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Connections and Networks|Thoughts on Blogs|Week of 11-20-2009

November 28, 2009 By Wendy Soucie 1 Comment

On going participation in the NCP Model from the Social Media Academy. Network Growth, Contribution in the Social Web, and Participation in the conversation. What kind of opinions did you offer your favorite blogs this week?

LinkedIn Groups – 48 Hour Networking

Questions by Judy Bennett

Wendy as a LinkedIn trainer, can you help me to understand what is it about getting tons of connections? Now that I am getting linked all around the world, I find it muddies up my connections that I actually spend time networking with. I am struggling with the relevance?
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Hi Judy,

One of the biggest reasons to have many connections is that when you search for new clients, or connections in a specific industry, it opens up more connections for you to view. The statement “its who you know and who know you” is very important in that regard. The latest feature added to LinkedIn for profile management should help you since it allows you to put your most important contacts that you want to watch in an organized area. Unfortunately you have to pay for that ability. No free version yet.

When you have something to promote, having a network to shoot it out to can really help, i.e. lets say you wrote a book or an event you would like people to come to.

Sometimes groups can be your extended messaging network and you don’t need to connect directly with so many people. This doesn’t get you the same extended search capabilities as direct connections. In a group like 48-hour Networking, the goal is to connect directly. Others are merely for conversations.

One tip I give people is that after you join a group direct connect with the manager, who is typically the most connected person in the group and likely connecting directly to everyone in the group. That way you have extended your network.

Some people just don’t need a huge network and want to keep it at a very high executive level and with only people they know very well. That’s OK too. Just decide what your business goals are and what you want to do here and move forward. Maybe your big extended network is better served on another location like Facebook.

I believe lists will become a feature on all social sites. Twitter just came up with one, Facebook has them, and LinkedIn will likely have something in the future that supports this type of option.

One blog to follow for all types of advice and tips is the Integrated Alliances Blog. IA is a national company focused on user training for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to name a few. As I regional Director in Wisconsin for IA (disclosure) I reference this blog first in searching for tips or a work around. Follow if you are interested in further discussion on LinkedIn strategy.

Warning! Unfriend is officially a word you don’t want used on you
by Steve Gasser

: Image of Steve Gasser

In regards to Steve’s post discussing the friending and unfriending on various social media sites.

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Steve, back in June 09 I was “pruned from a social media manager’ s LinkedIn connections. He runs a creative blog and works for a very large Insurance company in Madison, WI. We had connected on LinkedIn about 3 months prior to his moving to a new position and had not met -only exchanged some conversation.

I looked forward to learning and following this person, whom I felt was a thought leader. He wrote a post on his very visible blog about pruning branches on LinkedIn. Then he saw fit to publish every name he removed. I eagerly read the list and found that I knew 30 of the 50 names he pruned —And there was my name as well.

The post enticed me to ask the question – Is it good etiquette when you realize you have been removed (or when the list was posted in a public blog with growing readership) from someones contact list to nicely ask for constructive reasons why? Its nice to have input on how you can work on aspects of our “Connectivity Index” to improve the reasons for connection or de-connection. In many cases its just lack of knowledge.

He never said specifically why he pruned me. In fact he only mentioned that he got to know me a little better since I posted a response comment on his blog about this along with others. I also notified the people I knew from his list and they all called him directly and asked him to remove their names from his public list. He finally removed the names of everyone from the post.

Unrequited Linked-Love. When one side doesn’t need the relationship but the other side found value in it (no not just to see all the connections). How do you help them.

Social media to me is about sharing knowledge, mentoring helping etc in the communities you participate in or the communities your create. Its not always all about you.

I have removed two individuals so far – mostly due to leaving a job. They may never know. I believe that is why LinkedIn lets you do it without notification.

Linkedin Questions and Answers

Question by Scott Danish, Principal at BayCreative

What have been the best performing “2.0″ joint marketing programs you’ve done with your channel/business partners for lead generation? Email, telemarketing, webcasts and direct mail are so last year. What are some innovative joint marketing programs that have succeeded for you and your channel/business partners?
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Response:
You might want to investigate nurture marketing as a technique. Doug Tangwall of End Result Marketing is an experienced professional, a market researcher, writer and analyst.

I have worked with him (disclosure – strategic alliance) on the social media component to get the content he creates more visible for clients.

He is a long time practitioner of this tactic and has some very good results in working with a variety of firms prior to forming his own company. He see 14-17 times more targeted leads generated by nurture marketing. he started his own firm to provide broader industries with nurture marketing.
It fits well with today’s change in sales process with the driver being the customer is educating them selves first before making a call to any “sales’ contact at a firm. People on line are asking “Whom do you recommend?” If they can find educational material and value added content online that directs them to you – the success of contacts is impressive.

