Today I gave a presentation to small group of women over lunch at a local restaurant. We meet as a Marketing & Sales SIG that's part of a larger organization, The Rochester Women's Network (RWN), once a month to network and to learn from different speakers on marketing related topics. Back in February one women in our group gave a good overview presentation on social media and the networks, but was only able to touch upon them in a brief hour. The group wanted specifically more information on LinkedIn, so I volunteered.
Now everyone there today was already on LinkedIn, but some still new to it while others were more veterans. I knew I would have a wide audience range as far as their knowledge on the network so I focused on the basics with a few new features thrown in. Since we're a networking group I titled the presentation, "Online Networking; Getting the Most from LinkedIn". So, I thought I'd share with you some of the highlights. Even though LinkedIn isn't as sexy right now as Twitter, it's still the #1 social network for business and a refresher course isn't a bad thing for any of us.
I started out stating that social media today can be the most cost-effective way to build your personal brand and to grow your business. However as with any type of networking, online or off, you get back what you put into it.
I recently read an interview with Steve Patrizi, LinkedIn Head of Ad Sales, that was written by Mark Post on Media Post. Here I found this description of the big
three social networks that I thought was so simple and clear that I stole it for my presentation... "MySpace is the bar, Facebook is the backyard barbecue, where you have friends and family and may invite some close business colleagues, and LinkedIn is the office".
LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with more than 38 million members whose average age is 41 and household
income is $110,000. It is growing rapidly and expected to double to as high as 70 million by the end of 2009. They will be celebrating their 6th anniversary this May, so you can see how fast it has grown. In a nutshell what Linkedin does is help people exchange knowledge, ideas and opportunities with their trusted contacts.
LinkedIn is the new resume. Your LinkedIn Profile becomes your Professional online brand. It gives people the room and breadth to bring their resume to life online and allows them to tell a story and not just list bullet points about their accomplishments. This online resume is now searchable to the millions of people that search both in LinkedIn and online in general.
So after this introduction I went through a tutorial using My LinkedIn profile and pages to visually show the group how to get "LinkedIn". I started with how to fill out your profile, then moved on to getting connections, to joining groups, adding applications, getting and receiving recommendations, and the Q&A section. The beginners asked many questions and the more familiar added their insights to the discussion.
We had quite a bit of conversation around proper etiquette and manners. Is it okay to not accept an invitation by someone you don't know or someone that is a competitor and may just want your connections. It comes down to the individual's personal decision and depends on the situation. There is no real right or wrong.
So overall I think we all learned a few things (including myself), enjoyed ourselves and all got to know each other a little better by the end of the luncheon. Hey, that's what this networking is all about, right?