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Social Networking and Selling

Posted by Trish Bertuzzi on Fri, Feb 08, 2008 @ 01:21 PM
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I must be getting a bit long in the tooth because all this talk about how to promote your business via social media has me in a panic!  Now, don't get me wrong, I love technology and I am one of the first to embrace whatever will help me expand my network and build my business. But really...do I have to build a profile on Facebook?

I just put my picture on LinkedIn and it took years for me get up the courage to do that.  Now every time I go to my profile I see myself staring back at me.  When the heck did I have to start wearing glasses?

So, I decided to start to educate myself.  I read a great blog posting this week written by Jill Konrath author of "Selling to Big Companies".  In it she talks about what she has learned about effectively using LinkedIn to your advantage and how to present yourself most effectively on the site.  She also quotes other authors and experts - all very interesting!

Take a peek at http://sellingtobigcompanies.blogs.com/selling/2008/02/can-linkedin-in.html

I can only assume there are many of you out there on the same mission. So I ask of you....what social media sites do you use to promote you and your business?

I look forward to your feedback!

 

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COMMENTS

I've finally updated my LinkedIn profile and have created a Facebook profile. I'm not sure I've received any business from it yet, but people are looking at my profile on LinkedIn (you can see who's looking on your main profile page).

posted @ Monday, February 11, 2008 1:57 PM by Dave

Building a Facebook profile does not have to take long or be hard. You don't have to put your whole life's work on there, only those few pieces relevant to your Facebook purposes.

posted @ Monday, February 11, 2008 2:17 PM by Yoav Shapira

@Dave and Yoav. Thanks for your input. I have made a commitment to go explore Facebook this week. I will be looking for business best practices. I will keep you posted if I learn anything worth sharing!

posted @ Monday, February 11, 2008 7:54 PM by

Great thoughts Trish. I've bought into LinkedIN 100%, but I'm not sure I'm 100% in the Facebook camp (although I do have a Facebook profile). I see certainly see how either can help you build your business (not matter what type), but I'm not convinced that social networking (the Facebook/myspace type) will not experience some sort of backlash down the road.
In fact, myspace is already starting to see longtime users shut down there accounts. Will this happen to the LinkedIN crowd at some point? I hope not.

posted @ Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:12 AM by Marc Gonyea

Thanks for providing link to Jill's article.

posted @ Wednesday, February 20, 2008 6:26 PM by Micahel

Hi Trish-
I personally have scaled my social networking down to 2 sites- Linked In for business and Facebook for friends. As a potential customer I welcome (as much as one can :-)) Linked In solcititations and introductions that are sales related out of a sense of professional courtesy after being a salesperson for so long. In general, however, I find it to be great for peer oriented communication and recruiting type business. Not so much for inside sales guy to CIO type intros.
I do know people that are no longer using their Linked In accounts (VC's, Large Company Execs) because it is all "take, take, ask, ask" and no benefit for them personally. (They would cancel the profile but I understand it takes a Papal Bull)
Facebook I view as off limits for business and don't even accept links from people that I don't coinsider friends outside of work.

posted @ Thursday, March 13, 2008 4:00 PM by Garth Moulton

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