Social Media for Consultants

Here's why to optimize your LinkedIn presence

In my long quest to harness LinkedIn for greater business and professional success, I have come up with some compelling statistics that I think are worth sharing with others who have an interest in using social media to attain goals.

The LinkedIn Empire is huge and growing:¹

• 187 million members
• 10 to 15 million added per quarter
• 21.4 million monthly U.S. visitors 
• 47.6 million monthly global visitors

Connected LinkedIn members (with 500+ connections) benefit most.² They get more:

• Invitations to meet and to functions
• Introductions to others
• References, referrals and recommendations
• Valuable information
• Job and business offers

LinkedIn is where recruiters hunt:³

• 93% use LinkedIn to find qualified candidates
• 65% have hired a person through LinkedIn
• 616 people are in the average recruiter’s network
• 18.5 more are added weekly
• 28% of recruiters have 1000+ connections

LinkedIn is where the job action is:³

• 5.7X more views per job LinkedIn vs. Facebook
• 3X more views per job LinkedIn vs. Twitter
• 8.8X more applications per job LinkedIn vs. Facebook
• 3X more applications per job LinkedIn vs. Twitter

So why is that you are not achieving more by optimizing your business and professional presence, as well as the presence of your associates and clients, on LinkedIn?

1 Sources: Quantcast and LinkedIn

2 Source: Forrest Consulting 2012 LinkedIn Success Survey

3 Source: Jobvite.com

Here's why to optimize your LinkedIn presence

In my long quest to harness LinkedIn for greater business and professional success, I have come up with some compelling statistics that I think are worth sharing with others who have an interest in using social media to attain goals.

The LinkedIn Empire is huge and growing:¹

• 187 million members
• 10 to 15 million added per quarter
• 21.4 million monthly U.S. visitors 
• 47.6 million monthly global visitors

Connected LinkedIn members (with 500+ connections) benefit most.² They get more:

• Invitations to meet and to functions
• Introductions to others
• References, referrals and recommendations
• Valuable information
• Job and business offers

LinkedIn is where recruiters hunt:³

• 93% use LinkedIn to find qualified candidates
• 65% have hired a person through LinkedIn
• 616 people are in the average recruiter’s network
• 18.5 more are added weekly
• 28% of recruiters have 1000+ connections

LinkedIn is where the job action is:³

• 5.7X more views per job LinkedIn vs. Facebook
• 3X more views per job LinkedIn vs. Twitter
• 8.8X more applications per job LinkedIn vs. Facebook
• 3X more applications per job LinkedIn vs. Twitter

So why is that you are not achieving more by optimizing your business and professional presence, as well as the presence of your associates and clients, on LinkedIn?

1 Sources: Quantcast and LinkedIn

2 Source: Forrest Consulting 2012 LinkedIn Success Survey

3 Source: Jobvite.com

Use HootSuite to relink LinkedIn and Twitter

"UPDATE LinkedIn announced via a blog post on Friday that Twitter would no longer be partnering with the business-networking site to sync updates from one site to the other.

This ends a partnership that began in 2009. LinkedIn users can still create updates on the site and click a button to share to Twitter as well, but the the reverse is no longer possible."

The recent action of Twitter as reported in Mashable has generated significant discussion on the Internet, with many seeing it as bad news for LinkedIn. Certainly the integration of the two platforms was useful for those of us who use both Twitter and LinkedIn to communicate with our connections and share content to advance our interests.

I've written a previous post about sharing my Twitter steam on my LinkedIn profile for professional purposes, to provide or share content and thinking on strategic planning, marketing and other business topics where I can add to the conversation, learn from others similarly engaged, and even offer a little thought leadership.

Never fear.  Despite the chirping about Twitter's action, you can still easily cross-post to multiple social media platforms - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ - quickly and easily.

For me the answer is to use HootSuite for posting/tweeting.  You can configure this free tool (that is, free unless you want to tap even more sophisticated features for managing your social interaction than I will mention here) to display your social streams - Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook in the example I will offer - and you can write one message and post it in one simple action on all of these streams.

