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...]
Make Your Next Business Meeting Better with LinkedIn
You did it. You got the meeting that you've been pursuing for months with a prospective client, business partner, or investor. You've got your pitch rehearsed and your presentation rocks. You've got your best outfit back from the cleaners. You are ready to go. But hang on a second. There's something else you can do - that you should do - before you go into that meeting. What do you know about the person you are about to meet? There's a saying that most sales are won or lost before the conversation ever starts, and that applies to all sorts of business meetings. Spend some time researching the person you are about to talk to. Going … [Read more...]
Why I Think it’s Dumb to Not Use Business Cards
I was at a conference sponsored by a large high-tech firm, and because they were a high-tech firm, they were going to be fancy and high-tech and put QR codes on everyone's namebadge with their contact info. In theory, you would scan the QR code with your smartphone and download their info directly and this would make networking more efficient. In practice it was a pain in the ass. I got tired of aiming my phone at someone's badge and trying to keep everyone physically still enough for it to work. And it was a huge interruption in the flow of the conversations I was having. And then there was the afternoon my phone battery … [Read more...]
This Big Mistake in Online Networking Can Sink You
It used to be that bad spelling and poor grammar would only hurt you if you were writing an essay for English class. Now, because so much networking is done online, it can put a damper on your career or lose you credibility in the professional world. With the explosion of written forums that are open to the public (social networking, blogs, online reviews, etc.), how you write can be just as important as what you write. If you are using the internet in any professional capacity, you need to make sure your writing skills aren’t sending the wrong message. You Are Always Being Judged It has gotten easier to communicate with new … [Read more...]
9 Ways the Pros Use Their Status Update on LinkedIn
Updated December 2018 One of the most common features on social networking websites is the status update. Using the status update feature, a user can type in a short message that is broadcast to their entire network. Facebook’s popularity is based largely on people’s ability to share information through the status update feature, and Twitter has taken the process one step further – it’s just status updates, and nothing else. It can be exciting to share in this way, and many business people are using it to share professional information as well. Unfortunately, the ubiquity of status updates makes it hard to be “heard” above the … [Read more...]