Grow My Law Firm

10 ways to get fired fast via social media flubs

The social media world is not as private as many people think. Even if you strictly utilize privacy protocols, you're at the mercy of those who are your friends. It's good practice to always think carefully before posting something. Consider who might read it and how it will be perceived by your boss, co-workers, friends, family, and clients. If you would be uncomfortable with any of these people reading the post, don't do it.

Here are a few things that I have seen through my years involved with social media. Good grief, what were they thinking? Again, don't...

1. Tweet about how boring your job is
2. Tell all your Facebook friends that you're playing Mafia Wars on company time
3. Update your LinkedIn status that you're actively pursuing alternative employment options
4. Tweet that your boss is a __________ (you fill in the blank)
5. Complain that you have too much/not enough work to do
6. Criticize your company in a blog post, tweet or status update
7. Publicly defend a customer with a defamatory attitude
8. Call in sick, then post pictures taken at the ballgame you went to
9. Post the recipe for the proprietary "special sauce"
10. Sit on social media all day and neglect your job

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
On Facebook

Building your brand by blogging

How to Build Your Brand by Blogging

View more documents from cpilch.

The art of a respectful social media connection request

When you send someone an invitation to connect on LinkedIn or Facebook and they think, "Who is this person?" you may be shooting yourself in the foot and missing out on connecting with a great resource. Some people have very loose connection standards, but many people are more careful about who they connect to. If you want people to be more receptive to connecting with you, be sure to give them a reason.

Let's start with LinkedIn. No matter how well you know someone, it's impersonal to just use the stock invitation, "I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn." Adding a bit of personalization is always a classy touch. Even something as simple as, "It was fun running into you this morning. Let's connect here," shows that you're thinking of them as a person rather than just as a connection.

Personalization is especially important if the person doesn't know you. It's a good idea to let that person know why you want to connect with them. "Hi, Joe. We both belong to the Social Media Mavens group, and I liked your response to... I've been reading your blog, and I like... I'd like to connect with you here now. You never know when our connection might become useful."

Few people would receive the preceding request and not accept. You have stated how that person came onto your radar, expressed interest in their work, and gave them a reason to connect with you.

On the other hand, if you receive a LinkedIn connection request from a stranger, you don't have to just archive it or accept it blindly. You might want to message the person something simple like, "I received your connection request, but please forgive my faded memory. I can't remember how we know each other." This provides the person with an opportunity to clarify the connection request. You can then accept or archive the request with better judgment.

It's also a good idea to handle Facebook friend requests similarly. Since Facebook is a "finding ground" for old friends and acquaintances, it's especially important to remind your new/old friend of your connection. Even something as simple as this works, "Hi, Lisa. Remember me from _____ High School? We were in Algebra 2 together. I'd love to reconnect and know what you're up to these days."

Facebook makes it more difficult to clarify a connection request from a supposed stranger however, because by messaging someone, you allow them access to some of your personal profile information for 30-days. That may make you uncomfortable enough to just ignore the friend request. On the bright side though, once you ignore a friend request, that person has the opportunity to send a new friend request, and perhaps this time, they'll send you a message to let you know who they are and why they want to connect.

Not everybody remembers everyone they ever encountered, so if you want the best possible chance of having your social media connection request accepted, make sure you refresh one's memory or give them a reason to get to know you now.


by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter
On Facebook

Social media ettiquette - some basic principles

A friend asked me yesterday, if she unfriended someone, would they be notified? Our subsequent conversation revealed that this rather casual acquaintance of hers was often confrontational and rude on Facebook, and that got me thinking, what is and is not acceptable behavior on social media channels?

Social media is the online version of working the room, and basically, all the social graces and standards that you apply to your every day interactions in face-to-face situations apply online as well.

• Be polite and respectful
• Don't swear or be rude
• Resist the temptation to argue
• Don't be confrontational
• Help others with advice and answers to their questions
• Say please and thank you
• Extend the courtesy of responding when someone writes on your wall, @s or DMs you, or messages you
• Don't blatantly push/sell your product or service

The professional goal of social media is to build relationships that may one day turn into business opportunities. You would never walk into a restaurant, interrupt everyone's dinner, pass out your business cards, then leave. So why would you think this is acceptable online?

