The Teckki Says

Too often, I don’t do something unless I have to.

I now have to.

I have to begin using LinkedIn, not that I disdain it. To the contrary, I had been a casual user, and recently began to ramp up my usage. Like Facebook, the LinkedIn app on my Ipod Touch made it much more convenient. I will occasionally switch between the small and large screen versions, because like Facebook, LinkedIn displays more features and information than you would see on a handheld. The distinction will probably disappear when I purchase an iPad or similar device, but that is another article.

I belong to an online networking group comprised of Sears Roebuck and Company expatriates, as I was employed there for over a decade. This group existed on Yahoo for several years. The moderator polled the group to see if we should migrate to one of the social networking sites. Because most of us used the site to get or give information on job opportunities, LinkedIn won over 60% of the votes. In contrast, Facebook won just over three percent. Staying on Yahoo garnered just over a third, which can say a number of things, such as change doesn't come easily, or that traditional email is alive and well.

Although my use of LinkedIn is more casual, a collection of people who I know fairly well, I tend to communicate with them via other means. Maybe it is because I am more used to calling them, emailing them, or eventually seeing them at events. I haven't mined LinkedIn for sales leads, but I am planning to use it as a sounding board for future blog and news articles. Now, I have to step it up and use it more regularly.

More of my world is migrating to social media. I even find myself asking people if they are on a network, as if phone numbers and email addresses are no longer valued. But one thing is as sure as it is convenient - if I am going to pass on information in an efficient manner, I am not going to make a ton of phone calls and, outside of Constant Contact, I'm not going to send too many mass email blasts. I am going to use the social network mediums, and I want most of my friends, fans, followers, or whatever f-word they may be called, to get the message in one post.

I now have to be more than LinkedIn, I have to be linked up. The beauty of it is that I’m going to make a whole lot of new connections, and renew some old ones along the way. I’ll report back on my experiences in later articles. Enjoy!

Sales and marketing is always posed as a matter of numbers, and most of us would agree with this. But as social media now permeates the way we network and collect those numbers, are we looking to game our networks by inviting all of our friends, friends of friends, and friends of our friends' friends to become our connections? I have to question the numbers when I see friend "X" has "2,689" friends or connections just how well do they really know them, or is it just how good they are at building lists? Rebecca Palumbo is different, for really knows all of her connections.

Although Palumbo has had a LinkedIn account for about three years, she began to really become active on it last summer. Palumbo, Creative Director at Rollins-Palumbo Creative, an advertising and marketing firm, has used LinkedIn to strengthen relationships she has already established, using the social networking site to introduce new products and services to contacts she is well acquainted with.

Palumbo’s approach to LinkedIn is like that of an intimate contact list – her contacts are not people who are there just because they met at an event and exchanged business cards. She reaches out to her contacts by spending personal time with them at a lunch or meeting to seek out mutual interests.

She believes heavily in this strategy, because she feels that LinkedIn has two main purposes – to be able to have a contact be able to introduce others to those in an industry, and to be able to make credible recommendations for either jobs or business leads. "...your connections are a direct reflection upon you and your reputation. Make sure that the connections you make are solid, reliable and ethical," says Palumbo.

In evaluating a group of her contacts, Palumbo devised a test using ten contacts in the marketing and financial industries. Of her sample, two did not respond. Four did not know the people well enough to make the proper introductions. Two responded with a no need for services, and two resulted in meetings, but those connections were not aggressive in furthering introductions within their connections. Her conclusion is that she felt she was reaching her connections fairly well, but she needed to tweak her message to pinpoint her target better. Her test, however, demonstrates a sort of "quality control" that keeps her lists relevant and reliable in promoting her business.

Many business people using LinkedIn and other social media use the site as a way to meet new people, but there is a temptation to collect a list of people, many whom we’ve had only incidental contact with, and begin to follow up with an advertising or cause message. Palumbo notes the urgency of connecting with new contacts, but is resolute in her LinkedIn connections:

"I am trying to link in more aggressively with those I already know, and will add my stack of business cards after meeting people each week, but I stand by my (and LinkedIn’s) recommendation that you only connect with those you know, like and trust."

