Advanced Social Media: Understanding LinkedIn & Twitter

1. Advanced Social Media:Understanding LinkedIn & Twitter September 28, 2011 Kirsten Judd, Social Media Strategist NLC Social Media www.nlcsocialmedia.com

2. Agenda – Part One • LinkedIn • Setting up your LinkedIn account effectively • Using LinkedIn as a business tool • Creating relationships / expanding networks • Using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool • Using LinkedIn advertising

3. Agenda – Part Two • Twitter • Setting up your Twitter account • Linking your Twitter account to LinkedIn and other networks • Twitter etiquette • How to tweet & respond to tweets • Using automated tools to increase your followers • Using Twitter as an advertising platform

4. Goals for the day • Keep this training very informal, ask questions when you think of them • Set up your LinkedIn & Twitter accounts effectively • Increase your comfort level and understanding of using LinkedIn and Twitter in your organization • Learn new ways to connect with your audience LinkedIn & Twitter • Enjoy some time out of the office!

5. Understanding LinkedInfor Nonprofits & how to use it in your organization

6. Get yourself “LinkedIn” first • You must have a personal LinkedIn profile before your can set up a profile for your organization. • Use Your Personal Profile to Benefit Your Nonprofit: • Post Network Updates about your organization’s work. • Post Questions and be an expert by answering questions in the nonprofit category. • Join and participate in Groups relative to your organization’s work. • You can also add Apps to your profile which will allow you to feature slide shows or Blogs about your organization. The LinkedIn tool set has expanded significantly over the last year and there’s a lot there to utilize to benefit both your personal brand on LinkedIn and your organization.

7. Create Your LinkedIn Account www.linkedin.com

8. Is your profile @ 100%?

9. What does your summary say? Does it speak to your audience? Your elevator pitch goes here! Tell your audience what you can do for them. Relevant to your current position Keyword friendly

10. Little things, but important Create a personal tagline … “Social Media Strategist” Be Specific – Don’t leave them guessing.

11. Profile Settings

12. Profile Settings • Use Full View for maximum exposure / Be transparent • Show all details • Full View very important in improving your Google ranking, individually and for your organization • Link to your LinkedIn profile often with email signature

13. Your past connects you • Complete your employment history section • Request recommendations from your trusted agents. Try to get recommended from others who you have not recommended • As your network grows, make a couple of recommendations a month – it puts your information out to their networks • Be an expert on the Answers section … search a category or keyword, find questions to answer. (Located under More tab)

14. Updating your profile • Use status updates often • You can use Twitter to feed your status update if you don’t want to do it manually • Update your profile when you have • A change in products/services • A change in your territory (marketers) • A shift in marketing campaigns / new video • New addition to your website, etc. • An upcoming event

15. Connections & Contacts • 1, 2, & 3 degrees of connections • 1=your direct contacts, trusted agents • 2=your trusted agents’ connections • 3=your trusted agents’ connections’ connections • Open Contacts, Network Statistics

16. Adding Connections • Allow LinkedIn to search your Outlook or Webmail accounts for contacts who are already on LinkedIn • Send batch invitations using email addresses from your database • Review your 2 & 3 degree contacts and request a personal introduction through one of your trusted agents • Explore LinkedIn for past or present colleagues (if you fill in your work experience thoroughly, LinkedIn will do this for you)

17. Protocol • Add no more than 20 new contacts per day, to maintain conversations. Adding more than 20 will flag you as a possible spammer • Be polite, add a personal message to your invitation • “Hi Gina, please accept my invitation to connect. I am seeking to build a group of executive women in healthcare and I’d be pleased if you would join my network” • When they accept, reply back • “Thank you for accepting my invitation to connect. I look forward to collaborating with you in the future.”

18. CategorizingContacts Use these TAGS to organize your contacts

19. Setting Up Your Organization Profile To get started, go to the “Companies” menu on LinkedIn. From there, select “Add Company” (located on the right hand side under the search box).

20. Organization Profile, cont’d • Enter basic information about your company, like its description, number of employees, and industry it operates in. • Follow LinkedIn’s wizard for creating your company profile – you’ll be able to add a logo, locations, and a feed for your company blog. • Once you’ve completed LinkedIn’s steps for getting set up, your company profile will be available. Now is where it gets interesting though. In addition to showing off the basic information you provided, LinkedIn will pull in data about your company from around the site.

21. Links to the profiles of all current employees, former employees, new hires, and recent promotions, news about your organization, job opportunities, etc., will be published to your organization page.

22. Best practices for non-profit organizations on LinkedIn • Encourage Your Staff to Create 100% Complete Profiles The more complete staff members profiles are, the more likely your organization is to attract and connect with all your critical audiences: staff, supporters and clients. • Create Groups at No Cost There are over 75,000 nonprofit Groups on LinkedIn, offering nonprofits a place to connect and host conversations with all their audiences. • Raise AwarenessProminent stakeholders (volunteers, advisors, board members) help raise awareness and build your organization’s credibility when they list their involvement on their profile or display a group badge. • Search LinkedIn Answers – BE AN EXPERTFind questions or search by topic in the ANSWERS section (under MORE tab). Provide your expert opinion, explanation, or experience.

