After a decade (and for some of us, longer) online, we know all about Netiquette, right Dont use all caps in your subject line (or, God forbid, the body of an email message). Dont send attachments to people who dont know you well. Dont we know pretty much everything there is to know about etiquette online
Well, maybe not. Online networking sites like LinkedIn can challenge our ideas about what constitutes white-lace-handkerchief behavior online. In fact, if weve learned that its important to be polite when using email, its even truer in the social networking sphere. Here are ten tips for establishing yourself as a well-mannered online networker, when using LinkedIn:
1) Create a user-friendly profile. Your LinkedIn profile is your virtual business card. Make sure that it represents you the way you want to be viewed by strangers - make that people you havent been introduced to, yet. A sketchy LinkedIn profile signals that your busy day doesnt allow you to fill in trivial details like what youre doing now, what youve done in the past, or any other useful information. Such an incomplete profile wont serve you as you network on LinkedIn, but its impolite as well: its message is Im going to use this database to find people, but I wont bother to include enough information about myself to indicate how I might assist anyone else. Take a few moments to fill in the gaps.
2) Invite true friends - or at least, true acquaintances - to connect. Spam is spam, and you must have a minimal level of contact with a person before inviting him or her to connect with you on LinkedIn. A contact - a less-intrusive overture than an invitation to connect - is a good way to approach people with whom you have no relationship. LinkedIn users vary in their views on how well you must know someone before connecting to him or her, but its inappropriate to send connection invitations to people who have never met you, heard of you, or had any inkling of your existence (unless they have indicated a desire to be approached by strangers). Think about it: if you found a persons phone number on a scrap of paper, you wouldnt feel that you had permission to phone him. Your possession of an email address doesnt give you license to contact an unacquainted LinkedIn user and suggest a connection - and its this kind of overzealous outreach that gets users in trouble with LinkedIn, as well.
3) When you make a request, be clear about your intentions. Youll find your LinkedIn contacts generally happy to forward your requests if you approach them politely and are clear about your goals. In the physical world, if you asked a friend to introduce you to his friend because of a mutual interest in sailing, and then actually hit the friend-of-a-friend up for a loan, youd be viewed as a sneak. Its no different online. If youre job-hunting, say so. If youre looking for investors, ditto. A wolf in sheeps clothing soon finds his messages sitting, unforwarded, while his LinkedIn contacts wonder whether he can be trusted.
4) Reciprocity is a wonderful thing, and gratitude is key. When possible, its great to include in your LinkedIn outreach messages some suggestion that youre aware of your obligations as a requester. That could mean an offer to make a useful introduction for the person whos forwarding yours; or an offer to help in some other way; or just a heartfelt thank-you for the introduction you seek. Its disconcerting for your first-degree forwarder to receive a slew of requests from you in one day (and this is common when one of your first-degree contacts is more-highly-connected than others) with no acknowledgement at all of the favor youre asking. LinkedIn is no different from the real world, in that sense: asking for an introduction is a favor, and its nice to show gratitude for that.
5) Pass along requests promptly, or say why you wont. Membership in LinkedIn is a kind of agreement with the community that you intend to participate as an active node in a large and vibrant network. If people send you requests and they sit there, unforwarded and unresponded-to, for weeks, youre not only the weak link in the system. Youre impeding someone elses business efforts, and giving no reason for your bottleneck behavior. If you cant forward on a request or move a communique forward, say so - and say why. LinkedIn provides a handy list of reasons for declining a request, plus an other option - use em.
6) Avoid the boilerplate text, if you can. Of course you can. Unless youre terribly afraid to strike out on your own with creative verbiage, please make an effort to put your own stamp on the standard invitation language that LinkedIn supplies. For instance, you could mention something impressive that youve heard about the person youre contacting, or bring an old friend up quickly up to date on your doings. Using the boilerplate text shows a certain want of effort - so, even if you stick with the standard language, why not add sorry to use the boilerplate text, but Im not much of a wordsmith
7) Dont abuse your network. Once you have cultivated a network, its tempting to reach out to the gang anytime you have news or a need for assistance. And LinkedIns functionality allows you to broadcast a note to your posse of contacts, by way of a Profile Update blast. Use these sparingly, not as a substitute for the Daily All About Me Newsletter. If you do, you may find yourself being un-connected from people who cant manage the high volume of whats-new-in-your-life mailings.