Palumbo has a three step approach in gathering contacts for her LinkedIn list. The first step is to evaluate the people she meets. She looks for connections who are not selling "today’s fashion", the popular trend of the day, but really believe in what they do and what they sell can improve the life of their clientele. She looks for other traits in her connections, such as enthusiasm, a positive disposition and a "can do" attitude, qualities all relevant in business. Her next step is to get to know them, forming bonds of likability and trust. She will begin this process with some form of a meeting or other personal interaction. The last step comes as the person is active in his or her arena; this will begin to appear on Palumbo's radar (if it had not been already). Palumbo will then extend the invitation.

Palumbo’s approach is more than a mere collection of names – directories are full of them. Her approach of more intimate contacts goes beyond knowing them and a couple of details, but to stay visible to an active audience, enhancing her opportunities to promote her company, and theirs. This is something to consider the next time we get a request to join someone's network, not really being sure we know them.

Richard Buchner, of Hyde Park Systems Group, doesn't know well all of the people he is connected with on LinkedIn. That doesn't mean he doesn't know his connections. Buchner sees one of the most important features of his LinkedIn membership is that of discussion groups. As a software developer and computer systems professional, LinkedIn serves Buchner well as a place of collaboration in addition to a networking place for clients and sales.

"LinkedIn is very useful in forming connections with people I want to work with or people buying my services. The single most valuable feature is groups and discussions. Discussions are a good way to get to know people you may work with or work for," says Buchner.

Buchner has been on LinkedIn for about 2-1/2 years, and has about 280 connections. He had looked at other social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebok. He found that LinkedIn was business focused, business-like, and professional, fitting his needs more closely over the others.

He can connect with software and computer experts worldwide. In some specialties, there might be 10 – 15 experts worldwide. He says he’s more likely to meet them on LinkedIn rather than bumping into them in person. They’ve also taken the place of attending conferences in person. About four or five years ago, he used to attend 6 – 7 out-of-town conferences annually on Microsoft and/or Internet technologies. They have become less important due to the economy, and as online networks have played an important role in disseminating information.

If he is bidding on a project, he can do research with discussion groups. For example, in developing software for academic writers, he located a professor with extensive academic experience on LinkedIn, located at the Oriental Institute [in Chicago], a couple miles away from him. He doubts if he would have met him through other local connections. The professor was able to perform reasonability studies on the software. As a byproduct, Buchner learned how academic institutions purchase software. This was greatly beneficial in terms of selling and sales to that market.

Buchner has taken advantage of discussion groups, and is currently at the maximum allowed to participate in, fifty, at his membership level. He is the moderator of three of them.

As it is for any tool, LinkedIn can present some initial apprehension for those new to it. Buchner offers this advice: find groups of interest or form them – participate in discussions, find interesting people, look at their profiles to see what they say. Write your own profile. Be aware of keywords – profiles are now searchable as web content. Ease into it to see what it is like. Decide how you want to present yourself. If you participating as an employee, see how your company presents itself – it may have its own group. Note there are differences if you looking for a job or own your own business. If you are looking for employment, rules applying to openings via paper resume apply here. Ensure the truthfulness of your information, because it can be checked.

Buchner demonstrates how LinkedIn can be used to foster collaboration and communication. While LinkedIn is generally used to make connections between people who know one another, it can also be used to foster online groups and communities, to the benefit of both the individual and the group.

I come from a large family on my mother's side, and I have dozens of first cousins. When we have a family reunion, the matriarchs have a meeting, make some decisions, tell all of the kids (us), and upwards of a hundred people come together and have a great time. But what if your family is not blood related, but part of an organization with members all over the country?

Kimberly Ransom, Director of Collegiate Scholars Program (CSP) at the University of Chicago, faced such a challenge. She is planning a reunion of alumni of the program, which is an academic enrichment program for Chicago Public School high school students. The program will soon experience its first graduating class finishing four years of college. A reunion involving this group will be a powerful experience for those who are in the early stages of the program. Ransom turned to Facebook for the challenge, with spectacular results.

Since Facebook was created for college students by college students, this medium was a natural fit. Collegiate Scholars is able to reach out to alumni across the country, 195 alums, explains Ransom. "[It was] the best way to contact [alumni] and cross-market our efforts," she says.

