Getting More Out of LinkedIn with Groups

LinkedIn is a popular social networking site. It's probably the most well-established, business-friendly of the social media Web sites out there. It's been described as "Facebook in khaki" because of its business-casual, mild-mannered design. There's little you can do to pimp out your page; LinkedIn is first and foremost a networking platform.

I first joined LinkedIn years ago, setting up a profile and finding friends and colleagues to link up with. After that, I didn't do much outside of accept (or decline) someone's heart felt request of:

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Your ex-employee / One-time vendor / College dormmate / Random Dude

You had me at "I'd like."

However, I find I'm spending a bit more time there as more tools have been rolled out. None of these are game changing; in fact, they're pretty derivative of other social media sites. But if your peers are on LinkedIn and unlikely to be found at MySpace or Facebook, these new features up the interaction quotient quite a bit.

A while back, LinkedIn created Answers, where people could ask or answer public questions, establishing expertise and networking all the while. Now LinkedIn has Groups, where you can join or create a group. A group could be alumni of your alma mater, a local networking group, or even people of a particular religious or political persuasion. Like the basic membership at LinkedIn, there's no charge to join or create a group.

Groups come with some nice features. Groups can enable discussion boards or post news articles for discussion. Hmmm...actually that kind of sounds like the same thing except the latter comes with an upload feature.

Sending an email blast to the group isn't as easy as it could be. LinkedIn seems to have made a decision to disallow a bulk email to go out to group members. Instead you can initiate a discussion through the discussion forum, or download the csv list of members and email them through your own email program.

Despite the lack of better email tools and the small feature list, I like the use of groups because you can have a more intimate conversation within a group of people who share an interest or a zip code. These type of conversations tend to be more rewarding.

If you haven't been active at LinkedIn for a while, you might want to check out the groups section.

Rich Brooks
Find Me On LinkedIn

How to Implement Blogs & Social Media Strategies for Big Business #bwe08

The speakers for this sessions were:

John Andrews, Hilary Weber,  Michael Brito, Michael Rubin
Michael Brito’s with Intel. Hilary’s from Kaiser Permanente. John Andrews works for Wal-Mart.

Q. Does every company need one champion (Robert Scoble)?
A. Brito: No. Many people from different disciplines. Weber: It happened organically for them. They did have a champion (rock star). Find people who already passionate about what they do who can write/communicate. Andrews: Can’t be afraid of people saying something bad, as they will anyway.

Q. How important is it that employees use Web 2.0 outside of work?
A. Weber: she thinks it’s important, but not everyone agrees. She finds people are dragging their feet.

Q. What co’s are doing it right and why?
A. Brito: Dell. Listening to their users. Acting on that. Weber also says Dell. SouthWest also does a good job. Stonyfield Farms b/c of their focus on parenting. Wells Fargo b/c they didn’t start w/financial, but rather the history of Wells Fargo. Andrews is interested in leveraging internal communicators. Rubin: Home Depot. Posted a lot of emergency info on Twitter for customers who were in the path of the hurricane. There was no selling, just helping.

Q. Should bloggers come from the rank and file or the executives?
A. Andrews: Employees. Brito asks: what’s the purpose of this blog? Not every company needs a blog. Weber: the title isn’t important. What are the objectives? Is the topic relevant? What’s the benefit to the customers.

Q. Question to Andrews about the Wal-Mart blog snafu. His thoughts?
A. He thinks it’s funny/interesting that it’s a case study. Lesson learned; to be a more open culture.

Q. How do you promote the corp blog?
A. Brito: No paid search. Build community in the world of soc med. Be transparent and authentic. Weber: Her blog is on brand. It’s a different way to talk about how people thrive. Brito: Bandwidth is an issue. He tries to find people to blog, but they have fulltime jobs in the company.

Q. Are you doing anything w/Flickr or YouTube.
A. They use the API for those two. (So some programming involved.)

Q. How do you manage reputation and negative comments?
A. There’s some software for tracking. Brito: We will more likely respond to popular blog negative comments than ones w/no followers. Weber: They hear some negative comments, but often it’s best to ignore them if they’re just haters. Sometimes you have to let people rant. You need to have an active listening program. There are add’l issues w/health care; in the old days w/forums, if someone said they needed an ambulance KP would send them. Had to shut the forums down b/c of this.

