I just finished reading an interesting post on Copyblogger by Sonia Simone. I love people who aren’t afraid to question the status quo or express an opposing viewpoint to acceptable practices. I love it even when I don’t agree with them, because it keeps the conversation going, ensures we don’t get complacent, and pushes us to explore all the avenues.

The mantra in social media is to invite feedback, engage in conversation. Sonia isn’t advocating ignoring comments. Rather, she suggests we should:

• Focus on where we want to go
• Develop a “red velvet rope policy”
• Ask ourselves “Is this person my customer?” whenever we receive a negative remark.

It’s an article worth the read.

“Are You Getting Dangerous Feedback from Your Readers and Prospects”

In my first “Skeptic’s View” post, I admitted to signing up—grudgingly—for many of the social media tools because they simply aren’t the way I prefer to communicate. However, as a consultant who helps companies develop and implement effective customer communication strategies, it’s my job to understand the various mechanisms by which users want to interact—and more and more users want to interact using social media.

Since diving into the various social media tools, I’ve discovered a lot of value. In addition to giving your clients something they want and expect, you have the potential to gain incredible customer insights and see a side of them that might otherwise remain hidden. I didn’t think I would, and I did—and that stands true for every tool that I’ve tried thus far.

LinkedIn: A Multifaceted Networking Tool

Of all the social media tools available, LinkedIn is the one that I entered with the least amount of skepticism. I “got” the value that it offered, because it was clearly developed for business people. But it wasn’t until a February 2006 Women in Consulting (WIC) meeting that I really started using LinkedIn.

I implemented a number of best practices from that meeting and started benefiting almost immediately; and I continue to benefit today. The single greatest thing about LinkedIn is it offers so many ways to connect with your network and stay on top on of what everyone is doing.

LinkedIn: What’s the Big Deal?

If you’ve never tried LinkedIn or you created a profile but you’ve not done much because, quite frankly, you “don’t get what the big deal is,” here are a just few reasons to consider tapping this resource:

• It’s expected. A LinkedIn profile is pretty much the status quo now. Not having one is considered out of place if you’re a business professional. That said, assess the need for a Linked profile based on your client base (there’s that audience thing again), your professional connections, and your business. If nothing else, this assessment should drive how you build your profile. If it’s deemed not appropriate right now, then at least you know you’re basing your decision not to join on factors that matter most to your business.
• Project and job offers are a real possibility. If you stay top of mind, employ marketing and networking best practices, and you “know your stuff” (in other words, you’re good at what you do), your first tier connections will recommend or even use you. You may even find work via referrals when a second or third-tier connection solicits their network, asking if anyone knows of a good “fill in the blank.” I know I have received project offers via LinkedIn, simply by following some of the basic LinkedIn best practices.
• It’s a way to stay top of mind. LinkedIn is a lot more than an online rolodex. You can easily keep your network up to date on what you’re doing, with numerous tools for staying top of mind.   
  1. Twitter-like status update bar. Your connections do read these. Maybe not everyone, and maybe not every day. But people do read them.
  2. Connection updates on your home page. Not only do your connections see what you’re up to if you update your status, but your home page contains a flow of what your connections are doing. I love this feature. I quickly and with little effort know what my connections are doing and feel more connected than I do with quarterly emails or calls. If offers opportunities to reach out to them. The key is being authentic and sincere. I regularly look at my home page feeds and respond when I have something to say related to what a connection is doing. Sometimes it’s encouragement and congratulations; other times it’s a suggestion; and yet other times it’s just to say “hi,” it’s been a while since we talked. The opportunities for connecting are as varied as your connections.
  3. LinkedIn update emails. LinkedIn also sends (if you elect to receive them) regular updates of what your connections are up to—this is the same type of information that appears on your home page. So, you don’t even have to go to LinkedIn to stay up to date.
  4. Multiple interaction points. The home page and email updates don’t just filter status bar changes. They track new connections, when you answer questions, when you join a group, when you update your profile or recommend someone. All of this is fed to your connections’ LinkedIn home pages and email updates (if you allow it).
• You can demonstrate thought leadership. There are so many opportunities to demonstrate your thought leadership and join the conversation in LinkedIn, including:
  1. Let your network know when you’ve written an article/blog post, presented at a conference, wrote a book, gave a talk, etc. using the status update text box.
  2. Answer questions posted in LinkedIn Answers. There are a host of categories from which to choose. Remember, whenever you answer a question, your response is posted in your connections’ feed (at least they should be—you control what’s sent).
  3. Pull your blog posts into your LinkedIn profile.
  4. Start and join discussions in your groups (join groups, too, if you haven’t). By the way, Women in Consulting (WIC) has a LinkedIn group.  