People do business with people they like, and the way to earn respect is to be authentic and genuine in your interactions with social media friends and acquaintances. Treat people the way that you like to be treated, and always remember that once online, it's there for good. Draft, review, and reconsider before posting. Protect your reputation.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Ensuring Your Private Info Remains Private on Facebook

On July 1, 2009 Facebook revealed their plans to change the accessibility of your personal information. You may assume that your information is private, but it's best to make sure. This video offers a few suggestions about how you can find peace of mind.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Your status updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, & Twitter. What's the difference?

LinkedIn, Facebook, & Twitter all have the capability to post updates about yourself, but what is appropriate to post where? This video will help you sort out the differences among the big 3, and decide what kind of information is most appropriate to post on which platform.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Marrying Facebook & Twitter - a quick way to annoy your friends

I have a couple hundred Facebook friends and maybe a dozen of them are on Twitter. That means that most of my Facebook friends would probably be confused by most of my Twitter posts. So I don't auto-feed them to my Facebook status. But many people do. I think that's a bad idea.

Facebook has an application that automatically pulls most of your Twitter posts and updates your Facebook status with them. The only ones it doesn't post are @Replies and DMs. It even pulls RTs. Now considering that a lot of Twitter posts are clips of mini conversations with other tweeps, when you post them to Facebook, your Facebook friends are only seeing one side of a conversation. That's just confusing.

Also, if you're like most Twitter users, you are in and out of the utility throughout the day, and you likely post multiple times within a short period of time. If all of these are posted to Facebook, that fills up your friends Facebook homepage stream with mostly your own status updates. I'm guessing that your friends might consider that a bit pompous, as they are probably interested in what you're doing, but also interested in what others are doing. If you fill up all their space, they're not getting equal information about other friends.

There is a happy medium however. People who use TweetDeck have the option of checking a box to post select tweets to their Facebook status. This is the best of both worlds. It spares you of the extra effort of duplicate posting across two platforms, and it saves your Facebook friends the irritation of reading every Tweet.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

This is also posted on www.socmedia101.com: Social Media Tips and How To's for Beginners.

TweetDeck: backing up & synching among computers

On June 16, 2009, TweetDeck released a significant upgrade. One of the most requested and impressive features is the new ability to backup your TweetDeck account and open it on any computer in the world. This eliminates the old necessity to reconfigure your account and rebuild all your groups from computer to computer.

This video explains how to set up TweetDeck to take advantage of this terrific feature.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Customizing TweetDeck to suit your preferences

It is likely that you will quickly outgrow the web-based Twitter application when you follow 50-100+ people. Then it might be time to take a look at TweetDeck. This video will show you a few tips about how you can customize TweetDeck.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Keeping Your Kids Safe on Facebook

Facebook is a lot of fun, but it can also be a dangerous place for your kids if they're not careful. This video offers tips about how you can help keep your kids safe.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Yours, mine, and ours. The anatomy of a social media breakup.

This is a little different than what I normally address in my blog posts, but I feel it's important. Lately I've seen a couple people make a very public social media spectacle of their personal relationships' disintegration, and that could have been avoided if they had just been a bit more discrete.

I think that you're pretty safe on LinkedIn. That site is generally professionally-oriented, and most people keep their personal lives out of it. But Facebook and Twitter are much more socially-oriented, and when a relationship is all hearts and flowers, you may want to shout it to the world. But what happens when it ends?

The interesting part is that sometimes people rush to change their Facebook relationship status to "in a relationship" very early on in that relationship, before they really know each other. It might be better to take a step back and treat social media like you do real life. Do you rush out broadcasting to the world that you're now "taken?" Do you tell everyone you meet, friends, family and strangers every chance you get? Maybe some people do, but many people are more discrete and careful about who they share that information with, if for no other reason, to minimize the circle of people they will have to explain a potential future breakup to.

