Social Networking: LinkedIn, or left out

Elise Keeling | July 4, 2011

‘Connections’, ‘recommendations’, ‘links’, ‘tweets’, ‘friends’, ‘likes’ and ‘followers’. These are part of the social networking vocabulary which, in business terms, translates to audience, money and success.

 

There is a lot of uncertainty about how to attain this level of engagement, every business is unique. Although one thing is certain, Australians are spending more time online.

 

I got thinking about this subject after attending a seminar on social networking for businesses the other week. I don’t own a business, but was sent home with the incentive to sign-up to as many social networking sites as possible.

 

I started with LinkedIn and I was stunned to find out how effectively I could build my professional network.

 

LinkedIn is developing a reputation to be the foremost professional social networking site, where one is defined not by their status update, but by their job title. It is a platform which potential employers can visit, and where you are able to post your resume and have online references (or recommendations) written on your profile. 

 

Even though it’s a relatively new social media platform heaps of success stories have eventuated from LinkedIn, particularly for businesses.

 

Helen Hull is the editor of First 5000, a networking group that connects medium sized businesses through its own website and newsletter. She sought to spread the word about the First 5000 group and extend her online reach to an expanded network. LinkedIn provided her with the tools to effectively connect in an area that they were already comfortable networking in.

 

It not only provided First 5000 with this substantial network of relevant businesses but also allowed the individuals within those businesses to connect with each other and facilitate online discussions. She now has over two-hundred members connected to the First 5000 LinkedIn page.

 

Helen’s technique was patience. Upon creating the First 5000 LinkedIn page she waited a few weeks before posting anything. She wanted to see how these people were interacting and try and grasp the trends of discussion. By clueing into this information she was able to discover more about her audience and then create content related specifically to them.

 

Helen also makes use of LinkedIn’s tracing tool, which tells you who has been looking at your page. She outlines the potential benefits of clicking on a business executive’s profile so that it can be traced back to the First 5000’s page. This is her way of showing that the First 5000 organisation is interested in them, and it usually means that they will click back to the First 5000 LinkedIn page, and then potentially the webpage.

 

Once you’ve traced who is clicking back on your page, then you ask the questions. Why are they on my site? Are they relevant to my business? Who are their networks and connections? If the right answers come up then these people are no longer people, they are then known as ‘traffic’ and potentially ‘revenue’.

 

LinkedIn has incredible potential for a wide-reaching audience. If you’ve posted an article or content to a group’s profile then people outside the page are also able to see the content. So whilst two-hundred connections doesn’t seem huge, she’s actually reaching many thousands of professionals who are only a few connections away from her.

 

But there are millions of success stories behind all social networking sites.

 

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are the four dominating platforms of the world and they each come with their own perks and limitations. How you want to market your business will dictate which one will work best for you.

 

And lest we forget, there’s been a fair share of social networking blunders too.

 

Twitter wasn’t exactly helpful to BP at the time of the oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. Their social media efforts reflected their lack of ability to apologise for the damage which they had caused, and instead social media created a platform for unrefined public abuse. This only got worse when a parody BP twitter account was created to mock how BP managed the disaster. (The parody now has nearly 20,000 more followers than the official BP website.)

 

Though this is a rather radical example and ultimately you should be fine to experiment with as many or as few social networks as you like without too many damaging repurcussions (just assess the likelihood of your business obliterating entire national coastlines in the next while).

 

So whilst you are encouraged to try them all, it’s important to go about social networking in a cautious and patient manner. Social networking is new to everyone and learning through trial-and-error is more than acceptable. There are no experts in the trade. Even Mark Zuckerberg is still trifling with Facebook trying to understand online trends and behaviours.  

 

So get all the errors out the way whilst the technology is evolving and relatively new. Build your social networking sites and establish yourself in the online world. Because soon you’ll have no presence without an online presence.

 

 

 

 "I was delighted to be a guest at ‘Taking Social Media For Businesses To The Next Level’ a conference hosted by media professionals, Jenni Beattie and Tim Martin."