LinkedIn: Best Practices (Tips & Tricks)

• Complete your profile:
  1. Spend time considering how you want to present yourself, how prospective connections might view you when reading your profile.
  2. Gather the information you’ll need to complete your profile (if people are interested, I’ll include this in a subsequent post).
  3. Edit your public profile settings—remember the more you show, the more people outside of your network can learn about your services, expertise, and skill set.
  4. Add connections. I don’t advocate being a LION—LinkedIn Open Networker; be selective. Your connections can reflect on you. You can also open yourself up to people who are a bit “spammy” in their communications. In fact, with every social media tool, I advocate quality over quantity—but I also advocate using these tools to build relationships, too.
  5. Build your recommendations.
• Join groups related to your areas of interest and expertise.
• Spend time on your home page reviewing what people in your network are doing.
• Review the applications that LinkedIn offers for ones that might benefit you.
• Participate:
  1. Post status updates on your home page.
  2. Answer questions posted in LinkedIn Answers.
  3. Interact with other group members, asking questions, answering questions, sharing information, joining discussions
• Don’t make it all about you and your products and services.
• Don’t SPAM
• Request introductions form your network, or send InMails if you have a premium account, to people you’d like to connect with. (See “Working Those LinkedIn Connections” for more on InMails and how to use them.)

LinkedIn: Bottom Line

If you’ve not joined LinkedIn yet, check it out and see if it’s right for you. But don’t show up for the party half dressed. You’ll likely send a negative message.

If you’re on LinkedIn but only half dressed, put on some clothes. Complete your profile. Give some real thought to the best way to do it, looking at it from your audience’s perspective. Be authentic—can’t stress that enough—and don’t be “sales-y.”

And remember, why you should care. LinkedIn is a great way to:

• Build brand awareness, promote events, demonstrate thought leadership, and disseminate information
• Stay in tune with what others are thinking
• Increase your visibility and community size
• Collaborate online
• Keep your database current
• Recruit volunteers, employees, and resources

I discovered a new tool that I already love — TBUZZ. It makes it easy for you to Tweet about the Web pages you visit without having to go to Twitter or TweetDeck or similar tools. Here’s how it works:

• Once installed, TBUZZ appears in your browser toolbar.
• When on a Web page that you want to share with your Twitter followers, simply click the TBUZZ icon in your toolbar.
• A TBUZZ window opens, with an already-shortened URL to the page and available character count.
• Type what you want to convey and click update, and that’s it. You’ve updated your Twitter feed without leaving the page you were reading.

TBUZZ also shows you others who are “TBUZZing” about the page and what they said.

A Note about Installing It on IE

Arc90, the company who developed TBUZZ offers a nice how-to video on its home page that shows how to install TBUZZ. For non-IE users, you simply drag and drop the prominent TBUZZ button on the home page to your browser toolbar, give the bookmark a name, and it appears in your bookmarks and in your browser’s toolbar.

For IE, there’s an extra step. After the link appears in your bookmarks, right click on it, and then click on “Add to Favorites Bar.” TBUZZ then appears in your browser toolbar.

Check out TBUZZ

Okay, I admitted in a previous post on Nine Twitter Tips for Business that I’m not someone who follows everyone who follows me because it’s the polite thing to do. So of course, I would find this nice little post on the TerraFarm blog to my liking.

Here are Tom’s top 10, all of which are worth keeping in mind as you start to Tweet:

1. Your picture hasn’t been set.
2. Your name is comprised of works like money, cash, free, sex….
3. You auto-DM me when I follow you.
4. Your Tweets are full of foul language.
5. You constantly lash out at me or others.
6. You constantly push your own product, service or blog, and tweet about nothing else
7. You’re never positive. Ever.
8. Your bio is empty and you live “nowhere.”
9. You haven’t Tweeted in months.
10. You are never “live.”

Read the full “10 Reasons to Unfollow/Not Follow Someone on Twitter” article

Jason Snell of Macworld.com wrote a nice overview on nine ways to use Twitter for business. It’s a great introduction for those who are unsure how Twitter can be used for business.

I agree with everything he says for the most part, with the caveat that you should assess any recommendations in light of your own audience, as well as what makes sense for your business. Consumer companies will have different needs from business-to-business companies who will have different needs from consultants and so on. The key is to view Twitter as a tool and not all tools work for all people.

The one recommendation I disagree with in part is “# 3: Follow people who are relevant…it’s polite to follow people. And by following people you are creating an ecosystem — people will see who you are following and consider those as suggestions for users they should follow as well.”

Yes, you should follow relevant people. And it may be polite to follow someone who follows you, but is it in your best interest to follow everyone who follows you? No is my philosophy. Follow people who make sense for you to follow.  For example, I won’t follow people who: 

• Never Tweet anything of interest to me
• Neglect to provide a bio and/or a link to more information about them
• Are only interested in selling me “stuff”
• Bombard followers with a plethora of Tweets daily – there are people who post 30 or more times in a day; and that’s way more than I want to here from anyone person

These are some of my personal guidelines for following people. They’re based on my reasons for using Twitter. I view Twitter as an information resource. So for me, it’s about sharing and receiving information.

