The Power of PersonalConnections:Using LinkedIn to Market YourBusiness and Yourself

Presented by:Mary Bahr

6/11/09

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Social Media• Conversation between

your brand and youraudience; one to one

• Almost 50% of onlineadults participate inCGMSource: Forrester

• Where you choose toparticipate should bebased on your mktingobjectives

• Harness it,cannot control it

• “Groundswell,” (Bernoff/Li)great intro to social media.

CGM is the fastest growing segment of the Web, with more than 1MM newarticles of content posted every 24 hours

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©2009, Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Michael Stelzner

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©2009, Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Michael Stelzner

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Some Background on LinkedIn

• Founded in 2003• Over 40 million members; 1 new member per

second; 50% outside US• All Fortune 500 represented; over 4 million

small businesses

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Why embrace LinkedIn?• Increase your visibility, improve your Google page rank and

search engine results• Increase your connectability: locate people from your past,

present and future• Research companies and people (staff movement, hiring

turnover, job descriptions)• Give and get—ask questions, answer questions, write

recommendations• Promote yourself and your business with added apps,

and website, blog visibility• Scope our the competition, potential customers and

employers• Keep track of job movement of your network

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How to do it…• Strive for 100% complete profile (click on the button that

shows how complete your profile is: it will help youcomplete it!)

• Use the “professional headline” for more than your currenttitle: use it to describe yourself (in Basic Informationsection)

• Use “current status” field to raise your professional profile:e.g.: what are you working on, what are you reading, whatare you attending…

• Make your profile and work experience as complete aspossible: it will bring more potential connections to yourattention

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How to do it…• Remember your LinkedIn profile should complement

your resume, not duplicate it• If you’re a business owner, create a business page for

your business• Change your public profile URL to your name; add

this URL as a hyperlink to your email signature• Add your websites and blogs to website listings: you

can list up to three (could also list causes that you areinvolved in)

• Summary: is NOT a resume: use it to explain whoyou are and what you are passionate about

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How to do it…• Applications add functionality and visibility to your profile:

select ones that you’ll use (I love Amazon Reading Lists,SlideShare and Blog Link, but choose what works for you)

• Give and get recommendations strategically: do not giverecommendations that you would not give in “real life”

• Look for groups that will complement both yourprofessional and personal interests

• Ask questions when you are trying to solve a problem orfind a solution: particularly if you are looking for somethingspecific

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How to do it…• Use LinkedIn proactively: research someone before you

meet them, if you are going on an interview or businesspitch, request to LinkIn BEFORE your meeting, so that theycan review your profile

• Events: promote professional events you are involved in,invite your network

• Create your own special interest group: create additionalcredibility for your expertise

• To learn more: Guy Kawasaki’s article on LinkedIn(http://tinyurl.com/2fbver)

• Check out LinkedIn movie:(http://press.linkedin.com/about)

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The Fast Fifty(or almost free websites)you should know about!

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google.com/alerts

What are they sayingabout you on the web?Track it and yourcompetitors…

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google.com/adwords

What are the hot wordson the web?

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google.com/analytics

How does yourwebsite rate?

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google.com/trends

How does yourwebsite rate?

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google.com/readerKeep all the blogs youfollow in one place

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dimdim.com

Free web-conferencing andaudio bridge for upto 20 people

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websitegrader.com

Free SEO tool: easy touse and understand;also has facebookand twitter graders

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instapaper.com

Read later icon intoolbar

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tinyurl.com

Create short URLs with oneclick: indispensable for FBand Twitter

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hetemeel.com

Personalizepictures to sendor use in presentations:fun but functional

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imagechef.com

Similar tohetemeel

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“Getting Things Done”

Davidandco.com:David Allen’sprocess: GTD

The god of productivitygurus

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43folders.com

A David Allen disciple:great productivitytips and tricks

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thefourhourworkweek.com

For those of youwho love TimFerriss, or reallyhate him; eitherway he’sinteresting

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itunesu.comClasses available fordownload on anysubject from some ofthe best universities inthe world

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Trendhunter.comKeep track ofwhat’s hot aroundthe world: greatfree reports

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charlesandmarie.com

My favoriteshopping site:their Soupe duJour: a productoffered for onlyone day, isfabulous

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bagsnob.comNeed I say more?Can any womanhave too manyhandbags?

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mint.comIntegratedpersonal moneymanagement site

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someecards.comFor those of uswho prefer snarkto sincerity.

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trademarksearch.comA government sitethat actuallyworks.

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brandsoftheworld.comLogos, logos andmore logos

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Printwhatyoulike.comSave paper: printonly what youwant from a webpage

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lifehacker.comProductivity toolsand tricks:particularlyinvolvingtechnology

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zenhabits.comGood advice forthose of us over-scheduled, over-worked people

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mashable.comStay up to date onwhat’s going on insocial media, andit changes daily

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ted.comGive yourself a giftand listen to atleast one TED talka week. Share onFacebook and LI

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presentationzen.com

Have to deal withpowerpoint? Thiswill help yourpresentations notsuck quite sobadly

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findsounds.com

Free SFX. Can beused in ppt!

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visualthesaurus.com

Note: trial is free,website is not. Ifyou write, you’lllove it

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thesaurus.com

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clichefinder.com

Sometimes thatcliché is right onthe tip of yourtongue…find ithere

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smartbriefentrepreneurship.com

Links to the bestarticles forentrepreneurs.Many other smartbrief editionsavailable.

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digg.comSee what otherpeople findinteresting on theweb and voteyourself

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stumbleupon.comA hugetimewaster, butloads of fun

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groupon.com

Great deals, ifenough folks signup

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tripadvisor.com

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iltrafficalert.comSet up alerts basedon your ownschedule androute

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opentable.com

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dailybeast.comA somewhatsnarkier CNN.Good columniststhat you won’t findelsewhere

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alltop.comAn aggregator ofgreat informationon almost anytopic. Try herefirst rather thanwikipedia…

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pagesix.comGossip, gossip,gossip.

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facebook Shameless plug:watch for the nextNWE seminar onFB and twitter…

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twitterShameless plug:our next series willbe on why twitteryou want to tweet!