So, what happens when you've been involved with someone for a period of time and have made a very public demonstration of your coupled status on Facebook and Twitter, and made a bunch of friends together, and then you break up? Who gets the friends? What if his/her friends start criticizing you in social media, perhaps simply to boost the ruptured ego of their closer friend? What if your ex quickly finds a new love, and you are confronted with this potentially painful fact every time you log into your account?

It's much easier to avoid potentially painful situations and people in the real world than it is in social media if you're "friends" and "following" each other. This is where decisions have to be made. You can toughen up and find a way to deal with the new reality, or you can sever your ties with the ex and his/her circle of friends. Or you can stalk your ex. Just kidding. I don't recommend that one.

In the meantime though, this breakup also likely creates an uncomfortable situation for any common friends who may be caught in the middle or feel they have to pick sides. Again, it's generally pretty easy to avoid people in the real world, but the virtual reality makes it hard when you're connected through social media channels.

Ultimately, I caution my clients to be careful about posting personal relationship information on social media before they are married. I also caution them to be careful about postings and tweets that are shared with an intimate partner. Such posts can really come back to bite you down the line when things aren't so wonderful anymore.

Ultimately, discretion is the key, and it can prevent a lot of heartache, embarrassment and a potential public spectacle in the future.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Setting up Facebook groups with privacy restrictions

This 3 minute video will teach you how to set up groups with restrictions on what those people can see on your Facebook page. That way, you can control who sees what and draw the line between personal and professional, and everything in between.

Setting up Facebook groups with privacy restrictions

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Twitter - my follow strategy

I was way behind on my Twitter follow-backs, and I took an hour recently to work on them. I am careful about who I follow back. I only reciprocally follow someone who I believe will bring value to my twit stream, someone that I think I am likely to engage with, learn from, and enjoy their company. I suppose I would be much higher up in the Twitter rankings if I mass-followed everybody, but that strategy doesn't work for me.

So, when someone follows me, I go to their page and read their bio. I am drawn to someone who looks interesting. They don't have to share all the same interests as me, but they have to offer something that will entertain me, teach me, make me laugh, inspire me, or make me think.

I also look at their number of followers and following. If those two numbers are way out of proportion, like 5000 followers and following 50, I am suspicious. That person is likely more interested in broadcasting than sharing. And for me, the whole point of Twitter is to build relationships, resources, and network.

I also review where they are. I like to know where someone's home-base is. Obscure locations, like, "The World," make me wonder why that person is trying to hide. Since proximity is a popular reason to form Twitter relationships, I always wonder why they don't want to appeal to their neighbors. (I always follow people from Western MA.)

Next, I read their tweets, a page or two of them. I look for a balance of unique thoughts and observations, RTs, and shared links. I won't follow someone who blatantly tries to push their product or service, who grandstands, is negative, rude, uses profanity, or doesn't engage with others.

If I find all of the above, I follow back.

Oh, and one final thing...sometimes I make the wrong follow choice, and I have no problem unfollowing at a later date. I also often follow people who engage with me despite my not following them. In this case, when I look at their profile again, something has usually changed. Maybe before they were new to Twitter and didn't really have the hang of things, so I am willing to follow and share at that time.

That's the bottom line for me. I want to learn and share, and that's what my Twitter experience is all about. But I would like to stress that follow strategy is personal, and what works for me may not work for others. There is no right and wrong follow strategy.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

This is also posted on www.socmedia101.com: Social Media Tips and How To's for Beginners.

Managing how your friends experience your Facebook page

There are no hard and fast rules for social media regarding connection strategy. Everybody follows their own criteria, and many people make it up as they go. They tend to review invitations on a case-by-case basis.

Facebook is arguably the most socially oriented of the Big 3 social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.) As a result, some people like to restrict their friends list to those they know well. The problem with this strategy is that as more and more people join Facebook, it is common to receive invitations from co-workers, vendors, co-members of professional associations, and casual acquaintances. How can you ignore these invitations without "dissing" these people? You could send a polite message explaining that you use Facebook only for close friends and family, or you can set up groups that restrict access to particular information in your profile and on your wall.

