With the rise of Social Media in the lexicon of Web 2.0, there are many sites that offer users the ability to explore and connect with other using social media platforms, sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace to name the most popular. There are many other offerings such as Ning, You Tube, Digg, and Flickr to allow the exchange of ideas and communication. However there are few social media applications that are business specific. The current leader in business specific social media applications is LinkedIn. The site has proven to be wildly popular in the business world. While LinkedIn is not hard to use, there are nuances that greatly increase the effectiveness of the site that that unless you know where to turn, the effectiveness of a LinkedIn network will greatly decrease. To that end, I came across an excellent (and free) LinkedIn Manual written by Christopher Mercer, at Mercer Capital.
I suggest you review the book, as I guarantee the reader will learn a thing or two that will increase the effectiveness and value of a LinkedIn account. For the individual who does not have a LinkedIn account I urge two things: 1) Register for a free account, and 2) Read Mercer’s book. It is not if people will review a LinkedIn company or person profile that will lead to potential sales, job offers, or recognition – but when.
The one item that I wish Mr. Mercer would have focused on more closely within his book is how to effectively utilize the network to accomplish business goals. While Mercer spends a great amount of time on how to increase a network and how to increase the number of connections, his book does not explore ways to increase the effectiveness of the personal network or monetize networking efforts into goal recognition.
The closest Mercer gets to discussing monetization of goals is found on page 35, where he categorizes LinkedIn users correctly into four groups. My hope is that his next revision will drill down in each of these four categories to explore tactics where each group trait may utilize their network to accomplish business goals. For example, a LinkedIn user with 100 connections has 100 potential leads and referrals to accomplish a business goal. 200 Connections? Same as before, just a larger network to help. By not contacting those people in a LinkedIn network and not letting them know what goal is trying to be accomplished, the individual will fall short of business goals each time. While this article is not Sales 101, if the time is taken to tell people that you need help to accomplish a goal, people will help (especially people that you already know and have a relationship with). Will some be offended? Perhaps, but if they someday need help, there is no obligation to return the favor.
Over the coming months, aspects of social media and ways that it can integrate with SaaS platforms offered by companies like Cool Life Systems will be continually reviewed. Remember Social Media – whether it is LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter is only one tool – when used effectively and correctly with tools at your disposal you ability and success rate will greatly increase.
Cool Life Systems provides a scalable and dynamic database which would include the aggregate of all data sources in an on-demand, enterprise solution for several industries utilizing SaaS technology. Implementation is customized to your company’s unique processes, philosophies and policies to connect people, systems, and technology, enables seamless integration of your CRM processes, your website, and all marketing efforts in one centralized location so you can effectively manage your customer base as well as the individual efforts of your staff.
