social media plans. This is an encouraging trend. However, before a plan can be developed, organizations must determine how “social media” is defined and used in the business environment. The answers will vary among enterprises.
My good friend and fellow marketer Debbie Laskey and I recently discussed this issue. (Debbie calls it the ‘other’ social media policy.) She says, “companies can build the most carefully-planned social media strategy, but if employees don’t have specific ‘how to’ guidelines, confusion erupts and hands are slapped in the process.”
Is it acceptable to tweet while on a sales call? Who is responsible for uploading company photos to Facebook? Do employee LinkedIn contacts made during business hours belong to the company, or the employee? Is management harboring decisions on these important points, but failing to share them with employees?
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Social media can generate leads, engages prospects, fosters sales, and can be a vital cog in the company brand wheel. Therefore, it’s crucial that consistent social media policies are implemented to effectively grow your business and ensure the entire organization knows…and follows…the rules. Consistency is the name of the social media game – enhancing your reputation and showcasing industry expertise are too important to leave to chance.
Ready to tackle social media policy development? Consider these questions:
1. Will employees be allowed to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. during business hours?
2. How much time, or which specific time periods, will be allowed on these sites? Only during the lunch hour and breaks?
3. Who is the designated spokesperson/people representing your company’s ‘voice’? Don’t designate “anyone” — choose wisely.
4. What style will be used when posting? Conversational and friendly? Business casual? Professional and formal? Make sure the style accurately represents your company’s culture.
5. Can employees access sites via company mobile devices? Will this pose a security risk?
6. Who ‘owns’ contacts made for business purposes? This is an especially important question for companies with sales forces.
Once your policy is in place, your next step is communicating the guidelines to your employees. New employees in particular should receive a copy of the social media policy in the new employee information packet.
Learn more by reviewing 160 social media policies other companies have implemented.
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc., an e-marketing strategy firm based in suburban Philadelphia, PA. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly at: Victoria@ModelloMedia.com
Feel free to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Tod Plotkin, Sara Evans, Jennie Nowers. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
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If you’ve built a profile on the Big Three social media sites, you may have been pleased about not having to defrost your credit card to do it. (Yes, a friend of mine once froze her credit cards in a bowl of water to ‘cold turkey’ her overspending.)
Sure, you can upgrade your LinkedIn membership and pay a variety of monthly fees to get more perks. But you don’t have to, and that makes millions of people very happy. Based on nothing but your creativity, ingenuity and inventiveness, you can promote your business for next to nothing.
How free is social media, really? About as free as starting your own business.
Meaning, it’s not. Hence the phrase…next to nothing.
Gauging the true cost of social media is crucial in today’s marketplace. Which areas might end up costing you? Here are several to reflect upon:
Implementation
As you know by now, there is more to social media marketing than building a profile and waiting for something to happen. A ton of content goes into the best social media campaigns. Even if you’re a copywriter, it’s still going to cost you time (which, ultimately, means money). Images cost too. Getting targeted help can cost if you hire an ‘expert’ to point the way, or buy books and other materials. As well, some social media platforms charge for functionality. You may not care now, but as you grow, you will. And when you get there, you may find you need help from a social media manager, either in-house or outsourced, to keep everything running efficiently.
Promotion
You’ve heard of Starbucks? They are the Facebook leader. And they didn’t get there by accident. You may never aspire to Starbucks fame, but even in your own tiny corner of the world, promoting your campaign requires a budget, as well as a skilled graphics designer and perhaps a web designer to create advertising.
Tracking
Google Alerts are great. TwitterDeck rocks. But some day, hopefully soon, you’ll need to upgrade to Radian6 or another paid tracking tool. The freebies just aren’t going to cut it.
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Engagement
As recently as a year ago, it was all about SEO. Today, it’s about CRO…Conversion Rate Optimization. What good is all that traffic if it doesn’t convert to real sales? Engagement requires focused landing pages, keywords, email, a website, split testing…a host of functions that require tools, and they’re not all free.
Analysis & Reputation Management
Analysis tells you where you’re heading, and when you will arrive. Along the way, analysis, combined with tracking, can assist with reputation management…an emerging industry which seeks to delete or contain negative brand conversations. If you’re not watching listening and responding, what’s it all for?
Personnel
Who’s doing all this work? In many cases, staff. Customer service, design, technology, administrative tasks…you’re only one person, and can only go so far all alone. Your time is an opportunity cost…not to mention the time/paycheck of a staff member…perhaps even additional staff to engage and communicate with perhaps thousands of connections.
Yes, social media can be free…but not for long.
How are you navigating your way through your own social media campaign?
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc., an e-marketing strategy firm based in suburban Philadelphia, PA. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly at: ModelloMedia@gmail.com
Feel free to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Tod Plotkin, Sara Evans, Jennie Nowers, and Jared Lee. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
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Question: If you use LinkedIn at your workplace, who retains ownership of your profile, and all of your connections?
Answer: It may not be you.
In an article published June 2008, www.telegraph.co.uk reporter Richard Tyler revealed, “A former employee of recruitment firm Hays has been ordered by the High Court to hand over business contacts built up on his personal page of the social networking site LinkedIn. The decision is one of the first to highlight the tension between businesses encouraging employees to use social networking websites for work but then claiming that the contacts remain confidential information at the end of their employment.”
The law here is very grey; however, most employment contracts state that, if you leave the job for any reason, everything and anything you used during the course of employment, from software and hardware to tools and office supplies, belongs to the employer.
The murky argument is then raised: If you create, maintain and build a hefty LI profile while employed, can you take it with you when you go? In other words, to whom do all of your contacts belong? Not to mention, the murky waters become downright sticky when factoring in the typical non-compete agreement.
In the HR world in particular, this is a question that deserves deep consideration. If the employee retains ownership, he or she is essentially walking out the door with valuable company contacts. If the employer retains ownership, the employee may be less than enthusiastic about social networking during work hours, thinking “What’s in it for me?”
Some employees come to the employer with added value ‘built in’, specifically because of the networks they have built. LinkedIn is, of course, the perfect place to grow a budding network. This begs yet another question: do those connections then represent peer relationships, or company-to-prospect/company-to-client relationships? Who decides?
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Currently, it is the employee’s responsibility to understand network ownership policies that may exist within the workplace. The problem is, in most companies, they don’t exist. As employers work to catch up with the effects of a speeding Internet, no doubt new policies will be crafted to address these issues. For example, while the non-compete addresses the time limit within which the former employee cannot reach out to former clients, can we assume this also covers relationships defined by social interaction? How would an employer regulate such a thing? And what about connections the employee built prior to employment…where does the employer draw the line on which connections must be “handed over”?
Five Ways Employees Can Protect Themselves
1. Set up a separate email account to which all LinkedIn emails and connection requests are copied.
2. Export your contacts to a CSV file as a backup of the names and email addresses of your connections.
3. Export your profile as a PDF, so you don’t lose your recommendations.
4. Do number 2 & 3 at regular intervals.
5. Nurture relationships with people! A list of contacts on paper is meaningless without the engagement to support it.
Employers should ask themselves, not “Who owns the connections?”, but “What can I do to develop relationships with these connections, whether the employee stays or leaves?” If both employer and employee remember the Golden Rule of LinkedIn – quality, not quantity – perhaps this debate will one day have a harmonious ending.
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc., an e-marketing strategy firm based in suburban Philadelphia, PA. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly at: ModelloMedia@gmail.com
Feel free to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Jennie Ryon, Jared Lee, Jennie Nowers, and Brittney Grove. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