For example, if you don't want your professional connections and casual acquaintances to see family photos, you may choose to block these peoples' access to them. It's actually easy to do through the following steps:

• Go to Friends
• Make a New List
• Name the Group
• Hit enter to save
• Now to add friends to that group

Now you need to set your albums' privacy settings for this group:

• Go to Photos
• Album Privacy
• Change who can see this for a group of photos to Only Friends
• Click Customize in the dropdown list
• Click except these people
• Type the name of the group (or individuals) you want to restrict access
• Click okay

Now remember to add all similar new friends to that group when you invite or accept them. The beauty of this strategy is that these people will never even know that these photo exist. They can't miss what they are unaware of, so there will be no hard feelings. If you want to check and see how they view your profile, follow these steps:

• Mouse over Settings and click Privacy
• Click Profile
• Type a friend's name in the box after "See how a friend sees your profile"

You will then see what your friend experiences when they view your profile. If they still have access to information that you want to restrict, you can further tweak your privacy settings by mousing over Settings and clicking Privacy, then adjust the settings as appropriate for you.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

LinkedIn: How an Incomplete Profile Hurts You

Take a moment right now to Google your name. If you’re on LinkedIn, your LinkedIn profile is likely at the top of page one of the results. That’s how powerful and significant LinkedIn has become online.Think of your LinkedIn profile as a super high-test version of your resume that is available 24/7/365 for the whole world to see. It can paint you in the best possible light and open doors if you are willing to devote the time and attention to developing a profile that employers and those looking for vendors and will find attractive.

So why on Earth would anybody not take the time to fill out their LinkedIn profile completely? Perhaps 50% of those currently on LinkedIn haven’t though. Why not? When I look at a profile that simply lists the company somebody works for and their title, with no details about skills, past employment, education and interests, I think, “This person isn’t serious about LinkedIn.”

Now consider that if 50% of the estimated 11 million LinkedIn users have taken the time to complete their profiles, that’s a lot of prospective hiring managers to potentially impress or not. Can you afford to take the chance?


by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

This is also posted on www.socmedia101.com: Social Media Tips and How To's for Beginners.

7 more things to avoid on LinkedIn

My Top10 mistakes people make on LinkedIn blog post was my most popular ever, so I thought it was time to share a few more things people do to shoot themselves in the foot on LinkedIn.

1. Keeping your connections private. The whole point of LinkedIn is to share resources and grow individual networks, so how can that happen if your hoard your contacts? When people can see them, they have the opportunity to identify people they know and send invitations. They may also see someone who can fulfill a particular need they have and ask you to make an introduction. Generally, people who make their connections private are regarded by the LinkedIn community as takers rather than givers. Is that how you want to be perceived.


2. Not updating your status. This is one of the best ways to remain top of mind for all your connections when they check their home pages. LinkedIn deems status updates to be so important that they display at the top of each user's home page. Now this is not Twitter. This valuable real estate shouldn't be used to announce that you're cleaning your office. Use this space to market yourself by constantly educating and reminding your connections about your specialties, and try to update it daily.


3. Not including your maiden name. Ladies, this is a no-brainer. You weren't born when you got married. Lisa Jones had high school and college friends. She probably also had a job or two before becoming Lisa Wilson, so why would she not want to be found by people in her past who may be in a position to hire her? It doesn't matter if it's been 25 years since you were Lisa Jones, your LinkedIn (ad Facebook) persona should be Lisa Jones Wilson to present the broadest potential to be found.


4. Not utilizing groups. Group discussion boards are a tremendous resource to gain information, advice, and help. They can also be used to showcase your expertise in a non-boastful way by helping others. Look for alumni, professional trade, special interest, and local area groups. You will find an instant connection and common ground with other members. If you can't find exactly what you're looking for, or you identify a need, start your own group. I started 3 of them myself, and I have the benefit of moderating, messaging members through email, and having my profile viewed by most people when they request joining my groups.


5. Spamming groups. You know how great your product or service is, but this is not the place to toot your own horn so blatantly. In fact, most people in your groups don't give a hoot about your sales pitch that advertises something they're not looking for. So when you post a sales pitch, it just makes you look pushy and unappealing.