What you post will go out as a Tweet, will show up as an update to your LinkedIn connections, and as a status update on Facebook visible to your Facebook friends.  You can also "deselect" a platform for any message you are sending if you want to exclude an audience - say, your Facebook friends.

Here's s view of the HootSuite page that shows my LinkedIn update stream but also shows tabs for my other streams, as well as the "magic box" for creating messages and cross-posting them:

 

When you click in the "compose message" box, it expands and also offers you a place to paste in and shorten a link to include in your message.

Here's a message with a link pasted into the "shortening" box:

And here's what the message looks like after I have pressed the "shrink" button to shorten and insert the URL to the post I want to share across platforms:

Now I can move the right and select where I want this message to appear.  Here's what it looks like if "Select All" is clicked; green check marks show where the message will be posted:

When I click "send now," the message will be broadcast across my selected social networks.  In this case, all my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook connections will know about how to use HootSuite to relink LinkedIn and Twitter.  Easy peasy!

 

 

Be a LinkedIn "connector" to build your practice

We have evidence that good things can come from getting serious about using LinkedIn, benefits that can build your consulting practice.

Several weeks ago we issued our 2012 LinkedIn Success Survey. Now we have the results.

The response offers insight on how consultants can get greater value from LinkedIn. You can get a free copy of the 2012 LinkedIn Success Survey Report now. Click here to download a nine-page executive summary and 26 pages of detailed results.

Here's a taste of what the report offers, 10 things we learned or confirmed from LinkedIn "connectors" (people with 500 or more contacts) and LinkedIn "users" (people with fewer than 500 contacts):

1.  It takes time and attention to become a connector.
2. No need to pay to grow the network.
3. Engagement is important.
4. For a larger network, seek connections (it won't come to you).
5. Be open but discerning in adding contacts.
6. The form of the "ask" and frequency of profile updates don't affect network size.
7. Overall, the connected see more value in the network.
8. Be better connected to get more of whatever you want from the network.
9. To gain benefits, be proactive (ask!) as well as being connected.
10. The connected see value in "taking it real."

Looking a little deeper, the data show the difference in what one gets from being connected and active on LinkedIn versus being less connected and less active. 

Indeed, connectors are significantly more active. On average, they spend more time per week on LinkedIn than users:

Connectors

Users

In their approach to LinkedIn, Connectors categorize themselves as much more likely to be active or assertive than passive, inactive or even inert in their use of LinkedIn:

Connectors   

Users

Here is what connectors say they has come to them through their activity and connections on LinkedIn:

Connectors                                                                                        

• 72% have been invited by a contact to meet    
• 74% have been invited to a worthwhile event or function   
• 72% have given a contact valuable information                 
• 62% have received an unsolicited business or job referral, reference or recommendation    
• 80% have been asked to give a referral, reference or recommendation   
• 38% have received a business offer                                        
• 74% have been connected by a contact with another contact for mutual benefit        

To get this level of benefit, connectors are proactive:

Connectors                                                                                        

• 61% have sought and obtained a meeting    
• 57% have invited a contact to a function or event            
• 75% have gained valuable information                                  
• 67% have sought and received a referral, reference or recommendation
• 77% have given a contact a referral                                         
• 18% have made a business offer                        
• 78% have brought together contacts                                     

Ask yourself, are you an active connector on LinkedIn?  Are you seeking potentially helpful contacts and are you engaging with contacts for mutual benefit?  If not, why not?  Our evidence suggests that the benefits that can come from being a connector will help you build your consulting practice.

What's your e-presence?

It's more than a full-time job to promote a consulting practice, keep communications going with clients, prospects, associates and other important contacts, and create content and make it available to the world.

I am struck by how the tools I use and my presence in the social media, web and e-communications space have grown.  Just in the last year I've added:

• Pinterest.
• Google+.
• A second website for my consulting practice.
• This blog.
• A business site on LinkedIn.
• A second YouTube channel.

I have hardly maximized use of these and other resources.  In some areas I am sorely lacking.  For instance, I have no Facebook business page and only have a few YouTube videos posted.  What I have made greatest use of is LinkedIn, where I am approaching 1,200 contacts and come up at or near the top on important keywords to my practice and skill set.

