Things change in the online space, in the social media space. I like the way LinkedIn tests things with part of their community (about 10%) then they roll it out to more (about 30%) to test the scalability and finally roll new features out to the entire population of 135+ million users. Sometimes though things don’t work as planned or the novelty wears off.

For example, their Tweets application, which allows you to show the Twitter stream of a selected account on your profile, and allows you to use other great features like finding the Twitter accounts of your connections and reading the Twitter stream of your connections on your home page. I really liked it because it allowed me to interact via Twitter directly with my LinkedIn connections. I added people I followed inside of LinkedIn to my Twitter list “LinkedIn Users” (https://twitter.com/#!/list/loriruff/linkedin-users) so I could track with their conversations when we engage each other on LinkedIn. It made for a very synergistic environment.

Alas, today I received a message from LinkedIn:

Dear Lori,

At LinkedIn, we want to provide a simple and efficient experience for members like you. So from time to time, we take a look at our set of features to evaluate how they’re being used by our members. Part of this process sometimes means we decide to eliminate a feature, so we can better invest those resources in building more great LinkedIn products.

Recently, it was decided that the Tweets application, a LinkedIn feature that you’ve used at some point, will no longer be supported as of January 31, 2012. Starting on that date, you will no longer be able to post recent tweets in a module on your profile or view recent tweets in a separate module on the home page. However, you can still display tweets on your profile by binding your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and then tweeting with an #in hashtag.

Thank you for your continued support of LinkedIn. If you have additional questions please visit our Help Center.

Even though it made it convenient for me to view my selected Twitter stream from within LinkedIn, I have Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/loriruff) and Hootsuite (http://www.hootsuite.com) open all the time so it’s not really a big loss. The upside is, as LinkedIn said in their message they “can better invest those resources in building more great LinkedIn products.”

Soon after I received the initial email from LinkedIn I received this follow up :

Dear Lori,

Earlier, you may have received a message from us about our Tweets Application. We could have done a much better job communicating about this change, so we want to clarify what this may mean to you:

1. We are not eliminating the ability to send updates between your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. You can still go to your Settings page and choose to send either all tweets or only tweets with a #in hashtag to your LinkedIn status updates. It’s up to you. Again, tweets imported from Twitter into the LinkedIn network updates stream will not be

 affected.

If you haven’t yet joined your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, here’s how you do it.

2. At the end of January, we will not be supporting the standalone Tweets Application on LinkedIn (see image), that displays tweets from everyone you follow on Twitter on your LinkedIn homepage. As of January 31st, this module will no longer be available.

If you have any additional questions, please visit our Help Center.

Thanks, 
LinkedIn

So while they are not completely cutting out the Twitter – LinkedIn connection, they are modifying how they implement it. The question I’ll pose to my readers then is what have you trimmed back on lately that will allow you to focus on more productive areas of your life? Not a bad lesson…

Rock On!

Original Post

Image via CrunchBase

Tools are the most important key to help you manage all of your most important social sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Utilizing tools like HootSuite, TweetDeck, Radian 6, UberSocial, etc., will change how you interact with your connections online.

SYNCH PROFILES

Synching your profiles will save you a lot of time.  Utilize 3^rd party applications to synch your twitter to your Facebook and your LinkedIn.  Synch your blog to post notes to Facebook and create shortened URLs for Twitter. But use care when setting these up! Remember that each platform has a different environment and not all Tweets are appropriate for LinkedIn (as an example).

KEYWORDS

Define words of interest that you would like to follow or generate business from or find connections through.  Keywords are a powerful way to zero in on your target market or industry & to filter posts for specific topics. 

COLUMNS

Through TweetDeck or HootSuite for example, you have the ability to create a series of columns/tabs to view posts that mention your specified keywords almost real time.  It is a great way to find resources and connections and information that you need. Establish columns for your keywords, peers, competitors, and also add tabs or columns for your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter messages such as Direct Messages, Mentions, pending updates, and sent.