6. Not integrating other social media feeds. If you have a blog and a Twitter feed, link them to LinkedIn. What better way to have people discover how interesting your blog is than to have them see the feed on your LinkedIn profile? They're already interested in you if they're reading your bio, so the more information you can share with them, the easier it will be for them to feel connected with you and want to do business with you.


7. Ignoring LinkedIn completely. LinkedIn is not a case of build it and they will come. Sure, some people will find you, but you should also be actively mining your own personal network. In addition, LinkedIn makes it easy to keep tabs on what your connections are up to. Did one of your former co-workers recently get a promotion that puts her in a position to hire contractors? Does someone you serve on a charitable board with possess a special skill that your company needs? If you put up a profile and neglect it from then on, the joke is on you, as opportunities pass you by and go to competitors who recognize the power of the network.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

12 steps to becoming successful on Twitter

I joined Twitter and started tweeting on September 24, 2008, and in 5 months, over 700 people now follow me, and I have earned a Twitter Grade of 99.0. That means that I rank higher than 99% of the rest of the twitterverse, and only 13,887 of the estimated 4 - 5 million twitter users rank higher than me. I'm no Darren Rowse or Chris Brogan, but I am very happy with where I'm at. So, how did I do it?

1. I found my niche. Or two or three actually. I don't just tweet about marketing. That would be too boring and reduce my appeal to anybody outside the marketing field. I also tweet about other interests, like cooking, NASCAR racing and various observations and aspects of my personal life, like shoveling snow or enjoying the nature that surrounds me. People who are interested in those things find me and follow me.
2. I balance the kind of tweets. I try to achieve a healthy mix of retweeting other peoples' information, sending links to interesting articles I find online, and speaking directly to others by commenting on their tweets. I try very hard to not have a lot of consecutive @Replies in my twitstream so people don't think that I'm all about closed communication.
3. I balance my content. I tweet about a variety of things. If I spent all day tweeting about only NASCAR, people who aren't interested in that would get bored and probably unfollow me. But since my Twitter profile says,"Positioning & branding marketer. Social media networking junkie. Friend, advocate, sister, cook, reader, scrapbooker, and NASCAR fan," people know what to expect when they follow me.
4. I tweet regularly. I don't think that I've ever missed a day, and I average 13 tweets throughout the course of the day. This applies to weekdays and weekends. I maintain a regular Twitter presence.
   
5. I keep it clean and polite. I may disagree with something that someone says, but I respect their opinions and would never offend them or engage in an argument. If someone tweets something that I find offensive, I will unfollow and block them if necessary. And I never swear.
6. I respond to people. If people take the time to retweet my tweets or comment about something I said, or ask me a question, I believe that they deserve the respect of a response.
7. I thank every one of my followers personally. I don't use an automated response. Sometimes that's a daunting task because there are days when I have 35 new subscribers, but if they found and followed me, I believe that they deserve a thank you. Courtesy is just how I'm wired.
8. I don't push my services in a boastful manner. I tweet a link to my blog posts and my published articles when they come out, but I don't tweet a link to my blog just for the heck of it.
9. I regard Twitter as a relationship builder. I use it to get to know people, not preach to them. My goal in using Twitter every day is to engage in mini-conversations with people.
10. I know my place. I understand that we're all learning together, and although I do train others in the use of social media marketing, I don't consider myself an expert. I know that there are no experts in this stuff, only people who may have been at it a little longer than others.
11. I believe in a core philosophy of give, give, give. This means that I do my best to help my fellow tweeps whenever they ask.
12. I genuinely enjoy engaging with others. I'm a solo consultant, working in a small office, with minimal personal interaction on many days, and Twitter makes me feel less alone. I find that many of the people who follow me have similar working situations, so we support each other daily.

Twitter has turned into a wonderful tool for me to meet people that I would never have met under other circumstances. In fact, just last week, I attended my first Tweetup and really enjoyed having face-to-face conversations with some of my favorite tweeps. I can't speak for them, but to me, this week, the conversations seem even warmer and friendlier because of that added personal dimension.