8) Dont invent history to acquire colleagues. LinkedIn allows you to find former workmates at any company that has employed you, without being connected to them otherwise. Finding a colleague match only requires that you and another person worked at the same organization during the same time period. So, as tempting as it may be to make connection with people who worked in various appealing companies over the years, if you invent a work history in order to do that, youre going to Hell. Perhaps that is overstated, but if you falsify your employment history on LinkedIn in order to create colleague-links with people you havent actually worked with, its an abuse of the LinkedIn system and the trust of the LinkedIn community.
9) Play by the rules. There are a number of ways to misuse LinkedIn in such a way as to convey the message, I dont care about the long-term health of this network or the company that built it - this is All About Me. Including your email address in your LinkedIn name, for instance, makes a fee-for-use service like InMail superfluous for someone who wants to reach you, which is (if nothing else) exceedingly rude, seein as how LinkedIn provides the basic functionality to users at no charge. Unless you want to broadcast the message, I dont care whether LinkedIn can optimize its revenue strategy or not - Im gonna optimize my connect rate, you might consider rethinking your Me First approach.
10) Value relationships over transactions. As in physical-world networking, valuing people for their intrinsic worth over the business transactions they enable is key. No less than in middle school, users are never welcome company for long. Ka-ching networking - the kind of outreach that signals Say, you could make me a buck today is unseemly and unfortunate. LinkedIn is a fabulous tool that enables connectors and influencers to help other people and achieve their own goals, too - and its great when we keep those priorities in balance.
Happy networking!
Liz Ryan is an expert on networking and the workplace, and the founder and CEO of the global online network WorldWIT ( ). She writes and speaks about the post-millennium workplace and the power of connections. Liz lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Never rely on search engine traffic to support the bulk of your marketing efforts. The risk of doing this a greater than you think.
Search engines are constantly changing and evolving to stay one step ahead of spammers and unethical optimization practices. Recently, thousands of Web sites that were #1 in the Google search engine for many years suddenly found themselves on page 10, 20, 30 or worse.(This actually happened in September through early November 2005 due to a change in the Google algorithm.)
It is crucial to remember that your natural rankings or non-paid page placement results in the major search engines of Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask Jeeves are free. Search engines do not guarantee the inclusion of any Web site in its search results.
Thats why a solid marketing plan will have diversity. In todays advertising universe, media channels are converging. Television, radio and print are driving viewers to Web sites and Web sites are becoming 24/7 advertising mediums that supports them all. The World Wide Web allows us to re-experience commercials, music, messages and imagery.
The news media outlets and commercial broadcast companies use the World Wide Web to extend their reach into our homes and businesses. For example, after every HBO special of Rome, they drive viewers to the HBO series Web site to see additional clips and features. Fox Broadcasting did this with their popular military series Over There.
Think about it the World Wide Web supports and extends 99.9% of all mass media communication including the federal, state and local governments. From the Wall Street Journal to the White House, Web sites have proliferated at an incredible rate of 10,000 new Web sites a day.
Global businesses are competing 24/7 for their fair-share of your attention with millions of dollars at stake. How in the world can small businesses compete Fortunately emerging technologies and the Internet have helped level the playing field. Small business has a distinct advantage when targeting regional niche markets using mass media. Heres how/p>
1) Placing Ads in Print Media
Basically there are two kinds of print advertising; newspapers and magazines classified and display. Classifieds are the small ads towards the back of the publication, while display ads can be almost any size depending on the publication.
Advertising in the print media can be expensive, and for most home businesses it wont be economical. This is where you can really benefit from the expertise of a media or public relations specialist. My company contracted with David Rourk of . David knows where my ad is going to get the most bang-for-the-buck. He also knows which local, regional or national publications reach the client base I want to target.
2) Buying Radio advertising
Once your business grows to a decent size, you may consider buying some radio time. But ad-buyer beware! You could get a big response. Maybe a little too big! Thanks to the immediacy of radio, you could get mobbed the next day, so make sure you have a support system in place to handle multiple inquires via the phone, Web site, emails and walk-ins. If you have a Webmaster or you can do this yourself, load a digital copy of your radio commercial in your Website for your customers to revisit. I did this for of my Web clients, Easy Money Now, featuring multiple radio and TV commercials. http://www.easymoneynow.com/tv_radio.htm
3) Advertising on the Television
Unless your business is getting big, this would be a bad idea. Youd have trouble producing and airing an ad even on local cable channels for less than $5,000. Of course, if theres a market for your product and youve got the budget for this, you could take the plunge and make a mint. Purchasing air-time or media buys is a tricky business. Again, this is best left to a professional who has your best interests in mind. A public relations or advertising professional knows the best station and time slot in which to place your commercial. If you have a Webmaster or you can do this yourself, load a digital copy of your commercial in your Website for your customers to revisit.
