INCREASE YOUR INCOME, ENHANCE YOUR CAREER, IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

Or How to Build Your Brand and Career

Rick CurrySocial Selling Strategist

Addison ClarkHokie ‘72

7 Simple Tips To Grow Your Social Network

Choose the right networks  Tell people who you are  Actively grow your network  Say something interesting and

often  Don't mix private with business Keep to an agenda Measure your success

Networking is the original social media

Why is networking important?

Finding a new job (or your next one)

Keep up to date about work related trends/topics

Receiving more visibility Getting new ideas, insight and perspective Attracting the right mentors Provides a security net

THE BOTTOM LINE

You network to build relationships and obtain more qualified referrals

Networking is NOT selling, it’s for building your personal brand

All things being equal, people do business with and refer business to people they know, like and trust

Follow up

Connect with your contacts online

LinkedIn LinkedIn LinkedIn Personal Note Twitter Facebook

The Professional Network

You Can Not Afford to Ignore LinkedIn

You Can Not Afford to Ignore LinkedIn

LinkedIn has more than doubled in size (OVER 220 Million Members) in the past year with two users added every single second!

Executives from ALL Fortune 500 Companies are registered on LinkedIn!

45% of LinkedIn’s members are considered the major decision makers for their companies. (Twitter and Facebook account for only 24-29%!)

LinkedIn holds the record for the Highest Average Household Income over all other Social Networking sites at over $83,000 per member!

There are no distractions! On LinkedIn, you’ll only find high-caliber individuals with a business mindset, focused on networking for results!

And it’s a People Search Engine

LinkedIn “Facebook with ties”

1. Provides a meeting place where people expect to “do business”

2. Leverages relationships by making connections visible

3. Helps maintain personal relationships and build new ones.

4. Provides a platform for the most effective form of Marketing - Word of Mouth

5. It can link all other essential Social Media Tools

Pieces & Parts

Profile – Telling people what you do not who you are

Company pages – Controlling the teams profile - the source of free business intelligence

Groups – How to Encourage, Entice and Engage!

Search – Never a lack for information Connections – Can I see who you know?

WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?

What Can I Use LinkedIn For

Build relationships Build your reputation Look for investors Find business partners/professional

services Business development Job postings/search for candidates you

want Integrate your Twitter marketing LinkedIn direct ads New career opportunities

A Few Good Tips

It’s all about the headline

Headlines are everything in newspapers, magazines, and on blogs.

They are just as important on your LinkedIn profile, because the headline is the first thing that shows up anytime someone does a search online.

Tell people specifically: Who you are Who you help, and How you help them

Make your headline compelling and you’ll increase your chances of more meaningful profile views.

Get personalThe summary box in your profile needs to be your personal elevator pitch but targeted at the people you want to see it

People don’t want to look at a resume They want to know who you are.

This small touch of transparency will help you connect on a personal level with anyone who views your profile.

Complete Your Profile

Picture

Three Recommendations

Connections

If you want to grow your business, the best approach is to connect with as many people as possible (quantity and quality)

Look through your LinkedIn connections weeklyEvery week, take 10 mins to look through your LinkedIn connections and comment on people's status updates. Use the status updates, or new jobs as an excuse to get in touch and have a phone call or meeting with them.

Groups - Get Strategic!

Before you start joining groups willy nilly, make a list of these things:

Your industry, and common keywords Your company, and common keywords Associations you belong to Schools or educational forums Your ideal client and industries and

subjects that they’re interested in Your own interests

The Game Plan

Regularly connect with 5 current or former business associates. When you connect with people, you and your business jump to the top of their mind.

Join several Groups. Why several? Because it’s not 2 or 3, which is the number most people join. Your goal is to spread your visibility online, and the best way to do that is by joining many Groups, not just 2 or 3

Start a discussion in each new Group every day for 5 days after you join them.

Rinse and repeat the above steps. The key to making LinkedIn work is consistency.

Be Patient - Be Consistent

Networking is a marathon not a sprint.  You need to pick key companies and groups and follow consistently.  This way you become a part of the fabric, building relationships that will extend beyond your visits.