I am very grateful to have found this terrific communications tool.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

10 Things I Know About Blogging

1. In the blogosphere it is perfectly acceptable to republish another blogger’s work as long as you credit them. No permission is required, but it’s nice to make a request just the same.
   
   
2. You must be a good writer. Although the tone may be casual, spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors are not allowed.
   
   
3. Blogs without pictures are boring, so you should have access to photos and possess basic photo editing skills.
   
   
4. Search engines love blogs because the content is constantly fresh.
   
   
5. Your blog can drive traffic to your website and vice-versa.
   
   
6. Popular blogs are often written in first person. This is an opportunity to allow your readers/clients/prospects to get to know you as a person.
   
   
7. Some of the most popular blogging platforms are Google’s free Blogger and LexBlog's and SixApart’s paid blogging platforms. You do get what you pay for in this instance.
   
   
8. The blogosphere is a community, so you should expect to be engaged by others.
   
   
9. One of the fastest ways to get your blog noticed is by posting comments on other relevant blogs, with a link back to yours.
   
   
10. Blogging requires a serious time commitment. You must post at least once/week, every week, and a neglected blog is worse than none at all.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Building your brand 140 characters at a time

At the risk of sounding like a broken record... your brand isn't your logo and stationery, although they are elements of it. Your brand is the feeling that people have when they see your logo, hear your name, or are reminded of your product or service in any way. Your brand is completely about the emotion evoked.

Twitter is one of the most powerful branding tools available these days. Are you building your brand on Twitter? Is it possible to build a brand in 140 character bursts?

Case in point: Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh is on Twitter. Now let's face facts, the man sells shoes. What's so exciting about that? He tweets about his day. He tweets about meetings he has. He tweets when he is interviewed by the press. He tweets about making green tea, and what he had for dinner. He tweets when he sees a movie. What's so exciting about that? Individually, maybe nothing, but all together, they gave his followers...all 27,615 (as of now) of them, insight into Tony, the person.

I'm one of those followers, and when I read regular stuff about a regular guy who is excited about Christmas and spending time with friends, I think, "He's okay." Then I read the impressive stuff that he's doing with is company, and I am inclined to check out his website and maybe do a little shopping.

Reading Tony's tweets puts a human face on a company that I wasn't really curious about before. Now Zappos is on my radar, and my feeling about it is positive. "Hey, that's Tony's company." That's branding.

I know what you're thinking, "What can Twitter do for me? Is it worth my time? How can I learn it?" The truth is that it can be whatever you want it to be. Everyone in the Twitterverse is learning at the same time. There are no experts. There is no rulebook. If someone abuses your personal ethics, unfollowing them is as easy as clicking a button. Poof, they can't assault you anymore.

Twitter is a unique marketing mechanism in the fact that it is 100% permission based. Think about the potential of always speaking to an audience that signed up to listen to what you have to say, and always welcomes it. What company would argue that they don't want a 100% opt-in prospect list?

Companies are also reinforcing their brands by doing damage control on Twitter. Consider the importance of the job that head of social media at Ford Motor Company, Scott Monty has. I have the utmost respect for someone who embraces the challenge of rebranding one of "The Big 3." The automotive industry's reputation is so tarnished that I applaud Scott's efforts. He uses Twitter to educate followers about new features and industry news. He politely clarifies misconceptions and always maintains a positive attitude. Whatever Ford is paying him, he's worth more, far more, for the rebranding that he actively pursues daily on the company's behalf.

Finally, what better example could there be than the poster boy, Barack Obama? Some brilliant staffer realized that Twitter was on the verge of exploding, and the campaign embraced it as a marketing tool. I doubt that he was doing this personally, but somebody was posting several times/day about his appearances and speeches. They posted links to live feeds. Throughout the campaign, his followers got an inside, birds-eye view of what he was doing daily. We felt like a member of his team. We felt a spirit of camaraderie. We found each other, and supported each other, and cheered together on one glorious night. Obama's venture into the Twitterverse definitely helped build his brand.

So, if Twitter is good enough for Obama's brand, and Ford and Zappos, is it good enough for you?

