The Importance of LinkedIn Networking Groups

The LinkedIn.com social networking site is more of a B2B (business to business) network, a place to converse with like minded professionals to learn and share information and build the popularity of your business and/or brand. All B2C (business to customers/consumer) posting that you might do on Facebook or Twitter should be avoided on LinkedIn. Promotions, sales, and specials at your company will be viewed as SPAM so be thoughtful to what you post.

One of the many benefits of growing your profile and thus your popularity on LinkedIn is that the greatest advocates for your business are colleagues in your respective industry. A referral as well as acknowledgment from a professional colleague is very valuable in terms of persuasiveness for any listening consumer, this holds true within any industry.

The most effective way to build your popularity and profile is through open and constant dialog. To do this you should become part of a Group, more than one is best. You can find this tab in the menu bar of your LinkedIn page, click on the Group button. On the right, simply type in a relevant keyword for your business and look at the groups that are populated on the screen. Geographical references might help but are also limiting, worth a try anyway. You can also click on 'Groups you may like' in the drop down to see what suggestions LinkedIn might have for you. Once you find a Group that looks interesting, have a look around. Look at the most popular discussions, observe the dialog and interaction level. The more people with the most interaction are the most valuable. Click the 'Join Group' button to request membership. Once you are accepted into the Group, start commenting, answer questions, become part of the discussion but be sure to provide value in your comments and answers. Elevate the conversation with fresh information, not just agreeing with the rest of the participants.

Share resources; to keep with the discussion/dialog, read all the comments so your comments are relevant and on point. This will start the process of building fans in your group and they will start to follow you.

The next step is to start a post, a discussion that provides value to your group. Provide a link to an interesting article and talk about it, share an opinion or one of a popular figure. Be sure to 'Like' your post, this helps the process. Next, comment on your own post with additional information, this increase the activity level of your post and moves it up higher in the queue of posts within that group. From there monitor and engage other participants in the discussion.

Mixing it up with like minded professional is stimulating and enlightening. Bonds are formed and advocates of your company are created. Your reach has been increased and potential leads for your business will grow.

This is the power of B2B networking on LinkedIn.com.

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LinkedIn Etiquette For Mobile Marketing Professionals

You don't need to make blunders that other people make. You need to realize that LinkedIn is for professionals. And these are serious people with serious careers and business ventures. If you are to be perceived as serious you need to look like a person who can be trusted; follows the rules and looks courteous. Let me guide through some basic LinkedIn etiquette issues.

1. Do not contact people before your profile is 100% complete

This seriously shows you as a careless person and one who cannot be trusted in doing business with. Your profile is the only thing that will sell you. It will be bad to start to look for connections if the profile only has your name and basic information.

You see, people want to be connected to like-minded people. As a mobile marketer you want to be connected with business owners, company executives and other mobile marketing professionals. I guess you would rather have a fortune 500 executive than geologist who spends half his time in the Kivu area of Democratic Republic of Congo.

In addition, to having a complete profile, make it as enticing as possible. There is no need of mentioning in your profile that you worked as janitor 20 years ago; it is surely irreverent. Make your profile in such a way that a decision maker will want to hire. Let your expertise in the relevant area; experience and resourcefulness be clearly prominent.

2. Do not ask for recommendation from strangers

Much as you may be desperate and want recommendations, it is bad to ask it from people who do not know you. This is bad enough and you will be surprised how this happens often.

3. Do not use LinkedIn like Twitter

LinkedIn and Twitter though both are social networking mediums are different. Unless you have just landed on planet earth in the last 24 hours, I not need to go into details explaining the differences.

In addition, desist from using LinkedIn like Facebook. They different and expectations of the two are also far apart.

4. Avoid looking desperate

You do need to look desperate. For instance, you put your email address under your name in your profile; it shows that you are ready to connect with anyone.

In addition, even if you are jobless and are looking for a job, do not make it look like you will die the next day if you do not get it.

5. Remind people how you know them

If you are trying to connect with someone you met in a seminar, conference or airport transit lounge, then just tell them that. You see, people see different faces in the course of a week or even a day. It is not possible for them to remember everybody. That's why it is courteous to just remind them. You can a send a short a simple message that reads like: 'It was nice meeting you at the Mary Wilhite mobile marketing seminar in Atlanta Georgia'. That straight away rings a bell.

6. Know who you are connecting with

Some people because of the numerous requests they receive in a day may be reluctant to connect with you immediately. It is even harder when you are a no-name person. You see if you are the editor of Time magazine, it is difficult for someone to turn you down. But is you are not, not many care. That's why you should approach people you want to connect with from their perspective and view of their world.

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The Benefits of Creating a Facebook Fan Page and a LinkedIn Group

Facebook Although Facebook was originally designed by college students to connect with one another and to socialize on the web, it didn't take long for businesses to catch on to the idea that they could also socialize and connect with other people and potential customers via the web. In the beginning, there wasn't such a thing as a Facebook Fan Page specifically for a business to promote their product or service, but now that there is, you probably should have one.

A fan page is one of the best ways for a business to connect with their current and future customers because almost everyone has Facebook and this connectivity allows for customers to rave about their experiences and to express their questions and concerns not only real-time, but in front of the eyes of everyone else connected to this page.

I remember one time in particular where I had a bad experience with a company's bad customer service. I wanted to maintain their service but wasn't able to because of the location I was moving to. I pleaded with multiple people to waive my early termination fee, but they wouldn't budge. I loved their service but I was livid and swore that I would never do business with them again in the future. To say the least, you bet I was on their fan page letting them have it. I finally gave up because I knew I couldn't win, but they lost a customer for life because they weren't a little flexible and didn't listen to the customer.

Another great way for a business to utilize a fan page is by reaching out to its followers to get customer feedback about a specific product or promotion. For example, let's say a toothpaste company just launched their latest and greatest toothpaste. This toothpaste makes claim that it will not only whiten your teeth beyond the leading competitors, but it will also guarantee that you will never have to go to the dentist again. First of all, WOW! Don't we all wish?! But, second of all, this would be such a fantastic opportunity to learn whether their claims are holding up in the eyes of the public.

After the first thirty days, the company decides to ask its followers via their fan page whether they feel and/or believe the product is living up to its hype. This can be done by posing an open-ended question or by conducting a poll, although the highest response rate will most likely come from creating a poll.

LinkedIn LinkedIn is another social media website which is for business owners and this is an area you should definitely focus as much time as is cost effective for you. In fact, all Fortune500 CEOs have LinkedIn accounts.

By creating your LinkedIn page you are creating a public and more formal profile whether it be used for potential clients or even possibly to get a job. You can post all the professional imagery on the site as you wish as well as writing the words to create your brand. I say formal because most people are on LinkedIn to network for business purposes rather than personal purposes. It tends to be a more formal atmosphere the way you would conduct yourself within your profile and when connecting with other people.

When you are looking for those connections via LinkedIn, you will also want to ensure only to befriend those who will provide value to you. Don't request people just to connect. There's nothing wrong with networking, but make sure to engage the other person in conversation and connecting with them as much as possible in a professional manner.

And lastly, LinkedIn can allow you to exponentially grow your business if you conduct the right behaviors. Always look to answer people's problems and questions, and pose your own questions, as well. Become known as the authoritative figure in your domain. Attract people rather than chase people. Always remember that.

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