Out&About Marketing » LinkedIn http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com An inside view on the outside world by Milena Regos Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:07:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Using Groups on LinkedIn http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2010/08/using-groups-on-linkedin/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2010/08/using-groups-on-linkedin/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:22:18 +0000 Milena Regos http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/?p=1121 LinkedIn is an excellent social media network site for professionals and people who want to connect with their industry peers, find business leads, grow their professional network and extend their reach.

I really like LinkedIn and have been using it for a long time to stay in touch with my professional network. Recently, they introduced changes to Groups. You can join various Groups on LinkedIn to stay close to people of the same interest.

Below is a short video on the new features within Groups. Give them a try – you will see the benefits from Groups very soon. Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

What are your thoughts on LinkedIn? Are you on LinkedIn? Connect with me.

]]> http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2010/08/using-groups-on-linkedin/feed/ 0 Getting the most out of LinkedIn in 7 easy steps http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2010/05/getting-the-most-out-of-linkedin-in-7-easy-steps/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2010/05/getting-the-most-out-of-linkedin-in-7-easy-steps/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 01:21:37 +0000 Milena Regos http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/?p=1088 I’ve used LinkedIn for about 4 years, but most of the activity on it happened in the past 1 year. As people are getting more and more connected online, LinkedIn shows up as number one tool for searching for a job (the increase in unemployment rate probably helped), getting your professional network in one place and staying on top of your contacts’ latest moves. How to get the most out of LinkedIn? Here are some tips I’ve found useful if you want to get the most out of LinkedIn:

  1. Photo: Upload a professional looking personal photo. I know this is a no brainer but I still see some people with no avatar on their profile. I wouldn’t want to connect with faceless person, would you?
  2. Profile: Fill out your profile completely. Try to avoid copying and pasting from your resume. If you want to show up on search engines, make sure to use keywords that describe what you do and what you want to appear for on Google. List all companies you have worked for and all schools you have attended. You will grow your network faster if you do. Search Engine Optimization works on LinkedIn if you fill our your profile with selected keywords.
  3. Grow your Network. This one is the most important step. After your profile is complete, start growing your network. Connect with all contacts that you would like to from your existing contact list in Outlook or wherever you are keeping your contacts. Keep in mind that LinkedIn can act up sometimes during the upload. I hope they fix that issue soon. As you meet more people, check to see if they are on LinkedIn or periodically upload your contacts and see who you are missing. Networks take time to grow so be patient but at the end it’s worth it. It’s all about who you know, right? Just make sure you are connecting to people you actually know and want to be connected with.
  4. Groups: A great way to meet more people from your industry is to join groups on LinkedIn. There are thousands of groups in each industry. Find some that look interesting and ask to join. I have never been denied participation in any group, but I’ve mainly joined marketing and internet groups, which fits my profile. Be careful with how many groups you join as you may get bombarded with emails if you opt-in for the daily digest. You can choose weekly or turn off all emails. Groups are great way to meet more people, keep an eye on trends, post articles you’ve written, ask questions and respond to questions that you have expertise in. Please, make sure you provide some value to the group.
  5. Keep your status update fresh. If you are on Twitter, you can update your status from there. I use HootSuite to update all of my social networks.
  6. Recommendations: Recommend some people you have worked with and ask for some recommendations from people who know you well. Please, make sure you don’t always have the same recommendations written for you as the recommendations you have received. It looks way too cheesy.
  7. Applications:  LinkedIn comes with some great third party applications that will help keep your network informed about your interests and activities and keep your profile fresh. For example, I use their SlideShare application to display my PowerPoint presentations that I have made available online, WordPress plug in to show my latest blog posts, Reading List on Amazon to display what I’m reading and my recommendations of that book, TripIt to show my trips to my network and see who’s close to me if I want to connect in person while on the trip.

What’s the value of LinkedIn? Personally, I have found it to be a great network to stay in touch with people I have worked with in the past and present who I may not necessary want to friend on Facebook. It keeps contacts up to date and it’s a valuable tool for putting people in touch with each other and letting your network know your latest activities. I have found people I need from my network.  I have received recommendations on potential vendors and stayed in touch with people. The latest LinkedIn development is that now you can subscribe to company’s updates, making following a company look a lot more like your experience on Facebook.