Have you spent anytime sharing your thoughts and opinions on the social web?

Integrate Social Media into Your Marketing Strategy (kylelacy.com)
The Questions I Think We Should Ask (chrisbrogan.com)

Filed Under: NCP Model - Social Media Academy, Thoughts on Blogs Tagged With: Linkedin, NCP model, Social Media, Social network

Why I am Thankful for Social Media – Business Relationships Part 3

November 27, 2009 By Wendy Soucie Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

Are you using any type of social media for engaging with your customers?

Do you have a great story of how some aspect of networking online brought a relationship to the door that would not have occurred otherwise? I have included one from my recent experience and talk about why I am thankful for social media in my business development efforts. Listen in on the last in a series of video blog post (using my handy Flip Video on a tripod) on how LinkedIn connections created an opportunity in a very virtual way.

This is Part 3 in a series of Social Media Thankfulness. Part 1 addressed family connections. Part 2 spoke to Friend Relationships. So of course I covered my business relationships in this last video post. Note, my video camera is on a tripod and I do have two hands on the wheel.

Social Relationship Management

I am also thankful that a tool has been created to help me continue to use social media in the right way. In my business use of social media I have extended myself to several networks for purposeful reasons and with a strategy. I use a social relationship management tool called xeesm.com/wendysoucie to manage all my social media links and my ongoing efforts to target, touch and track my efforts. This tool is in Beta but has recently been opened for public beta testing. This has really helped focus my efforts and remind me when, where and how long ago I made a personal connection with one of my contacts.

What other tools am I using?

For the business to business market that I consult to, I use LinkedIn primarily. I provide strategy for companies and training on a variety of social media tools. Even with a broad understanding of how to use many tools, I have to stay focused on where my target audience is. So LinkedIn works for that.

I am extending to Youtube with video blog posts as you can see by this weeks blog posts. This action occurred after a great presentation by Lee Aase at the AAF Madison luncheon on the virtues of video interviews and posting using Youtube. I have been following him for his great blog site called Social Media University Global .

One site I think may be overlooked is Slideshare for presentation posting and networking. There is a lot content there and because people are sharing presentations, you can learn alot from peers in your professional space from all over the world. I think people may forget that networking can happen there as well. I recently saw a great presentation by Social Media Academy alumni Walter Adamson on slideshare networking that really reinforced this for me. Expect to see a local Madison presentation by me in the future on this unique and helpful site.

I use Twitter in a variety of ways and with two profiles. One for me personally @wendysoucie and my focus, but I try and retweet interesting related conversations on @WIsocialmedia for anything related to technology, social media and good business news in Wisconsin. I am not a rabid twitterati fanatic but will tweet a conference or seminar, and when in the office will always have Tweetdeck open to watch the conversations. I am creating a new strategy for Twitter for January and currently are busy following various manufacturers, B2B conversations, and consultants in this space. In January, a collaborative effort I am organizing will be doing a Twitter for business workshop that will focus on strategy, public relations and blogging. Can’t wait to put the finishing touches on that.

Facebook is growing for me and I use it for both business and social at this point. I am trying to perfect the groups involvement and activity the way I do it on LinkedIn. It is totally different so I need to adjust my time if I want to learn some new techniques or to engage at a deeper level. I am just not sure how I will proceed with that. Expect to see a Facebook for business in February co-presented with several people actively using that tool for promotion with a product.

Do you have a good story about social media? What tools are you using to manage the whole relationship part if you are on multiple platforms?

I hope you share

Social Networking Personality Advice for Authentic Bobcats (wiredprworks.com)
LinkedIn Launches Profile Organizer, Enters Salesforce Territory (mashable.com)
Prioritize Your Social Media Efforts (chrisbrogan.com)

Filed Under: Business Development, Linkedin, Social Media, Social Media Tools, Video Tagged With: Business, Customer relationship management, Facebook for Business, Flip Video, Lee Aase, Linkedin, Social Media, Social network, Twitter, YouTube

Why I am Thankful for Social Media – Friend Relationships Part 2

November 26, 2009 By Wendy Soucie Leave a Comment

: Image by HubSpot via Flickr

Using social media to stay in touch with friends is nothing new. This was one of the original drivers behind Facebook when it was developed on a college campus. For those of us in a slightly older generation, we have picked up social media as a channel and tactic for business first. At least that was true for me. Now I am rapidly collecting my friends – old and new – to stay in touch using various social media tools.

Improving relationships

Staying in touch is one of the reasons I am thankful for social media. It has helped with my family and now I am integrating it into how I keep connected to friends from college, hometown, friends in past towns and states. I can take a moment, when it is convenient for me, to see what is happening in their lives.

