Tagged LinkedIn

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January 23, 2011
By Simren Deogun
1 Comment
in Business, Digital, Social Media

The LinkedIn Revolution: It’s More Than A Wallflower

I love LinkedIn! I've been known to cry out in disgust when I come across a professional (of any kind) who doesn't have a LinkedIn profile.

WHAT?! How can you not have a LinkedIn profile? With almost 2 billion people around the globe using the internet, what is your excuse?

Though, I admit my immersion in technology and marketing may impose the slightest of biases when it comes to this digital landscape. But I know that LinkedIn, though slower in its development and adoption of new features and functionality than its social network counterparts, is undoubtedly a powerhouse that is not going away.

On occasion, LinkedIn may appear the wallflower of the bunch, but I like to think of it as the cautious friend telling you to slow down lest you get a speeding ticket.

Social Media is a fad. Or at least the amount of time we allow social media to consume in our day-to-day is a fad. It will change and evolve, and then hopefully merge and simplify. But what sets LinkedIn apart from the 'fad group' is that it travels outside instant and real-time gratification.

I argue that it is viable and valuable because of the extremely long shelf-life of its content. It is, perhaps, the good twin of Facebook (i.e. Facebook = evil) because its service is based in professional development. (By the way, Facebook is by no means "bad" but rather driven by personal impulse, personal ego, and personal connectivity.)

What does LinkedIn have to offer?

Professional Network: LinkedIn is not for connecting with some high school acquaintance of yesteryear or last night's pub crawl participants. It demands a mutually beneficial relationship between two colleagues, peers, or professionals. I believe in order to use it well, you must establish LinkedIn connections with those who can enhance your professional know-how and reach.
Profile: A detailed summary of the professional you. From specialties and skills to experience and education. That profile is a powerful indicator of not only your professional capabilities but also your professional brand. It is your online resume.
Apps: Yep, LinkedIn has apps too! But if you didn't know about them that is certainly more LinkedIn's fault than your own. Events, Tweets, WordPress and an Amazon Reading List are amongst the heavy hitters. This is where that "brand" really comes alive in your profile. You get the chance to inject a bit of the real you.
Twitter Integration: Beyond Twitter simply being an add-on app for LinkedIn, this integration helps to marry the real-time influx of info on Twitter with the more constant and cautious focus of LinkedIn. Maintaining a professionally-driven Twitter account is an amazing way to sync these two fantastic worlds.
Ads: Just two weeks ago, LinkedIn threw its hat into the social network ad ring, joining ruler Facebook and its sickly protege Twitter! Still in beta (sadly), LinkedIn DirectAds (let's hope they drop the 'Direct' in Alpha!) offer what has made Facebook so successful in this realm: highly targeted online advertising that is cheap, simple and easy-to-use. I only wonder why it took them so long.
Sharing: Again, following in the footsteps of its predecessors, LinkedIn launched a share button late last year. But if you have a company or professional blog, this button is perfect to get people in your LinkedIn network talking about you.

More Fun Stuff from LinkedIn:

Create your own Email Signature: A customizable LinkedIn Signature for Outlook Express, 2000, 2003, 2007 and Mozilla Thunderbird.
Mac Search Widget: Search LinkedIn direct from your Mac.
LinkedIn Mobile: Get the LinkedIn mobile app for your BlackBerry, iPhone or Palm device.

February 17, 2010
By Simren Deogun
No comment
in Business, Digital, News

Google Buzz Or Microsoft Outlook Social Connector

What is Google Buzz?

Google Buzz is a social media sharing experience inside of Gmail, which includes public or private sharing, inbox integration, photo-friendly sharing, connectivity to Twitter, Picasa, Flickr and Reader, real-time updates, and delivery of content based on Google's recommendations.

What is Microsoft Outlook Social Connector?

On the flip side, Microsoft Outlook plans to roll out a bevy of social media integration options with its 2010 Outlook Social Connector (OSC) release. As reported by Mashable, the OSC will include integration with Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace with, I'm sure, more options on the horizon to be announced.

Buzz vs. OSC

Google Buzz isn't worth the time and it will add the most value for those heavy Gmail users (that use Gmail as a primary email client and/or are working in the client for multiple hours a day). For those high-level users of Gmail, Buzz can offer the advantage of a single-stop, integrated experience.

In order for this integrated experience to be truly representative of the current social media landscape, it would require the inclusion of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, and all of the other major players. What this creates is a feed system (much like Google Reader) that aggregates ALL, not some, of the social media content being made available by those you want to follow.

Microsoft Outlook Social Connector wins (despite the poor branding). That is, they win if Buzz is unable to secure the same big names (and I mean all the big names) to integrate with what should be the ultimate aggregated social experience.

Microsoft Outlook owns market share at 39% as the primary email client of choice. Gmail trails in with a much lower 5.5%. In a business environment, Outlooks is critical to almost all work-related tasks. It is the core communication point for internal and external communications. Employees are immersed in it for at least 8 hours a day. An integrated social media experience within the primary email client of choice is a marriage for success.

The disadvantage for both OSC and Buzz in a work setting is productivity. If OSC secures Twitter alongside the others, then it poses a significant threat to worker productivity what with the number of distractions suddenly multiplying exponentially. Gmail, also used within work settings, poses the same problem with Buzz.

Employers could, of course, prohibit usage of these services but we all know the social clients mentioned above are just a click away in any web browser.

Are either of these social media integrators worth your time? Do you immediately have preference for one over the other simply based on brand and experience?

What I think the most pertinent question to be asking is: Will this equation of Email+Social be the next phase with social media or will an unknown third-party, comprehensive social media aggregator eclipse Google and Microsoft?

November 10, 2009
By Simren Deogun
No comment
in Business, Digital

Twitter + LinkedIn

The latest news reveals that Twitter and LinkedIn are joining forces to make the immediate availability of data even more immediate.

Twitter, now famous with 140-character sound-offs, and LinkedIn, a professional networking haven, will be offering users the ability to have statuses posted on either site be pulled or pushed to both.

This next-generation of popular social media has opened all of our eyes to 'integration'. They are no longer stand-alone entities but rather interconnected social media giants. A Social Media Fusion, if you will. It's essentially social media within social media.

This partnership spells heavenly ascendence for the savvy professional leveraging their own knowledge to enlighten and connect the masses. For the casual user, it may simply be a bonus. For marketers, a dream finally realized or a nightmare?

If part of my job is to know why and how you do something, then this seems like another perfect opportunity to research consumer behaviour. Given that social media is still in its infancy (with no evidence of fading), creating a social media conglomerate may just simplify a marketer's task at communicating.

The central concept still remains: information now. Instead of multiple feeds on multiple sites, I can have it all (or two of what I consider the Big Three) delivered to my door. It's the fast-food of the internet age: fast-information via social media.

Does this complicate the already arduous world of online marketing? Does it simplify it? How do we begin marketing instantaneously when people, countries part, are sharing information instantaneously? I believe the answer is getting those same people to do the marketing for us. Next step: HOW?

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