From time to time I have taken to amassing the information about my social media, web and e-communications presence in a handy one-page visual.  This helps me see my global e-presence, my progress over time and where I have gaps to address.  In fact, I have coined a term to describe this look at e-presence: Sociatecture, meaning the architecture of how I occupy the social media, web and e-communications space.

Here's my most recent Sociatecture chart:

You might want to chart your Sociatecture.  I'll bet your e-presence is more than you think, and yet I'll also bet that you will be struck by how much more you can and should do to enhance that presence to gain attention, build a following and grow your consulting practice.

The real social network

Last fall I attended a University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni dinner at which Ronald Burt, Professor of Sociology and Strategy, presented research on the value of "real" social networking - that is, building contacts among individuals. 

Burt's work shows people with ties between disparate groups of people - "network entrepreneurs" or brokers - engage in "network arbitrage" by transferring knowledge.  They are exposed to an "increased risk of productive accident" and typically are higher paid and more successful.  

Burt says "network entrepreneurs" on average are 50% more successful than those who do not engage in such brokering but just interact with individuals like themselves. "Wealth accumulates among the bridges" between networks, explains Burt.  He says the key question is, "Are you targeting productive connections?" Chicago Booth's faculty website offers a survey of Burt's recent research.

Burt's work was just cited in a Fast Company blog post, "The Unexpected Way To Use Your Social Network Strategically," by Don Peppers.  Peppers writes about "the strength of weak ties," interacting with more distant contacts rather than close ones, and cites evidence that doing so will:

• Uncover more job leads for job seekers.
• Find more investors for venture capital firms.
• Develop more leads for businesses.
• Generate more creative ideas.

Thinking about Burt's work and "the strength of weak ties" leads me to view a LinkedIn Labs application I've just discovered in a new light.  LinkedIn Labs' map feature lets you view your LinkedIn connections in a visual way.  Here's my network viewed through the map application:

Note the clusters of my connections (as labeled by me in the application):

• People in the fence deck and railing industry, which I mostly recently served as trade association executive director (dark blue).
• Members of my church (purple).
• Fellow triathletes (light blue).
• My consulting and other career connections (grey).
• My business connections (dark red).
• Fellow residents of Glen Ellyn, IL (orange).
• Members of the DNA networking group (green).

(My family is a grey sub-cluster at the "southeast" edge of the map.)

I am a bridge between these clusters. Burt's work leads me to ponder whom I can connect across these clusters to help them and to broker information and business for my benefit?

The map application has more power than is immediately apparent.  If you click on a dot you will see who the connection is, who they are connected to and where they engage in "network arbitrage" among your clusters.  Here's an example from my network:

I am thinking I need to further explore the map to identify the individuals in my LinkedIn connections who are the true "network entrepreneurs" and strengthen relationships with them.  They, in turn, can help me connect with more disparate groups and add to my ability to broker information and gain business through my network.

Keep your cocktail party and professional tweets separate

Update: In July 2012, Twitter cut the link with LinkedIn.  No longer can a user of both Twitter and LinkedIn have their Tweets - whether selective or all - automatically show on their LinkedIn home page. (We'll address an easy "work-around" in an upcoming blog post, however.)

A current discussion in the LinkedIn group "On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs" is addressing how to use LinkedIn use for entrepreneurial businesses.  One recommendation is to tie your Twitter feed to LinkedIn so your tweets appear on your LinkedIn profile.

Being an entrepeneur and consultant, I have done this.  Here's how my most recent tweet looks on my profile page:

However, a group member commented that she would never put her Twitter steam on her LinkedIn profile because she "would never combine a cocktail party with a job interview."

For me that's not an issue, because I only use Twitter for professional purposes, to provide or share content and thinking on strategic planning, marketing and other business topics where I can add to the conversation, learn from others similarly engaged, and even offer a little thought leadership.

Yet, even if I did mix my professional tweets with "cocktail party conversation" tweets on Twitter, I could separate the conversations so that only my professional tweets show on my LinkedIn page.

The secret?  Use Twitter's hashtag feature.

