Marketingeasy Internet Marketing Explained » linkedin

The Most underutilised Social Media tool.

Lucio Dias Ribeiro — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:13:21 +0000

I wrote many posts about the power of LinkedIn for Social Media Strategies and business.

Everytime I’m speaking on an Internet Marketing Seminar or teaching Social Media Classes I always listen to the same question:

“I’ve got limited time to invest in social media, but there seem to be a million sites out there. How do I know which one is worth my time? If I only have time for one, which one should it be?”

Generally I try to explain that all tools available should fit into your strategy and your level of commitment – either time or content production- and I then explain how I use my various online presence and my expectation with each one of them.

However every single time I end up talking about LinkedIn and my fixation with this tool.

What is Linkedin?

LinkedIn is a website that allows professional network with over 70 million members globally.

LinkedIn is one of those sites that tends to get brushed aside in the sexy, shiny world of social media. It’s not flashy, we rarely hear buzz about billion dollar valuations and you don’t get a billion email reminders to visit because your contacts on LinkedIn are not encouraged to write on your wall, send zombies after you or take lengthy and inane quizzes.

What are LinkedIn Features?

Linkedin has many handy features but one I like to use most are their groups. A powerful networking strategie along with seeding content strategy.

LinkedIn Groups allow you to:

* Quickly discover the most popular discussions in your professional groups.
* Have an active part in determining the top discussions by liking and commenting.
* Follow the most influential people in your groups by checking the Top Influencers board or clicking their profile image to see all their group activity.
* See both member-generated discussions and news in one setting.
* Easily browse previews of the last three comments in a discussion.
* Find interesting discussions by seeing who liked a discussion and how many people commented.

LinkedIn has now rolled out few changes to their groups making it more social and more engaging.

Watch the video below.

Things to do Before ad:tech Sydney 2010

Lucio Dias Ribeiro — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:29:15 +0000

Things to do Before ad:tech Sydney 2010

As my part of being Social Media Manager for ad:tech, I want to help my readers get the most out of the event. So I’m providing you with some tips to prepare yourself before attending.

There are many things you should do before attending ad:tech if you want to be prepared and make the most of the conference.

I’ve broken them down into three main categories for you: research, connect, and plan.

Research for ad:tech Sydney 2010

The very first thing you need to do is research.

You need to have a look through http://www.ad-tech.com/sydney/adtech_sydney.aspx to make sure you know the dates (16^th and 17^th of March), and have a look through the schedule to see which presentations you want to attend (I strongly suggest to attend Jeff’s-Cadbury case).

If you haven’t already had a look, you’ll see there’s always three different presentations running at the one time, so take note of the ones that interest you the most.

You should also have a look through the sponsors, exhibitors and speakers at the event. Have a look through some of their websites to see what you know about them, if they’d be of any value to you – i.e. a prospective client, or a coonection to a prospective client.

It will also be very beneficial for you to have an idea of who is going to ad:tech Sydney, and what they do.

And to do this you can use the hashtag I mentioned last week #ATSYD to search and you’ll be able to see many names – well Twitter accounts – of people attending or you can just head to the list on ad:tech Sydney Twitter list.

Then you can look through them to see if any of them could be beneficial for you to know or just to talk to at the conference. It’s always nice to know something about the person before you meet them, and they might be very impressed or flattered that you know just one thing about who they are or what they do because you’ve taken your time to read their blog or visit their website.

Similarly, I’d also recommend reading up on as much industry news as you can, the more you know about the latest digital marketing and advertising news, the more impressive you’ll sound when you’re networking at the event.

Connect

Connect or die.

Once you’ve found the people you think will be the best people for you to meet and talk to at the conference, start connecting with them through social media now.

A simple tweet to say hi breaks the ice a bit and you get to introduce yourself before meeting them. This means when you do meet them at the conference, they will probably have looked through your website/blog to find out who you are.

Another great way of making a small connection with someone influential in the industry if you’re not game enough to tweet (or e-mail, Facebook them etc.) is to leave a comment on their blog.

People will always read people’s comments on their own blog as they want to see what feedback and discussion they’re receiving.

If you leave a comment to engage in conversation with them, discussing their blog posting they’ll probably reply to you and you will already have started that connection. Then once at ad:tech, you’ll be able to tell them you’re the person who was having a discussion with them via comments on their blog. They will be very impressed by this – assuming you’ve posted intelligence comments with valid points on their blog – and you’ll receive a great first impression from them.

Plan

Plan

Think about how you want people to remember you. Think about and plan a little introduction speech, so when you meet people instead of introducing yourself in a monotonous boring way, think of something interesting you can say about yourself. This will help people remember who you are, instead of you becoming just a face of one of the many hundreds or thousands of people they meet over the course of the event.

Also plan what types of conversations you want to be having. This means you won’t be talking to someone and after the introductions have nothing to say, making it awkward for both of you. This is why you need to research as I mentioned earlier. It will give you ideas of good conversational topics you can raise with people.

You also need to make sure your business cards, website, and resume are up-to-date. The last thing you want to do is get there and realise you have out-dated, amateur looking business cards that you feel ashamed to be giving out. Remember, people will judge you on your business cards, because apart from anything you may have just said to them in the few minutes you’ve been talking to them, they have nothing else to judge you on yet – and we all know how important first impressions are.

