online social networking

6 People Who Should Use LinkedIn’s New Follow Company Feature

6 People Who Should Use LinkedIn’s New Follow Company Feature

It has been a few weeks now since LinkedIn released their new “Follow Company” feature.  Rather than be brash and predict what would happen with the appearance of this new feature, I always like to look at things with a little historical perspective and try to understand how professionals can truly leverage these new LinkedIn features. As you are most likely aware of by now, just as you follow someone on Twitter to subscribe to their tweets in your news feed, LinkedIn now allows you to not only get “Company Updates” on your LinkedIn home page but also receive notifications …

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Questions on? Come Join Me on Twitter on #JobChat!

Questions on? Come Join Me on Twitter on #JobChat!

What is #JobChat?  JobChat was created by Perri Gorman (@BeTheButterfly) and Neal Schaffer (@NealSchaffer) to serve the need of professionals and job seekers looking for advice on professional networking as well as how professionals can better utilize social media as part of their career management, personal branding and job search. Perri and Neal bring a unique combination of contrasting yet similar skills to the table to host the live chat sessions on Twitter: Perri is a former financial services recruiter and Neal a former technology sales and business development executive who also played the role of a hiring manager. Both are currently social media consultants helping both professionals …

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5 Ways to Prospect for New Business on LinkedIn

5 Ways to Prospect for New Business on LinkedIn

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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Going on a Business Trip? Use the LinkedIn Events Application and Windmill Network!

Going on a Business Trip? Use the LinkedIn Events Application and Windmill Network!

Image by @Photo . via Flickr If you’ve followed my Windmill Networking blog for awhile or read my LinkedIn book, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of the LinkedIn Events Application.  Seriously.  I wrote an April Fools’s post back in 2009 complaining why Events wasn’t considered an application with a blog post rhetorically entitled, “What are LinkedIn Applications?”  I was the first one to ask “What Happened to LinkedIn Events?” when they mysteriously disappeared for a day in October of 2009.  So you can say that I have a personal relationship with Events, and when all of the “social …

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How Often Should You Update Your Social Media Status?

How Often Should You Update Your Social Media Status?

Image by jyoseph via Flickr I often get asked about whether it makes sense to completely integrate Twitter Tweets with your LinkedIn Status Update, so that every tweet shows up on LinkedIn.  Obviously there is no one correct answer for this as it depends on your objective and LinkedIn Brand.  However, the question brings to mind a greater issue: How often should you update your social media status on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Your Blog?

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Growing Your Business…One Facebook Friend at a Time

Growing Your Business…One Facebook Friend at a Time

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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What are Your Favorite Twitter Pet Peeves? Here are My Top 10. [VIDEO]

What are Your Favorite Twitter Pet Peeves? Here are My Top 10. [VIDEO]

Almost a year ago I wrote about my favorite LinkedIn pet peeves, which spurned a great list of 25 LinkedIn etiquette tips that arose from a discussion on the LinkedIn Executive Suite Group.  As I tend to spend more time on Twitter than LinkedIn these days, I think it’s time to focus on that social networking platform and talk about what drives me, and others, crazy about what users are doing on it. Just as with LinkedIn, Twitter has its own unique sets of functionalities which creates the potential for different types of behavior.  With Twitter, the root of most …

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LinkedIn Referral Requests: 3 Bits of Advice for Handling a LinkedIn Introduction Request from Someone You Don’t Know Well

LinkedIn Referral Requests: 3 Bits of Advice for Handling a LinkedIn Introduction Request from Someone You Don’t Know Well

Image via Wikipedia As you get more comfortable with using LinkedIn, the day may come when you start connecting with other professionals that you may not know very well.  I am not referring to becoming a LinkedIn LION or open networker, but connecting with people that you may have had a chance to meet at a networking event and added to your LinkedIn network yet do not personally know very well.  Soon after connecting with this new acquaintance on LinkedIn, you may all of the sudden receive the following type of request: It was a pleasure meeting you recently at …

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[Video] How To Add a Facebook Like Button to Your WordPress Blog or Website

[Video] How To Add a Facebook Like Button to Your WordPress Blog or Website

If you haven’t noticed yet, Facebook “Like” buttons are starting to appear on many websites throughout the Web.  These are part of the new Facebook “Social Plugin” options.  For bloggers and businesses running websites, adding this “Like” button should be a no-brainer in that it adds the following benefits to your website: If someone “Likes” your website, a message is passed on through that person’s News Feed on Facebook that they liked your website, complete with a link to entice one of their friend’s to check out your website. For new visitors to your website, from Google or Bing web …

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How Many LinkedIn Connections Should You Have? My Advice May Surprise You! [VIDEO]

How Many LinkedIn Connections Should You Have? My Advice May Surprise You! [VIDEO]

Image by annapmagistra via Flickr LinkedIn is a very interesting social networking site.  Many users say they only want to connect with people in their closed network, but unless that network is big enough, the benefits of using LinkedIn to find and be found become minimal.  On the other hand, I find many users who don’t care about acquiring LinkedIn connections often talk about how many they have as an indication of how active they are on the site. So how many LinkedIn connections should you have? I recently shot a video at a keynote speech on social media in …

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