SCHEDULING

The great thing about these third party tools is the ability to schedule.  You can generate a list of posts, pick the date and time you would like them to post, the social profiles you would like to have the updates posted to and move on to your next task.  So, if you are feeling creative on a Saturday afternoon, develop “timely” posts for the next few weeks.

By spending at least 30-45 minutes a week developing content for your posts, you have the ability to quickly login to the tool, spend about 10 minutes each day to view the most recent updates for your connections, make comments, add additional real time content and your commitment is then complete. 

Note that at this time, scheduling posts through these tools will not allow all the rich content such as images or video, but it will provide the link for the full content. Once you’ve posted via a tool, go to the platform and verify that it looks like you want it to. Then when you post a similar item, you’ll have an idea of what to expect.

So get out there, have fun, commit to a schedule (but be realistic) and build your business! 

Rock On!

Hollie Clere, The Social Pro is a social media manager, trainer and author in the LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog and social media world. You can connect at www.TheSocialMediaAdvisor.com

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Image via CrunchBase

In the world of posting whatever, when ever, there is a lot to be said about quality time with Twitter.  Twitter can be utilized in a multitude of ways.   Any user can post updates about news, links, promotions, events, topics of interest, engage in customer support and participate in online discussions. As an individual or business, you need to decide how you will engage in this forum.

If you have over 100 people you are following, it can be difficult to keep track of the latest updates as twitter is an active stream of personal opinion, back and forth discussions and buzz about thoughts or activities.  There is one thing for sure; people love to share about themselves on a constant basis.  With this said, you need to allocate a schedule to best optimize your time spent in the Twitter world.  Twitter can be managed in 10 (ten) minutes each day if you establish a routine and stick with it.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

At any given time you will see this question, “What’s Happening?”  How you choose to respond in 140 characters is up to you.  What you decide to post should have importance to you and should encourage discussion.  Let’s say you are getting ready to promote an event for your company.  Your marketing department agrees on the language and you are ready to post.  It would be a good idea to provide a link (or shortened URL) in your post for others to visit and get more information.  Maybe there is a video you would like to share with your followers.  You shouldn’t post just the link on your page without giving them some reason to want to click the link.  Take careful measure to look at each word you select, correct any spelling errors and double check your links to make sure they are going to the right place.  Remember that it is easier to hit Backspace, than it is to remove a post from a server.

FOLLOWING

Now comes the task of finding out “What’s Happening” with your connections.  There are many different ways to do this.  The first is to skim through the list of New Tweets.  If there is something that interests you, you may choose to respond, or maybe not.  Either way, limit your twitter post review to the first page or two of posts.  Commit to it and move on.

The other way to look at updates is to utilize the search tool.  Maybe today you are interested in discussions about your favorite restaurant, so you would search that topic and see posts specific to that topic. One Tweeter recently searched Twitter for “LinkedIn Expert” and located @LoriRuff. She asked Lori to present “Why LinkedIn?” on a teleconference call to their group of arts facilitators.

LINKS

Be careful with clicking links and be sure you are cautious to only open links that look like they came from your connection.  By keeping up to date with posts from your connections, you will know their online personality, so it will be easier for you to filter a post from a user who is spamming or inadvertently passed along a malicious link.

DIRECT MESSAGES

Much like with Facebook Mail, Direct Messages (DM) aren’t frequently checked by all of your connections.  It is good to send email through your standard email service if you have to say something more than 140 characters.  DMs tend to be spammy as well, so quickly filter through this inbox to see if there is a personal message you would like to respond to. 

@MENTIONS and RETWEETS

Be sure to check your @Mention to see who is “mentioning” you in their posts.  This is how Lori learned that someone wanted to offer her an opportunity to present to their group!

It is a good idea to RT (Retweet) that post or send a DM (Direct Message) to that individual thanking them for the @Mention.  If you see a post that seems suspicious, you can also block it and mark it as spam.

Retweet a connection’s post if it interests you and/or fits your regular theme or topic.  From time to time you may want to include your thoughts about that post – if you have enough space to do so.