23. How to search for leads • Find People • Great for demographic/industry searches • Advanced People Search • Enter any piece of information you’d like to search by • Refine as needed • Save your search if you want to keep it as a reference • Blind Reverse Search • Search within a company to see who in your network knows someone you want to know. • Your contact can introduce you through InMail.

24. How to search for leads • Group Diving – to find the right groups for you • Search keywords • Search for specific types of people (non-profits, healthcare, etc.) • Search discussions about topics of your choice • When you find groups that interest you, look at group information, # of members, do you have any 1 or 2 degree connections?, join if you like and have the group leader plug you in, join subgroups too • Use advanced search to find people within a geographic area and send a message to them, schedule an appointment

25. How to search for leads • Use the Event section to promote events you are having • Located under the MORE tab at the top, choose Events

26. Adding LinkedIn Applications to Your Profile

28. Understanding Twitterfor Nonprofits & how to use it in your organization

30. Setting up your Twitter profile • www.twitter.com • Enter Full Name of Your Business, Email Address, & Password

31. Twitter Settings • Account • Username will be your public profile (NLCSocialMedia) • www.twitter.com/nlcsocialmedia) • Enter Email address that will be used as main communicator

32. Twitter Settings, cont’d • Profile • Add your logo or a photo that represents your organization • Add your website address • Add information about your organization ***You only get 160 characters to use***

33. Twitter Settings, cont’d • Design • Don’t use a Twitter template • Use a graphic or photo that is representative to your organization • Shows your unique characteristics • Sets your organization apart from the rest • Be creative!

34. Be Creative

35. Twitter Etiquette • Follow back those that follow you • Delete those followers who do not serve you • Pay attention to direct messages sent to you or in response to a tweet, asking a question. Many are automated responses, but keep an eye out for those needing an answer • Tweet a general reminder now and then that your organization cannot respond on Twitter to any requests to engage services and provide a number to reach your organization

36. Twitter Etiquette • You don’t have to read every tweet on your page. Really! • Build lists to watch people who matter to you more closely • Retweet the good stuff from others - Sharing is caring • Leave 20 characters or more space in each tweet to improve retweeting • Tools like http://bit.ly let you see stats • Use your Twitter ID @NLCSocialMedia on email signatures

37. Twitter Protocol / Process • Follow people with similar interestsUse Twellow and JustTweetIt (directories)These sites can introduce you to Twitter users that have the same interest as yours. Follow these people and observe their tweets. • Get into the conversationRead up on what the people your following are up to and reply if it interests you. When someone asks a question, don’t hesitate to answer if you know it. Don’t be afraid to interact.

38. Twitter Protocol / Process • Don’t spam • Update daily • Find the latest buzz and contribute • Retweet messages of those you followOne day you’ll be surprised on how eager they are to return the favor. • Create relationshipsInteract with followers and create relationships. Ask how they are doing and try to touch on their interests. • Integrate Twitter with other social networks

39. Be on the lookout for: • Relevant questions about your organization • Relevant questions about your industry • Requests for support • Complaints and feedback • Praise • Competitor mentions

40. Automation of Tweets www.Ping.fmAllows you to update your status across dozens of sites through a simple interface. • www.HootSuite.comManage multiple social networks through one client; manage multiple users over various social network accounts (check in on staff who are posting).

41. Twitter • Terminology • Tweet – status update of 140 characters • Follower – someone who follows your tweets • @ - used to reference another user (@nlcsocialmedia) • RT – to re-tweet another user’s tweet to your followers • Reply – to respond to another user’s tweet (public) • DM – a direct message to another user (private) • # - hashtags are used when people tweet about the same topic or event (#worldcupsoccer)

42. How to find followers • First you must follow others … remember etiquette is that those that you follow will follow you! • How do you find people or organizations to follow?

43. How to find followers • Do a simple search for a topic or organization or industry of interest to you. • To follow that organization, click • Listen, follow, interact, retweet, self-promote, create relationship

44. What the Bleep do I Tweet About? • Provide value to your followers • Tweet articles or blog posts by your favorite newspapers, bloggers, or other nonprofits • Tweet powerful stats related to your organization's mission • Tweet inspirational quotes • Tweet important events, campaign updates, anything of purposeful interest to your followers • Moving or inspirational photos of successful events

45. In your spare time … • If your nonprofit has a profile inside of Network for Good, then it has a profile on GiveaTweet.com • List your Twitter profile on your Facebook page (on a separate tab (application) … don’t feed your status updates to your Facebook page … it will overwhelm your followers. • List your Twitter profile on your LinkedIn profile

46. Why Use Twitter for Business? • Important to monitor Twitter for mentions of your brand, business, products, services • Respond immediately to any negative (or positive) statements made • Build a large following in a short amount of time • Follow people in your circle of trust first, then build from there • Provide a value to your followers … golden nuggets of information, hope, inspiration • Inexpensive but highly effective communication tool

48. Contact InformationKirsten Judd785-550-9661 kirsten@nlcsocialmedia.com www.nlcsocialmedia.com