Here are ways I am using it:

to find college friends
to find academic friends who were in the same degree program
to find people I used to work with
to find high school friends
to find everyone who might be from a hometown
to gather people I work out with
to meet new friends with similar non work interests
to create a group of bikers who like certain types of biking

I can choose to participate with a comment or email, or upload a picture. I like best to use Facebook, Youtube and Flickr. But I have also incorporated Yahoo Groups, LinkedIn and Plaxo to dig people up or to share content.

Lately, with some long drives on the interstate between appointments, I have tried a few video blog posts to share. Part 1 was about family. This one is Part 2- Friend Relationships in my series of Why I am Thankful for Social Media:

Have you made new friends or reconnected with others by using a social media site? Which ones were most helpful to you and why? Please share in comments.

The Marriage of Traditions and Relationships in our Culture (dailyslackr.com)

Filed Under: Linkedin, Social Media, Social Media Tools, Video Tagged With: Facebook for Business, Flickr, friends, Linkedin, relationships, Social Media, Social network, Video, YouTube

Social Media Tools |Thoughts on Blogs | Week of 11-06-2009

November 10, 2009 By Wendy Soucie Leave a Comment

: Image by HubSpot via Flickr

Getting on board with social media

Social Media and Brand Strategy in Europe by Susan Rice Lincoln, Master the New Net

In regards to the Susan’s commentary about business in Europe and the almost panic to get advice on how to best integrate social media into companies’ brand strategy.

Susan,
I am not sure that business in Europe is that far behind the business to business organizations that I call on. Recently one B2B manufacturer that I met with said they had only heard about it 3 months ago. The marketing director said that she didn’t understand how social media could possible help them.

Lo and behold, 7 people in sales and marketing were already on LinkedIn. I did a quick search to show how a few of their competitors were already positioned with profiles on other social media sites. This Director of Marketing was not on any social media sites herself.

Yes indeed, no matter the country, people are actively engaged on these social sites. Our goal should be to get in the recommendation chain. We as business developers, can’t do it in our traditional ways if companies don’t take our calls, or allow us to talk with them.

Several months ago I connected with two people on LinkedIn by answering questions for them. We stayed in touch, with quick comments on each others updates. A project just came up and together we pulled a team together for a proposal. The potential players on the team are in Paris, Australia Malta, Texas, Atlanta, Illinois, California and Wisconsin. Social media brought us together. Now how cool is that!

You are right when you say that”the social media revolution has been led by PEOPLE, not by technology.” We should be where they are in active conversation.

LinkedIn as a valued resource

LinkedIn Is a Waste Of a Sales Person’s Time! by Lee Salz, The Customer Collective

In response to comments about the value that LinkedIn brings to business as a lead source.

Lee,

Thanks for writing a post on Linkedin from the users perspective. As a lifetime sales person with business development a part of every job, I feel your tips on the use of LinkedIn are right on. I have recently received an opportunity to bring together an international team of professional for a project. These contacts found me on Linkedin. This is not something I would have had the chance to do without Linkedin to extend my network.

However, your advice on the size of groups might be limiting for someone trying to extend their network, or business opportunities geographically. Understanding your strategy for LinkedIn might be an important factor. For targeted niche products or services; or local and regional efforts I would agree that the size of the groups would be better smaller (1,000 – 5,000) for the points you mentioned. However, for extending your reach and growing connections, the larger groups have much more to offer.

Measuring social media ROI

When Measuring Social Media’s ROI For B2B Don’t Chase The Wrong Goals By Kipp Bodnar, Social Media B2B

In regards to Kipp’s post on measuring ROI for social media.

Kipp,

Consider looking at the ROI of social media by considering and benchmarking the initial social ecosystem, current clients and contacts. After building a strategy and action plan to achieve business goals, and implementing the strategy, tracking those connections that become clients. This brings the ROI to a basic level.

They were not a client or contact before the effort began, they are when you get done. In social media we know so much about the people we connect with from their profiles. ROI at its most simplistic level is social contact and then moving to a customer.

To tweet or blog is the question

A Blog is a Better Social Media Hub Than Twitter by Joel Postman, Social Media Today

In regards to Joel’s post on the importance of a blog over twitter as a business hub.

For social media, its very important to have a “home” to send readers and connections to when they experience you on a social media site. Twitter says so little about who you are that it is important to send them to a more complete location (linkedin profile, website or blog).

I like using WordPress as a blog and website. You can create the pages you need for your static pages and you have the benefit on creating a blog that the rest of your site benefits from as your traffic grows. If someone searches for and finds my blog, they can easily extend the relationship by reading more and getting my blog directly into email or their reader.

