Over the past several months there has been a significant increase in the number of social media-related events occurring nationwide. These events range from formal educational seminars and full-day events with multiple speakers to networking social events and tweetups over lunch or on a weeknight. If the target audience for your business is using social media, which is increasingly the case, it makes business sense for your company to start participating in these events through event sponsorship. If you have been a blog reader of mine from the past, you’ll know that I am a co-founder of ConnectOC, a group …
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I recently got asked a great question in my Windmill Networking LinkedIn Group: Neal, what is one of the most recent insights you have learned about LinkedIn that can help us? Since I wrote the book on LinkedIn, although 90% of the functionality of the site is still the same, I am finding the “Follow” features that LinkedIn have introduced to be of value for some. While this “feature” may still be a mystery to many, here is my advice on how you can strategically use it by thinking outside of the box. For instance:
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Yesterday I wrote about how to sell social media to your marketing department, and as a follow-up to that question, I received another email from the same person indicating a big reason why internally their marketing department still doesn’t want to move forward: “After more in-depth discussions it became apparent that the real concern of our marketing department is protecting our “brand name” while employee’s use social media to, essentially further their own careers and successes. I hadn’t looked at it from that perspective but it does present some challenges.” The fear of how one’s employees will use sites such …
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I am returning to my roots of how I started blogging on today’s post by answering questions provided by you, my blog reader and member of my extended social network. Below is a summary of the question that I recently received: I was wondering if you had any quick tidbits of advice for how to sell the benefits of using social media to ones own marketing department. As you know there are many who feel uncomfortable with Facebook and Twitter and feel that it is only used for play. I handle HR for a staffing agency and our recruiters and …
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Let’s face it: Social media in 2010, and the way we utilize it as professionals and businesses on a daily basis, is constantly changing. It is impossible for any single person to keep up with everything these days, which is why it is important to be seeking out additional points of view, case studies for reference, and the latest statistics. But where do you start seeking out this information? Instead of pressing that Google Search button for everything, why not start frequenting some top websites where definitive blog posts are being published by thought leaders in the industry? This question …
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Hopefully after reading my blog post on 6 Great Reasons to Become a Business Exchange User you have registered on the professional networking site and are already actively sharing and reacting to content as well as making new industry contacts. Today I want to discuss one of the valuable aspects of Business Exchange, and that is the ability to quickly find new and targeted news and information for business. I believe showing you how to curate social media content in Business Exchange will best illustrate this point. And if you’re not a Business Exchange user yet, this will hopefully show …
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While everyone knows that Facebook is the default choice for any business-to-consumer (B2C) social media marketing, what social media channels are important for businesses hoping to engage with other businesses (B2B)? How can these types of businesses use social media to engage with their potential clients, gain mindshare and be perceived as a thought leader in their industry, and increase potential clients visiting their website? Here are the six that I would recommend to most businesses. Note that, in order to create a sound social media strategy, you should not limit yourself to these 6 B2B social media channels and …
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Today’s blog post was contributed by my guest, Ann Smarty, who I have gotten to know through her managing the LinkedIn Subgroup “The Guest Blogger.” Her post is about my preferred Twitter tool which I am also passionate about and use in my own social media consulting and implementation, Hootsuite, which just today released new Social CRM features allowing you to filter tweets by Klout score or keyword. Ann is also currently Director of Media for BlueGlass. Business power Tweeters can rejoice – the tool you need is finally here. Any business who has a social media policy and uses …
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Image by wordjunky via Flickr While many social media marketers concentrate on Twitter and Facebook, a lot of Business-to-Business (B2B) Business Development professionals already know that LinkedIn is the preferred place to prospect for new business in social media. With an executive from every Fortune 500 company represented and an average household income of over $100,000, LinkedIn is a perfect place to prospect for decision makers in the industries you want to sell into as well as a prime destination to make alliances with other businesses and professionals that can help grow your business. I recently had a conversation with …
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Today’s blog post is from one of my new friends that I met Windmill Networking on Facebook, John Atterberry. John has a great story to tell from the perspective of a seasoned Marketing Strategist who approached Facebook business strategy from a social perspective. I have been telling companies all along that social media was made for people, not for businesses, and that they need to learn how to network with people in order to gain their trust. A look back at my post on why businesses should like birthdays on Facebook will give you more background on this. John’s success …
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