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Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category

The most requested module for Thexyz.in has finally arrived! The Facebook Module lets users login using their Facebook credentials and post stories to their Facebook Wall. Users now have a simple way to promote their stories on your website.

Existing users can use the Facebook module to link their account to Facebook. New members need to fill in some new account registration details and are then able to login to Thexyz.in using their Facebook credentials. Once they are logged in using Facebook Connect they can post stories to their Facebook wall by following directions during the story submission process.

Thexyz.in now connects directly with your Facebook account.

After speaking with a client recently about a new major player in the world of social networking, I was lead into doing some research on LinkedIn as I way to inform our clients and readers of this valuable professional networking tool.

LinkedIn has the potential to replace the Resume/CV one day.

Chaker Khazaal, International Director Loons Can Learn

LinkedIn is a business oriented social networking website. It was launched in May, 2003. The number of professionals registered with LinkedIn now reaches over 43 million active users.

The present CEO of LinkedIn was Jeff Weiner who previously worked as Yahoo executive. This business networking website was founded by Reid Hoffman and he is the former CEO of it. While other social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace target teenagers, this focuses on professionals networking.

The website was officially launched on May, 2003 when five of its founders invited 350 of their contacts to join. After a month, the members reached 4,500 and started growing fast. LinkedIn had its headquarter based in Mountain View CA, USA. Sequoia Capital, Greylock partners and others purchased 5% stack in this website for $53 million.

LinkedIn development:

• LinkedIn launched first premium membership feature called as LinkedIn Jobs which helps its members to find employment.
• The mobile version of this was launched on February, 2008 which allows user to access it through mobile phone. This website also launched ‘LinkedIn DirectAds’ to display advertisements. LinkedIn enabled other online services to be embedded through applications platform on October, 2008.
• Examples of applications that can be displayed on your profile are Amazon Reading List-displays books they are reading. By the end of 2007, the members of this website reached 15 million.

Current usage:

• LinkedIn is mostly used for business networking and will help you increase your business connections. At present, this website has more than 170 industries listed. The people in your list (like friends) are called ‘connections’.
• Users can invite anyone even if he is not a member to join his contact list. You can also get answers to your question through LinkedIn Answers.
• You can use profile to search for job openings or references from users in your connections. Users can join groups on LinkedIn Groups. These groups can include communities such as alumni, specific industry. Any user can create groups on a specific industry or subject.
• Users can embed applications such as Amazon Reading List, display latest blog entries from Wordpress and TypePad on your profile. You can now also add your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile page. Developers can integrate services of this website in their applications using the OpenSocial API by any developer.

Future developments:

LinkedIn may change in the future to include more features to users and also make better use of the technology.

The following features are expected from LinkedIn in future:

• This may turn into a full featured job portal where companies post job openings and employees post their resume. It may work similar to other job portals out there.
• Availability in multilingual: The website may be available in different languages for different regions.
• Social connections: LinkedIn may develop the social nature of the connections. That is a user can know his friend’s status at present similar to other social networking websites.
• LinkedIn may become a common place where you can search for people as many people use to display their business profile.
• Your profile may serve as your identity. In future companies may hire people based on their profile rather than a traditional resume.

User benefits:

LinkedIn can be used to manage your business contacts and can be used to boost your professional network.
The following are the benefits from LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn is a free service so anyone can use it to their benefit.
• Can be used to show your professional experience, qualifications and your education details.
• Can be used to gain professional contact which you can use to gain employment opportunities.
• You can join groups which have people from similar industry or profession at one place.
• You can post questions regarding your career which can be answered by experts from relating fields.
• Using LinkedIn Events, you can post about events that take place.
• Companies using this website can use to promote their service or product by LinkedIn DirectAds.

Social networking is about making real connections with people, LinkedIn is a powerful and useful tool for the job.

Technical explanation:

Users can create a profile very easily. Registering at this website simply needs an email id. During the registration you need to provide details: the first name, last name your email id and desired password.
After you registration is complete, you need to setup your profile. Your profile should reflect your professional experience such as your work experience and education qualification.
You can search for people, jobs, and companies through the search feature from your profile page. The people from company associated with this website will be your colleagues you can invite them to be in your connection.

Worldwide usage:

LinkedIn members reached 43 million. The average age of its user is 41 years. Users with over 45 years form 31 percent of profiles. Users of this website have about 80% of its users reside outside of US. LinkedIn is now used in about 200 countries.

It seems as if everyone is jumping on the social media wagon these days trying to become an overnight success story. The are many successful businesses and individuals alike building a reputation and improving their reach, utilizing the social media frenzy. For most, however, their social media strategy might be failing simply because they don’t fully understand it.

Personality Matters – Are You a Human?

I hear it over and over again “Show your personality, be human. Don’t just go out there trying to sell something”. Everyone is so focused on numbers, they forget about the fact that social sites and microblogging platforms are communities where the main goal is to form connections. Whether it’s personal or business connections you are forming, you need to be human. So show your personality, get involved, contribute to the community, share and converse. Your main goal should be to form relationships. That will build trust between you and your audience, your potential clients.

Let’s say there are two identical home improvement stores that stock the same products for the same price and they are both located near your home. One of them has a friendly, customer service oriented staff. People working at the other store are never helpful and always pushy to sell you their products. I bet you will shop at the friendly store quite more often. People there show they care about you and seem genuinely interested in what you need. You feel more comfortable and trusting.

Don’t Sell – Create Meaningful Relationships

If the only link you share is one pointing to your websites, you’ll only drive your audience away. If someone wanted to read your blog, they’d subscribe to your RSS feed. A better strategy would be to slowly build trust and authority. Once your community understands your value, they will automatically go to you first. Pushy and intrusive advertising will cause more harm then good. Instead, listen to what those in your network want and give it to them, if possible.

Social media is all about making real connections.

Stop Obsessing With Numbers

Numbers are meaningless and can be very misguiding. So what that you have 50k followers if they don’t translate into a single sale. You will surely feel good about yourself but your ROI will be another story. Too many times people judge the effectiveness of their social media campaign by numbers (followers, diggs, etc.). But that means nothing if your audience is either not interested in what you’re offering or you are not reaching them with your message. Learn to focus on quality over quantity.

Figure Out What Works.. And Where

Your social media strategy should also include figuring out which platform works best for your agenda. It’s again quantity over quality, but taken one step further. Instead of joining every imaginable social media platform there is, understand which one works for you and which one will be just a waste of your time. There is only so much resource (time and money) you have at your disposal. Make the most of it by analyzing where your potential clients are and become most active there.

Recently, I imported my email contacts into both LinkedIn and Twitter. It became very obvious that while a few of my clients were on Twitter (10%), many more used LinkedIn (55%). It made sense to me to adjust the time I spent on these networks.

Social media is all about making real connections, beyond any marketing agenda. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t utilize it to your advantage. Focusing on the social aspect, however, will get you there faster. Otherwise you are doomed to fail.

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