Q. Best success story?
A. Andrews: Helped moms and drove traffic. Weber: Farmer’s Market blog. Brito: Town hall meetings (real space) for Yahoo groups.

Goals:
•    Have a plan w/objectives
•    Find the right people
•    Use the right tools
•    Be transparent
•    Have an active listening policy

Does Your Web Site Engage Your Site Visitors?

When a business's Web site isn't generating the leads or bringing in the sales that were planned, often the first thing an owner does is throw money at a search engine optimization firm to bring in more traffic. More traffic = more business, right?

Not always.

Although sites in general are getting better, there are still too many sites that are simple brochure Web sites and ask the visitor to take a passive role at the site. There are no clear calls-to-action, and just 5 - 10 pages of information.

I used to do sales, and while I was on the road I listened to a lot of sales tapes. One of the techniques they talked about was getting the prospect involved. On a Brian Tracy tape I particularly liked, he told a story of a plexiglass salesperson who sold far and above the most hammers of anyone in the company (this took place a while ago, when plexiglass was brand new.) His secret? Rather than just show that a baltine hammer couldn't break the plexiglass, he asked his prospect to see if they could break it. Getting them involved was the difference between success and failure.

If your traffic is OK but your conversion rate is low, look at ways to engage your visitor. Can you create a survey/quiz that they complete to get answers to a question? Can you add some interactivity to the site? Maybe a free download? Even a simple Flash movie that requires a visitor's clicking to forward the story/demo would be a step in the right direction.

The more active you get your site visitors, the more likely they'll be to fill out a contact form, pick up the phone, or Buy Now!

Rich Brooks
Small Business Web Site Design

SEO Guarantees and Warrantees

I've never been a fan of giving guarantees on search engine optimization. Sure, it would be nice to promise that we can get a client on the first page of Google, or that their traffic will increase 100% or their business increase 10 fold.

Unfortunately, guaranteeing search engine results is like guaranteeing a fishing trip will bring in fish. You can have the best boat, the best bait, and the best gear, but if the fish ain't biting, they ain't biting.

What a good fishing guide can do is increase your chances of success; making sure that you're using the right bait, that you're going to fishing grounds that have traditionally fished well but not been over-fished, and bring sandwiches and beer if things don't go well. You want guarantees that the fish will bite? Call Aquaman.

What a good search engine marketer can do is put you in the best position to rank higher at the search engines. She can do her research, help you craft effective titles and copy, and encourage quality incoming links. But she doesn't own Google, or Yahoo or any other search engine.

This all came about after reading an interesting post entitled Manage Client Expectations And Reduce Your Risk By Including A Warranty In Your Client Contracts by Sarah Bird. The warranty is meant not to promise the world, but to manage expectations.

Clients often think search engine optimization is a trick, some sort of magic. More often than not, when I explain that their search engine visibility comes directly from the words they use on their site they're stunned. Like I've just pulled back the curtains on Oz.

Ms. Bird also gives some language they use on their contracts. I have to admit, the first half was a bit too lawyer-y for me to understand, but I definitely liked the second half:

By signing this agreement, you acknowledge that SEOmoz neither owns nor governs the actions of any search engine. You also acknowledge that due to fluctuations in the relative competitiveness of some search terms, recurring changes in the search engine algorithms and other competitive factors, it is impossible to guarantee number one rankings or consistent top ten rankings, or any other specific rankings for any particular search term.

From a client's perspective I can understand the allure of a guarantee. However, as a vendor, I know that it's like guaranteeing that it will be sunny on our camping trip in a month. The best I can guarantee is that I'll bring an umbrella for you. And a change of dry clothing. And the number of a nearby motel. That has cable.

Rich Brooks
Guaranteed

How Many Phone Calls Does it Take to Make the Sale?

If you're like me, you stand 6' even, are married with two kids, play video games and enjoy wearing irreverent t-shirts. Also, you track all your sales calls and emails in a CRM like Highrise. That gives you a quick overview of how many unanswered emails and voicemails you've left.

So here's my question: when do you give up/move on/let them call you?