If you find the best means to quickly look for updates that you are interested in viewing, take effort to limit your discussion and post time in an efficient way, you will find that twitter is a fun and productive tool to keep up to date with your connections. Just don’t get lost out there!

Rock On!

Hollie Clere, The Social Pro is a social media manager, trainer and author in the LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog and social media world. You can connect at www.TheSocialMediaAdvisor.com

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Directory Archive

I don’t always travel alone but still, yesterday’s solo venture onto Southwest flight 3140 from Denver to Chicago was a new experience. I’ll fast forward to being in the first seat as you enter the plane.

I pulled out a magazine and started turning the pages. But I couldn’t miss the sea of feet and legs passing as other passengers began entering the cabin, intent on finding seats. It was then I had a moment of deja vu.

I was mezmerized by the variety of footwear approaching.

Finally sucomming to the pull, I put the magazine down and just watched the feet of the oncoming passengers. It was interesting to see how people chose convenience (limitless variations of slip-on shoes, including my own very comfotable Merrells) or fashion (everything from high heels to all manner of sports-type footwear).

It took me only a moment to realize that the sensation of watching that was like watching a twitter stream online. Take for example, #blogchat on Sunday evenings or #mmchat on Mondays. These and others are so popular, it is sometime difficult to follow te entire conversation, the stream just moves so rapidly. But you read and respond to what you can.

A common destination

Just like boarding a plane bound together for the same destination, the twitter chats bring people together who share a common goal. And even though you can’t really see the faces of most of the people you meet, you can get a glimpse of who they are and what they are like. Just like sitting near a stranger on the same plane, these chats help people interested in the same topic to connect and learn together.

A common behaviour

Another way to look at this is to relate it to Twitter‘s trending topics. Some people are talking about it because it interests them, others because they want to jump on the bandwagon and be noticed too. I’ve never heard “thank you, good bye” so many times! But some people chose to follow the trend (getting off the plane) without adding to the conversation. That was ok too.

I’m very interested to know if you have had an analog sensation that you can relate to the Twitter experience as well. If so, even if it just seems commonplace, leave a comment below. Let’s talk about it.

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So many people are blogging about the new Twitter Interface. Everyone’s describing it, but I don’t see people talking about the impact on users. Will Tweetdeck and my fav Hootsuite or other apps fade away?   Not likely.  But the site itself is more engaging, friendly and interactive.

Twitter has always seemed, at least on the development side, responsive to users. My take on if and how it will affect the user community is this: we should see more people on Twitter when they want to check out what’s happening rather than just following a pre-selected stream.

I know we all install and/or use tools to help us manage communications but doing so with Twitter is like telecommuting.  There’s just something missing when you don’t go to the office every day, or at least periodically. So I do… go to my office… my Twitter office that is.

I like to be in the environment where I interact with people to gain a better understanding of the subtleties of the community in which I am participating. Twitter is no different.

Will I enjoy the new interface? Yes!

Updated interfaces (to keep the analogy going) are like moving to a new cube in the corporate world, or a new office in the professional world, or a higher floor in the executive world. And I’m not immune to shiny objects either!

Now, bring on the popcorn and let’s watch this flick. (I know you’re dying to see it. You can jump ahead but I liked watching the whole vid.)

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I’ve had lots of messages from subscribers and followers about the recent decline in my “daily blogging” and I’ve sent them each back a message something like this:

“Thanks so much for your loyalty to our blog and resources… just wait till you see what we’ve been up to!“

As we were preparing to schedule and begin writing our second book, Mike had a bright idea. (Aren’t they all?) He said: “Let’s do an introduction to social media for LinkedIn users!”

Brilliant. As we traveled the previous six months, more and more business people would ask us how they could make the move to other platforms; what they needed to know; where they should start.

Mike was right. And several adivsors we talked to about the idea asked us how fast we could get a manuscript ready.