Here are the high-level tips:

• Don’t automate it
• Be conversational
• Follow people who are relevant
• Make sure your people are on Twitter, and refer to them
• Answer your mentions
• Search for your name
• Consider creating sub-accounts for sections of your business or customer base
• Use Twitter to ask your customers questions…and get good answers
• Be a good Twitter citizen

Read the full “Nine Twitter Tips for Business” article

instantShift.com posted a nice article showcasing what they believe to be 125+ incredible Twitter themes. I thought I’d share them on WIC’s blog to show readers what’s possible with Twitter themes.

http://www.instantshift.com/2009/01/18/125-incredible-twitter-themes/

Women in Consulting Seminar: Creating Social Media Success for Consultants
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 from 8am – 12pm
Early Online Registration Closes, Monday, June 1, 2009

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn-almost everyone has heard of these social media tools. Millions are using them for personal enjoyment, and many business-to-consumer companies are capitalizing on this popularity.

But do these tools make good business sense for consultants and small business owners? Can they help you generate leads, establish you as an expert in your field, stay connected to current clients, and reach out to potential clients? The answer is yes! And this WIC-sponsored seminar, featuring Shel Holtz on Twitter, Irene Koehler on LinkedIn, and Sara Smith on Facebook, will show you how.

Learn more and register

Key Learning Points

• Go beyond a simple “how-to,” and discover how to promote your firm, expertise, and credibility more effectively using social media
• Understand the common pitfalls you should avoid
• Increase your understanding of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook and how best to use them as a consultant or small business owner
• Receive social media tips and a glossary of terms in a take-back-to-the-office guide

Location/Time

Michael’s at Shoreline, 2960 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 8:00am – 12:00pm
8:00 – 8:30 Registration, continental breakfast, and networking
8:30 – 11:00 Individual presentations on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
11:00 – 12:00 Moderated panel with social media experts

Cost

• WIC members: $79 early bird registration, $89 after June 1
• WIC affiliate list subscribers/WIC partners: $99 early bird registration, $109 after June 1
• Nonmembers: $109 early bird registration, $119 after June 1

About the Speakers

Shel Holtz – An accredited business communicator (ABC) and principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, Shel has nearly 30 years of organizational communications experience in both corporate and consulting environments.

Irene Koehler — Founder of Linking Northern CA and Almost Savvy, and an avid online networker for years, Irene has successfully navigated the confusing process of creating a virtual presence, one that best represents the message and persona that individuals and businesses want to convey.

Sarah Smith — As manager of Facebook’s online sales operations account management team, Sarah (and her team) partners with strategic advertisers to help them achieve their Facebook advertising objectives using campaign optimizations, social media strategy, and general education about cutting-edge tools and new product features.

Avery Horzewski (moderator) — Avery is a marketing and customer communications consultant, and serves on WIC’s board of directors, overseeing the organization’s marketing, PR, social media, and website initiatives.

Learn more and register

Ann Handley, editor in chief of MarketingProfs (a WIC partner) posted an article on Mashable about a Twitter survey conducted by MarketingProfs. It’s worth the read, but then again, I’m biased. It was nice to see I’m not the only one who:

• Doesn’t follow everyone who follows me, and doesn’t expect everyone I follow to return the favor 
• Doesn’t think large twitter followings = greater intelligence, expertise, or respect
• Isn’t bothered if nobody responds to my tweets (but I do enjoy reading every response and engaging in dialogue–it’s just not every post warrants a response)
• Loves the information sharing that happens on Twitter

Read “Inside the Minds of Twitter Users“

I love Mack Collier’s “Social Media Ain’t About One-Night Stands, It’s About Relationships” post on The Viral Garden. It’s short and sweet, with a couple of good examples to underscore his point. I love it, though, because of the key point he drives home: social media is about communicating.

As many of you may notice, communication is a common theme in my posts. I love communication (studied it in school, actually), and doing it effectively is the key ingredient to business success — and doing it effectively all starts with knowing your audience and really listening to them.

A few key points from Mack’s post:

• Social media isn’t about generating buzz, it’s about connecting. It isn’t about campaigns, it’s about movements. “What to use Twitter as a way to generate buzz for your product launch? Fine. Now what’s your plan for leveraging that buzz and using Twitter as a channel to connect with your customers that are now paying attention to you?
• Social media tools are just tools. “Many companies miss the mark when it comes to implementing social media because they focus too heavily on the tools as opposed to the communication and potential relationships that are enabled by them.

Marketing Vox summarizes a social media study by Michael Stelnzer that set out to understand how and why marketers are using social media to grow and promote their businesses. The study found that Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, and Facebook — in that order — are the top four social media tools used by marketers.

Given that the study (”How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses” PDF) “began with a Twitter post, which was then re-posted by users onto Facebook and blogs,” it’s not surprising that Twitter placed high (approximately 2,500 marketers were sent an email asking them to take the survey as well). 

Other stats about the survey:

• Survey closed after 10 days with 880 respondents participating
• 70% of the participants were small business owners
• 26% of the participants were employees working at a company
• 78.1% of the participants were between 30 – 59 years of age
• 56% of the participants were female, and 44% of them were male

Read “Marketers’ Top Social Media: Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook“