Li&Business-v22 by Dimo Stoyanov

Tactics

Strategy

HOW LINKEDIN’S $9 BILLION IPO AFFECTS YOUp56

Marketing

WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS LINKEDINp66

NATE KIEVMAN: LEVERAGING LINKEDINp6

Premiere Issue | www.LIandBusiness.com

Inside

THE WAY OF THE SOCIAL WARRIOR p84 THE GOOD, THE BAD—AND THE UGLY p44 OUR “NEW RULES” OF PUBLISHING p90 STOP THE PRESSES! p8

The Unofficial Secret Weapon of Business People Everywhere

The Quiet Force of Nature $7.95 U.S.

In 1992 he was selling homemade hats on the street. Today he’s a TV “shark” with a billion dollar business and possibly the best branding mind on the planet.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSIDE:

56 THE $9 BILLION IPO By John Persinos

66 WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS TO BE ON LINKEDIN By Neal Schaffer

12 THE QUIET FORCE OF NATURE

Jay Abraham’s interview with famed entrepreneur Daymond John. Departments

26 The Link By Emerson Kim Lineses

Columns

6 Nate’s Notebook By Nate Kievman, Executive Editor 8 Stop the Presses! By John Persinos 48 The Power of Direct Referrals By Laura Rubinstein

44 Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down By John Persinos

84 Reality Check By Dan Millman

95 The Power of One Changing the World with $1

90 Publisher’s Note: Our Manifesto By Larry Genkin www.LIandBusiness.com

LI & BUSINESS MAGAZINE LARRY GENKIN CEO, Publisher and Founder NATE KIEVMAN Executive Editor JOHN PERSINOS Editorial Director JAY ABRAHAM Co-Founder STAN GENKIN Co-Founder JAN STEJSKAL Co-Founder ERIC YAVERBAUM Associate Publisher & Co-Founder MITCH AXELROD Associate Publisher - Business Strategy DONNA EASTMAN Production Manager WEBSTAZE DESIGN STUDIO Graphic Design and Production MIKE ANGLETON Associate Publisher KIM NORKETT Associate Publisher KENNON FORT Business Development Manager TIERRA JONES Business Development Manager AED ROBERTS Business Development Manager ADDRESS: GSG WorldMedia 1301 Skippack Pike Ste. 7A, #218 Blue Bell PA 19422 Disclaimer: LI & Business magazine is owned by GSG WorldMedia LLC and has no affiliation with Linkedin whatsoever. Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corporation. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.”

Nate’s Notebook

Nate’s NOTEBOOK I

f you were standing at the top of a mountain with millions ready to hear what you had to say, what would be the first words out of your mouth? This is Social Media. Everything you say is going out to thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people! The words we share, the strategies we engage, the tactics we use all matter because everything we do, don’t do, share, say or don’t say could potentially create a huge impact on our personal brand or our business. The purpose of LI & Business magazine is to establish best practices and provide the most relevant information from true leaders in business that use Linkedin every day. These leaders possess practical hands on knowledge which, if implemented, may provide that singular insight, specific tactic or overarching strategy that could propel your business to the next level. The timing of this magazine couldn’t be better. Businesses are struggling. Getting deals are harder than ever. Maintaining prospects attention and closing business requires a new ways of engagement. This new era of business is ushered in with Social Technologies, Social Networks and Social Media. Specifically, Linkedin has and continues to change the game of business.

By Nathan Kievman, Executive Editor Recently going public, this platform provides us as business owners’ direct access to a 120+ Million person (and growing) database! Where else in the world can we search for our target market so easily, and be able to communicate with them instantly? Linkedin has long been thought of by many of my peers, friends, mentors and others as a Job Platform. Although it is great for this activity, Linkedin is far from a Job Board. It is THE BEST business development tool available online for businesses that we have ever seen. So here we are. What’s next? Well as a business owner myself, we have been through the thick of it, having to use Linkedin and other social platforms to generate awareness from scratch, grab attention, land appointments, and close new business. It is my honor to be able to share with you an entirely new approach to getting found, getting noticed, getting sought and getting new deals.

“Linkedin has and continues to change the game of business.“

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

Having successfully done this for our own company and for other companies as well, I am personally excited to share with you our knowledge, strategies and insights to break the mold, stop the pain and provide some hope to you and your other business associates through this magazine. So how do we set the tone of the magazine for the next months and years ahead? Well I would share with you as if I were standing at the top of the mountain. You are blessed. You have been given a gift, a tool, a resource that will help you reach the promise land. This land is rich in community, plentiful in trust, full of prospects, and it pours forth new business. The road to the promise land is riddled with challenges, subtle liars, thieves and murders all trying to stop you from getting to this land of plenty. To get there will take guidance, dedication, commitment, trust, ABOUT THE AUTHOR

faith and hard work; but to those who persevere, there will be great rewards. Be wise with your counsel and take care in the direction and paths you choose along the way. With each step, you know you are one step closer to that place you’ve sought for so long. Today is one more step towards your destination; I look forward to being a part of your journey. I look forward to connecting further on Linkedin. Please feel free to join our Linkedin Strategies group on Linkedin where Linkedin members gather to help one another and get real time authentic answers from the people in the trenches doing it everyday, all for free. Join Linked Strategies Here In the meantime, please let us know what you think of the magazine!

Link with me

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Nathan Kievman is considered one of the leading authorities on Linkedin, having taught over 30,000 members on how to use the service for enhancing their businesses. He is also owner of the #1 Linkedin Strategies group, author of three books on the topic, including “Linkedinto Marketing: Build Traffic, Generate Leads, and Create Massive Profits using Linkedin.” His upcoming fourth book is titled, “An Executives Guide to Social Media.” Nate has been the advanced social media speaker for the 2011 National Speakers Association “Un-conference” as well as a headliner at the 2011 “Underground” event with Yanik Silver, considered by many to be the “Grandfather” of internet marketing. Mr. Kievman spends his free time as Founder & CEO of DemingHill, a Leading Corporate Social Media Consulting & Marketing Firm. He is a Linkedin consultant to Fortune 500 companies, INC 500 companies, well known business leaders, and hundreds of small to mid-sized businesses.

Stop The Presses!

Join the Conversation By John Persinos, Editorial Director

e’re all conditioned by mass magazines, which are produced by GSG culture to get information from World Media. a glowing screen, whether it’s Launched in May 2003, the social media a television, movie, computer, or smart web site Linkedin is chiefly used for phone. The visionary publisher Allen professional networking. Linkedin now Neuharth, founder of USA Today, had reports more than 100 million registered this fact in mind when he insisted that users, spanning more than 200 countries the vending machines for his newspaper worldwide. The site is available in English, resemble the design of a TV. French, German, Italian, Portuguese, In the fragmented digital era, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and Turkish. newspapers and magazines appear to be By latest count, Linkedin generated 21.4 in steep decline. But readers still crave a million monthly unique U.S. visitors and cohesive, visual 47.6 million Today’s hyperlinked 24/7 economy has globally. Our experience. You can use the magazine will turned markets into conversations, latest online conducted in a human voice. That’s where show you how to communications put all of these Linkedin — and this magazine — come in. to facilitate influential visitors your message, without sacrificing the to profitable use. persuasiveness of a compelling story that’s People nowadays are jaded when it comes packaged with colorful artwork. That’s what to advertising and marketing; they’re LI & Business magazine is all about. bombarded with pitches and they’ve This magazine focuses on Linkedin, gotten into the habit of tuning out paid with three sister publications that each messages. However, when your message devote their respective editorial missions is communicated via social media such as to Google, Twitter and Facebook. I edit Linkedin, the information cuts through and guide editorial policy for all four the white noise and bypasses the mind’s 8

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Today’s hyperlinked 24/7 economy has turned markets into conversations, conducted in a human voice. This fact is especially prevalent on Linkedin. Professional conversations are no longer top-down monologues. Put Linkedin into your marketing mix, and your communications will be immediate, relevant and in a human voice that’s genuine and persuasive. Linkedin allows you to increase and intensify the frequency of your message. It works best as a marketing tool that communicates, educates and drives listeners to action in situations when you need to intensify the frequency and intimacy of the message. Linkedin can serve as a force-multiplier for your marketing message; read on to learn how.

protective barriers. It’s a great way to grab your audience’s mind share and to portray yourself as a “thought leader” in your respective market. Why start a magazine in the digital era, when more and more people (especially younger ones) get their information in fleeting bits and pieces from the Internet and mobile devices? A good place to start is with the origins of my own career. I began my journalistic journey as a reporter on daily newspapers; I eventually segued to magazines. In recent years, I’ve been compelled to stay up-to-date with the Digital Revolution, by using social media to achieve business and professional goals. Long before the founders of Linkedin and the other tech moguls of today, there lived a media mogul of even greater influence. His name: Johannes Gutenberg. More than five centuries later, his transformative technology still pervades society. Today, despite the mind-boggling advances of technology and the decline of the newspaper business, magazines continue to enthrall, influence—and generate large, devoted followings. That’s because a magazine is tangible, it’s colorful, and it foster reader engagement.

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John Persinos is Editorial Director of GSG WorldMedia. You can reach him at jpersinos@gsgworldmedia.com. John has enjoyed a long career in media and public relations. Notably, he served as a staff writer at Inc. magazine; a reporter at The Orlando Sentinel; managing editor at Campaigns & Elections magazine; publisher of the web site, Aviation Today.com; editorial director at Aerospace & Security Media; and a press secretary to a U.S. congressman.

www.LIandBusiness.com

Cover Story

Daymond John The Quiet Force of Nature

Interview by Jay Abraham, Co-founder

The brilliant entrepreneur and star of TV’s “Shark Tank” provides insights on how you can put social media to its best and highest use for your business and brand

hink of it as a “meeting of the marketing minds”: Jay Abraham, executive editor of our sister publication The Big G & Business, and Daymond John, marketing guru and television celebrity, discuss the ramifications of social media on all aspects of your business. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pick the brains of the smartest marketers on the planet. Below are the distilled highlights of the wide-ranging interview, which lasted

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

Click the image to listen to the entire live interview raw and unedited.

than just a TV star. He’s a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who’s a genius at building companies into billion-dollar brands.

Jay Abraham: I’m on cloud nine today, because I get the pleasure to interview Daymond John. Many of you know him from his participation every week on the successful show on ABC-TV, Shark Tank, where he’s one of the investment “sharks” who bids on a chance to invest in a contestant’s business concept. But Daymond is more

Daymond John: Well, Jay, thank you for the eloquent compliment and introduction. Jay Abraham: Let’s get started. What is your take on the relevancy of social media today for business owners? Daymond John: It’s no longer “make it and www.LIandBusiness.com

nearly two hours. For the entire verbatim interview, either in audio format or as a written transcript. Click here

Cover Story

they will come” because transparency is at and it’s the fact that people in those big an all-time level now. You can’t necessarily corporations don’t get awarded for success fool the consumer because your product but they get penalized for anything that or service can be easily either accredited as hurts the corporation. So they’re not something viable or as being a trick, because taught to think outside the box. They’re not of social media and the fact that people, at thought to be entrepreneurs. Also, a lot of their fingertips, can research whether the the CEOs and the VPs are not as hands on as stats are true. And employees can speak they should be. They leave these businesses their mind about the company after leaving, to people who they think are going to do a by posting on social media. good job, and then they find out, far too late, So, truth is the easiest thing to sell. I’ve that the job is not being done. always said that. And if you’re offering a Aside from Linkedin, the one that I’m great product or brand and you’re selling attracted to the most is Twitter, because it’s the truth, it’s really hard to easy to see whom you are “Truth is the easiest thing second-guess a question associated with as well as to sell. I’ve always said the information. I’m really because of social media. That gives you a leg up on that.” - Daymond Johnn a person who can only read everybody else who are with so many bits and pieces. weaving lies or doing things for the wrong You get it in such really small granular pieces reasons or trying to unmask something that of information. You can digest it quickly, is not in the best interest of the consumer. and you can review what everybody’s saying quickly by just looking over your Jay Abraham: Let’s get more granular. Twitter page. That’s why I like social There’s Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Google, media information. And if you decide that and YouTube. Give us your take on each you want to go a little further in Twitter, one, as they apply to businesses of all sizes you can put out that information in the and types. granular aspect but then also have the link where people can go and read a broader Daymond John: Each of these outlets amount of information, whether it be a link has a very specific DNA as to why people to a blog or anything else. like them. Right now, the biggest goal of businesspeople is Return on Investment. Jay Abraham: I’ve looked at esoteric but Business decision-makers are always very profound analyses and diagnostic asking: “What’s the ROI?” Linkedin is studies people have done with all kinds of more successful in this area than the other algorithms where they’re recalibrating the social media sites, because of its high whole judgmental criteria, when it comes to number of professionals. determining the efficacy of social media. What I find the challenges that bigger They’re looking at the momentum. They’re corporations have is the normal red tape looking at real impact. They’re looking at 16

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

Cover Story

import. They’re looking at all kinds of slices and dices that they don’t discount quantity but quantity is such a subordinate factor in the whole quotient and that’s pretty interesting.

average person is staying there four minutes to seven minutes. They ask how long the person is staying on, but I really don’t see them going much deeper than that.

Daymond John: Yeah, it really is. You have Google Analytics and a lot of other things like that but generally as deep as most people go, they determine whether somebody is going to your Web site and whether the

Jay Abraham: So if branding is critical, which is what you stand for, and branding can redefine not only a company but also its connection to the market, what does a company do, if it has a weak or non-distinctive brand?

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

Jay Abraham: Yeah, the rollout or the scalability, if it’s done right, is rather incredible too, don’t you think? Daymond John: Absolutely, and a lot of times a patent is not of value in that world

because it’s just first to market, because it moves so fast. If you look at it again, then I don’t want to be a one trick pony or, you know, concentrate on only one, but if you look at something like Apple up until 1990, I believe, they only filed and only had one patent but they moved so quickly. And everybody worries about, oh, a patent, a proprietary, this and that. But you shouldn’t. Instead, be first to market! I didn’t have a patent on a shirt. I just made people believe that it enriched their lives and I was first. I was one of the first to market with this category of clothing with FUBU, and that’s why I was scaled 1, that’s why I took off so quick. Jay Abraham: What do you think is the biggest single opportunity that social media offers businesses today? And what’s the biggest myth or mistake that hampers businesses within this opportunity? Daymond John: From a marketing and branding perspective, the biggest opportunity is if you can strategically create a great campaign or mission statement that you’re going to take out to the public, With the fact that social media is moving so fast, you can hit millions and millions of people way easier and know and break down who they are exactly, the crowd and segment, to a city, an age group, a race, a sex, any kind of demographic. You can target them very, very accurately. I’m not saying they’re going to necessarily consume the information you’re giving, but you’ll at least know that www.LIandBusiness.com

Daymond John: Well, first of all, they have to define in those three to four words, what is their brand? And it has to be cohesive to what they think it is. Now, a lot of people think branding is luxury items or goods that everybody needs to know about, but sometimes branding is the fact that it’s an affordable product. So we have to understand what it is. Then we must understand: “What is the mission statement?” Every single department— production, sales, distribution, branding, and marketing—have to be in line. I’ve learned that the areas of consumer demand that have been well met, but are changing so fast, are in technology. Whether it’s in medicine, or bio-tech, or social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. Tech is moving so quick and it gets out so fast and it’s so scalable. I think that Silicon Valley is a hotbed for activity and venture. I think the money is available there. And I think that the product itself, the tech product, can move quickly, globally because even if I make a product now or design a clothing line now, I won’t have any, in the stores for another nine months to a year. However, if I create an application or some form of tech that improves people’s lives in some sense, it can sell a million units in a day or minute actually.

Five common Linkedin fallacies. See page 35

Cover Story

it’s getting there. In the past, marketing through a lot of newspapers and radio and television, we didn’t sincerely know who was listening to whom. We didn’t know grandma walked away but left the radio on to keep the cat company.

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE

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Daymond John is a world-renowned entrepreneur, author, investor, fashion designer, television personality, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the founder, president and CEO of FUBU, a clothing company that he started from scratch and which, at its peak, achieved $350 million in annual sales. John signed a deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to make FUBU “NBA” gear, and launched a separate line of women’s apparel called FUBU Ladies. Devoted to his roots, John returns frequently to his former Queens neighborhood, to personally drive a truckload of giveaway turkeys through the streets at Thanksgiving. Despite his phenomenal success, John remains a humble man and a “quiet force of nature”. According to John, the aspect of financial success he enjoys most “is being able to eat out every night.” John currently appears on ABC’s Shark Tank, a hit show about entrepreneurship. www.daymondjohn.com

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

Now, we know all sorts of details about this person’s profile and habits. For the entire verbatim interview, either in audio format or as a written transcript, Click here ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER

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Jay Abraham is a marketing legend who has been deemed as “possibly the greatest marketing expert alive today” by Success magazine. Over the past 25 years Jay has made billions for over 10,000 clients across more than 400 industries. Clients from Kawasaki, IBM, General Electric, Dun & Bradstreet and AT&T sing his praises and you name the business magazine or newspaper and Jay has been featured in it. USA Today, LA Times, New York Times, Investors Business Daily, Washington Post, Inc and Entrepreneur to name a few. He was the marketing genius credited with bringing Anthony Robbins’ business to preeminence. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received the idea for Chicken Soup for the Soul from him and credit his marketing guidance for their 500,000,000 (and still growing daily) book sales. Forbes named him among the Top 5 executive coaches in the country, where he charges $5,000 per hour for his services.

The Link: How-To

THE LINK

by Emerson Kim Lineses

Our managing editor compiles and comments on the latest “how-to” advice from the best minds in social media.

10 Ways to Leverage Linkedin to Help Your Small Business, by Gil Zeimer, as it appeared on the following link »

LINKEDIN HELPS SMALL BUSINESS - IN A BIG WAY

Linkedin is for companies of any size and stripe. But specifically, it’s a tremendous asset for smaller companies. Here are 10 ways that smaller companies can put this social media site to good use: 1. Link, link, link. Connect to everyone related to your business or who may be of interest to it. Your network and their network make a good big spider of contacts and exposure 2. Give your profile 100%. Make sure that your profile is complete. This way, everyone who gets to see your profile will know who you are. And make sure too that you let people see your profile, the fruit of your labor. 3. Ask for and give recommendations. Your reputation is important on Linkedin, so cement it by asking for recommendations from colleagues and other people who know you. Also give them the recommendation, so that both of you can benefit from this printed word-ofmouth marketing. 4. Review your Linkedin update emails. You’ll never know when an interesting contact or

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

Put your referrals on steroids! See pg. 48

an old colleague will turn up in the update email, so be sure to check it out and maybe you’ll find someone who can help you and your business. 5. Don’t be shy. Meet people and don’t be shy doing it. Get introduced via a shared contact. This is better than an unsolicited, direct invitation to connect. 6. Promote your business. Send important updates to your contact via emails or newsletters to promote your business. Your name and your business should stick in their memories when they think about the industry you’re in. 7. Combine your Linkedin and Twitter accounts. Go to Settings and tweak it a bit so that your Linkedin posts get to your Twitter profile. Two birds in one stone. 8. Join or start a Linkedin group. Linked users have formed many groups, and certainly you can find one you can join in. If not, you can just start your own group, with your own rules. 9. See who’s viewing your profile. It pays to determine who takes a sneak peek at your profile. Who knows, it might be your next business partner or an awesome contact who can help your business. 10. Find out how to double or triple your referrals. Go ahead and talk to people. Discuss how each of you can expand your networks. How to Build a Dazzling Linkedin Company Page, by Diane Rayfield, as it appeared on the following link »

MAKE YOUR COMPANY ON LINKEDIN

Big or small, your company should be on Linkedin. It’s not just a social network; it’s a professional and business network as well. Maintaining an optimized Linkedin company page will put your business in the most professional light to the business world as well as potential customers, purchasing managers, clients, and even just interested observers. Remember that a company page on Linkedin consists of four tabs: Overview, Careers, Products and Services, and Analytics if you’re a page admin. And for each public tab, you should know what to place so you can get the best exposure. 1. Overview tab. Introduce your company or your brand here. Use keywords so you company ends up in searches too. Here, visitors can see their contacts who are in

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The Link: How-To

your company, your posts and even your Twitter feed. It may also be good to be informative and cordial in your introduction. 2. Careers tab. Of course, you want your Linkedin contacts to know whenever you’re company is hiring. You can also provide a glimpse of what’s inside your company or which kind of people you’re looking for in this tab. 3. Products and Services tab. Create a directory-style listing of the products and services that your company offers. Customize your content to show description and multimedia and to showcase your top-of-the-line brand. 4. Analytics tab. If you’re a page administrator, this tab has plenty of information and data to monitor how your company is doing on Linkedin, like member behavior and visitors’ info. Linkedin: An Undervalued Marketing Platform, by Spencer Belkofer appeared on following link »

THE OTHER SIDE OF LINKEDIN

From the consumer side, Linkedin has outstanding benefits: it’s an effective medium for finding jobs, networking with peers, and establishing new professional relationships. But how about from the business side? As a business-to-business (B2B) marketing device, says, Spencer Belkofer, Linkedin brings good things from referrals and recommendations to collaborative sessions and building new connections. He adds that aside from B2B marketing intelligence and company growth, Linkedin bestows these big-time benefits for business: 1. Changes in the way companies achieve and maintain visibility, enabling potential partners to more easily identify businesses with notable strengths or competitive advantages. 2. Improved brand reputation, which may positively influence executives at other businesses who want to contact a specific company. 3. Leveraging business assets and boosting employee morale, the latter because it gives

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

employees a means to join the dialogue and broaden a company’s appeal among other businesses 4. Garnering insight, through smartly crafted queries, that elicit feedback from other businesses about product development, supply chain issues and general management topics. According to Spencer, a study from Anderson Analytics reveals that more than 66% of Linkedin users are decision makers within their respective companies, proving that Linkedin is an essential B2B marketing tool. Thus, a strategy on how to use Linkedin should be in place. First, companies should have their employees build their profiles on Linkedin. As a result, the company’s links are circulated more widely, there is a renewed focus on priority pages, and site traffic in the company page and site increases. 10 Tips to Generate Business Leads with Linkedin, by Suzanne Vara appeared on the following link »

GENERATING BUSINESS LEADS THE “LINKEDIN” WAY

1. Build your network. Linkedin contacts are permission-based, so start with friends and colleagues, then your Outlook and email contacts, followed by people you want to meet. 2. Join groups. Joining Linkedin Groups is one of the easiest ways to build your network. Searching by industry will help you find the right ones to join. 3. Sharing. This is where Linkedin gets social: you get to share with your network or groups the articles and news stories that you like and recommend.

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Forget most of the pre-Internet ways to generate business leads. In our digitally connected professional world, handing out business cards at cocktail parties to find business is… well, archaic. Today, Linkedin is the premier platform for that purpose. Here are 10 tips on getting leads, the “Linkedin” way:

The Link: How-To

4. Recommendations. On Linkedin, you can ask and give recommendations, which project your reputation and garner trust. Don’t be afraid to ask for them from loyal former colleagues or your closest contacts. 5. Blog linking. Linking your blog or your site to your Linkedin profile benefits both pages and tells your network about your commitment to sharing content. 6. Status updates. Updating your status sends the message that you are there and ready to interact. 7. Direct ads. The great thing about Linkedin ads is that they’re designed to target specific audiences and markets. 8. Referrals. Building an effective network involves creating a team where you can get and give referrals. 9. Answer questions. Become an expert in your field, by helping others and answering their questions. 10. Ask questions/create polls. This tool gets your name in front of people and helps you get the answers to the questions you ask about your brand or your business.

Being visible on Linkedin gets you and your business a good name and reputation. Remember: Shameless, all-the-time self-promotion and spamming won’t get you anywhere. here.

6 Tips For Giving Your Linkedin Profile A Facelift, by Suzanne Vara , as it appeared on the following link »

LINKEDIN FACELIFT

With all the buzz at your other social networking sites, your Linkedin profile might have been overlooked and now needs a facelift. Keeping your Linkedin profile updated is your best chance of more referrals and exposure to the professional and business community. This is true more especially if you have your brand and company attached to your name.

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

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The Link: How-To

Suzanne Vara lists several aspects on Linkedin you should pay attention to, including: 1. Profile photo. This image is the associated with your name, so go ahead and make that first professional impression with a clear, current and lively photo. 2. Vanity URL. Take advantage of this service by making your link recognizable and memorable to contacts and visitors alike. You are much easier to find (and recommend) with a familiar name or link. 5 Reasons Why You Need a Linkedin Account by Ralph Kooi , as it appeared on the following link »

TAKE THE PLUNGE!

Still not on Linkedin? Looking for the right rationale or the right time? Well, Ralph Kooi has a few compelling reasons for you to sign up, now. First off, Linkedin is the social networking site for businesses and business people. Some say it is the “Facebook of professionals.” And rightfully so. Linkedin helps you connect with work friends, old and new, colleagues and business contacts. You will know where your past colleagues are working now and how this might help you expand your professional network. But that’s just the surface. Ralph gives the top five reasons why business people should be on Linkedin: 1. Expand your network significantly and create more work opportunities by joining groups and discussions on various topics that you are interested in.

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

The Link: How-To

2. Showcase your work experience, but more importantly, your work achievements and recommendations from your colleagues and clients. 3. Let other companies headhunt, and contact you, faster and more accurately. 4. Find out where your friends work or who works at a better company and get directly introduced by one of your network contacts. 5. Keeping up with the new options that are being added on a regular basis. Sync it with TripIt, PowerPoint’s, Amazon, Twitter or your personal blog. 8 Tips to Get More Out of Linkedin, by Justin Levy, as it appeared on the following link »

LINKEDIN REFRESHER

In his article, Justin Levy points out that what you get out of Linkedin will only be as good as what you put in, just like many things in life. Here’s his refresher guide on getting more out of your Linkedin profile. 1. Fill out your profile completely including customizing your URL with your name. It’ll only take 4 minutes to optimize it. 2. Connect with colleagues, friends, and others in your profession and areas of expertise/practice. 3. Find relevant Groups to join and begin participating in them. 4. Post relevant, helpful information via status updates such as industry news. 5. Search Answers for questions relevant to your industry and your areas of expertise. Provide thoughtful and helpful answers to show expertise in subject matter. 6. Follow companies to receive regular updates on their status. 7. Search general terms and industries to find new industry peers to connect to. 8. Write recommendations for colleagues and others in your network. Also, ask for recommendations, where applicable.

LI & Business | Premiere Issue Linkedin® is a registered trademark of Linkedin Corp.

5 Common Linkedin Fallacies and Why You Shouldn’t Believe Them, by Neal Schaffer, as it apperaed on the following link » DEBUNKING 5 LINKEDIN FALLACIES

Neal Schaffer couldn’t put it more bluntly and truthfully: Believing in what you hear about any social media platform, without taking the initiative and experimenting in it for your own benefit, will only limit your ability to utilize all of the functionality that exists. Linkedin’s millions of users can’t be wrong. Nonetheless, a few negative myths about Linkedin continue to persist. Here’s the “straight dope” on the five most common fallacies:

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1. Linkedin is not just about jobs. Sure, you go to Linkedin to find a job. That has always been its “function” for some time now, but you’re missing a lot of business opportunities if you still think this way. Business deals are made in Linkedin through Group discussions. Sales and marketing are initiated with every referral, contact approval, and recommendation. 2. Intimidation is in the Eyes of the Beholder. Unlike Facebook and Twitter whose platforms allow for quick interaction and lightningfast replies, Linkedin has a more “passive” and “stuffy” environment. But remember too that the people who use Twitter and Facebook are the same as those who use Linkedin, so if you feel too intimidated to initiate contact, you will be missing out business and professional opportunities. Don’t be shy; participate in discussions. Linkedin is also a social networking site, after all. 3. Too many emails? Get control. Just as with any social media, you get emails about updates and notifications. Linkedin sends emails to you too, but you have full control over what’s sent to you and how often. A trip to the Settings and Email Notifications pages will help you decide which updates come to your inbox. For your Groups, you can choose daily or weekly digests or no digest at all. 4. I signed up and nothing happened. If you’ve gone to a conference of any sort, you don’t invite people to come over by just standing in the corner and being quiet. Linkedin is a

The Link: How-To

network of millions of professionals, and you have to take the initiative to reach out and talk to people to get action on Linkedin. You can start, for example, by joining Groups and start discussions with members. 5. Isn’t social media marketing just about Facebook? Facebook and Twitter may take away the game for business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, but it’s more beneficial for business-to-business (B2B) marketers to leverage Linkedin for social media networking. Neal explains that even B2C companies have B2B aspects, such as distributors, alliance partners, vendors, etc., who can be better marketed to on Linkedin. Is Linkedin a Platform for Engagement? By Margie Clayman, as it appeared on the following link »

CONFESSIONS OF A LINKEDIN USER

Some people still think that Linkedin is just a resume site, nothing more. Think again! Margie Clayman’s experience is instructive. Margie related her story about how she found Linkedin. After listening to Linkedin expert Lewis Howes at a conference, she was convinced that Linkedin was worth trying out. And at first, just like anybody who was new to Linkedin, Margie had questions: How do you post status? Is it just like Facebook? Should I ask for recommendations from colleagues I haven’t had contact with for years? Should I link my Twitter account to Linkedin? Eventually, Linkedin indeed serves as a platform for engagement, as Margie discovered. She cites two easy ways on how to engage on Linkedin: 1. Groups. Unlike Twitter, where news feeds fly by you very fast, information sharing within Linkedin Groups is easy to catch up on. And to start sharing and discussing with others, you must first find a group relevant to your industry and join in. 2. The Questions & Answers section. This section is where easy engagement lives. Questions are divided up by industries and sub-divisions within an industry. You just have to answer questions and you might even become a top consultant in that area.

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The Link: How-To

Five Tips For Using Linkedin by Harley Rivet as it appeared on the following link »

WHAT 10 MONTHS ON LINKEDIN CAN DO FOR YOU

What can 10 months of activities on Linkedin can do for you and your business? Harley Rivet has a great story. According to Harley, in less than a year, his activities on Linkedin have resulted in a new client, a speaking opportunity, a job offer, and introductions to other marketing professionals, which led to the establishment of a local marketing association. Plus, he has discovered various best practices! 1. Complete your profile to 100%. Linkedin provides you with a gauge to measure how complete your profile is. To achieve 100% completeness, you have to have profile picture, headline, website, short bio, work history, and a recommendation. You can also use apps to link your blog or Twitter or presentations. 2. Get a recommendation. Your status updates and the recommendations are the most watched items on your profile. Asking for recommendations may be difficult, so why not solicit your closest work friends and colleagues? 3. Add people to your network by using email addresses, advanced search, or joining groups. You can start expanding your Linkedin network by adding your email contacts and Linkedin will tell if they’re on the site already. If they are, look for their contacts and connect with those you can have professional relationships with. You can ask your friend to introduce you. There are also Groups you can join to meet other professionals. 4. Join groups regarding your profession or interests. There are thousands of Groups on Linkedin that you can join. They can be very specific with regard to your industry, as well as specific to a location. If you can’t find the right group, you can start your own Group! 5. Regularly participate in groups, post to discussions, answer questions, and update your status. If you’ve done the first four, then you don’t have any reason to stop. Linkedin is also a social networking site, so you should maintain your business presence. Be present by sharing articles, starting discussions, answering questions, and making introductions.

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The Link: How-To

Your Linkedin Headline Should Say ‘Call me.’ Does yours? By Joan Stewart, as it appeared on the following link » SET YOURSELF APART

Linkedin is teeming with bright ideas. And Joan Stewart had one: set herself apart from everyone else on Linkedin by posting a non-traditional headline that conveyed urgency. She decided that what people should see about her on Linkedin should bring them to action. And that’s exactly what she did. She placed her phone on her headline and used these call-to-action words: “Call me!” Your Linkedin headline is the one- or two-liner text that appears beneath your name and beside your photo. It often tells your current positions or titles. But as Joan suggested, be creative and make your headline standout in a way that works for you.

8 Ways To Use Linkedin Effectively As A B2B Marketing Platform, by Merlin Francis, as it appeared on the following link »

HOW LINKEDIN STAYS “B2B FRIENDLY”

Despite all the success stories about professionals using Linkedin as B2B a marketing platform, many still don’t fully understand how to use Linkedin to their advantage. Fortunately, Merlin Francis put together an infographic to show how individuals, marketers and companies can use Linkedin as an effective B2B marketing platform. As the graphic shows, she has identified eight ways to find uses for the inherent marketing power of Linkedin.

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Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN By John Persinos We take the news pulse of the cybersphere, to rate the good, the bad and the ugly of unfolding events in the world of Linkedin. Of course, our ratings are intended to be strictly subjective—as well as wickedly entertaining. PRIVACY, SCHMIVACY

Linkedin users are justifiably upset that the company has taken the Facebook approach in regards to cyber privacy with a recent change to its formerly strict privacy policy. The professional social network has automatically opted-in its 100 million users into the social advertising program - without informing them of the change beyond a measly blog post. When a Linkedin user views a thirdparty advertisement on the social network, they will see user profile pictures and names of connections if that connection has recommended or followed a brand. Whenever a user follows a brand, they immediately become a cheerleader for the organization if it advertises via Linkedin. Linkedin members like to be connected—not under a marketer’s magnifying glass.

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LINKEDIN REVAMPS MOBILE PHONE APPS

Linkedin’s $9 billion play. See pg. 56

One of the big questions plaguing Linkedin is whether it can get sufficient numbers of users coming back on a frequent basis—not just every few days, but daily or preferably intraday. That’s because members tend to only use the service for job hunting or recruiting. Consequently, Linkedin is unveiling new iPhone, Android and HTML5 mobile apps that reflect the company’s effort to solve that problem. In addition to mobile apps, Linkedin has recently revamped its Groups product and added Linkedin Today, a social news service for professionals to keep track of business-related topics. These initiatives are all designed to make Linkedin more of a habitual, everyday service for professionals. We applaud Linkedin’s innovation; it pushes the envelope for all of social media.

LINKED IN-SECURE

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A cyber security expert warned Linkedin of a serious vulnerability in its code that could expose Linkedin user accounts to hacking, but the social media site apparently pooh-poohed the matter and ignored it. The flaw relates to how the professional networking site manages cookies stored in user computers after they log in to their accounts, according to Rishi Narang, who is based in New Delhi, India. Narang asserted on his blog that unlike other web sites on which cookies typically expire within 24 hours, Linkedin’s “LEO_AUTH_TOKEN” has a validity of one year. This chink in the armor would allow anyone who retrieves the specific file to access that particular user’s account, without log in data. He also questioned in his post why Linkedin keeps the cookie active even after a user has logged out and ends the session. Linkedin responded in a noncommittal way, without specifying what it would do about the alleged security flaw. That’s hardly reassuring to its members. 45

Leveraging Referrals

The Power of Direct Referrals By Laura Rubinstein

Word-of-mouth marketing via social media is an extremely powerful way to boost your business and career. Here’s how to ask for and get a killer recommendation on Linkedin.

inkedin is the best social media platform to present your professional history along with endorsements. No matter what line of work you’re in, having glowing recommendations will serve you well. Plus, in order to have Linkedin consider your profile 100% complete, it must include 3 recommendations. ALL RECOMMENDATIONS, OR ENDORSEMENTS, ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

The best Linkedin recommendations are ones that offer specific results or tell a story of transformation. To request a Linkedin recommendation, you must be connected to the person you want to receive it from. NAVIGATE TO MANAGE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS

When you go to the Profile link on your Linkedin account, you will notice 48

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a Recommendations link drop down. Clicking this leads you to Manage Your Recommendations. This is your opportunity to turn your Linkedin profile into what I call your power resume! Linkedin has a great feature that allows people you are connected with to endorse you. A stream of positive, glowing recommendations can be an excellent catalyst to new jobs, new clients, new traffic. It’s super-important to get them from your Linkedin connections who also have great recommendations. So be selective… sure, recommendations are recommendations, but ones from people with credibility carry a lot more weight – so start with them! And yes, you may have to summon up a little courage to ask for a recommendation. It’s the pinnacle of shameless self-promotion, asking someone to say nice things about you in public. But it has to be done!

THE KEY TO GETTING A GREAT RECOMMENDATION: WRITE IT

THE KILLER RECOMMENDATION FORMULA

When drafting your killer Linkedin Recommendation, include these important keys: 1. Mention your positive character traits (friendly, high integrity, caring, listens well, great teacher, etc.) 2. Share specific results and/or a the change that your service or product produced www.LIandBusiness.com

When asking for a Linkedin recommendation, customize the message with specifics on how you want your contact to recommend you. In fact, make it easy and write it for them and let them know they can adjust it as they want. This will ensure you get more than just the “he/she did a good job and is very easy to work with.” In fact, you are guaranteed to get that killer recommendation only if you write it. Not sure what to write? Do a short poll of your closest friends & colleagues – ask them first, and ask them to list what they view as your best qualities and strengths, or for brief examples of how you may have helped them. (There, you just got some testimonials, wasn’t that easy?)

Also, think about what you helped your client or colleague accomplish. After all, results based recommendations are the strongest endorsements. Did you go “above and beyond”? Is there something you did for this client no one else in your industry does? Did they make a comment of praise along the way, that you can incorporate?

Leveraging Referrals

3. Mention a problem everyone looking for your product/service has, that your contact overcame by using your product/service

3. The results they produced. 4. A statement “I would highly recommend ___ to anyone who wants ____.”

FORMAT FOR YOUR RECOMMENDATION

GREAT LINKEDIN RECOMMENDATION EXAMPLE

A great format for such recommendation includes: 1. The state they were in or the problem they had before using your service, 2. The positive experience they had while working with you,

Here’s an example of a great recommendation I wrote to endorse a professional organizer I worked with: “Before working with Sandra Ateca, my office was truly chaotic and I was overwhelmed and struggling with how to

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Leveraging Referrals

keep track of all the papers and projects I regularly manage. With her calm objective perspective and expert knowledge, Sandra put together some simple, yet highly customized organizing solutions for me. The most important benefit I’ve received by working together with Sandra over time has been the life long lasting organizing skills that I now use every day. Her words of wisdom influence my decisions daily, and as a result my office, projects, and corresponding paperwork are easy to manage. Thanks to Sandra I never lose phone numbers or papers, and I know exactly where to find my most important project information. If you want to be more productive and cut out the clutter completely from your office, hire Sandra immediately. Her services are well worth the success you will achieve with her customized systems.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HOW TO ASK TO BE ENDORSED (WITH YOUR PRE-WRITTEN RECOMMENDATION)

When sending the recommendation request, include a statement like the following: Dear ____, I’m sending this to ask you for a brief recommendation of my work that I can include in my Linkedin profile. It would be great if you could include examples of results you received as a result of working with me. To make this easy for you, here’s a possible draft… feel free to edit this or create your own… [insert your draft of the recommendation] Thanks for your help. To view more sample recommendations, feel free to view the various ones posted on my profile at www.Linkedin.com/in/ laurarubinstein Link with me

Laura Rubinstein is a Social Media and Marketing Strategist, Master Leadership Coach, and co-founder of Social Buzz Club. She works with businesses to develop their positive reputation while improving their bottom line. Social Buzz Club is dedicated to helping small businesses drive traffic through organic syndication of their content via social media influencers. Find her on twitter at @CoachLaura and @SocialBuzzClub. Get your business buzzing at: www.SocialBuzzClub.com E-mail: laura@transformtoday.com

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Business Growth

Here’s why Linkedin is a necessity. See pg. 66

The $9 Billion Powerhouse By John Persinos

Why Linkedin’s windfall success matters to you.

re you Linkedin — or LinkedOut? The fateful day was May 19, 2011, when the world’s obsession with social media exploded in a frenzy on Wall Street, as the shares of Linkedin more than doubled in their first day of trading, setting the table for what many believe will be the inevitable IPOs of other high-tech social media companies. Nevermind the inconvenient fact that Linkedin only generated a profit of $15.4 million last year. Shares of Linkedin opened at $83 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 84% from its IPO price of $45. By the market’s 4:00 p.m. close, the stock had soared 109% to $94.25. At the end of the day, shares of the professional-networking web site was worth about $9 billion (yes, billion), making it the largest Internet IPO since Google’s debut in 2004, creating riches for a coterie of investment bankees, venture 56

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capitalists, Linkedin executives and staff, and anyone else lucky enough to get in on the action early. Does the frenzy around Linkedin indicate that social media is a bubble in search of a pin? Hard to say, with certainty. But one thing is certain: Linkedin’s CEO, Reid Hoffman, is now a billionaire. Another thing is certain, too: Linkedin’s new financial clout makes it an even more powerful marketing platform for you. And yet, many people aren’t paying sufficient attention to Linkedin. According to data from social media analysts who studied the number of times individuals searched for “marketing” and “advertising” along with other major social media sites, only 4% of search for social media marketing was related to Linkedin. If Linkedin wields enough marketing power to be worth nearly $9 billion, then you should funnel at least as much of your

having to worry about invading their personal lives. As of July 2011, Linkedin reported roughly 100 million registered users, encompassing more than 200 countries worldwide. The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and Turkish. Linkedin generates more than 21.4 million monthly unique U.S. visitors and 47.6 million globally, an increase of 63% from the previous year. Now that it sits on a massive post-IPO war chest, Linkedin is making plans to link with other social media sites, beef-up its search engine capabilities, and spread its influence even further. OBJECT OF DESIRE

marketing energy into Linkedin as you do with the other major social media sites. Sure, Twitter is an effective way to inform and engage with passionate sub-cultures on a mass scale. Likewise, Facebook is a marvelous tool for embedding your brand into the daily lives of scores of individuals. However, Linkedin is an unparallel way to credibly and unobtrusively connect with individuals on a professional basis, without www.LIandBusiness.com

THE BILLION-DOLLAR MAN Linkedinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Founder, Reid Hoffman

Linkedin was founded in 2003 by former PayPal executive Reid Hoffman; the company has been the object of desire from deeppocketed Silicon Valley players ever since. Linkedin received its first round of funding in the year of its launch, from Sequoia, the storied venture capital firm that gave Google its financial start.

Business Growth

The big question these days — the $9 billion question, if you will — is what Linkedin plans to do with all of that dough. Linkedin recently acquired CardMunch, a startup that supplies technology that allows users to scan business cards and store the information digitally. Linkedin also has purchased mSpoke and ChoiceVendor. What does it mean for marketing and PR professionals? It means that, when it comes to the professional-networking social-media ABOUT THE AUTHOR

industry, Linkedin plans to settle for nothing less than world domination. Linkedin’s plans for empire also include the employment- and staffing-services business. The company’s grand strategy is to use its newly acquired resources to seamlessly integrate the two realms. So, back to my question in the lede: are you inside the tent, or out? You can’t afford to be in the latter position. Once you’ve mastered the essentials, you’re ready for our case study on page 62.

Link with me

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Business Growth

CASE STUDY:

Hewlett-Packard’s Marketing Goes “Business Class“ By John Persinos

t this magazine, we believe that the case study is the most powerful form of persuasion. Nothing speaks louder than actual, real-life experience.

Here’s a highly instructive example of Linkedin’s massive marketing clout - clout that too many people ignore. You can readily implement these proven tactics, regardless of your company’s size or type of business. Silicon Valley giant Hewlett-Packard was accustomed to advertising via “Old Media”, of course. It was no stranger to trying to get its message across via television, print and even online advertising. But recently, HP decided to make the social media plunge and garner commercial clients — on Linkedin. The goal was straightforward enough: to entice working professionals to recommend HP products and services on a peer-by-peer basis, to rapidly develop an exponentially expanding base of recommendations. HP started by establishing a Linkedin Company page, to interact with professionals in a business paradigm. The company leveraged Linkedin’s recommendation functionality, by inviting

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visitors to its Company Page to discuss, try and hopefully recommend HP products and services. HP then used Linkedin’s Recommendation Ads as a “steroid shot” to boost results. Linkedin’s Company Pages provide any client with a branded home page environment under the general aegis of Linkedin. HP went ahead with a Recommendation Ads campaign that featured actual Linkedin members who had endorsed HP products. The ads urged Linkedin members to visit the HP Company Page on Linkedin,

CASE STUDY:

By using Linkedin, HP has been able to pinpoint with laser-like accuracy the individuals it wants, by industry, job title, geographic location, career longevity, etc. Through its Company Page, HP also is able to provide instantaneous customer support, as well as generate sales leads and revenues. The results speak for themselves. In only two weeks, HP:

✓✓ Racked up 2,000 product

recommendations; ✓✓ Captured 20,000 new followers to its HP Company Page; and ✓✓ Experienced 500,000 “viral” updates posted by followers, concerning HP’s products and services;

recommend HP products and services, and share those recommendations with their own personal business network. The chart shows the efficacy of this campaign. Today, the H-P Company Page has more than 301,000 followers.

The upshot is that HP created thousands of influential “brand advocates” in a mere two weeks’ time. Third-party validation is the most persuasive form of marketing, and what HP has accomplished on Linkedin is to create strong advocacy, engagement, positive sentiment and a continual human conversation centered on all facets of the HP brand.

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Marketing Tactics

THE ESSENTIAL GLOBAL CONNECTION Here’s why Linkedin is a necessity for doing business — and how to get the most out of it.

By Neal Schaffer

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THE JOB-SEEKER MISCONCEPTION

If you think Linkedin is just for job seekers and recruiters, you are missing out on an important business opportunity. A look at the top 15 industries represented

found, can non-paying Linkedin members easily contact them? No other tool makes it as easy to connect to decision makers. Search, find, and ask for an introduction. To simplify the process, Linkedin gives you tools to www.LIandBusiness.com

y now, you probably know that on Linkedin reveals that, even with the Linkedin is the world’s premier social combined number of users who categorize networking site that is devoted solely their profiles under human resources or to professionals. While you might find some staffing and recruitment, these industries profiles set up by college students when do not make the list. Based on this statistic, doing a search, an overwhelming majority of recruiters make up only about one percent users are professionals. of all Linkedin users, which means that the In fact, Linkedin’s 115+ million members majority of networking done on Linkedin is include an executive from every Fortune 500 not related to job searches at all. company. This means there is no other social If you’re still not convinced that Linkedin networking site offers value for where you have “If you think Linkedin is just for your company, a greater chance I’d ask you of being able to job seekers and recruiters, you to consider interact with are missing out on an important these two key an influential points on why decision maker. business opportunity.“ representation Though many and social media marketers concentrate their engagement on Linkedin is critical for any efforts on Facebook or Twitter, Linkedin business: remains the best social networking site to market your business-to-business (B2B) ✓✓ Linkedin profiles and “Companies products and services because of this special Pages” are free Yellow Pages. demographic. Linkedin is also important for business-to-consumer (B2C) companies; Many businesses and professionals are not only are wealthy consumers members using Linkedin as they would the phone of Linkedin (the average Linkedin user book, looking for experienced, qualified, has an annual income over $100,000, a and recommended service providers, statement no other social networking site has businesses, and professionals. When claimed to date), but also B2C companies someone needs insight or information about have B2B marketing initiatives that involve your industry, is your company or sales distributors, partners, and strategic alliances. personnel being found? And if they are

Marketing Tactics

conveniently facilitate this every step of the way. Considering how easy it is to network with others on Linkedin, you may wonder what business development professionals did before its creation. You can gain mindshare with potential customers. Companies invest in search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing to help potential customers find them online, and they use email marketing to help gain mindshare with clients on a regular basis. With the time, effort, and money spent to reach potential and current customers, it only makes sense to maintain a presence on Linkedin, which is currently the 11th most visited site in the United States and 13th most visited 68

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website in the world, so that your company, products, and employees are the hot topics in your industry. â&#x153;&#x201C;â&#x153;&#x201C; Linkedin has become an increasingly

important source of business intelligence.

With so many professionals having so many conversations and sharing so much information about themselves via their profiles on Linkedin, platforms such as Linkedin Companies and applications such as Linkedin Signal are now providing a unique source of business intelligence for free, some of which cannot even be found on paid services such as Hoovers or OneSource.

LINKEDIN VS. FACEBOOK: WHICH IS RIGHT FOR YOUR COMPANY?

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Early in my social media consulting career, I received a request for a proposal from a niche B2B software company. The director of marketing stated that her company had already started utilizing social media, and when I asked what they had done, she mentioned that they had created a Facebook Fan Page. Sigh. Successful social media marketing is about knowing where your customers are and establishing a presence there. It is clear that professionals from all demographics are spending a great deal of time with social media, and that Facebook is the main networking site where we spend-or

waste-our time. However, simply because many people are on Facebook doesn’t mean it’s the best use of time and effort for businesses. If you asked most people what they use certain social networking channels for, they would likely say that Facebook is for private use and Linkedin is for business. That is, most people—including the decision makers with whom you want to connect—use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family. Linkedin, on the other hand, is viewed by professionals as a trusted place to network. Not only is the perceived purpose of each site different, but so is the demographic; many more-experienced professionals are not represented on Facebook, and those that are don’t engage on fan pages as much. Linkedin may have fewer users, but the professional mindset and ability to network with other people who are on the site for the same reason makes Linkedin a much more valuable tool for B2B companies than Facebook. Admittedly, there are many similarities between Facebook and Linkedin. For example, both Facebook and Linkedin offer platforms so that people can become a part of a business’ community. On Facebook these are called fan pages, and on Linkedin these are called companies pages. Facebook Fan Pages allow people to interact via wall postings while Linkedin Companies Pages allow professionals to recommend company products and services as well as add comments to their recommendations. Linkedin followers can see who in their network made what company recommendations just as Facebook

Marketing Tactics

users can see which of their friends like certain pages. Facebook Fan Pages offer insights and Linkedin Companies Pages offer analytics. Linkedin has a widget that allows anyone to recommend your products and services on Linkedin from any website, which is similar to Facebook Social Plugins. However, a closer comparison of the two platforms demonstrates how Linkedin provides better B2B business opportunities than Facebook: Linkedin allows for more targeted professional community-building. Just as you can create an ad on Facebook prompting consumers to “like” your page, similar ads on Linkedin beckon professionals to “recommend” products and services. Above and beyond recommending a business, though, Linkedin’s feature to 72