That was mid-February.  By mid-August we submitted our completed manuscript to the publisher.  It now goes to the line editor, interior layout designer and finally, after a proof copy passes muster with us, it will go to the printer who will have 20 days to turn around the initial order.

So, mid-October will see Mike and I at the publisher’s digs signing thousands of first edition copies to fulfill pre-order sales before they ship for delivery by November first.

Here are some of the cool components coming:

First, since we’re social media folks, into crowd-sourcing, we thought reaching out to our friends and peers in the industry would be an appropriate thing to do. So we used the very social media platforms we discuss in the book to create it.

Next, we asked some of our best clients to share with us their favorite tips and tricks and tools that they learned from us or others. We included all of those in the book.

Finally, we wrapped what could be text of a typical business book in the music of fictitious characters, the classic rockers Pink and Floyd who, throughout the pages, shed light for you on the Dark Side of the Moon.

Take a peek at our home page and the publisher’s page for more information. Watch our Extras page as we complete development and upload additional resources to complement the first and second books in the Rock The World^TM series. And below, leave a comment. Let us know what you think, share ideas on marketing the book, and ask questions. We appreciate your input and will respond quickly.

Visit www.RockTheWorld2.com for details or to pre-order your signed, first edition copies!

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Excerpt from Rock the World with Social Media – coming October 2010

For anyone serious about social media, a basic understanding of and activity in Twitter is a requirement. At the very least you need to understand the issues. The only way to understand the issues is to be a user.

Image via Wikipedia

If you are new, we recommend you setup a personal Twitter account and build out your BIO as a hybrid of 80% personal and 20% business text. Your 160 character bio should be keywords rather than sentences. It is a good idea to group keywords visually and separate difference sets with a vertical pipe or some other symbol like this:

Creative genius | photographer – commercial, advertising, editorial | love to hike & ski | dedicated family man | into cartoons and comedy

The BIO above is only 138 of an allowed 160 characters. You should use as many of the 160 characters as you possibly can. It will help you be found in searches both on Twitter search as well as on related sites such as Twellow. (Twellow.com is the yellow pages of Twitter, sorting entries based on keywords found in BIOs and locations as entered by users.)

A background image is highly recommended; for personal accounts, it can be slanted mostly toward the personal side of you. Still, we suggest you look at what other people in your same demographic are doing when you create a look for yourself. You are branding yourself, after all, and there is no better place to create a visual and “instant” brand for yourself than Twitter.

Unless you have the skills to do it yourself, be prepared to pay an average of $150 for a good personalized background page. If you need assistance, we recommend you use someone who understands the nuances of building a background that will fit for a variety of screen resolutions. You can find information to contact our graphic artist on our site RockTheWorldBook.com/extras.

Consider tools like HootSuite to organize your Twitter communications, especially on a Smartphone. Twitter and Smartphones are like Lennon and McCartney. They just go together brilliantly!

For more information about Rock the World with Social Media, our second book in the “Rock the World” series, please email training@integratedalliances.com. We’d love to talk with you! Or, post a comment here and we’ll respond promptly to your thoughts and ideas.



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Image via Wikipedia

I get this question about once a week through email and other sources, so here’s the post I’ve written often but never published.

To have your Twitter update feed your LinkedIn update you must first add your Twitter account to LinkedIn.  You can do this from the “Edit My Profile” Tab or from your Settings (top right of the screen).

When attaching your Twitter account, you have the option of having your entire Twitter stream feed your LinkedIn updates (BAD IDEA!), or you can share selected tweets by including “#in” in the tweet. That means you get to use your brain instead of an automated system to post everything.

Those posts might be appropriate for Twitter, but not LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a different environment where people pay more attention to everything they read on your profile. It’s way too much exposure if your status, which feeds the home pages of your connections, is updated several times a day.

Already have Twitter connected to LinkedIn? Here’s how to change your settings.From your home page, click the drop down box beside the Twitter “T” and select settings. Of, you can access your Twitter settings from your Settings link at the top right of any LinkedIn page.

