• Six Tips for Maximizing Your LinkedIn Profile

  By Lyndsey Walker | Posted Apr 29, 2009 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Social Media

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  LinkedIn, one of the most popular professional social networking sites on the Internet today, has more than 39 million members in more than 200 countries around the world. Members use this tool to find, introduce and collaborate with business professionals within their industries.
  
  But, there’s much more to LinkedIn than just connecting with professionals. Members can create Business Groups to share industry articles and information, and open discussions on pertinent topics; utilize LinkedIn applications to monitor Twitter activity about their company and conduct market research from their professional audience; or use LinkedIn Answers to position themselves and their company as an expert in their field.
  
  Below I put a list together of six tips for maximizing your LinkedIn Profile:

  1. Create a Company Profile

  In addition to your personal profile, Company Profiles are used to provide additional information about the company, its products and specialties, employees and company news. Your company profile can be a great tool to drive traffic back to your Website, as well as a way to reach out to other businesses.

  2. Optimize Links

  Build your personal and company profiles using priority keywords and be sure to include these keywords as anchor text for your company and blog links. Here’s how to do it:

  • From your profile page, click edit next to your Website link.
  • Under Websites, use the drop-down menu and choose “other”.
  • In the box next to the drop-down menu, type in the anchor text using your priority keywords. 
  • Follow the same instructions for you blog. 
  • Save your changes

  3. Connect Using LinkedIn Answers

  By monitoring the questions within your network, LinkedIn Answers offers companies the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience, positioning them as experts in their industries. Plus, it can be used as a tool to connect with other businesses, potential job candidates and prospects.

  4. Integrate LinkedIn Applications

  LinkedIn offers 10 applications that can be integrated into your profile to share information within your network.

  • Company Buzz — Monitor the Twitter activity associated with your company’s priority keywords and industry trends.
  • Polls — Conduct market research by accessing data from your connections and professional audience.
  • My Travel — Use TripIt to monitor where your network is traveling, as well as share your trips in order to make connections in town or while traveling.
  • Blog Link — Feed your blog posts into your LinkedIn profile.
  • Huddle Workspaces — Create different workspaces for different groups of your connections and keep your documents safe and secure, while creating and updating them and exchanging ideas and plans for your projects.
  • Box.net — Manage all your important files online and share content on your profile.
  • Reading List by Amazon — Share the books you’re currently reading and find out what you should be reading about from your connections.
  • SlideShare Presentations — Upload, display and share your presentations on LinkedIn.
  • Google Presentation — Upload and share a PowerPoint presentation about yourself and your company.

  5. Create Business Groups

  LinkedIn Business Groups are used to collaborate with members, share related articles and information and to conduct discussions about the topic at hand, as well as share job opportunities. Members of these groups will receive email updates related to the group activity.
  
  Companies should use these groups to share valuable information, events and news, as well as join other industry-related groups to stay on top of what’s happening in their industry

  6. Make Recommendations

  Participate and make recommendations within your network for business associates, partners, vendors and employees when appropriate. Recommendations for you and your company add valuable credibility.

  Do you have other ideas or tips to share that you’ve found effective? I’d like to hear about them. Please let me know by commenting below.

• 10 Traits of an Emerging PR Pro

  By Paul Roetzer | Posted Apr 21, 2009 | 7 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing

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  The PR industry will change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100. 

  Pricing models, core service offerings, professional training programs, academic curriculum, campaign success measurements, software, industry leadership, media and public relations’ role in the marketing mix are all rapidly evolving.
  
  Relationships and communications will remain the foundation of the PR industry, but they will be fostered through search engines, social networks, Websites, self-published content (i.e. blogs, status updates, videos, case studies, eBooks), mobile apps and the media (mainstream and social).
  
  Risk takers and visionaries will redefine the industry. Professionals who choose to take action and accelerate the evolution will thrive.

  The Hybrid Professional

  As we wrote in the Dawn of the Inbound Marketing Agency, the new, social-media savvy PR professionals will be expert copywriters (as most PR pros are), with dynamic personalities that enable them to build strong personal brands.
  
  Professionals will be trained to deliver services such as: content marketing, social media consulting, blogging, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, mobile marketing and Website development, as well as evolved forms of publicity, brand marketing and crisis communications.
  
  In essence, they will be a hybrid professional, providing integrated solutions for PR, Web, SEO, advertising and branding that used to require multiple agencies and consultants. As a result, these complementary, yet competitive, industries will converge.

  Traits & Tips

  1) Social-Web Savvy: Monitor and participate in forums and social networks relevant to your interests and the industry. Get active on Twitter and become a part of the conversation.
  
  Also, accept that for most of the professional world Facebook is a vehicle to communicate and build business relationships, and companies will hold you liable for what you do and say online. If this scares you, check out 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.
  
  2) Inbound Marketer: Build inbound marketing campaigns based on permission-based marketing strategies (i.e. SEO, blogging, PPC, content publishing, social networking) that enable your organization to connect with qualified consumers online when they are actively looking for what you offer.
  
  3) Publisher: Publish content, either on your own blog or as a contributing author on an industry or company blog. One of your greatest assets as a PR pro is your ability to write, so always seek opportunities to strengthen your technical and creative writing skills.
  
  4) Analyst: Learn to love data. Emerging PR pros don’t hide behind impressions and ad equivalency, rather they are judged by tangible success factors such as search engine rankings, Website traffic, inbound links, leads and sales.
  
  5) Relationship Builder: Remember that relationships are still built face-to-face. Get out from behind the computer screen and mingle with your peers, clients, prospects and the media.
  
  6) Lifelong Student: Continually expand your knowledge and capabilities beyond the traditional skill sets of PR, advertising and marketing professionals. Consider ongoing training and education in the areas of search engine optimization, social networks, analytics, pay-per-click advertising, digital publishing and mobile marketing.
  
  7) Thought Leader: Challenge conventional industry wisdom and practices. Always bring new ideas to the table.
  
  8) Risk Taker: Take calculated risks, and don’t ever let fear of failure hold you back.
  
  9) Tech-Savvy: The tools that we use to communicate and market are constantly evolving. The PR industry of today is no place for stubborn traditionalists. Always be researching and testing what’s new, and what’s next. Stay informed on emerging technologies, and consider their application to your organization and career.
  
  10) Game Changer: The PR industry is going to change with or without you. Don’t be left on the outside looking in.

  Related Posts:

  • How PR Firms Can Rule the Marketing World
  • 7 Things to Know When Hiring a PR Firm
  • Dawn of the Inbound Marketing Agency

  Paul Roetzer is founder and president of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. He can be found on Twitter @PaulRoetzer.

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