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follow a company allows you to “like” it simply by following it. As a result, these follower numbers have grown over time and companies such as Hewlett-Packard have (at the time of writing this book) amassed more than 250,000 followers. Compare this to the 280,000 fans HP’s Facebook Page has. Though the Linkedin Companies Page for HP has slightly fewer followers than its Facebook Fan Page, those following the Linkedin page are much more relevant to the business aspect of the company simply due to the professional demographic of Linkedin. Linkedin allows for more robust interaction between companies and followers. On Facebook, businesses are fairly restricted to fan pages, but Linkedin offers the ability to build a public community

allow for specific content control. However, Linkedin has several moderation tools built into the groups that allow for granular detail regarding who can post what. For instance, the process for Linkedin Group administrators to search through members, see when they joined the group, add them as managers, delete them, or delete and block them is simple. Facebook does not offer this extensive collection of features. In this respect, Linkedin Groups are at the cutting edge of community management on any social media site. Public access allows for greater engagement with interested people and increased visibility. Up until recently, Facebook Fan Pages had been the open arena in which people could engage. Previously, the problem with Linkedin Groups was that they were www.LIandBusiness.com

of professionals with Linkedin Groups in addition to the company page functionality. Having a Linkedin Group offers distinct advantages over a Facebook Fan Page; content from the outside world, including your website, can be shared directly in Linkedin Groups with the Linkedin share button, which can now be easily embedded into websites just as Twitter’s retweet and Facebook’s share buttons are. Linkedin’s button is the more comprehensive feature, however, because it allows you to share website content on your profile as well as directly to Linkedin Groups. Linkedin offers better page management tools. Many Facebook Fan Page administrators have problems managing their pages efficiently because settings don’t

Marketing Tactics

private worlds; unless you were a member of that group, you couldn’t see inside it. The openness of Facebook Pages and the associated potential SEO benefits attracted companies to create pages and send more advertising revenue to Facebook. However, Linkedin recently began to allow existing groups to become public and new publiconly groups to be created. It’s worth noting that the largest Linkedin Group at the time of this writing, Job Openings, Job Leads and Job Connections!, had approximately 417,000 members, while Facebook’s own page had more than 41,000,000 fans. However, the number of Linkedin Groups (more than 930,000 ) was 74

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almost twice that of the 500,000+ Facebook Pages. As more of the legacy Linkedin Groups go public, they will flood the search engines with enough content to rival that of Facebook in due time. An increasing number of group discussions will come up in long tail search results, which will drive more traffic to Linkedin and result in higher membership numbers in groups. Now that Facebook Fan Pages and public Linkedin Groups offer virtually the same benefits regarding SEO and visibility, there is little reason for companies not to be active on Linkedin. Group members are allowed more room for in-depth conversation. The engagement on

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Marketing Tactics

Linkedin Groups is significant because there is a lot of room for discussion; users are not confined to small status update boxes such as those used on Facebook. Furthermore, Linkedin Groups offer daily and weekly digests so that followers can stay on top of discussions through email, a feature lacking with Facebook Pages. The fact that you’re reading this magazine means you already understand the sales and marketing potential of the Linkedin platform and demographic. In 2011, we are already seeing signs that many marketers, especially those in B2B industries, are starting to realize this. A recent report indicated that B2B marketers use Linkedin more than Facebook for marketing as well as for socializing. There is no question that for an increasing number of companies, Linkedin is the preferred social media channel for business. Linkedin’s recent initial public offering will only increase the number of businesses and professionals flocking to and utilizing its platform.

LINKEDIN AS THE VIRTUAL INDUSTRY EVENT OF THE YEAR ... 24/7

Now that we’ve established how Linkedin ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Facebook or Linkedin: Which is best? See pg. 78

can assist you and your company, it’s important to note that utilizing it effectively to develop business for your company in a social networking environment is not an easy task. Traditional Internet marketing methods such as sending out a lot of invites to key targets and opting them into mailing lists will be met with Linkedin account restrictions and a plethora of spam reports back to your email provider. But if we think about Linkedin as a virtual trade show, we can see the types of opportunities available. Instead of waiting for your annual industry trade show or even monthly chamber of commerce meeting, check to see if the people you would connect with in person are active on the Linkedin platform. This virtual trade show is happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it is a truly global event with membership from more than 200 countries. Don’t you want to market your company at this ultimate event? Link with me

Neal Schaffer is the author of two books on Linkedin, including his recently published Maximizing Linkedin for Sales and Social Media Marketing. Neal is also a frequent social media speaker as well as President of Windmills Marketing, a social media strategy consulting practice based in Irvine, California. Neal graduated from Amherst College and is also fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. Find out more about Neal at his Windmill Networking website and blog http://windmillnetworking.com

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Marketing Tactics

CASE STUDY:

Linkedin Groups Versus Facebook Fan Pages

Which is best for business purposes?

By Neal Schaffer

hile speaking about the difference between Linkedin and Facebook, I was happy to learn about a B2C company that realized Linkedin was a good supplement to its Facebook strategy. This company, like many, realized that, while its consumers were on Facebook, its business partners were on Linkedin—and these potential business partners are open to being “sold to” as long as you provide them value.

BACKGROUND

Kelly Ducey and her husband own the popular and quickly growing Irish Dog Bloody Mary Mix, located in Moline, Illinois. Irish Dog is a gluten-free, secret family recipe that they perfected and made by request for family and friends for years. They discovered there was a wider market for the product, however, so Ducey and her husband went into business 15 months ago, and, in that time, they have sold just over 55,000 bottles and grown from one HyVee food store distributor in Moline to 25 distributors across 17 states. The couple has primarily used progressive and innovative social media marketing efforts to grow the business and pick up new

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distributors, states, and fans. As part of this strategy, Ducey and her husband have joined groups on Linkedin and posted newsworthy updates sparking interest from customers and new distributors. They made a very conscious choice to concentrate their efforts on Linkedin rather than solely working with Facebook. “In my experience (of) using both Facebook and Linkedin, people don’t like to be ‘sold’ on Facebook,” Ducey said. “It’s more of a social interaction site where people like to be a part of something.” That is, people on Facebook like to be updated on company happenings, involved

Read our publisher’s manifesto! See pg. 90

product to the consumers.” WHAT HAPPENED

Ducey signed up for several Linkedin Groups that were specific to her company’s industry or product, such as Beverage Executives USA, Spirits & Liquors, Wine and Spirits Professionals, and F&B Professionals, and posted newsworthy tidbits about Irish Dog. “My initial postings were something like, ‘Quickly growing Bloody Mary company seeking distributors nationwide. Visit www. drinkirishdog.com for more info!’” Ducey said. “I would post and then get several emails from people interested in learning more or wanting

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in socializing with others who use a particular product, and kept in the loop on events and promotions, but they aren’t interested in a sales pitch. As a more business-oriented site, Linkedin is the better place for this type of interaction. In addition, Linkedin allows business owners to target distributors or people in certain markets within the groups. “Facebook limits you to your already-existing fans unless you want to place an ad, which wasn’t right for us,” Ducey said. “Facebook allows us to target our consumers. However, Linkedin allows us to target the companies and distributors who would be picking up or wholesaling our

Marketing Tactics

These posts received several responses as well as interest from distributors who wanted to sample and carry the product. “My postings also generate some online orders from consumers, and many have turned into raving fans that have reordered many times since there are no distributors in their areas yet,” Ducey said. After gaining distributors in certain markets, Ducey also joined groups that applied to those markets, such as LinkedAtlanta, and let people know that the award-winning Irish Dog product was now available in their area. “Basically, I just keep people updated to sample or carry our product. I sent out a lot of free product from those postings—and still with mini press releases each time we do—and gained three of our initial distributors have something newsworthy to post,” said that way through Linkedin for the entire states Ducey. “Most recently, I posted about our partnership with Brown Dog Foundation and of Missouri, Texas, and Colorado.” that a portion of each bottle of Irish Dog sold Active participation in these Linkedin Groups also greatly spread awareness about is donated to Brown Dog. I also joined some pet-friendly groups to target those people Irish Dog. After the company gained some who would really appreciate our partnership distributors and started expanding into with Brown Dog.” other states, Ducey posted updates such as, ‘Irish Dog is now in eight states after our first year in business,’ or, ‘Irish Dog is now in SUMMARY 18 states in a year and a half,’ which also got Ducey and her husband have found that a lot of response. when they are active on Linkedin, it generates She also posted updates in her typical up to 27 percent of their website traffic. More groups as well as on several beer sites after the importantly, the distributors they found via company won its first award in September Linkedin currently represent 25 percent of 2010 when it partnered with Budweiser. their business. 80

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Professional Development

REALITY CHECK The best-selling author shows you how to “keep it real” in the virtual age. By Dan Millman