Again, if you adjust your settings to share only selected tweets (those that contain #in), you’ll be fine.  When you tweet and want it to show up on LinkedIn, #in is all you need. It will update your profile status within a few minutes.

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We’ve got some great news for you… We wanted to let you know we’ll be speaking March 19-21 at Jeff Mills’ upcoming “Boost Seminar” in St. Paul, Minnesota. And there is a great chance you’ll be able to meet us and the other speakers at that event to network and learn together how people are making money online as well as building successful businesses with internet marketing practices.

Go here now and sign up for their free training: http://www.shopgoldmills.com

Jeff invited Mike and Lori to be his guest on a special tele-seminar which took place February 9th at 8:00 EST.

Once you sign up for the free training via tele-seminar (or webcasts), you’ll get to hear about his fantastic conference and all the other great speakers coming to the Boost Seminar.

Why You Need to Attend Seminars:

Networking at these internet marketing events are some of the best business boosting tasks that I think you should be focusing on. I can tell you for a fact, it’s helped me in my own business, meeting people at events and making deals happen.

So, to hear the tele-seminar, just go to

http://www.shopgoldmills.com

and sign up to listen in on the call where Jeff and the IA team shared some great content.

NEWS: We have 10 FREE Passes to Jeff’s Event!

How would you like a free ticket to Jeff’s event?

Normally Jeff charges $997 to attend, but if you enter the code: lrboost on the checkout page, you’ll see the price go to ZERO. (You’ll need to do this quickly cause these tickets will all get picked up fast).

Now, we cannot do this for our entire list, we’re not sending out an email, and it’s only the first 10 absolutely serious people. If you wait, they’ll all be gone for sure, so be one of the 10 people now. After 10 are gone, you’ll have to pay the current price. It’s worth it, but FREE is better!

Listen to the call!

Sign up at the Link Below:

http://www.shopgoldmills.com

LinkedIn’s new Twitter connection has been long in the works; but it was worth the wait! Not only can you now update your LinkedIn status with Twitter, which you DO NOT want to do, but you can target specific Twitter updates to populate your LinkedIn status by including the hastag #in in the Tweets.  Now, that’s insightful.

To add this new feature, updating your status will initiate a pop up box, or you can go to your Account and Settings tab and select “Twitter Settings” under “Profile Settings”.

Now, if we could only get the Tweeters at LinkedIn to understand that followers cannot send them a direct message unless they follow them back… but that’s another story.

“New FTC Rules for Social Media!” posted by Go-To-Market Strategies based in Seattle, WA

provides a good summary of the new rules that go into effect December 1.  Essentially, it requires transparency in an industry that purports to be transparent. There are many bloggers and tweeters that promote products and services for which they are an affiliate. The new rules require disclosure of that fact. You also have to be able to back up your claims and “speak from actual experience” so you need to not just RT (Re-Tweet) or copy/paste, but believe what you are telling your friends and followers.

The incentive… a potential $11,000 fine.

Here’s the full article… http://www.gtms-inc.com/tip_FTC-socialmedia.htm. Be sure to Digg it and give them credit for alerting us to the change.

You may be asking yourself, “What is the connection between music & social media?”

Music is the universal language that unites us in the world regardless of our many differences.

Music raises our social consciousness.  It helps us reflect on happy or sad times.

Music empowers us.

Thanks to social media platforms like: Photobucket, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Blip.fm and others that help us achieve this.

Two examples are from Twitter and other media that allowed a response and reaction to the shocking news of the death of “King of Pop” icon Michael Jackson or the recent B.E.P performance in Chicago kicking off Oprah’s 24^th TV season.

~Liz Isaacs, Writing & Marketing Communications, Lotus Writing & Communications
liz@lotuswommunications.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lotuswritngcommunications
http://www.twitter.com/lizisaacslwc or @lizisaacslwc

A few weeks ago, I was nominated for being one of many in the #rocktheworld Best LinkedIn Profile Contest held by LinkedIn/Social Media Experts, Mike O’Neill and Lori Ruff, of Integrated Alliances of Denver. The top five LinkedIn profiles with the most votes will be featured in Mike’s book, “Rock the World With Your Online Presence,” to be released later next month.

