social networking

Social media is a conversation that can easily expand.  Social networking is a piece of social media.  Social networking develops relationships.  

Social media is another avenue for promoting a business or nonprofit.  An avenue that if integrated into an organization’s overall customer service/promotion/sales strategy can produce amazing results.  Folks who do not use social media or slightly use it often find the field overwhelming.  

Last week I launched Shiny Door with my first social networking presentation (Net Tuesday Chicago) and my first two social networking workshops (Community Media Workshop and New America Foundation).  One of the attendees asked if she must have a Facebook profile before creating a Group to promote her organization.  I am so ingrained in social networking, the issue had not occurred to me.  That was when I realized I need to include a discussion at the beginning of the workshops about the structure of social networking and the importance of the individual.

In order to promote a business or nonprofit online, one needs to first establish an individual presence online. Companies and nonprofits are often uncomfortable putting themselves out front. They are accustomed to promoting the organization itself.   We all know that organizations benefit from individuals networking offline, (this is why networking events are popular and why some folks even attend events at all).  Online networking very much relies upon the individual.  Organizations have an

Facebook was created for college students but it has become a social networking tool for developing both personal and professional relationships.  Unsure whether to use Facebook?  If you have a need to network offline then you should definitely be using Facebook.  Facebook enhances offline networking.

Benefits of Use:

1. Establish/deepen relationships with contacts.
2. Discover organizations and events to expand your network.
3. Promotion of your organization, your business, yourself.

Set up:

1. Go to www.facebook.com
2. Sign up for an account.  Create username and password.
3. PROFILE
   1. Fill in as much information as you are comfortable providing in your profile.  At a minimum include where you work and your hometown.
   2. Facebook is where you connect with your family, your friends and your colleagues.  If you do not want your friends to digitally mingle with your colleagues, consider creating 2 separate profiles.   Keep in mind, two profiles means double the work.
   3. More and more folks are using Facebook professionally.  If you choose to have one profile with your friends and colleagues mixed, post what you are comfortable telling your colleagues, keeping in mind that having your colleagues know more about your personal life will help to develop relationships.  For example, posting about a particular sports team can lead to conversations, ie relationship building, that may not otherwise have occurred.
      

LinkedIn recently added applications that can help you more fully utilize LinkedIn.  You can find Applications in the top left box of any LinkedIn page.  Kudos to LinkedIn for providing simple and clear instructions for each application.  Some of the apps in LinkedIn could be used in any social networking site.  The 3 that really integrate well with LinkedIn are Tripit, Slideshare and Bloglink.

Below are the 3 that have the most value for small/medium size orgs.   

For the past couple of days we have been discussing how to get started on LinkedIn.  The first post dealt with the benefits of using LinkedIn, getting your profile setup and getting your contacts into LinkedIn.  The 2nd post focused on uploading contacts and searching for specific individuals/companies.  We now jump into even more LinkedIn features and how to utilize them.  

1. RECOMMENDATIONS on LinkedIn not only provide a personal commentary about you, they link to the person providing the recommendation, allowing the reader to check up on the person providing the recommendation.
   1. TO RECEIVE, ONE MUST GIVE.  You want recommendations?  Provide some recommendations.  Doing so also puts you on other’s profiles.  If you provide a recommendation, be sure it is personalized.  If possible include specific examples of the person’s skill set.
   2. REQUESTING.  Do not use the Request Recommendation feature.  If you know someone well enough to ask him/her for a recommendation do so verbally, being careful to state that doing so is completely up to that person.  Do not push a request for a recommendation as that is sure to backfire. 
      

Yesterday we discussed how to get started on LinkedIn.  Now that you have created a profile on LinkedIn lets discuss how to begin using LinkedIn.  If you have not set up a profile yet refer to yesterday’s post on Getting Started with LinkedIn.

As I reviewed what I had written I determined it was more than one post so we now have a series of LinkedIn How To posts.  Check back for more.

1. Keep your Profile up to date.  Your job description and your skills are likely to change over time so be sure your Profile is accurate.  I recommend reading over your profile monthly.
2. Make a routine of adding your contacts. You can add contacts one by one by clicking on Contacts and then Add Contacts.  But I highly recommend inviting multiple contacts at one time to reduce your time spent on LinkedIn.
   1. SET A SCHEDULE! Determine how often you will upload contacts to LinkedIn.  Depending upon your need to develop relationships with individuals you have just met, I recommend either every 2 weeks or monthly.    How often you upload your contacts is dependent upon your need to get them into LinkedIn.   Uploading more often is obviously more time consuming but if you think having them in sooner rather than later is important then set a more rigorous connection schedule.
   2. SAVE TIME! If you have an address book, rather than adding new contacts one by one, access/upload your address book.  Check to see if any new contacts are LinkedIn users and send one mass request to your new contacts.  LinkedIn will connect to your web-based mail or you can upload an exported file from your desktop mail.