FIRST, SOME PERSPECTIVE… In the context of human history, social media — a natural evolution of the Internet age — appeared like an explosion in the human psyche. We’re still reeling from its effects, even as we do our best to stay ahead of the curve, or at least ride that cuttingedge of the waves of change. New programs, apps, smart devices — who knows what will follow — ear-insets or embedded chips that propel us toward a virtual life in The Cloud? The purpose of my column, and the text, video, and audio reminders provide a grounded perspective about Real Life Here on Earth. Let’s use technology, but not let it use us. Our biology has been around far longer than our technology. So even as the pace of life, and access to information, grows exponentially, let’s take a deep breath, relax back into (the rest of) our body, and remember where we live — here and now. 84

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Other contributors to this magazine will provide you with insights and perspectives about Linkedin and how to make the best use of it in service of your goals. My aim is to bring you back to your center, to support your health, reduce stress, and address some of life’s core issues that all of us face. Mark Twain once said, “I’ve had many troubles in my life — most of which never happened.” Profound words that may bring a smile, because most of us get lost in (cyber) space, forgetting the essential

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beautify of the here and now, even as we rocket ahead at digital-light speed, interconnecting, networking (in every sense of the word), and reaching out to others in mutual support. If we view our Earth as a living creature, floating in space — and ourselves as a part of that body — we can grasp the vision of the Internet as the nervous system of our planet. Our ever-increasing connection represents an evolutionary leap of this Organism we call “Earth.” What a wonder

we are part of! And it may do us good, now and then, to contemplate that wonder, that bigger-picture, so that we don’t become preoccupied with “how am I going to use Linkedin to get my start-up off the ground / promote my book / build my platform?” When I was a coach at Stanford University, and later working with professional athletes and Olympians, I would remind the athletes: Don’t simply dedicate your life to your sport; rather, dedicate your sport to your life. I would offer that same advice to you regarding Linkedin. This phenomenal social network avenue is a tool. Use it wisely and in moderation. Focus on quality rather than quantity. Remember your deeper, larger mission that gives meaning to your posts and outreach. It’s not just about making a living, or gathering friends — it’s about making a life online and offline (we call it the Real World). In that real world, we each face challenges that are part of the “spiritual weighttraining” in everyday life. By doing regular, moderate exercise, eating a balanced, nutritious diet, and getting enough rest, we are able to better face and move through the issues that rise and fall like waves. (We can’t predict or control them, but we can learn to surf.) In this first issue of LI & Business magazine, I’ll offer multi-media guidance and reminders about some of life’s core

Professional Development

issues, in support of your growth and wisdom, so that you can make better use not only of Linkedin, but of all the changing opportunities and innovations that come our way. We begin this column with a two-part, 5-minute video on a universal topic relevant to us all, to help anyone face each day with a peaceful heart and a warrior’s spirit. I welcome your comments or questions: pw@danmillman.com.

your career directions and priorities? How can you make the most secure, educated choices — ones you can look back on and do a fist pump in the air! In this first video tutorial I offer some reminders (about things you already know at deeper levels, but tend to forget). I present, to help you get really linked into your life: Making Clear Decisions.

MAKING CLEAR DECISIONS Choice means giving up something you want . . . for something else you want more. We make such choices, large or small, every day. Some decisions are based on careful consideration; others at the flip of a mental coin. We analyze, weigh variables, or just go with an intuitive leap of faith (which may be, as you will learn in this two-part video tutorial, the wisest choice of all). Someone wants to join you on Linkedin — you have a choice to make. Is it the right one? How do you know? And what about

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

You may have seen this story in one of our other magazines. This is not a mistake. Some information is so relevant that it bears repeating...and maybe even re-reading.

Link with me

Dan Millman — a former world champion athlete, Stanford coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor — is author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior (adapted to film with Nick Nolte in 2006), and 14 other books read by millions of people in 29 languages. Dan teaches worldwide and has influenced people from all walks of life, including leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics, sports, entertainment and the arts. Dan and his wife, Joy, live in Northern California. His most recent book is The Four Purposes of Life. www.peacefulwarrior.com

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Publisher’s Note

Our Manifesto for LI&Business

By Larry Genkin, Founder & Publisher

“Internetization” (to coin a phrase) is one of the major inflection points in the history of business. As with manufacturers who, at the turn of the century, failed to embrace automation, companies today that don’t migrate fully to embrace the Internet, and all it offers, will find themselves at a critical, and likely fatal, competitive disadvantage to those that do.

nd, to many in business today, using the Internet is nearly synonymous to using social media and, in specific, its four largest services: Google, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. To illustrate how ubiquitous and important these social media services have become, you just need to compare it to the technology adoption 90

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cycle of other major media/business tools. For example, it took 37 years for radio to reach 50 million listeners, 34 years for the telephone to have 50 million customers and 13 years for television to reach 50 million viewers. By comparison today, Linkedin (the smallest of the four services) in just 8 years, has over 100 million users. Twitter, in less than 5 years, has

ӹӹ Linkedin’s stock price and subsequent market

capitalization ӹӹ Facebook’s privacy issues ӹӹ Google’s algorithmic modifications ӹӹ Twitter’s acquisitions or new policies THEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM.

The kind of content published is primarily news about the specific service/company.

While potentially valuable to an investor or tech geek, this “news” is inherently not useful to a business person looking to use these services for their restaurant, consulting firm, dental practice or other kind of business. These business people need substantive, actionable, how-to information that teaches them precisely how to utilize these powerful services to enhance their businesses. The problem is that this kind of information is not easily available in one place ... until now. Each of our social media magazines will solve this problem by finding the best content available, wherever it currently resides (and in whatever format, whether it’s written, audio or video) and make it easily accessible. Most importantly, we’ll make it USABLE for business people everywhere. There are three factors that distinguish our editorial from the plethora of social media content that is spawned daily in the media. 1

It’s Exclusively For Business People

In the early days, social media was dominated by tech geeks, music hipsters and teenage girls gossiping about their latest crush. They would all hate our magazines. We don’t talk about the IP protocols that make social media work. We don’t share any www.LIandBusiness.com

over 200 million. Facebook, in less than 7 years, has over 750 million (roughly 1 out of every 12 people on the planet have a Facebook account). And Google, founded in 1998, has more users than Facebook. These are hugely important services for business, because today social media is impacting every single aspect of the enterprise. From sales, marketing and PR to HR and investor relations, no corporate function remains untouched. However, because these services are so new and are evolving so rapidly, most businesses don’t fully know how to utilize them. And those that do are constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve, which is not easy given all of the rapid changes as these services roll out new functionality at a remarkably staggering pace. These services are far from “under the radar.” Mainstream media covers Google, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter extensively everyday. Typical coverage will be stories like:

Publisher’s Note

tips on cool new bands. And we wouldn’t recognize Justin Bieber if we stumbled across him at a Jonas Brothers concert. We are all about business. Specifically, how business people can use Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin & Google to help their businesses succeed.

ӹӹ Mari Smith (fb & Business): Recognized

as the world’s leading expert on Facebook for business. ӹӹ Nathan Kievman (LI & Business): Recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on Linkedin.

The “unifying intelligence,” if you will, 2 It’s Not Necessarily The News is provided by one of the most seasoned professional journalists that I know: John Today, the vast majority of information Persinos. As our Editorial Director, John written on social media is utterly useless to a ensures the highest possible journalistic business person. standards for all of our magazines. Dozens upon dozens of stories are published 3 We get our experts to tap their vast daily on topics related to social media that are interesting for an analyst or investor, but a network of thought leaders to get the waste of time for a business person. best and brightest minds on social media Our editorial is not about news. It’s about creating content for us. “HOW-TO.” Specifically how business 4 Our editorial staff scours the Internet people can use Google, Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook to make their businesses daily to find great content. We don’t suffer better, stronger and faster. (Maybe even from “not created here” syndrome. Our only thinner and more attractive.) litmus test is: Is it great content? If it is, we’ll make it available to our millions of readers. HERE’S OUR APPROACH: 5 Today this approach may be cuttingWe start by heading our magazines with edge. In the future, we believe it will be editors who are world-class experts: obvious that this is how all magazines should be created. ӹӹ Jay Abraham (The Big G & Business): The highest paid marketing consultant in the world—$5,000 per hour—and recognized by Success magazine as “possibly the greatest marketing expert alive today.” ӹӹ Jeffrey Hayzlett (Tweeting & Business): Former CMO of Kodak, largely credited Larry Genkin, for their turnaround. One of the top 10 Founder & Publisher C-Level tweeters in the world. 92

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