I am amazed by how many small businesses do not utilize social media to the maximum. Think about it: social media, like the internet two decades ago, allows any business to compete with larger, more established entities. Come on, what are you waiting for? What further amazes me is how few small businesses maximize their presence on LinkedIn and instead just follow the trend of Facebook and Twitter. Why would a niche B2B company establish a Facebook Fan Page when their potential customers may not be social on Facebook yet are already used to networking on LinkedIn? I’m confused. That’s …
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The never-ending question of quality vs quantity of Twitter Followers is similar to the argument of how many people you should connect with on LinkedIn or “friend” on any other social networking site. Yesterday I wrote that without enough connections on LinkedIn, you will not show up in as many search results. With Twitter, the Followers vs Following ratio is an important one that will also speak lots about your Twitter Brand. Windmill Networking treats all of the social networking sites the same. It all comes down to your objective, your brand, and implementation of these through the unique functionalities …
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I am always amazed of the people I meet at networking events or social media conferences that are heavy on Twitter or Facebook but light on LinkedIn. Or others that are on LinkedIn but are not really on LinkedIn. In other words, after realizing the potential value of LinkedIn, what’s next? I have become good friends with Bradley Will, the role model who is empowering young entrepreneurs, and we have a similar goal of helping others better utilize social media. My blog post for today I actually wrote for his demographic, the Gen Y entrepreneurs who have been intimated by …
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There are many resources on the web for finding people to follow on Twitter. Just do a search for any particular type of person you want to follow (student entrepreneurs? job seeker advice? etc.) and chances are you will find a list. But why none for LinkedIn? Well, just as I have been the first to write on other things LinkedIn-related, I think it is important to introduce people on LinkedIn that I think you should invite and/or connect up with. These people are either LIONs or “Super Connectors”, people with lots of connections that are open to receiving new …
read moreToday’s blog post is one that I created for Bradley Will, a self-proclaimed “gnarly entrepreneur” who is also the leading voice for empowering a new generation of young entrepreneurs. If you haven’t read his blog you need to check it out. The blog post that I did itself you should read on Bradley’s site here. But I wanted to give you some background about the post because it explains two important things about Windmill Networking (which will be detailed further in my book to be published in August).
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After networking with several great people over the last several days, which have in essence been conversations that seem more like a veritable cross-breeding of ideas, I believe that more and more people are starting to see the potential value of meeting new people on LinkedIn. Now, just because you are open to doing this does not mean that you necessarily need to become a LinkedIn Open Networker, or LinkedIn LION. There are many methods to the madness of connecting with new people. My method for connecting with new people is using the vehicle of the LION brand. You can …
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LinkedIn Introductions are an integral part of the social networking platform. After all, LinkedIn has given us the ability to search for someone and see how we are connected to them, and it is with this information that we can request an Introduction from our connection just as we request a referral from a friend in real life. Unfortunately, very few people actually ask for an Introduction on LinkedIn in the same manner that they ask for a introduction in a real-life. And this bothers me. Thus, I blog.
read moreAfter I recently wrote about why I am a LinkedIn LION, I have gotten positive response from a lot of the readers of this blog that they are starting to “see the light” despite the negative wrap that LIONs have traditionally received. At the same time, for those that want to slowly venture out and start to become a LinkedIn Open Networker, there is still a worry about keeping their private circle private. Which leads to today’s question: is it right for a truly Open Networker to close up visibility of their connections to others?
read moreI always hear of people bashing LinkedIn open networkers or LIONs. Some people characterize LIONs as people who “amass connections as if they’re Beanie Babies”. Others think that the intention of open networkers is just to spam you. For all of those who doubt the intention of open networkers, I want you to see things from my perspective as a LION, and for a moment consider this question: Why are you on LinkedIn? And, more importantly, If you are only connecting with people that you know, what is the value in LinkedIn?
read moreWe wake up and visit LinkedIn after booting up our computers. And before we turn them off at night we are again checking in with LinkedIn. For the many of us who consider ourselves “Power Users” of LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals is an integral part of our professional lives. And because of that, there are particular things about LinkedIn that may annoy us in a peculiar way more than others. I thought that I would write about this as it came up for discussion the other day at a networking group meeting. These particular attendees pointed out …
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