I like Twitter and Tweetdeck , but unless you are on it for some time, its hard to follow any conversation. I did try to have my mobile phone get tweets, but that lasted on one weekend. Its not the place to become a thought leader and those of us trying to write blogs have strategies that extend well beyond the 140 character limit. Twitter has its place but my blog/website is my “home” and my hub.

Facebook fanpages aren’t for fans anymore (thecauseisthehabit.com)
Forbes Launches Online Version in Russia, Forgets Russian Users (profy.com)

Filed Under: Business Blogging, Linkedin, NCP Model - Social Media Academy, Social Media Academy, Social Media Tools, Thoughts on Blogs, Twitter Tagged With: Linkedin, Social network, Thoughts on Blogs, Tweetdeck, Twitter

A blogging approach by Wired Wisconsin | Nonprofit social media

November 4, 2009 By Wendy Soucie 2 Comments

Wired Wisconsin is a coalition of concerned individuals, businesses and organizations working to put the state of Wisconsin on the cutting edge of technology. However, like most nonprofits they face challenges in trying to raise funds for outreach and marketing of their message. With only two or three employees and a couple of interns, how do they accomplish statewide what they need to do?

A social approach

After meeting several key staff members of Wired Wisconsin during the recent event – Government 2.0 | Utilizing Social Media – I looked at how they are using social media efforts to accomplish their organizational goals and the partnerships they are forming along the way.

Wired Wisconsin is actively using social media in their public relations and outreach efforts. They appear to have started their blog about 1 year ago in October of 2008 with weekly updates to Twitter included. The blog does not identify the author(s) in anyway, and its lacking a personality at this point. They have a Website setup as a home base for traditional media and social media. They have links to their Twitter profile, Facebook, Youtube, Podcasts, and a RSS feed for their blog.

Practicing what you preach

You can see that they started slow, with a website and added a blog. You should have a strong “home” for social media links. Just consider that with a bio area of 160 characters on Twitter, you don’t have a lot of room to state your mission and issues. So take the time to have good landing pages on your website to explain your mission. If your budget doesn’t allow that yet, be sure to create a solid LinkedIn profile or other social media profile with very complete details that can help deliver more of your brand and various content for you, but one should be designated as home.

The first six months of blog posts are all Twitter weekly updates of news articles that they added to the Tweet stream. This is an inbound marketing tactic. This is a good way to start with baby steps based on resources and time. Starting in February 2009, Wired Wisconsin began to offer monthly blog opinion blog posts about the issues they have coalesced around.

May 2009 brought a new addition to the action plan. Bring article content around core issues from other journalists and editorials directly into the blog posts. The Twitter updates continued and in fact they are longer and appear to more much more active during this time period. Wired Wisconsin also penned more opinion posts covering issues.

While it appears that their Twitter activity is all about outbound press and news media type content, by creating a blog post out of the update (through the use of TwitterTools plugin on their blog) it does help to give them weekly posts and document activity for the non Twitter users who may want to stay in touch with these issues.

Incorporating video posts

Emily Lenard, Associate Director, explained that they have used Youtube to post their videos for free and feed to other social media sites such as Facebook. They have an ongoing program to interview state politicians on their stands for issues pertinent to Wired Wisconsin and post them on their Website.

Other uses that they have planned to put in practice for social media include:

Press conferences
News
Events
Issue presentations
Action alerts
Interviews
Programs

Emily Lenard has a few comments about a blogging strategy government agencies and nonprofits can follow that might help with blog ideas:

How can social media improve public health? (medicineandtechnology.com)
Social media require ‘Community Relations 2.0′ (scienceblog.com)
Data on Twitter and Social Media Use (socialmediatoday.com)
Homeland Security Information Sharing and Social Media (apache.sys-con.com)

Filed Under: Business Blogging, Government 2.0, nonprofit, Social Media Strategy, Social Media Tools Tagged With: Linkedin, nonprofit, Social network, wisconsin

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Connections and Networks|Thoughts on Blogs|Week of 11-20-2009

LinkedIn Groups – 48 Hour Networking

Linkedin Questions and Answers

Related articles by Zemanta

Why I am Thankful for Social Media – Business Relationships Part 3

Social Relationship Management

What other tools am I using?

Related articles by Zemanta

Why I am Thankful for Social Media – Friend Relationships Part 2

Improving relationships

Related articles by Zemanta

Social Media Tools |Thoughts on Blogs | Week of 11-06-2009

Getting on board with social media

LinkedIn as a valued resource

Measuring social media ROI

To tweet or blog is the question

Related articles by Zemanta

A blogging approach by Wired Wisconsin | Nonprofit social media

A social approach

Practicing what you preach

Incorporating video posts

Wired Wisconsin comments

Audit and assess regularly

Related articles by Zemanta

Social

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Social Media Breakfast Madison – Feed Your Mind and Your Belly

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