| design58 | social media consultancy | huddersfield, west yorkshire, uk

Linked In Connecting

[This was comment I added to a discussion on Linked In regarding connecting etiquette]

I always suggest people get one like one follow and one connect at a time, that way rather than shoehorning your email list into that little box you will manually and personally invite people to be connected to you.  Also the number of people I meet who are here but don’t know how or why, are those just accepting the mailing list invite from a contact.

I built a MySpace profile to 18,000 friends and all invited manually, it’s the only human. Similarly as suggested Facebook is on the up for business whether they like it or not and the best fun you can have is to watch social media and marketing businesses try to get that into their package of training. Sorry but it does make me laugh people with RSS feeds of Mashable for a FB page suggesting they train you, as well as trainers who are not active on FB telling you how to be active.

Personally I only connect with people I have physically met and so have their business card, those who I find insightful and interesting through discussions and groups I am a member of, those who find me insightful and interesting from discussions and groups I am in and so on. It goes without saying being active on linked In will get these invites rather.

Yes there are people I don’t know and will never meet and that’s good, I am not necessarily getting their business, but getting involved in an engaging relationship where both parties can share and learn from each other. Like any networking, if you’re looking to constantly add your sales pitch you aren’t engaging but come across as disengaged.

I have been doing this for 28 years now [social networking] all the internet has changed is quicker response, through the 80′s I had a postal mailing list of over 2000 artists that I wrote to regularly.  Most I never met some I did meet many I shared and learned from.  Those not being engaging always disappeared, like the person in Yorkshire I met who couldn’t understand my interest in talking to someone on Linked In who lives in New York.

We’ve all more or less worked out physical networking and the fact you never know who knows who and how simply engaging and starting a conversation can lead anywhere.  It’s just the same here.

I am wary of people who connect with me who say they are my friend and aren’t, my etiquette to accept them after a simple check on who they are.  Then to message them and suggest they may like to approach the next person with a more personal and engaging message.

My final point, discussions like this [on Linked In] are invaluable for everyone looking for help and advice and a little guidance. It’s always good to ask questions, some people may not want you to know the answers but those engaging in the discussion will broaden the perspective from the initial view point and add value.

We wouldn’t get those answers by just sticking our head in the sand. So who is out there?  We don’t know and that’s the exciting bit not thinking what financial gain could be made from them.

Promote or engage?

This post is in reply to the following question on Linked In:

How do you promote your business without trying to sell your business? A minefield

Simply provide information about yourself so anyone reading will be aware that you are knowledgeable with regard to your industry and area of work. With the objective of making you a source of information that the reader will return to.

People buy from people, relationships are key to any brand development. Building networks and communities and knowing who your connected community is will help define your strategy and objectives.

When you begin listening and see what is discussed, how and where you will better understand how to engage. Wherever you listen though make sure you hear all, don’t just take what you want to hear. This can be offline [face to face] as well as online. There are loads of free to use online solution for monitoring activity as well as pay to use software.

Here’s a good article about consumer connections and how brands need to to do more than market and promote http://www.briansolis.com/2010/11/the-rise-of-the-social-consumer/ understanding the value of connected communities, emotion and loyalty.
The trust and loyalty received from engaging and building relationships within connected communities will then deliver word of mouth. Virtually everyone [over 2 billion people online by the end of 2010] has an online network; from people buying from people, people also listen to those they trust. Understanding these ‘online referral networks’ add massive value to any business, they are simply people connecting with people.

I was invited recently to hear how to cold call, personally I hate doing it and have steered away from talking to people who within seconds hate you. No good saying ‘Every no gets you closer to a yes’ your time would be spent actually working on finding the the networks and communities that want to talk to you rather than anyone who has a telephone.

Best thing to be though is yourself with belief in your product and service.

Seth Godin on the tribes we lead

This maybe an old speach but it does hit the spot focusing on tribes and their leaders and importantly the connections and sharing of information within our tribes and networks.  providing the opportunity so we can can take action and make change ourselves whether in our imediate community or further afield.

In this video Seth Godin discusses [www.ted.com] how the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes.  Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.

Not such a wild idea if you consider the possibilities of engaging and building genuine networks naturally.

Here’s where you can find out more about Seth Godin:
sethgodin.com
sethgodin.typepad.com

Viral marketing a myth not a service

How can anybody state they provide viral marketing as a service, so much concentration is made on faking reality.

The reality being the viewers, friends, followers and fans make something viral not the agency creating the campaign. Marketing agencies can only develop a campaign that promotes a brand.

So much emphasis is focused on going viral; everyone wants to make something viral and along comes someone with a photo where a man looks like a thumb. This search gets 9,250,000 results on Google and a facebook group in appreciation having 11,056 members to date.

Marketers would love this sort of activity and can get this by focusing on friends, followers and fans rather than assuming viral actual can be developed. Viral is actually only word of mouth, how else would something be passed on so quickly. We can go back to Sharing Not Shouting, if you have something you believe in people will share your belief with their friends, followers and fans.

If what has been created is sharable then it will has every possibility to become viral whether its 45 million views or 450. Figures are dependent on end results, in some instances the 450 views or fans may have enough value for the purpose.

The important thing is not to focus on becoming viral; instead focus on creating added value for your friends, followers and fans who will repay you with added loyalty.

What do you think?

Why use the internet to complain about effective communication?

Communication is a key area of our lives and the internet provides an excellent resource for doing this.

Time and time again I see discussions on www.linkedin.com , where members of groups complain about social media and its use. It’s always intriguing but informative about them why they use a social media platform to do so.

In our homes, workspaces and pockets we have the internet and find it a very effective way to be connect, inform and purchase. So what’s the problem is it control?

Things have moved quickly over the last five years or so can be seen carrying on for some time yet at the same speed and maybe faster. Those who felt like they were in control now seem to fear this loss and not to their competitors either.

Far better to see businesses engaging and embracing not only their audience but their competition, collaboration is a most important attribute for survival not greed as previously tested on a global basis from the 1980’s onwards.

Its worth reading this post on www.simplyzesty.com by Tommy Collison a 15 year old on what social media [the internet really] means to him.

www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/social-media-eyes-smart-15-year/

The internet has many facets and so do we, its part of the fabric of all our lives and isn’t going to disappear. By being flexible we can embrace this to communicate more effectively and positively.

Any thoughts please comment below