LinkedIn is one of the most relevant social media tools for business and, in my personal opinion, one of the most fun!!

LinkedIn is like a working resume; you catalog your work history/specialties, get recommendations from coworkers, and connect with those you already do business with as well as prospects you’d like to meet. You can link your blog, twitter account, even read and recommend books. In short, this is Facebook for professionals (minus the pictures of you from high school you never thought you’d have to see again;-)

This article by Marketo (which I found on LinkedIn;-) addresses the 5 Reasons to Leverage LinkedIn To Increase Your B2B Prospects but I’ve listed a few highlights for getting started:

1. Profile – Make sure your profile is 100% complete, add a picture, list job experience and get recommendations from colleagues.
2. Participate – Like all social media, your page requires effort on your part. Actively participate by accepting invitations from those you know (see #4) recommending books, joining groups, etc.
3. Blog – If you write a blog, add it to your page.  If your connections write blogs, follow them.
4. Invitations – Be discretionary with your invitations. You should have actually had face to face interactions with the people you connect with, whether you’ve done business with them or not, you should be able to recommend them for a job with confidence.
5. Search – Companies, people, prospects and leverage the connections you have with those you desire. That’s really what it’s all about…

Are you LinkedIn?

It’s understood that laughter is the best medicine. It helps boost your energy, strengthen your immune system, and even diminish pain. But is humor in business appropriate? Let me ask you this, ‘Is the Pope Catholic?’

OK, so you know where I’m going with this… I would argue that yes, bringing comedy to a board meeting will not only lighten the mood, it will put everyone at ease while still accomplishing your necessary goals. Of course, there is a time and a place for everything but if you know your audience and tailor your jokes to them, you can add just the right amount of comic relief. To be on the safe side, here are some additional dos and don’ts:

DO set the tone with a sense of humor
DON’T use off-color jokes or inappropriate jokes for your specific audience
DO include the entire group
DON’T single out one person as the butt of your joke
DO always keep it professional
DON’T interrupt the flow of the meeting to tell a joke

As the Executive VP of Wells Fargo said so eloquently: “Laughter in life is essential, don’t take yourself too seriously” -Lisa J. Stevens

Can business be funny?

DO

• start using twitter, facebook and your own blog more effectively.
• build trust in your business
• have real people in charge of customer service
• Check out location based services if you have a physical location.
• Make sure you’re monitoring all the right places.

DON’T

• Annoy your potential customers with bad ad’s like UPS
• Be a twitter jerk
• Let your business get lazy.
• Forget to use traditional marketing tools too.
• Fall into the gap mishap.

What’s on your do and don’t list for the new year?

The reason that we use any marketing is to turn it into business – we want more people to know about what we offer and how we can help them. But, the world has become so inundated with marketing, sales and advertising that most of it gets tuned out. The only way to get above that is to try something new, like building a real conversation through social media.

We talk a lot on this blog about the social media tools that you can use, and how to use them effectively. What we’ve been remiss in covering is how those tools can translate back into real business and real contracts. The good news is, turning social networking into business can be made easier if you remember these three keys:

Schedule in person meetings

If you have been talking with someone regularly on twitter for more than a couple weeks, and they are in your local area, why not ask to meet in person? People like to make new connections but social media can only take that so far – you need to take it into the real world. On that note,

Attend networking events

What city do you live in? Enter it into twtvite and it will tell you about local events going on that are all based in social media. Or, better yet, send out a tweet asking your followers about upcoming events. This works well on Facebook and Linkedin. Usually the groups that plan multiple events will have groups you can join as well so you get notified as soon as one opens. These are great because instead of the traditional events where no one knew anyone, a good percentage of the attendees will be people you have at least chatted with once or twice through social media – instant ice breaker!

Remind people what you can offer

While constant promotion and selling is a bad idea, sending out a couple tweets a day about something you can help with is not a bad idea (of course, this is assuming that you’ve also sent out a couple replies, non-selling tweets, retweets and questions). In addition, you should have your blog automatically tweeting when you publish a new post. This will enable you to send a link to your site but with great content in the forefront.

What other ways can you recommend turning social media into real business?

75 years ago your marketing was entirely based on print and word of mouth. There was no internet, no TV commercials, no billboard advertising. If you wanted people to know about you, you had to run newspaper or magazine ads, go door to door meeting people and hope that others would spread the good word about your business. This meant that your customer service had to be top notch. Every detail of your business needed to be perfect so that you didn’t miss the sale for a slip of the tongue or a mistake in marketing. You had to understand your ideal client so you didn’t waste time or energy marketing to the wrong people. You attended events in the hopes to meet the right people – and when you did, you didn’t ask for their email or cell number, you planned a face to face meeting at an office to discuss how you could work together. There were no shortcuts, no simple ways to reach somebody, nothing that made business easy at all. And yet, thousands of businesses grew, improved and became huge successes. Why? Because they worked their butt’s off, understood what it took to  succeed and never let laziness or short cuts inhibit their success.