First, here's how to add your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile page.  Go to "Profile" and click “Edit My Profile.” Then click “Add Twitter account” next to the Twitter label toward the bottom of the box that summarizes your employment, education, connections and websites.  

Twitter will ask you to verify your account name and password. Then you’ll be asked by LinkedIn how you want to share your tweets on LinkedIn.  Check the "Display your Twitter Account" box:

You will see a check box that will limit what you share to only those tweets that contain #in or #li.  Check it!

Voila!  That's the magic.  Now anytime you tweet something that you'd like to appear on your LinkedIn profile, just be sure to include the hashtag #in or #li in the tweet.  

If you don't want a tweet to appear on your LinkedIn profile, don't include either of the LinkedIn hastags, #in or #li.

You can always change your Twitter display settings on LinkedIn.  Hover over your name at the upper right side of your LinkedIn screen. 

You will see "settings" in the menu - click on it.  After you sign in, you' ll see under the "SETTINGS" heading "Manage your Twitter settings."  

Click on that for options.

When you have the "Share only tweets that contain #in (#li also works) in your LinkedIn status" clicked on, that's all that will appear to those people who you want to view you on LinkedIn as professional, business person, not as an over-served cocktail party guest!

Use LinkedIn "Contact Me" to the max

I was looking at a well crafted and extremely complete LinkedIn profile contructed by an executive recruiter and noted that he uses the "Contact Me For" section to the max.

It struck me that this is yet another way to attract profile views and connections, and to further drill key words.  So I have updated my "Contact Me For" section to use the maximum of 2,000 character limit.

Here's what my "Contact Me For" section previously looked like to first and second degree contacts:

Here's what it looks like  now (takes two screen shots to show it!):

What do you think?  Is this a good idea? Should we all be doing this to promote our skills and attract potential clients?  Seems to me it can only help.

Evaluate your LinkedIn groups

Ah, the things you discover on LinkedIn!

Just discovered this.  On the top any LinkedIn screen you'll see "Groups."  Hover on it with your cursor and you'll see "Your Groups."  Click on "Your Groups" and you will see the list of groups to which you are subscribed.  The top of my list looks like this:

To the right of each group name is a small bar chart icon that looks like this:

This is the key to seeing how good the group is!  Click on the icon.  You'll see a screen like this:

You can see in the example of the Ironman finishers group it has some pretty senior people, with some slight bias to NYC and sales people.  It's just over 1,200 members and measured by comments it is not very active.  Maybe I shouldn't retain membership in this group - but given the exclusivity of being an Ironman finisher (10, actually), I think I'll continue to expend one of my 51 group membership options on it. Ah, vanity!.

If you click on the "demographics" tab at the top of the screen, you'll see a screen like this, on which the bar charts tell you about the job seniority of the members.  DEN is a relatively weak group for me with only 21% senior members.

When you click on the function tab on the demographics screen, you see this.  I'm glad to see the entrepreneurs - good for potential consulting work - but I am more interested in senior corporate types who can hire me for strategic planning work.

When you click on the location tab on the demographics screen, you see this.  Perfect for me - I want to focus on the Chicago area.  (Where did that German member come from?)

When you click on the industry tab on the demographics screen, you see this.  Good balance in industries, but especially good if you want to connect with IT people.

You can now click on the "Growth" tab at the top of the screen and you get this.  I picked a different group to show some contrast.  CMO Network is large and growing group that has my attention!  These people can hire/engage me...

Last but not least, you can click on the activity tab.  Here's the activity for the eMarketing Association Network.  Look at all the comments, discussions, and, better yet, jobs offered.  I want to stick with this group, for sure.

Great tools, right?  You can check out prospective groups the same way.  Hover on the Groups tab at the top of any page and click on "Group Directory."  You will get a screen that looks like this:

Click on the name or icon for any group here (or for any group you find through the search function on the left) and you will get a screen the top of which looks like this, this one for the "Project Managers" group:

If you click on "More" under the group name you'll see a "Group Statistics" option.  Click on that and you will see the opening statistics screen, which is this:

This probably isn't the group for me, but it might be for you!