Now, these instances happen in real time, where the interaction is not documented (unless there is a hidden camera at the water cooler).  So if you make a mistake, you can apologize and smooth out the situation.  Many times you can even improve on a poor first impression.

But when it comes to online interactions, it isn’t as simple.  Your words last forever and can be seen by millions.

There have been many high profile stories in the news about everything from children finding out about their parents’ divorce by reading their mother’s Facebook profile (yes, real story) to job seekers losing their opportunity based on the negative things they “tweeted” about their interview on Twitter.  So the first points to consider are to not only think before you write, but also make sure that what you are writing you don’t mind everyone seeing.

When choosing to interact with others online, you are in a way “going public” with your profile and building your (online) reputation.  Yep, even if you are playing on Facebook your online footprint is being documented.  That being said,  when it comes to interacting and marketing online, your reputation is the most important thing in the world.  And this reputation goes further than your profile page or online resume/CV.  What your online reputation consists of is everything you write, every interaction, ever message you send, ever person you connect with.  Your reputation will fuel what people say and think about you, with many of these opinions never being shared with you.

As your reputation is built around interaction, let’s talk about something to be weary of – negativity.  Every person you interact with online is part of your virtual community.  So whether they are directly connected with you or not, you share common contacts and associations (many of which can be unbeknownst to you).  So it is important to be mindful of your words.

Let’s take Linkedin for example.  When you go into your favorite group, read through the latest discussions, you find one that peaks your interest.  You click through, read the article and when you are halfway through discover that you completely disagree with the points being shared.  They are totally wrong!  Why?  Because in your experience this is not true.  Great!  That’s what Linkedin discussions are all about, sharing different points-of-view, insights and experiences.  Who knows, your point could change the point-of-view of  the person posting the discussion.  Your information is pretty powerful.

But, how do you make your point?  Remember, Linkedin is a professional site.  Do you insult the person?  Speak in a condescending tone?  Send them a private message telling them that they are silly and way off point?

If this sounds like you, please be careful with what you write (and this goes for all of the other social sites as well)!

When you want to share your point-0f-view, do it in a productive professional manner.  Remembering that this is a public forum, watch your words.  If you don’t agree, don’t just say that.  Make a case, share your wisdom and experience.  By engaging with others (especially if the person you are interacting with has a large following) you have a prime opportunity to grow your own online visibility.  The point is that you want to build your reputation, not tarnish it.

Being consistently negative can result in word of your behavior spreading, people will discuss it, you may be ignored and more. The worst part?  Many times you won’t even know it is happening until its too late.

If someone irritates you, ignore them or remove them as a connection.  This constant refinement will also help you get the most out of your time online.  Sending them a message telling them you don’t like them is not the answer.  And guess what?  Sometimes these “hate mails” get forwarded, shared and discussed.   Again, this activity is something that you won’t know is occurring.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have your say.  Opinions are crucial in the social media space.  My point is to make your contributions online productive and aligned with your professional acumen.  This will help you build a strong, credible profile and help your business grow.  Being negative and antagonistic isn’t the answer.

With that said, many of the so-called social media rules are not new, groundbreaking or even shocking.  They are based on the fundamentals of communication and interaction.  So whether you are using the online media for personal or business reasons, treat others as you would like to be treated.

So what do you think?  Have you come up against this while online and how have you dealt with it?

Last time you checked your LinkedIn stats, you had a good number of connections, and it seems to be growing every day. But what does it all mean? How can you take those numbers and turn your connections into business?

Here are a few tips to get you started.

Create a strong profile

Don’t even think of beginning a growth campaign without a strong profile. It’s the first place people go to learn more about you! Make sure your profile is not only complete, but thorough and engaging.

Give and request recommendations

Ask colleagues, former employers, clients and subordinates to rate your work by writing a recommendation. Reciprocate by recommending others as well. Those who visit your profile definitely read these recommendations, and they can be a strong motivator in getting prospects to contact you.

