April 6, 2010

Find Quality Followers to Engage, Don’t Worry About Numbers

We all want thousands of followers on Twitter, but the number is not as important as the quality of your network. If half of your Twitter followers are there simply to boost your numbers, you will not be reaching the right people with your message. Providing quality content and engaging in discussion is more beneficial.

Promotion is key to building your social media network. Make sure you share your Twitter handle, Facebook page or LinkedIn profile with your business contacts to help build your network. Add it to company promotions, include it in your email signature, list it on your website to let the audience you want to attract know where to find you.

Many social media platforms have created their own methods to promote valuable contributors. Twitter’s #followfriday, a designated day to recommend influential or interesting people to follow on Twitter, is a great way to get quality followers and establish your network.

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December 24, 2009

Linked In… To What?

Too many social media “strategist” have sorely neglected Linkedin for far too long. Let me tell you that understanding and utilizing Linkedin offers values and benefits that are incomparable to any other social network. Whether it’s job posting or hunting, building connections or establishing successful network groups, Linkedin is an essential business tool.


Current.tv took a humorous stab at people’s perception of LinkedIn

Source

December 21, 2009

5 Ways to Use Social Media for Customer Service

You may be aware of Twitter, the 140 character news and status channel where Twitterers around the world are over-sharing what they’re doing. Hopefully you’ve already set up a business account and are actively using Twitter Search to mine for product and service mentions, and taking advantage of the platform as a customer service resource. If you’re not, you’re missing a huge opportunity to connect with an ever-growing population of consumers and professionals who respond well to Twittering companies with a purpose.

Here are 5 additional simple ways, some obvious and some obscure, to help small businesses leverage social media to provide stellar customer service. The social web is a place for everyone, but with the right tips, tricks and tools, savvy small businesses can redefine the nature of customer service. Read more >>

December 11, 2009

How to Build Your Company’s Profile on LinkedIn

LinkedIn, through its networking, question and answer, and application features are already a powerful tool for maintaining and establishing relationships in the business world.  But it can also be an enormously valuable way to attract top talent to your company, especially if you use all of the options available to you.

While posting a job to LinkedIn is similar to any other job website – adding details about the position, skills, and requirements – where the site separates itself is with company profiles, allowing you to provide potential candidates with a lot more information about your company and the people that work there.  Here’s how they work and how to set one up: Read more >>

November 25, 2009

7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn

 LinkedIn(), which recently reached the 50 million user milestone, has long been considered the social networking site for professionals. If you’re in business, it is basically expected that you have a profile there.

But with the more mainstream platforms like Twitter() and Facebook() being used for business purposes, some professionals are neglecting their LinkedIn profiles. While LinkedIn is certainly not as dynamic as other social media sites, it still provides a lot of value — if you use it correctly. So whether you’re new to LinkedIn or a veteran, here are some of the things you should consider incorporating into your LinkedIn strategy. Read more >>

November 4, 2009

How to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn

In a time of stock market crisis, bailouts and a weak dollar, LinkedIn still raises $22.7 million in funding. How? It’s a relevant site with a number of useful resources for professionals and businesses. Meanwhile, the launch of the site’s application platform last week puts the spotlight back on this phenomenally useful social network. Many folks involved in social media are so ADD driven to the latest social network, they fail to fully explore and make use of the networks that they are already part of. Enter LinkedIn, a haven for professional networking with an executive representation of all of the Fortune 500 companies. LinkedIn has a lot to offer regardless of where you are in your career, especially with the economy the way it is. Read more >>

October 27, 2009

ABC of Online Networking

We all know that online networking is important, but for those just getting started it’s a huge landscape to navigate. Where do you invest your energy first? How do you choose the channels most beneficial for you? When do you make the crossover from virtual connections to handshakes?

Below I attempted to make sense of it all in the easiest lineage I could—the alphabet. For those just getting started, I suggest taking a peak and making sure you are hitting the majority of these in some capacity—and for those online networking leaders I suggest taking a peak and making sure your ego didn’t accidentally blind you from the basics. (hey, its been known to happen ) This list includes sites, people, engines, applications, and tips on how to best research, establish and network yourself online. Read more >>