After two or three years of trying to ‘find the ROI’ and experimenting with the various social network tools, I’ve found that LinkedIn is by far the most valuable from a professional perspective. In addition to the more soft measure of personal brand building, it’s possible to gain insight on customers and prospects, job search, and source great employees and qualified vendors:
Show expertise
- After joining a group, you’ll soon see a series of questions posed to the group. Answering these questions offers an opportunity to subtly position yourself as an expert.
- Present at an industry conference or even a ‘brown bag’ at work? Post the presentation on your LinkedIn profile.
- It's also easy to link to articles through your status bar.
Learn about customers and prospects
- Ask questions in your groups that will help you learn more about your customer base.
- Post a poll on your profile!
Expand your network
- Review the recommended contacts suggested by the tool, as well as regularly reviewing people who also worked at your former employer or attended your alma mater.
- Periodically review your contacts’ profiles and ask your contacts to link with their contacts.
Find vendors and contractors
- Check out who your contacts know… and especially those they endorse.
Meet contacts face-to-face
- Publish your travel plans, especially if your contacts travel too.
Find talent
- Post job openings.
- Mention openings in your updates.
- Research people you’d like to reach out to as you expand your team.
No comments:
Post a Comment