When I used to do medical sales years and years ago, I had no limit. I didn't mind not getting calls back. I would start to leave messages like,

This is the tenacious Rich Brooks calling. If you're impressed by how often I call now, imagine what life will be like when I'm working for you.

Or:

This is Rich Brooks from Ultra Care Services. Since I haven't received a cease and desist letter from your lawyers, I'm guessing it's OK to keep leaving voice mails for you.

It didn't always work. In fact, I'd say it didn't work on the majority of people. However, occasionally I'd catch them at their desk and they would finally relent and meet with me. Some of those people turned out to be great customers, since they rarely saw sales people I had little competition as long as my company did a good job.

Yes, occasionally I'd piss someone off. But, if you're not pissing off someone it means you're not working/selling/marketing hard enough.

These days I don't do any cold calling; most of my outgoing calls are to people who have first reached out to us. However, they are often difficult to reach and won't return phone calls. Generally I'll make 3 - 7 attempts, depending on how interesting the job seems, then I'll send an email along the lines of:

Hope everything's going well. I was hoping on following up on that email/phone call/contact form you sent me, but I've had difficulty reaching you. I don't want to be a noodge [from the Yiddish], so I'll hold off and let you contact me.

It's amazing how often this gets someone to respond. I think it's because often we see those incoming emails, we can't deal with them, so we just wait until they come back again at us. By stopping that cycle (and letting the person know we are stopping them) we force them into making a decision of whether they want to continue or not. This is no guarantee of work; just that we'll have to send more emails or leave more voicemails. At some point every sales person may have to decide that the return on investment just isn't worth it.

Anyone else have any tips for getting email or voicemail responses, or rules on how many unreturned messages they'll leave before moving on?

Rich Brooks
Tenacious

The Future of Communications: Are You In or Are You Out?

Recently I've been spending time during my work day using Twitter and Plurk, two "social media" communication tools. I often find that I have to defend the time I spend on these two services to my wife, friends who I invite to join me, and to myself.

To that end, I found myself writing The Future of Communications: Are You In or Are You Out? which is currently available at TalentZoo.com.

So what do you think? Is this a colossal waste of time, or an investment in the future of communications?

Rich Brooks
Twitterin' and Plurkin'

Why RFPs Are Bad for Your Business

I just got another RFP (request for proposal). You think I'd be happy. Another opportunity for business. Another opportunity to sharpen my writing skills. Another opportunity to dedicate a couple of hours of my day into tailoring a proposal for Web design and Internet marketing that I will then deposit into a black hole. (Oops...I let my snarkiness show.)

The company that sent me the RFP? Never heard of them. We have no previous relationship. They got our address wrong.

I don't know if they got my name and hundreds of others from a phone book or if they carefully culled vendors down to three based on word of mouth and previous experience.

I don't know if they've already made their decision--say, for the brother-in-law of the marketing manager--and just need two other proposals to keep up appearances.

The fact that the date on the cover letter is June 13th, 2008 and the submission deadline is May 16th, 2008 doesn't give me the warm fuzzies. In fact, nothing about an RFP gives me the warm fuzzies.

Why Your RFP is Bad for Your Business

Imagine you sent out RFPs to a few dozen prospective dates, like you were running your own reality TV show. Do you think you'd get responses from the best looking? The smartest? Your soul mate? Or just the most desperate, with lots of time on his or her hands?

RFPs are a filter that turn away good vendors and let in desperate ones who will jump through any hoop to get business. Vendors who have more free time than business acumen.

Good, busy vendors don't have time for faceless RFPs unless there's something SERIOUSLY sexy about them. (Angelina Jolie: feel free to send me an RFP.)

The purpose of the RFP (I assume) is so that you can compare apples to apples. However, when you're talking about the service industry, that's impossible. There are a lot of great vendors out there who I might compete with, but their proposals will look nothing like mine.

Good Web sites (and many other things) require a partnership between vendor and client. It's a relationship. Good relationships start with a conversation, not an RFP. Asking for staff bios won't get you a better Web site. Asking a vendor how they can drive more qualified leads to the site and how they can help you convert them might.

There's a time and a place for RFPs, but they come after a conversation with perspective vendors, not before. Yesterday I received an RFP from a associate who I do know, and we've had a number of positive conversations in the past.