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Top 10 mistakes people make on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is such a wonderful tool to sell yourself to prospects and potential customers, clients and employers. Unfortunately, a lot of people make a lot of mistakes and don't fully utilize LinkedIn to its full potential. Here are the top 10 mistakes that I see people make:

1. Unprofessional photo. LinkedIn is not Facebook. This is not a place where you should have on a baseball cap or be dressed inappropriately for your position. You should be represented exactly as people see you in your day-to-day work environment. If you're a police officer, you should be in uniform, and a banker better be in a suit and tie.
2. Not using a custom URL. You can change your URL where it says Public Profile/edit. Use your name, because this is a public link that you can use in marketing materials. Do this now before somebody else takes it.
3. Incomplete employment history. Your employment history is a powerful tool for people to find you. It is common for people to search employees of companies they worked for in the past to reconnect with old friends and associates. If you're not there, you can't be found as easily.
4. Not listing your specific URLs. Don't be satisfied with the default, "My Company," or "My Blog." By simply dropping down to "Other," you can customize these links to read your company's name. IE, "Grow My Company."
5. Using your company email address as your contact email. Unless you own the company, you should use a personal email address. If you ever leave the company, and no longer have access to that email address, you will lose everything that you've built on LinkedIn.
6. Not adding your LinkedIn profile address to your email signature. You've done all this work, flaunt it. Let everybody you email have easy access to the most complete info they could possibly find about you.
7. No recommendations. This makes people wonder why nobody has recommended you. Let friends, co-workers, clients, and employers sing your praises. These recommendations are extremely valuable insight for anyone considering hiring you for any reason.
8. Incomplete educational information. Like former employment, this is a strategy to be found. People search for people they went to school with. It's an instant bond and common ground.
9. Neglecting your connections. A critical key to your network is a robust and diverse list of connections. LinkedIn is built around establishing connections, so you are of little value to the LinkedIn community as a whole if you don't actively and consistently mine connections. This is not something that just happens. They won't come just because you built it. Work it, work it!
10. Not monitoring the answers component. Answering and asking intelligent questions provides an opportunity of you to raise awareness of yourself.

There are many things that can set you apart on LinkedIn. These are just a few of the more glaring mistakes that I notice on a regular basis.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

What I get out of Twitter

I manage a LinkedIn Group called Linked Western MA, and today someone posted a very interesting question: "Are you using Twitter and, if so, what benefits are you getting from it?"

I thought that my response might interest you too, so here's what I wrote:

I started tweeting at the end of September and quickly became addicted. It is an incredible resource to solve a variety of problems quickly. For example, I was having trouble with a Microsoft Word formatting issue, tweeted about it, and within 5 minutes, 2 people responded offering work-arounds. One of them was @jasonturcotte, who is a super-helpful Western MA guy who wasn't on my radar before Twitter. Problem solved.

I have also established collaborative relationships with several people from all over the world. We share ideas and discuss everything from current events to professional issues.

An additional benefit is that many companies are on Twitter. This is rapidly becoming one of the most efficient means on monitoring chatter about your brand. Comcast has done this very successfully. When someone tweets a complaint, @ComcastCares knows about it and takes appropriate action. Remember those 15-20 minute-long holds on the Comcast help line? Those are a thing of the past for people on Twitter.

Those of us on Twitter hear news almost instantly. We knew about Mumbai an hour before the Associated Press had the story and were reading live reports from people on the ground there. We saw photos of the jet crash last week before you saw them on the news.

We get to know the media and celebrities. A couple of the characters from Heroes tweet. Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow tweet. Shaq tweets. Dave Matthews tweets. Channel 22 and the Republican tweet local news.

In my couple months on Twitter, I have earned a grade of 94 out of 100 by sharing information that a lot of people find interesting, so they follow me. I have also found a new specialty niche in my marketing business - training people how to use social media, including Twitter and LinkedIn. After I published this article about LinkedIn, my phone started ringing: LinkedIn or Left Out. What You're Missing if You're Not Utilizing this Powerful Social-networking Tool.