Join or create groups

Look for groups that fit your target or industry, those with lively discussions and invested members. Do you see a niche that needs to be filled? Create your own group. Either way, you have to add value by joining in or initiating discussions that showcase your expertise. LinkedIn groups are all about sharing your experiences, advice and tips to make a connection. This is valuable to group members because it provides a forum to be heard, an environment of camaraderie, and insights into new tools and advances. But don’t just join groups serving your own industry! Think globally- join groups that may serve your future clients.

Take the time to answer questions and help others solve their most pressing problems. Once you’ve established yourself as knowledgeable and willing to contribute, people will look to you for help.

Be careful about selling

LI is about sharing, not selling. Some LI members break this rule, but you shouldn’t. This will only alienate the very people you hope to attract. Once you’ve established a relationship with another member, it’s ok to talk about your services.

Now what is your story?  How has LinkedIn worked for you?

With everyone going on about the wonders of Facebook and Twitter, our poor friend LinkedIn sometimes gets left out in the cold.  While not one of the most visible sites, it is definitely one of the most powerful.  With millions of people from all over the globe taking part in the conversation on LinkedIn, it is definitely a place online where your audience thrives.

What I usually hear when I speak to prospective clients about LinkedIn is that “I’m not B2B, I’m B2C.  LinkedIn will never work for me.”  Aside from that statement oddly rhyming, that statement can’t be more false.  Whether you are B2B or B2C, you can carve out your own audience on LinkedIn.  I’ve said this quite a bit, and lately people have been asking me to put my money where my mouth is asking “Can you prove that there is ROI in LinkedIn?”  My answer, “Absolutely!”

About 60% of my business comes from LinkedIn.  True.

While my firm may be unique, we handle accounts for a wide array of clientele that get results on LinkedIn.  Not only sales and referrals, but speaking engagements, sharing of content to a wide audience, hits to their website, media appointments and much more.  I’m not saying that 60% of your business WILL come from LinkedIn, but it is definitely a spot where you need to be.

But my purpose here isn’t to sell you on the wonders of LinkedIn.  It is targeted to those of you out there who are registered with LinkedIn (for a week, a year, 10 years, whatever) and don’t have your completed and are just waiting for the magic to happen.  Generally those like this complain that they don’t see any results from LinkedIn.  Here’s why: you’re not doing anything.

So let’s get moving and create some stellar results!  Here are my 5 LinkedIn “Must Haves” when you are trying to market yourself using this massively useful site:

1.  You MUST Fill Out Your Profile:  A name and title is not enough.  LinkedIn gives you ample opportunity to showcase yourself and your brand.  Instead of leaving half of the profile blank (the percentage of which LinkedIn will show you on the right hand side of your profile), why not take an hour or two and really fill it in properly.  Want people to call you?  Add a phone number.  Want people to look at your website?  Mention it with hyperlink at the drop of a hat.  Don’t skimp here…this is where people are going to find you credible or not credible.  Oh, and one final thing.  Have a professional profile picture, nothing wild and off brand.  No picture = no credibility in my book. Read the full story

When going through numerous articles on social media strategies it dawned on me that there was a glaring omission: tactics on how to promote your social media profiles OUTSIDE of logging in to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

While it may sound odd, cross marketing is an essential part of a successful social media marketing strategy (as well as a successful marketing strategy). It is completely understandable that when you launch a social media campaign, you really want to spend a bulk of your time logged into the site trying to achieve penetration and engagement.  For example, when marketing your business’s Facebook Page, you are logging in on a daily basis to update your page, share it and use different onsite tools to engage with your target consumers.

But what about the people that you speak to everyday on the phone or at events?  How about those who you give your business card to?  How about the people on the receiving end of the 100+ emails that you have to respond to daily?

This is where you need to focus on what I call Off-Site Social Media Promotion.  The best part?  It isn’t that tough (which is always a good thing, right?).