You can be sure I'll respond to hers.

Rich Brooks
Angie, I'm Waiting...

Entrepreneurs: Take a Vacation, Recharge Your Batteries

If you're an entrepreneur or small business owner like me, you probably find it difficult to take time off.

Before vacation I get really stressed, trying to get everything taken care of before I leave. Then I question whether I can afford to take time off at all and start telling people that I'll be checking emails often and will get back to them as I can.

As time has gone on, I've realized that this is a sure way to burn out, and leads to resentment of your work. Also, I've realized that the business can survive without me...at least for a little while. ;-) We've hired good people who know their jobs and get make decisions in my absence.

Also, as I took last week off to "recharge my batteries," my wife Cybele stayed behind to run the company, respond to new inquiries, continue to do her own job as Project Manager and be a mom to our two girls. (She's quite a woman.) As I wondered to my buddy Jeff whether it was strange that I would take some time off without her, he said, "you live with her, you work with her, you see her all the time. She probably needs a vacation from you."

Touché.

Although I spent much of the week here in Maine -- when you live in "Vacationland" it doesn't make a lot of sense to leave during the summer months -- I also got a chance to visit a friend in Provincetown, do a little fishing and go on a whale watch. I've never done a lot of fishing, but I reeled in a 39" striped bass. Took about ten minutes (at least it felt like that) of fighting that thing to get it on the boat. If you take a close look at the photo above you can see the sweat and tears (mostly sweat) that went into landing it. No fish has ever tasted so sweet.

The rest of the week I spent riding my bike, listening to The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and spending a little extra time with Cybele and the girls. I also broke down and bought a D-SLR I had been eyeing, the Nikon D-40. I set up a Flickr account to post some of my favorite shots. Feel free to check it out and give me some constructive feedback.

Why am I telling you all this? Because if you feel you can't afford to take vacation then you're long overdue. Life goes on. Yes, you may miss a lead or lose a sale, but there will be others, and you'll be in a better place, better able to land that next project.

Rich Brooks
Recharged

Wind Power and Sustainable, Alternative Energy

Last Friday MEBSR -- Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility -- put on our 15th Annual Sustainable Business Conference. The plan was to take all the audio and handouts and make them available to all of our members as a benefit of membership.

However, after hearing Governor Angus King's eye-opening keynote about alternative energy and the importance of wind power in the mix of energy sources, we (the board) decided that we needed to make the download available to everyone, whether they were members or not.

Given the current price of gas, the state of the economy, and our reliance on energy from people who "don't really like us all that much," I'd argue is essential for everyone--whether you lean left or right--to download this keynote, pop it into your iPod, and give it a listen during your commute or while at the gym. It will open your eyes.

Download the Angus King Keynote Now! MP3, 26.5MB, 57:53.

There's still a lot of great content for member-ears only, such as Peter Vigue's dynamic keynote "Sustainable Business in Maine: The Link to Global Competitiveness", and more coming soon. So, if you're not yet a member of MEBSR, learn more about the benefits of joining.

Rich Brooks
Sustainable Business Owner

The Value of Providing Free Advice

Many people I speak with are concerned about giving away too much free information on their Web site. Their concerns range from providing ideas to their competition to giving away all their best ideas to do-it-yourselfers who will, well, do it themselves.

My experience has been that the more you give away, the better you do. Of course, every business and industry is different and YMMV. (Your Mileage May Vary.)

By providing free information on your site you increase your search engine visibility and establish your expertise. For everyone who takes your advice on organic gardening or search engine optimization and runs with it, more people will realize that they're too busy or inexperienced to do it on their own. Those people are looking for professional help, and you've just established yourself as that professional.

Just today, a prospect shared with me that the reason they were talking to me was because of how I had positioned myself as an "expert" on Web marketing, and how they wanted to do the same in their own industry. They wanted my help in how to best leverage the Web to make it happen. This meeting wouldn't have taken place if I was worried that my competition was reading my blog and stealing all my best ideas.

Whether it's on the Web, or in giving speeches, or teaching classes, what you lose in giving away free advice is made up 100 times over in marketing and establishing your credibility.

Go ahead, give it a chance.

Rich Brooks
Free Web Marketing Advice