When you jump on the Twitter bandwagon, please check me out: http://twitter.com/ChristinePilch



by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile
On Twitter

Twitter - what the heck is it and why should I try it?

I heard the word, Twitter, several times before I actually went to Twitter.com and checked it out. What finally really piqued my interest was a blog post from a fellow marketer, Kevin O'Keefe, in May of 2008. In this post, Kevin quoted legal Internet marketing expert, Steve Matthews, "[Twitter is] widely considered the fastest growing tool of web influence, and will at some point have a trickle down effect for the legal industry." That got my attention.

So I went to Kevin's account on Twitter, saw a bunch of what looked like jumbled thoughts, got confused, and went on with my day. But I continued to hear about Twitter, and back in September, I jumped in with both feet. Here's what I've learned so far:

• The Twitter community is incredibly friendly and helpful
• If you post interesting Tweets, people will find you
• You learn the platform by watching others
• You can really build up your following by attracting the interest of someone who has a large following.
• Major brands and companies monitor Twitter to solve problems for unhappy or unsatisfied customers
• It is possible to communicate with very powerful people, who would be otherwise unreachable

Here's why I am such a big fan in such a short time:

• Typepad's new editor was a disaster for me. Post formatting was lost upon save, stripping out paragraph breaks, bullets, and numbers. One Tweet about my problem generated a response 22 minutes later from a CSR whose job is to monitor Twitter for Tweets about Typepad. Within an hour, we were talking on the phone, and she escalated my problem to the manager of marketing and customer support. He and the CEO of the company monitored by problem through to resolution.
• The editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek magazine answered my question; a question from little ol' me.
• After Tweeting a link to a new article that I recently had published, followers reTweeted it, which resulted in several new Twitter followers, several new LinkedIn connections, a 700%+ increase in traffic to this blog, and a call from someone writing an article about social media networking for a national magazine.

I guarantee that Twitter will look odd to you and you'll be confused. You'll have to learn the lingo and how to function within the community. I made mistakes and so will you, but there are plenty of resources about using Twitter. One of my favorites is TwiTip, Twitter Tips for Beginners.

I demonstrated above the power of this emerging social media networking platform. Can you afford to continue ignoring it? How long will it take for your competitors to jump onboard and take away business that could and should be yours?

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter

Beware betraying your brand

There was a very insightful article in the November 10th issue of Advertising Age, To Rebuild, GOP Must Tear Down Its Brand and Return to Core Values. It states, "The party has to actively do what any good brand should do: Get back to basics and rally around its core values."

This article is about getting back to the Republican Party's position. It blames the party's overwhelming failure in the 2008 election on its departure from the core values that solidifies its base.

Have you been true to your brand? Do you know what is most important to your clients, and do you consistently deliver it? Have you forgotten about what your clients value?

It is easy to stray without a solid position statement. If you need help with that, I would be happy to work with you. Once you determine your market position and distinction, then you can create messages that resonate with your target clients, messages that they will be attracted to and pay attention to.

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter

Who is on LinkedIn?

What an incredible coincidence to have my own article published about the value to professionals of utilizing LinkedIn (see LinkedIn or Left Out: What You’re Missing If You’re Not Utilizing This Powerful Social-networking Tool) on the very day that Adertising Age published, Finally Find Out Who LinkedIn Users Are.

The results were generated by a poll of 70,000 actual LinkedIn users, and it broke down as follows:

• 21% use LinkedIn pretty much as a job search tool, and have a personal income level of about $87,648.
• 22% are called late adopters because they joined primarily as the result of an invitation from a friend. They don't consider social media networking to be a priority and have a mean income of $87,810.
• 28% are senior executives. These members joined LinkedIn for networking opportunities, and are not necessarily looking for another job. 64% of them are male, and they make about $104,100.
• 30% are considered savvy networkers. 69% of them read blogs, 9% of them maintain their own blogs, and they have a personal income of about $93.484.

These statistics offer a powerful insight into the caliber of people networking on LinkedIn. What are you waiting for? It's time to get LinkedIn.


by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
On LinkedIn