Here are my top ten tactics that you can instantly use to promote your professional social media presences…off-site:

1.  Add to Your Email Signature: When it comes to promoting your social media presences off-site, email is your first stop.  In your email signature, add a link to one or all of your social hubs.  Just be careful not to overdo it!  If you are a member of 100 different networks, don’t add them all.  My rule is to try to keep it to around 3 or less.
Read the full story

Just found this great video by WeExplainVideos called Facebook Commerce Explained – a simple review of the new trend that is changing business for good. It is a simplistic review, but that is what industry really needs at the moment as there are so many CEO who can’t still get it that Facebook can influence and will influence their sales. So enjoy the video and let me know how your organization is benefiting from social commerce?

As an owner of a social media marketing firm, everyday I speak with people who are trying to make the most out of their Facebook and LinkedIn profile, or making their “tweets” count on Twitter.  The following are a few of the most common mistakes that I have seen companies make on social media and what we can do to combat them in the future.

This is a very important one.  With all of the hype around social media (and also due to the fact that creating accounts is free and easy), many of us are eager to just jump in head first.  Keep in mind that social media is a branding and visibilty platform and thus needs to carry the right messaging and voice.  Before you go full speed ahead, first see what you are getting yourself into.

I suggest creating a sparse profile and taking the time to look through each site.  Where is your target market?  What is your competition doing right (which can really help you come up with a strategy)?  What applications can be useful?  How are people communicating?  What tools to I have to communicate with my market?  While Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can work to everyone’s advantage, if you only have time to manage one or two presences, it is best to be able to pinpoint the right ones and save yourself time and effort.

Top tip: a great way of seeing what sites suit your business is by asking your existing audience via polling.

Mistake #2: Lack of Focus

When you execute an advertising campaign, you know who you are targeting.  When you do a public relations campaign, you know what market you are trying to reach out to.  When you do an email marketing campaign….well, you get the point.  Social media is no different.

Social media allows us to target with laser focus, you just need to identify who you are trying to reach.  Once identified, the key is to connect with “meaningful people” not just random people to get “the numbers.”  Come on, why connect with 10,000 people who don’t care about you?  What good does that do?  Find connect and engage with people that matter.  Focus!

Mistake #3: Lack of Consistency

If you are going to do social media, make sure to do it on a consistent basis – not whenever you can grab a free second.  By consistent I mean daily, weekly, bi-weekly…on some sort of schedule.  Since you are growing your audience, you need to be in front of them gaining that visibility and credibility consistently.  My tip?  Create a schedule of when you will be executing social media and what messages you will be highlighting.  It takes a few minutes, but can save hours of weekly work.

No time to even make a plan?  Outsource!  It’s not a dirty word anymore.

Mistake #4: Using a 100% Push Marketing Approach

Push marketing is used all of the time in traditional marketing.  While it is a perfect fit in many instances, it is not the foundation of an engaging social media strategy.  Push marketing literally “pushes” what you want from your audience directly on top of them, while “pull” marketing using social media is about starting a conversation, engaging, enchanting and much more.  My suggestion is to use a 90% pull and a 10% push marketing equation.  This is something that I have used and it works a treat.  This way you can grow your audience and create value before offering up a special discount.  If they believe you to be credible through your pull approach, when you incorporate the push elements you will have higher levels of success.

Mistake #5: Wrong Goals

Truly look at what you are trying to achieve, and “more sales” is not enough.  Social media has many outcomes, so it is smart to have a broader scope.  Think in terms of hits to your website, newsletter signups, ebook/book sales/downloads….this is the way to go!

Mistake #6: Lack of Planning

Again, I am going back to the importance of a  plan:  without a plan, you plan to fail.  Although we know this cliche all too well, there is definitely truth to it.  Why?  Because a strategic plan saves you time and money – two things that we all can use, right?

Sit down and figure out your marketing strategy and then layer your social media strategy on-top.  Social media can support and enhance everything you do, you just have to keep the two connected.  Without the connection, you are wasting the power of cross marketing and branding.  Flying blindly in a new marketing medium could not only be risky for your reputation, but also cause you more trouble than you can handle.

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I hope that these mistakes are ones that you have not made and if you have, you will no longer make.  It is important for us to all to take a close look at our plans and strategies in order to see how strong and effective they can be.  Without strategy or planning, a social media marketing campaign takes a lot more time and a lot more effort to execute.