Fifteen seconds. By the end of that those few seconds, over half of a webpage's visitors have left (according to research by digital metric tracker Chartbeat in 2014). And if you do a quick Google search on "how long do viewers stay on a webpage", you'll find a host of other stats, numbers, and figures, but they all point to a simple fact: People don't spend a lot of time reading online information. This has important ramifications for your online presence, especially with your social media profiles. If you are using sites like LinkedIn to build your brand or a client pipeline, your profile acts as your personal business website. … [Read more...]
The Step-by-Step Cheat Sheet to LinkedIn Group Success (Part 2)
LinkedIn Groups can be a valuable source of professional information and business development, if used correctly. In the Part 1 of this article, we looked at how to determine the best Groups to join and how to set them up in your LinkedIn account. Now we can continue on the path and look at how to actually engage with the other members in those Groups. 6. Lurk in Your Groups. One of the biggest mistakes committed by new Group members is blindly posting off-topic or using a tone that doesn't fit the normal vibe that others use. It's like barging into a conversation in the offline world and beginning to talk without knowing what the … [Read more...]
The Step-by-Step Cheat Sheet to LinkedIn Group Success (Part 1)
I was at a conference recently to speak to a group of financial advisers about maximizing their social selling efforts on LinkedIn and other platforms. My session wasn't until the afternoon, and over lunch I started a conversation with an adviser from Minnesota, let's call him Bob. Once he found out that I was there to present on LinkedIn, he asked one of the most common questions I hear, "So what do you actually do on LinkedIn?" He immediately followed that up with a much more specific question, "All the articles tell me I'm supposed to use these LinkedIn Groups, but I get lost trying to figure them out. Are they really worth my … [Read more...]
Share Your Community Involvement on LinkedIn!
An on-going concern for professionals is balancing the right amount of information to share. They need to walk the line between sharing too much and too little of themselves through their social media presence. You have to keep things professional and still give your visitors a bit of who you are personally. You want to share enough so that they will to be comfortable starting an online (and offline) dialog. On LinkedIn, an easy way to get started with sharing what's important to you is through the Volunteer Experience & Causes section. For Cathy Curtis, a financial advisor in the Bay Area, sharing her involvement in area … [Read more...]
Don’t Waste Time Worrying about Your Social Media Permanent Record
I used to have an earring when I was in my early twenties. A big, fat, silver hoop. My father had always said that I couldn't have one while I lived under his roof. That was fine. I just waited until I was 21 and living in an apartment in college. My friend Chrissie took me to the mall and I got my ear pierced. I was young, a musician, and I thought I was totally cool. And in case you are wondering, I absolutely wasn't. Who We Were Isn't Necessarily Who We Are Have I scared you away? Do you want nothing to do with me now because of what I did almost 20 years ago? Have I lost all professional credibility? My guess is that you're … [Read more...]
Is it Time to Upgrade Your LinkedIn Account to Premium?
When working with professionals on their online brand, one of the common questions that I hear is, "Should I pay to upgrade to the premium LinkedIn account?" It's a great question and one that doesn't necessarily have a clear cut answer. I don't work for LinkedIn so I don't have a vested interest in someone anteing up for the paid accounts. On the other hand, I do help people use LinkedIn and social media to improve their businesses and careers so of course I think it makes sense to engage with the platform as much as possible. In the end, my answer is usually some variation of, "Yes...eventually." Don't Upgrade to Premium Too … [Read more...]
Playing Both Sides of the Ball On Social Media
What does "using" social media mean to you? When I work with professionals on their social media strategies, the most common questions I get tend to be around what people are actually supposed to do with all of the new platforms that have popped up (seemingly overnight). They say things like, "OK, fine, I gave up and got a LinkedIn profile - now do I actually do with it?" Or, "I've had a Twitter account for six months, but I've never tweeted - should I?" Personal Social Media Strategy These are important questions; but they are also hard questions to answer because everyone will and should approach social media in a way that supports … [Read more...]
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