Transcript Locked out of LinkedIn?
LEVERAGING THE OF
POWER
Establishing Your Company as a Subject Matter Expert LinkedIn & other Web 2.0 Tools Using
Welcome to Alliance
Baltimore!
The
Small Business Procurement Fair
Why Develop an
Expert Status
on LinkedIn?
Let me give you a few reasons….
Why? Here are a few reasons…
130 million business professionals on LI, and growing… All top government contractors are here Over 72% of Feds use social media and LI is the fastest growing in usage Active LI users rank higher in Google People are using LI to research partners and contractors Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 4
A few LinkedIn Facts
Started in May, 2003 130,000,000+ registered users The first social network built
exclusively
for business professionals Levels of membership: Free, Business ($29/month), Business Plus ($49/month), Executive ($99/month) Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 5
A few LinkedIn Facts: groups (as of 10/28/11)
1,091,632 groups on LinkedIn 6,621 groups dealing w/ government 4,995 groups dealing w/ small business Groups for
almost anything
(By the time I was done editing this 2 hours later there were 1,091,705 groups) Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 6
What we’ll cover today
6 reasons why LinkedIn can be one of your best marketing tools Developing your social media strategy Teaching the C-level execs the basics Building your profile 8 secrets for populating your connections Finding your best prospects and partners Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 7
What we’ll cover today…
Developing & supporting the “thought leader” position for your company 5 ways on how to find the “groups” germane to your business 3 reasons for starting and managing your own LinkedIn group Leveraging the Q&A Finding and managing your company profile Monitoring your progress and measuring success And more Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 8
MY LI story, Part 1: 2/04- 4/07
Member since February 11, 2004 Member #222,445 Connections as of April 2007 – about 150 Groups as of April 2007 – about 2 Recommendations – less than 10 Best answers – 0 Excitement factor for profile: 2.2 out of 10 Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 9
What is wrong with this picture?
I was waiting for something to happen….
not making it happen
.
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First TIP: the LinkedIn “Search” function
You can “search” on People, Jobs, Companies, Answers, Inbox and
Groups
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6 reasons why LinkedIn can be one of your best marketing tools
Done well, a profile puts you in front of 130,000,000 professionals. Done poorly….
Provides a
platform
for attracting partners A venue for prospecting for new clients Create and support an “industry leader” or “thought leader” position Develop a broader network Maintain regular contact with your network Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 13
Market Connections 10/18/11 Study
70% of feds on LI
;
93% of contractors
LinkedIn use fastest growing among Feds (41% growth in past year) Top uses of social media for contractors: marketing (85%),
thought leadership (84%)
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Developing your social media strategy
Decide what you want to accomplish on LinkedIn – make a LONG list Multiple goals are OK Define the roles for each employee becoming a LinkedIn member (Gladwell model: connectors, mavens, salespeople) – do you want people seeking potential partners, clients, employees?
Set the parameters for corporate usage
(the company policy for social media) Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 15
LinkedIn Goals
Connections to broader range of major companies Are you looking for companies that own a specific contract(s)?
Identify key buying influencers Develop an “industry leader” profile Identify key groups for your company officials to join and monitor Are you looking for employees?
Other?
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Develop & support the “thought leader” position
Carefully define the “intellectual real estate” you occupy This can be a “thought leader” position or an “industry leader” Define what your company does best, your “competitive advantage” Clearly enunciate this throughout your profile and each employee profile, using key words and phrases Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 17
Building Your TL/“Expert” Profile
Do
not
post your resume Make the summary paragraphs short and readable Make company description uniform Specialties – do these in bullet format and use SEO-friendly terms Fill in as many positions as you can that support what you want your profile to accomplish Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 18
Building Your TL/“Expert” Profile
Additional information is where you can list your web sites, your interest, groups, and honors and awards.
Contact settings – you have the option to post you complete contact info – or none.
What are you open to: career opportunities, consulting offers, expertise requests, job inquiries, reference requests, new ventures, business deals, getting back in touch.
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8 secrets for populating your connections
Your current contacts Co-workers & former co-workers Those connected to your connections Those in pertinent groups Those who answer Q&A Those “viewing” your profile “People you may know” Invite key connections from other social networks. I always reference LI at other social networks Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 26
Never send
The invitation “form letter” Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 27
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Bonus secret for populating your connections
Look up those you read about in trade publications and see if they are in your “network”
5 ways to find the “groups” germane to your business
Search groups using keywords and topics Look at the groups of industry leaders Look at the groups of your connections Use pertinent Q&A category and ask Pose the question in your current groups: “What other groups do you find useful?” Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 31
Groups are only good
If you
participate!
Post links to articles, participate in discussions, “Like” discussions, etc Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 32
This is a powerful tool
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Bonus tip on Groups
Start your own!
3 reasons to start your own group
Further define and develop a “thought leadership” or “industry leader” position Allow people the opportunity to identify themselves to you Define and develop a niche community Yes, there are lots of groups, but… Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 35
Bonus reason(s) to start your own group
You control the membership, set the parameters on discussion, and can email the entire group weekly
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Leveraging the Q&A
Always give it a good shot (not necessarily your best shot), but don’t give away everything.
Keep it brief Use (and read) the Q&A for research Use it as a way to find good connections Ask for the “best answer” when/if you hear back from the person asking the question Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 38
Q&A
21 major categories of questions Each has topics within Some of those topics have sub-topics About 160 total categories Great for recognition and research!
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Finding and managing your company profile
Search on your company name If it’s there, it will have a description, specialties, current and past employees (on LI), where the company HQ is located, industry you serve, type of company, number of employees, year founded & web site All this is information you can edit Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 43
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Monitoring your progress and measuring success
During the strategy session, set benchmarks and timelines Determine how much time is being spent on LI vs returns to date vs potential returns Questions you might ask: New key client contacts? New business? New channel partners?
Do occasional company “brainstorm” sessions.
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Bringing in other web 2.0 Tools
Blogs Webinars Podcasts Video LI apps Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 48
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My LI Story, Part 2: October 28, 2011
3,974 connections 224 recommendations 50 groups (9 as “owner,” 1 as “manager”) 18 sub-groups (13 as “owner,” 5 as “member”) 39 “Best Answers” in 19 categories If you are interested, connect with me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/markamtower Copyright 2011, Mark Amtower 53
Winner: November, 2009 “Rock the World with Your Online Presence” contest
My profile was selected as one of the 7 best (#4) on LinkedIn. 45 million members at that time (New contest has just started)
Amtower Offer for Procurement Fair Attendees Stop by my exhibit table and be among the first to sign up for my 3 month teleseminar/webinar Thought Leadership Coaching program $100+ discount
Thank you for your time and attention!
Contact Information: Mark Amtower [email protected]
www.GovernmentMarketMaster.com
301 924 0058