I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar hosted by Kevin Eyres, European MD of LinkedIn, and it gave me and my Chichester Design flavoured colleagues a little more insight into how this professional networking site all works and how it’s distinguished from those social networks we’re always blithering on about. Me, being lovely and all, thought I would pass a little bit of this wisdom onto you via our fantabulous blog:
Generation Web 2.0 has seen a mighty transformation in the way that people engage online and this is a big plus for online retailers during these times of economic difficulty. Essentially, businesses can engage with their customers and associates in a way they have never been able to before and get that little bit of extra value feedback.
What’s social networking?
Most of us are familiar with social networking sites like Facebook where we bump into old school, friends, work colleagues and meet like-minded folk online who we share our interests and ideals with. It’s a great way of keeping in touch and meeting new people but cuts out the time and expense that can be consumed by traditional socialising such as going down the pub, or out for a meal.
A social network profile will generally feature:
- Personal information- age, marital status, religion
- Groups, hobbies and interests
- Photographs
- More personality- opinions, design, applications
What is important to note here is that social networking is making the divide between personal and work life more blurred. While some companies have banned employees from Facebooking and Twittering in the office, others have embraced social media and openly encourage their marketers to recruit brand advocates via their personal and professional profiles.
What’s professional networking?
There are currently around 35 million professionals connected through networks such as LinkedIn. Professionals essentially sign up and create profiles to share information with likeminded people, whether they are in a different position within the same industry or work in a different industry and but hold a similar position. Networking is a great way to pick up tips, hints and contacts that you can use to forward your own career or build your business.
A professional network profile will generally feature:
- Your profession/job title
- Industry
- Education
- Work experience
- Specialist skills/expertise/qualification
- Geographical location
Chichester Design’s Little Gem
- Get involved on a social basis- sign up and create a social profile
- Get involved on a professional basis- sign up and create a professional profile
- Join groups and engage with people
- Understand and recognise when viral marketing opportunities arise
- Dedicate to and focus on authentic dialogue to build trust
- Assess whether your company is ready to use social media
- Go beyond a test budget and invest a little time and money in advertising
- Go beyond using banner ads and experiment other options
- Measure your ROI continually and make necessary adjustments
If you work freelance or as part of an agency and want to meet contacts and drum yourself up a bit of trade, make sure you get yourself signed up to LinkedIn ASAP. And you’ll find the Chichester Design gang already linked and ready to make your acquaintance.
Similarly, LinkedIn is a bonus contact building tool for those in the recruitment industry. You can take a look at people’s professional interests and qualifications and work out whether they would be good recruits to have on file for your specialist sector.
Why don’t you go online, have a play and see what all the fuss is about?
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