4) Advertising on Billboards
If you do this right, a billboard campaign can be very effective. Billboard ads are relatively expensive, but they do generally stay up for a long time,and they can be specifically targeted to an area. Phone numbers and addresses are pretty useless, whereas your Web site address will extend your reach providing your URL or domain name is easy to spell and remember. If you have a domain name that is difficult to remember, consider acquiring a second domain name for advertising purposes. For example, www.baycreekgolfclub.com uses www.baycreek.net.
5) Advertising at the movies
One type of advertising that often gets overlooked is cinema advertising. If you arrive to the cinema early, youll see local business ads followed by big-budget ads. This can be a great place to advertise relatively inexpensively in quite a high-profile way. Contact your local cinema chain and compare advertising rates.
6) Organic Advertising
There are multiple types of collateral advertising that help brand your business. These include printing, stamping or embroidering your business name and Web address on the following;
1) Pens, pencils, coffee mugs, coulees
2) Golf shorts, t-shirts and ball caps
3) Presentation folders, invoices, fax cover sheets and calendars
4) Bumper stickers, window stickers
5) Phone system infomercial about your company for clients on-hold
7) Grass Roots Advertising
Nothing beats the basic meet and greet or smile and a hand-shake. Get your name out in the business community. Check online and the local newspapers for business networking groups. Your local Chamber of Commerce would be a good place to start. Talk to community leaders, private business schools, and associations about business programs and events in your area.
8) Press Release Advertising
PR is popular because it is cost-effective and it works. Sending out a press release is just one example of free PR. There are many reasons for sending out a release: introducing a new product or service, celebrating an anniversary, winning an award, reaching a milestone and so on. Doing this on a regular basis is key to keeping your name in front of your customers and prospects eyes and being on the top of their mind when it comes to awareness. Popular forms of PR for the World Wide Web and print are; Writing Articles, Newsletters, Letters to the Editor, Online Forum and Blog Participation and offering Free Reports or (white papers).
If you know how to craft your own press release there are many free outlets on the Web to broadcast your business. I have listed many of them here: . Look under the heading - Submit Your Press Release and Business Articles
9) Web Advertising (Web Marketing)
The most effective Web based advertising Ive used is targeted business directories or business specific directories. For my business this would be any directory having to do or related to Web design and development. There are thousands of business specific directories to include: real estate, law, construction, engineering, flowers, bridal and so on. To find a directory that has top search engine presence on Google, Yahoo or MSN Search and type-in a frequently used search phrase relating to your business, products or sevices.
Want to know where to list your company in similar directories I maintain a list of search engines and directories here - http://www.visionefx.net/submit.htm
10) Web Site Development
When you surf the Internet, the first impression you get from a Web site is its design. Much like a storefront, it either looks attractive and professional, or it looks shoddy and questionable. A powerful Web site design creates a sense of trust and respect between you and your on-line visitors. The site explains its purpose clearly and quickly, and why a visitor should spend time browsing it.
A Web site is your 24-hours, 7-days-a-week advertising brochure. Take time to plan, research, design and implement your Web site with a professional firm.
As you go through the process of selecting a Web design company, one of the keys to success will be the questions you ask. Following are some questions that will help you find the best company at the best price:
Important Web Design Questions to Ask
- How do you maintain communication with the client
- How many designs of the home and interior pages will you provide
- How are any design revisions handled
- Do I get to keep all ordinal files and source code used to create my Web site (Some of these ordinal files may include Photoshop files, Flash movie files and database files.)
- Do you charge for minor revisions once the Web site goes live
- Do you provide a Web site maintenance plan At what cost
- Will you submit my Web site manually to major search engines
- Do you build search-engine-friendly Web sites
About the Author
President Ricardo Vidallon has been in the creative business of advertising, cable broadcast, animation and the World Wide Web for more than two decades. His work has been featured on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., Fox News and NBC Entertainment. His career track in Web consultancy includes the global companies of Reynolds and Reynolds, CMGI Solutions, and Automark, Inc.