A few days ago, I was nominated in the #rocktheworld Best LinkedIn Profile Contest held by LinkedIn/Social Media Experts, Mike O’Neil and Lori Ruff, of Integrated Alliances of Denver. The top five LinkedIn profiles including the top vote-getter will be featured in Mike’s book, “Rock the World With Your Online Presence,” to be released late November.

Of course, I am thrilled to be considered for such an honor (as anyone would be) and to be included with such an esteemed group of colleagues. I have to admit that I kind of felt like a kid in high school again, especially, to be nominated in a contest with a Robert Plant reference.

But I had to grin, because it wasn’t until returning from the U.S. Small Business Conference™ held in St. Louis this past September, that I was able to utilize the many of the tips mentioned in a presentation by LinkedIn expert Lewis Howes, co-author of “LinkedWorking: Generating Success on LinkedIn, the Worlds Largest Professional Networking Website.”  Lewis mentions Mike O’Neil, founder of Integrated Alliances, as a LinkedIn Profile expert in his book.

I had attended other LinkedIn workshops, which all were beneficial. Lewis’s presentation put the icing on the cake that I needed to focus on in my profile to help me get noticed as an expert in my field.

As a result, many of my connections and others have been finding and reading my profile and inquiring about my professional services offered through Lotus Writing & Communications as well as my personal writing goals. Regardless of the outcome of the contest, and whether or not I am featured in Mike’s book, I am honored to be considered. It validates the work I am passionate about….connecting with others…helping them blossom and flourish and achieve their fullest potential…and my writing.

~Liz Isaacs, Writing & Marketing Communications Strategist, Lotus Writing & Communications

P.S. If you haven’t voted in the contest here’s the info: #rocktheworld http://bit.ly/4CIMHC

liz@lotuswommunications.net

http://www.linkedin.com/in/lotuswritngcommunications

http://www.twitter.com/lizisaacslwc or @lizisaacslwc

I am swamped with questions about LinkedIn’s recent change to a generic-only invitation process.  I have done some investigation looking at it from the most common situations.

Specifically, it seems to occur when inviting an individual from their LinkedIn Profile.  There is no longer a customized invitation capability available.

Another situation is not affected. If you have their e-mail address, you can still click on the green Add Connections button and use the 6 per page inviting process.  Just put in one person.  The Add Message field is still fully operational there.

It sounds like there is a bug. LinkedIn knows about problem and here is what they say:

“Let me start by saying that I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced. Please know that we are fully aware of this issue and have a team of dedicated, highly qualified individuals who are working diligently to resolve this. I appreciate your patience and encourage you to continue to use the other great products and features on LinkedIn.”

Stay tuned for updates as they become known.

Update:

I logged into LinkedIn yesterday and the bug was fixed.  However, I also had a message that my account was dangerously close to being restricted because several people responded “I Don’t Know Lori”. Perhaps this was caused by an inability to send a cusom invite message. After all, I am finding people I knew years ago when I lived in Charlotte and looked much different than I do now.  So I sent a message to customer service asking for help.

Sure enough, to prove my point, this morning I received a response from an old colleague who apologized for “clicking ‘I Don’t Know’ you, but then I went back and looked at your profile and saw that we had worked in the same” non-profit organization together.  She then gave me an update on what she’s doing now and asked me to join her network.

So, I took a screen shot and sent it to customer service as proof. Today though, my account is restricted and I await the forgiveness of the LinkedIn customer service team before I can fully operate in my account again.

This is an update to our original post from May 6. The original post was focused exclusively on simple, “in your face”, ways to get an idea of the relative expertise of  a “self-proclaimed” LinkedIn Expert or Social Media Expert.

We are well aware that there are many other factors that fill in this picture and the blog post comments below are very good at explaining what some of the “analog” methods might be.

