Saturday Sharing: Expand your Network on LinkedIn in 5 Minutes

Do you have five minutes a day to spend furthering your network on LinkedIn? Even if you don't have time for it every day, this article and infographic, which I found via Pinterest has instructions on how to increase your network in just five minutes a day. It also has things to do if you are new to LinkedIn Marketing or Intermediate or Advanced - all in five minutes.

Check out the article here: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/expand-your-network-linkedin-5-minutes.html

Pinterest link here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/37014028164692501/

Tuesday Tips: Communicate with LinkedIn Connections

If you're like me, you have a large number of LinkedIn contacts, some of whom are acquaintances, some of whom are co-workers, others who you've either made connections with or they connected with you for other reasons.  But what good are all those connections if you are a business owner, or in charge of your business' social media networking if you don't communicate not only with your connections, but with the connections to your business' LinkedIn page?

Big hint: it's no good if you aren't communicating with them.

Once a month, or so, you should send an LinkedIn email to those folks who may find something your business is offering useful to them.  Tell them about a project your company has going on, perhaps a promotional deal, etc.  And be sure to respond to anyone who responds with questions.  Sending emails is a great way to generate leads and potential sales.  Even though LinkedIn only allows you to send 50 emails at a time, it may be worth the effort to try to drum up some business by sending out a simple email to your connections.

The worst any of them could do is not respond or say no.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Wednesday Words: Social Graph

Some people will say your social network and social graph are the same thing - and in some ways they are, but there are actually programs that can graph out your connections and show how they are interconnected.

Today's word, however, is social graph. A social graph is a visual representation that shows the connections an individual has within a larger social network.  It shows who everyone is connected to and how, which is great for learning who influencers and brand champions are.

LinkedIn has a very nifty social graph that you can use to see what fields your connections are in and how they are connected to you.  Check it out here:  http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com/

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media.  These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media.   You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.

Wednesday Words: LinkedIn

Earlier we posted about connections as a term associated with LinkedIn, but realized there may be a few folks out there who still don't know what LinkedIn is - especially if they have never used it.

For lack of a better definition, LinkedIn is a business-oriented form of social media where instead of connecting with friends and acquaintances, you connect with people you've worked with in the past and present, people you've had business associations with or people who you want to network with to move up or on in the business world.  According to a hubspot article (these statistics may be outdated, as of June 2010, LinkedIn had more than 70 million registered users.

LinkedIn was founded December 2002 and launched in May 2003 and is mainly used for professional networking.   Creating an account is easy, and if you are looking for a job, worthwhile as several job sites will import your resume data from LinkedIn, making it easier to apply for jobs.

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media.  These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media.   You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.

Wednesday Words: Connections

Today's word is from another social network: LinkedIn and that word is Connections.  Much like Likes for Facebook, Followers for Twitter, or Circles for Google+, Connections is the term LinkedIn uses to define the people who you are, for lack of a better term, connected with.

In most cases, you are connected with people you actually know and have worked with in the past or are looking to connect with to potentially work with in the future.

LinkedIn is great for networking, but you should always be careful of adding connections you don't know - especially if they aren't connected to other people in the industry you are looking to move into.

Connections aren't like Friends or Followers.  In many ways, Connections are used for networking and may have met you somewhere, through someone else, or work with you in some way.   Connections can be beneficial for getting job recommendations, recommendations and endorsements for previous work done or connecting you with other influentials in the job market.

If you are looking for a job, especially in the social media field, I strongly encourage you to sign up with LinkedIn, post your resume, join groups and see what jobs are available.

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media.  These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media.   You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.