Fast forward to today – the land of laziness in business. You can send an email from the road, tweet in bed and cold call from anywhere in the world. It doesn’t take much to create a website, and there are tons of places you can market yourself for next to nothing. And all this has led to disaster for many companies. It is  more important now than ever before to make sure that every detail of your business is perfectly in order, because your customers can reach you faster and in more ways! Companies who don’t remember the past  – or don’t appreciate how to really connect with customers – are letting social media tools run their marketing and are hitting a brick wall. Social media is not the answer to marketing, and it is definitely not a solution to save your business. In fact, unless you already have a steady marketing strategy based on the old ways of actually having quality products and customer service, social media will bury you alive.

Is your business being lazy or are you using these tools to capitalize on the changing market?

Every business needs tools, and every business needs unique tools.  A carpenter couldn’t work well without a hammer and nails. A graphic designer couldn’t do much without adobe creative suite. And a musician would be pretty useless without their instrument. Without the right tools, businesses would cease to exist. In addition to the tools that we use that are specific to our own industries, there are also some tools that every business needs to have to succeed:

1. Website: Every business needs the ability to promote themselves, and a good website is one of the most important tools that a company has to get their name out there. More people search online than anywhere else when they are looking for a company. People like low barriers for entry, and having a strong website allows for your potential clients to learn more about you without having to call first.
2. Communication: Being reachable by both your clients, potential clients, employees and partners is a must. If you can’t be reached, business can’t get done. But, more important than just communication is good communication. When someone reaches out to your company, you want them to find the best, and your communication strategy is one of the first ways that you can prove you are the best.
3. An office: Whether it is in the second bedroom of your small condo, on a construction site, or on the 30th floor of a business high-rise in New York, having a place where you can focus on just work and nothing else is important for any type of business. Not only does it provide you a place to keep your other tools, it gives you a place to separate yourself from the real world. Business hours should be spent working on business, and unless you can separate work from everything else, you will never be at the top of your game.
4. Marketing materials: These include a business card, letterhead (yes, people do still like getting real letters!), marketing brochures, and branding on anything else that you give out. The more places that you can share your branding, the more likely people are to recognize it.
5. Food and drinks: It may seem like a ‘no kidding’ thing, but you would be surprised how many people skip lunch, run out of caffeine or forget to stay hydrated when they get focused on a project. The reality is, staying focused without food or drinks is much more difficult, and definitely not worth it. So, make sure that if you are feeling a little out of it, to get yourself a snack, a cup of coffee or at least some water!

What other tools can you think of that any business can use?

While I can’t say yes or no for you personally, the simple answer for 99% of companies is YES!

Businesses work their butt’s off all year to gain clients, maintain clients, add revenue and improve their market share. What they don’t often do is work their butt off to improve their overall strategy for any of the aforementioned pieces of their business.

The good news is you can spring clean your strategy, your clients, and your business without cleaning out your bank account. Here are 5 small steps that will make big differences:

1. Determine which social media networks are the most beneficial for you. There are hundreds of social media sites that you can use, and many businesses signed up for all of them at once. Unfortunately, not all of them will be beneficial, and a lot of them will just waste your time. Look back through the ones you do use often, the ones that you have received the best results from and just stick with those. Clear out the clutter, and get back more time.
2. Take a look at your client list. Are you following up with clients multiple times and never getting anywhere? Think about focusing on new clients, rather than the ones that seem to never be ready to move forward. Sometimes it is better to move forward and pass on what ‘could be’, so you can get to what is!
3. Clear out the office clutter. A cleared out office will help you to refocus, and probably find a few things! I know when I clear off my desk, I find notes I had taken for random blog posts, potential markets to approach and clients to follow up with. Make sure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle by cleaning it out and re-organizing everything.
4. Modify your website. This doesn’t mean you need a complete overhaul, but you should definitely consider checking through your content, your pictures and your links. As your products and services change, you need to make sure that they are updated everywhere. This also protects you from having broken links or faulty information. If you have the budget, we do recommend making some changes to the look – keeping your site fresh will keep you fresh.
5. Call your current clients. Don’t forget that your clients are the most important piece of your puzzle – so take some time, call and check in with them. They will appreciate the attention, and you will gain the benefits of happier clients.

What else can you do to spring clean your business?