LinkedIn is useful only if you use it right. What experience have you had with LinkedIn?  Are you still using an old style paper resume or have you completely moved to using LinkedIn for it? Any other tips you’d like to add? What mistakes to avoid? See this post from Neal Schaffer. And finally, let me know if you want to connect with me on LinkedIn.

]]> http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2010/05/getting-the-most-out-of-linkedin-in-7-easy-steps/feed/ 4 Social media revolution – Right here! Right now! http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/08/social-media-revolution-right-here-right-now/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/08/social-media-revolution-right-here-right-now/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:47:28 +0000 Milena Regos http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/?p=673 Caution: Addictive

Social media is more popular than porn. Is social media a revolution? An evolution? Here to stay? Let me know what you think.

A friend of mine sent me this video on YouTube and I can’t get the song out of my head. If you need to see a summary of statistics as to why social media is so powerful in combination with a really cool song, go ahead. I promise you will get it in 4:22 min. Just one caution. It’s addictive. You’ve been warned.

]]> http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/08/social-media-revolution-right-here-right-now/feed/ 1 What exactly is social media? http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/08/what-exactly-is-social-media/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/08/what-exactly-is-social-media/#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:43:04 +0000 Milena Regos http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/?p=628 This is one of the best power point presentation I have seen on the topic. It’s a must see. Enjoy!

What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later
View more documents from Marta Kagan.
]]> http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/08/what-exactly-is-social-media/feed/ 0 How to manage your personal brand online in 7 steps http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/03/how-to-manage-your-personal-brand-online/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/03/how-to-manage-your-personal-brand-online/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:41:20 +0000 Milena Regos http://milenaregos.wordpress.com/?p=49 If you are like me then you already have many profiles established on the Internet: YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and the list goes on and on. How do you manage your personal brand online and make sure that your profiles are up to date? And if you are just now entering the social area do you know where to start a profile to increase your personal brand reputation and your chances of finding employment, if that’s what you need. Here are 7 steps to follow that include establishing your brand online, managing it and monitoring the noise about you.

1. Check your username on different platforms

With check user names you can find out on where exactly your username is already in existence. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to register your username on all websites listed or not. If someone else registers your username before you do you won’t be able to get it later. I recommend that you register your username even if you are not currently using a specific website.

2. Register your name with a domain registration server. I like GoDaddy but there are many options available. When you establish a website or a blog under your name search engines will pick it up and list it. Potential employers and customers will be able to find you on search engines.

3. Start your LinkedIn profile. This is a great social network to connect with other business professionals. Keep your profile professional and business-like. It’s OK to be authentic and honest. Actually, it’s highly recommended. But keep your LinkedIn profile on the professional side. Make sure you fill it all out and start connecting with people in your industry. You can also connect with groups and organizations that are of interest to you. Make sure you check your profile daily and keep it updated.

4. Start a Facebook profile. Facebook is the 4th largest country in the world with over 175 million users. It’s a place to connect with family and friends. I consider Facebook a hybrid of personal and professional life. The only way you can manage the two of them on Facebook at the moment is to create different groups of the people you are connected with, such as: friends from school, family, work friends, industry contacts, etc. I wish Facebook had a better way to separate the two sides of your lives. However, with the transparency that has started with the Internet and the social media it’s becoming almost impossible to separate the two anyway.

5. Get yourself a Twitter account. Twitter is micro blogging platform with allows you to follow people and to have followers. It’s limited to 140 characters and that’s rather nice. They say the 120 is the new 140. There are many tools and applications already developed for Twitter. You can read my other blog on Twitter if you are interested in learning more about it. And if you want to read up more on everything Twitter just go to that category.

6. One of the most important personal brand attribute and the first thing that gets noticed: your email address. Make sure your email address is not something like: hottahoechick@aol.com. If that’s your personal email address, keep it to yourself. Get yourself a professional email address. Use GMail and put your firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Gmail is becoming a very popular email provider and it comes with many additional and very handy tools and applications that you are going to love: calendar, documents, feeder, photos and more.

