The position we hold in our industry is increasingly more determined by our presentation on social media. An interesting article dealing with this issue has been recently published on LinkedIn by Bernard Marr. In the article, Marr, who is a respected British expert on company performance and an author of a number of specialist books and articles on this issue, summarises his experience with exploitation of social media in last two years.
After two years, Marr reached a stage at which he is contacted by 300 people per day on average. The management of his network of online contacts takes Marr roughly one hour a week. He considers it a usefully spent time, which helps him to get to interesting knowledge and opportunities. These are the steps he recommends for the development of a good network of contacts through social media.
Select the right social networks
Start with the largest and most popular ones – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. There are also smaller and more specific networks for particular industries, which you should examine as well. However, to a company consultant Marr it was LinkedIn and Twitter which proved most useful.
Introduce yourself
It is a professional profile which forms the basis of a professional online presentation. The first thing your potential customers or colleagues should see on your profile is a professional photo. Directly under it, you should publish a list of all your successes. Try to avoid unnecessary clichés such as “I am highly motivated” or “I am target-oriented”.
Nurture the network of your contacts
Do not fear to follow posts of interesting people or to initiate discussion with them. If you want to reach the people who interest you do not sent them common connection requests. Speak in concrete terms and be personal – the same way as in your real life.
Regularly publish interesting posts
Make yourself see at least once a weak. Post short pieces of information about what interesting are you working on right now. You can also publish articles with your own professional insights. Join relevant groups focused on specific fields and follow their discussions. Be careful about spreading advertisement or business offers. People will notice them immediately and they will stop following your profile.
Do not mix private life with business
Try to avoid publishing information about your personal life which do not relate to your work. If you want to share your private matters set up a separate profile with your private contacts. Bernard Marr, for example, uses LinkedIn and Twitter for business purposes only. For private matters he has a profile on Facebook.
Regarding the content of your posts, stick to the topics from the field in which you want to specialise. Measure the results by using the visitor statistics of your profiles or webpages to which you refer. Take into account the overall number of readers of your articles and other published information. Test what works and what does not.
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