How Publishers Can Benefit from Social Networking
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on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 
at 6:38 AM 
in There is no doubt that social media has changed the way that people consume information. Many publishers have certainly felt the effects of that. People are searching, finding, and reading content on more channels than ever before.
However, there is a way for publishers to use social media to actually grow their business. How so? I’m happy to provide ideas and inspiration in the presentation below:
I hope that you find the content within the presentation helpful.
Some of the main topics covered included:
- Why You Should Care About Social Media
- How Publishers Can Use Social Media
- Best Practices, Strategies and Tips
LinkedIn: From a Connection Collector to a Sales Generator
When people talk about how they are using social media in the marketing efforts, Facebook and Twitter are often the first answers given.
Sure, they might be on LinkedIn. But they may currently only view it as a way for them to “collect people” – i.e. to amass connections.
If that sounds similar to how LinkedIn is utilized in your business, here is one idea for converting that connection data into a way to build relationships and generate sales.
Connections and Job Status
When someone experiences a change in their employment status, LinkedIn is often the very first social network that they update. Depending on our relationship with that person, taking action on that information can be valuable to them… and us.
I recently talked to a service provider that told me how he acts on that type of data. Here’s his story:
His company helps clients reach their marketing goals with design, print, direct mail, email, mobile, landing pages, and more.
While they have had success launching campaigns for a number of companies, they sometimes run into trouble because of high-turnover among the marketing departments that they work with. Lately, this has often occurred because of budget constraints, rather than performance. But either way, the path to creating long-term, recurring business with those companies is not always easy when the employees change frequently.
In order to capitalize on the successes that they have helped marketers achieve, this company actively seeks to connect with those folks on social networks. Primarily, they try to do this on LinkedIn.
How LinkedIn Helps Deepen the Relationship
If a once-happy customer experiences a job change, the company still has a connection with them. For example, the company may:
- Use LinkedIn to send a personal note when the job change does occur.
- Offer up a recommendation for the person.
- Refer the person’s profile to companies where there may be a fit.
Along with those one-time actions, they will make an effort to stay in touch with them in the weeks and/or months that follow.
By staying connected and engaged to these folks, they create opportunities to receive future sales and jobs once that person is in place at a new business.
How so? Well, they were already a fan of the services provided by that company. And their appreciation of them will no doubt be deeper because of the conversations and actions that took place during the process of changing jobs. Thus, they may be apt to highly recommend that company’s services to their new employer.
Can it Help You?
Certainly, this effort takes a bit of time and determination on behalf of that service provider! But in their words, “it’s helping me grow my business!”
If you are looking for ways to use social media to create and deepen relationships, paying attention to your LinkedIn connections might be a perfect place to start.
P.S. If you’d like to connect with me on LinkedIn, here I am!
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Tags Business, data, employment, engagement, jobs, leads, linkedIn, relationships, social media, tips LinkedIn: A Guide to Getting Started
Thank you to our great friends from Grow Socially (yes, the ones located across the hallway at 21 Concord Street) for sharing this video with us.
While Google+ may certainly be leading the social networking world in regards to buzz right now, LinkedIn continues to grow in importance as a channel for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
In this video, the folks from Grow Socially provide 4 steps on you can get started on LinkedIn and also increase the ROI of your activity there as you move along. We hope that you find the information helpful.
Ignite Your Growth Heading to Windsor, CT
I am excited to share the news that I’ll be participating in another stop on HP’s Ignite Your Growth tour.
On Thursday, May 19th, I’ll be speaking on the subject of “Using Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Business” in Windsor, CT. This event is being held at the Integrity Graphics building.
Registration information can be found on HP’s website.
If you’ll be in the area, I hope to see you there!
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Building Your Social Reputation
I wanted to take a quick moment to share this graphic with you:
There are hundreds of millions of people on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and more
However, there certainly are quite a few holdouts too. I’ve recently had the chance to spend some time with people that know they need to be on social media, but just don’t know where to start.
During those discussions, I’ve used this picture to explain how some people can get started.
Here’s the bottom line: If you are going to get involved in social media, you must be willing to commit! Be determined to create content that helps to expose YOU to the world. Be determined to share helpful content, to participate in conversations, and to engage prospects and customers through multiple channels.
If you can follow-through on those efforts, your social reputation will certainly grow and prove to be beneficial.