In building up for the event, which will take place this June, she posted memorable pictures, such as some of the students' eight-grade pictures, and communicated with confirmed attendees to get others to become friends of CSP, among other things. This helped build momentum for the event. It also builds a national network of alumni – ambassadors for CSP, those who are already in college, to be contacts and mentors, both for those in the CSP program, or face-to-face for those who attend colleges CSP alums are currently there. Current alumni at Yale University are building a Collegiate Scholars at Yale fan page. Efforts like this "will allow our alumni in seventy-one colleges across the country, seventy-one sites, to make connections", says Ransom.

When asked why she chose Facebook over other ways to advertise, she noted that an alumni reunion would be "much more difficult to do without Facebook." It saves on postal expenses, and can "quickly update a mass group at one time." She also noted distinctions over using email. The email recipient knows that they will attend, but with Facebook, everyone knows who's going to attend, and this builds momentum. This does not make her solely dependent on Facebook for marketing, however. CSP will be sending out "Save the Date cards - must use more than one medium" to advertise, she says.

While she is highly enthusiastic regarding Facebook, it did not come without its challenges. She is one of the earliest non-college student users of Facebook, just when it began to open up to users outside of the college community. CSP’s Facebook page started on Ransom's personal page, and students in the program communicated on her behalf. As Facebook developed more tools to recognize non-collegiate groups, she was able to move CSP to a fan page, and place levels of viewership and security that were not possible on her personal page, allowing her to deal with the issues of personal expression and organizational appropriateness. The amount of communication is now at a level where she foresees the need to have a person with social media skills.

For those who may be looking to use Facebook professionally, Ransom gives the following advice: "Jump in!" She notes that she did not read the manual for it, but started slow, and learned. "It is an incredible medium for social networking - building social capital. [It] builds awareness around any issue or interest. It is a level playing field. You don't have to be Oprah to reach millions."

You can learn more about the Collegiate Scholars Program at the University of Chicago on their website http://collegiatescholars.uchicago.edu.

Editor's note: Too often, I have heard failure stories of organizations using Facebook to invite fans to events, usually sales presentations, and few if any actually attend. This article gives insight why this event appears to have more success than many. Relationships were established and fostered, and momentum is built further by continual communication and the relationships between the attendees. I believe that this article should be a model for those looking to use Facebook as a tool to facilitate events.

Over the years businesses and organizations have flirted or experimented with a number of social networking sites. From bulletin boards and chat rooms to Facebook and Twitter, electronic networking has evolved from the technical proficient to the what-did-we-do-without-it world. I've been to many packed seminars where excited evangelists preach the benefits as if they were holding tent rallies. "This will revolutionize your business and increase your sales," or "this is how you reach the next generation," they bark. With audiences filled with first-time entrepreneurs, continuing technophobes, and outright Luddites, messages like these resonate. With less cash and more work as the result of flattened organizations, many of us are looking for anything, a spark, gold nuggets, any lead that will get us to the next day and beyond.

Is social media our savior?

The quick answer is no.

The long answer is that is probably part of the solution.

I, like many of you, have dabbled if not delved head first into social media, with varying degrees of success. Some mediums, like email marketing and blogging, I am a devotee. Others are still in various degrees of experimentation, amusement and outright indifference. Some will eventually be integrated, others ignored. Still others presumably have potential, but it is not yet obvious from a business sense to me. To the preachers in those churches, I continue to sit in the pews, appreciating the message, but I remain firmly among the unconverted.

This does you no good.

In following posts, I will present articles with interviews of people from businesses and organizations who are using social media to enhance their communication and marketing efforts. I know that most of you have tried or want to try some or all of the various social networking media, and many of you have experienced many varying degrees of success or failure. Some of you have found it a huge boost to your efforts. Others have quit too soon.

Over the next several months, I will cover social mediums of main concern - Facebook, Constant Contact, Linked-In, YouTube, Flickr and others. Some of these stories will come from people just like you. Others will come from you.

I invite your questions, comments and thoughts. In many cases, you are more of an expert than you think. Most of us don’t have the zeal of an evangelist and we tend to fence-sit rather than become part of the flock. However, an enthusiastic congregant is someone we can relate to, the person who can help us make the choice by being an example we can relate to. You can be the witness someone needs to walk down the aisle and commit their lives to the conversion.

Then the real work begins. Enjoy the articles.