Also think of technical issues that you may forget about later. i.e make sure you have extra batteries or power supplies for your laptop, remember to bring your phone and laptop charger. All the little things that are essential, but you may forget you need to write a list or pack them early.

Doing each of these three steps: researching, connecting and planning will give you the competitive edge.

People will remember you, you’ll create far more meaningful and powerful contacts, and you’ll get the most out of the conference.

Hope to see you there

Lucio

on Twitter

on Facebook

on everything else.

Social Media. Any use for Employees?

Lucio Dias Ribeiro — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:26:47 +0000

Lots of discussion have been around about Social Media and its possibility for businesses to create a new way to communicate with their clients or prospects.

According to my pal James Duthie there’s not such a thing as boreness on the Social Media Land.

However I’d like to invert the discussion a little and explore another view about Social Media.

In our current financial crisis Staff Retention is key to keep businesses going.

I briefly touched bases with the Topic of Social Media and Staff on a Post about Facebook.

A study on workforce trends conducted by Manpower, has revealed the urgency of adopting more effective employee retention programmes to attain both competitiveness and profitability in markets.

Another study from SmartCompany Australia revealed that Staff retention is the second biggest concern for business owners after profitability.

So how to use social media as a tool for Staff Retention?

Simple answer is, I don’t really know!

I wish I could answer the question however I’m not an expert neither an Specialist on the subject.

Having said that, I’d like to invite you to join me on the HR Futures Conference 2009, organbized by my friend Michael Specht.

Michael is with no doubt an authority when it comes to application of “Web 2.0” tools and techniques for HR in companies of all sizes.

His Conference will bring together speakers covering all areas of HR, Recruiting and Technology to discuss how social media, innovation, culture and technology empower, attract, engage and evolve employees.

Looking forward to see people like Michael, Steven and Riges talking

Check the event page here.

Cheers

Lucio Ribeiro

www.twitter.com/lucio_ribeiro

Remember, Only you can help you!

Lucio Dias Ribeiro — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:23:03 +0000

I like LinkedIn because it works.

If you’re looking for new business relationship, a new job or just network LinkedIn is a great platform and unfortunately is under used.

Personally it helped me to get in contact with great people. These people generated business and even some social relationships

For my Internet Marketing Consultancy company – The Online Circle – helped to close a deal with an overseas company. We started communicating using the Q/A section and we furthered the conversation in a business proposal.

On our weekly Social Media Breakfast and some other events – The Hive – , I’ve been talking to people who unfortunately got laid off from companies and are quite struggling to get a job.

If I was on their position, definitely I’d use LinkedIn as my main gateway for information in and out.

It’s perfect for those trying online job positions.

If you don’t use online tools to advertise yourself, you’re not ready to be on the online environment.

Also think about the positions you’re aiming for. If the companies and jobs are great, world class jobs, jobs people kill for… those jobs don’t get filled by people emailing in resumes. Ever.

You can follow the rules, fitting in and not standing out or …. break the rule.

Lucio Dias Ribeiro
twitter.com/lucio_ribeiro
Linkedin

Thinking about launching your own blog?

Lucio Dias Ribeiro — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:53:45 +0000

Here’s some friendly advice: Don’t. And if you’ve already got one, pull the plug.

This is the Headline-grabber at a Wired blog post about how blogs are “so 2004″, and how services like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr even are here to replace them.

Writer Paul Boutin says:

“Thinking about launching your own blog? Here’s some friendly advice: Don’t. And if you’ve already got one, pull the plug.

Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.”

Some commenting on the Wired post itself say things like:

“Nice headline grabber, but this analysis is so wide of the mark it’s laughable.

I won’t deal with every point – but for example:

“Today, a search for, say, Barack Obama’s latest speech will deliver a Wikipedia page, a Fox News article, and a few entries from professionally run sites like Politico.com. The odds of your clever entry appearing high on the list? Basically zero.”

I’m afraid the above has been written by someone who clearly has no technical understanding at all. Ever heard of the long tail? Clearly not….. Check it out – it might give you a more balanced copy next time…..”

and

“I do agree with one thing in the article: “it’s almost impossible to get noticed”

My personal view – Bullshit.

Online Marketing is evolving every day, with new platforms, new behavior, however far more important…. much much more users.

I dont see the new tools as Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc, replacing the “old” ones, but complementing.

They cant be seeing as independent tools, screaming for users to drop their old habits into new ones.

They help each other, they solidificate and leverage users from one to another.

My blog is here, however thanks for Twitter I had some top guns guys coming on it – Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse are some of the guys who came to MarketingEasy.net because of dialogs started on Twitter.

Another example,

Last Friday I started a business relationship with a player in America. We talked on linkedin, after some talks he landed on my online marketing blog. After reading it he got convinced my company, The Online Circle was able to perform as his partner in Australia.

How can blogging be dead when it helps me to generate conversation, influential thinkiness and business?

How big bullshit Mr Paul Boutin.

By the way, next time you decide to write the end of Blogs, please don’t do it using a Blog Post.

What is your opinion?

Cheers

Lucio Dias Ribeiro