7. Make sure you track your online presence and manage it properly. There are many tools out there from free to paid. Here’s a list of some of the most popular applications that provide an excellent tool to monitor your brand if you get really serious about it.

There you have it. Follow these 7 simple steps and you are on your way to establishing your personal brand online.

Additional Resources:

http://www.onedayonejob.com/blog/managing-your-employment-or-personal-brand-online/

11 ways to build your personal brand online

http://www.onedegree.ca/2008/02/how-do-you-mana.html

http://mashable.com/2009/02/05/personal-branding-101/

http://mashable.com/2008/12/29/brand-reputation-monitoring-tools/

http://mashable.com/2008/12/24/free-brand-monitoring-tools/

]]> http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/03/how-to-manage-your-personal-brand-online/feed/ 0 Social Media Sites Demographics http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/03/social-media-sites-demographics/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/03/social-media-sites-demographics/#comments Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:16:23 +0000 Milena Regos http://milenaregos.wordpress.com/?p=41 Social media marketing is picking up more and more noise in the marketing world. As companies are slashing their budgets they are looking online to get free exposure and connect with their customers while maintaining their brand. Who are all these people that spend time on social media? Are they your customers? Do you want to engage with them? I have provided a few links below for you to take a look at who uses Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Delicious.com., YouTube and Flickr.

Quantcast data on Twitter demographics:

http://www.quantcast.com/twitter.com#summary

Quantcast data on Facebook  demographics:

http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com

Quantcast data on MySpace demographics:

http://www.quantcast.com/myspace.com

Quantcast data on Delicious.com demographics:

http://www.quantcast.com/delicious.com

Quantcast data on YouTube demographics:

http://www.quantcast.com/youtube.com

Quantcast data on Flickr demographics:

http://www.quantcast.com/flickr.com

If I missed a site of interest to you you can pull the data yourself by going to the Quantcast.com page and typing in the name of the company that you are interested about. Please, leave me comments here as to what other sites you looked at. What do you think? Is this information helpful? Please, let me know what other topics interest you.

]]> http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/03/social-media-sites-demographics/feed/ 6 Introduction to Milena’s blog http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/02/web-20-and-social-media-marketing-blog/ http://www.outandaboutmarketing.com/2009/02/web-20-and-social-media-marketing-blog/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:02:20 +0000 Milena Regos http://glennweatherson.com/milena/2009/02/web-20-and-social-media-marketing-blog/ Hi, my name is Milena Regos and I’m starting this blog to put in one place all Internet marketing, web 2.0 and social media marketing tools and lessons in today’s economy. The Internet is changing daily and the gone are the days of web 1.0. We are all entering a new phase online in which conversation, dialogue, honesty, authenticity and transparency are becoming more prevalent. Gone are the days when companies were able to talk to their customers about their brands without hearing back from their constituents. Now, we have people talking about products and brands to other people. We have a dialogue and not a monologue. As marketing professionals, we need to adjust our marketing mix to include the tools and technology that web 2.0 and social marketing media provide so we can engage our customers more effectively.

In my full-time job as a Marketing Director for Incline Village General Improvement District I deal with daily challenges on how to communicate better with our customers, how to engage them and how to listen to what they have to say. We adapt our marketing strategies based on our customer feedback. As the Marketing Director for Diamond Peak Ski Resort, The Golf Courses at Incline Village, The Chateau at Incline Village, The Recreation Center and Tennis Center I have a responsibility to serve our customers by providing the best products and services for their money. To achieve this I need to listen to our customers. I’m starting this blog as an opportunity to engage more effectively with our customers. I also want to provide lessons that I have learned, research I have found and real life experiences all in one place for people who are interested in Internet marketing, social media marketing and web 2.0. I will continue to update this blog with all things marketing, Internet marketing, web 2.0 and social media marketing that I find interesting and worth reading. This is my personal blog and my thoughts and opinions are not associated with the organization I work for (IVGID).

I hope you enjoy my blog. Send me your feedback and let me know how I can make it better, what interests you and what you would like to read about.

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