The purpose of this post was to get a quickie look at some things that might give a brief indication, vs. exhaustive test, of relative suitability for speaking or consulting.  As such, we have modernized the post.

——

There seems to appear a new self-proclaimed Social Media Expert, LinkedIn Expert or Twitter Expert about every hour or two. They shout it out, present what might be their first Webinars or presentations and seem to forget that the world can see whether or not this is true.

One’s profile and network size are among the truest indicators of expertise. Profiles because they are the root of it all and Network Size because it is a skill that must be learned yourself before it can be taught to others.

Here are some things that you can do to see if these claims are brick solid or a house of cards about to fall under their own weighty claims.

LinkedIn:

• Is their name clean, free of non-name text like an e-mail address? Should be preaching good housekeeping.
• Do they have an appropriate photo?  Any photo at all?  Basic 101 requirement
• Is their Profile Complete?  They can’t teach you completeness if they are not complete.
• Do they list websites and are they not defaulted to “My Company” ?  This is basic customization any expert should know and know well. A true expert will show 3 Web sites that list a Twitter site, a facebook page or some mother social media location.
• Is the Personal URL to their Profile customized?  Random characters in the profile URL are a red flag.
• Does their Summary reflect their abilities?  This is their brochure.  Does it make you want to buy?
• Do they even have Specialties listed?  Often overlooked by basic users but not Experts.
• Are Jobs and Education listed all the way back with real data included?  SEO basics they should be practicing.
• Are the Interests and Groups/Associations sections completed and “formatted” ?  The strategic use of comma’s is critical and experts know this.  Hover over the words here and you will see.
• Are they a member of any LinkedIn Groups?  How many?  More than 20?  Groups are critical in LinkedIn circa 2009.
• Does their Contact settings area tell you how to reach them?  They should know this.
• How big is their network?  If it isn’t at 500+ you can stop right there…..  Experts without a following and not experts.
• True LinkedIn experts cannot have small networks. It is a demonstration of their following and their network buiolding skills.  Should be 2,000+ and state it somewhere.
• Are their connections being shared?  Blocking off connection sharing is only OK for a select few, not for Experts

Twitter:

• Is their Twitter ID something that makes sense?  It should be their name or their company or something else that is strategic.
• Can you find them when you search Twitter (try their name)?  Findable or not?  Do you want to be found?
• Do they have an appropriate photo?  Simple best practice for business users.
• How many Followers do they have? Should be 1,000 or more at the least!
• How many others are they following? Should be within 10% of the Followers – basic Twitter strategy.
• How many Updates have they done? Should be well over 500.
• Does their Twitter profile tell you what they do? Free of mis-spellings?   Include URL?

These are the requirements for a B-level Social Media Expert, LinkedIn Expert or Twitter Expert. Maybe we will do a posting for an A-level Expert sometime (see the A-level players below).

We suggest you use this as a litmus test to gauge your experts. Here a few we recommend you look at.

Check out these true LinkedIn and Social Media Experts:

Mike O’Neil, Denver, 22,000 connections, 5,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil – Twitter @mikeoneildenver

Viveka von Rosen, Ft. Collins, 9,000 connections, 10,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/LinkedInExpert – Twitter @linkedinexpert

Lori Ruff, Denver & Charlotte, 8,000 connections, 4,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/loriruff – Twitter @loriruff

Dave Westfall, Denver, 10,000 connections, 2,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall - Twitter @davewestfall

Dave Reingold, New Jersey, 5,000 connections
www.linkedin.com/in/davereingold

Ed Riefenstahl, Ft. Worth, 5,000 connections
www.linkedin.com/in/edriefenstahl

Valeria Riefenstahl, Ft. Worth, 4,000 connections
www.linkedin.com/in/valeriefiefenstahl

Brad Hanks, Denver, 14,000 connections, 4,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/bradhanks – Twitter @bradhanks

Rich Fiene, Minneapolis, 12,000 connections, 1,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/richfiene – Twitter @richfiene

Lonny Gulden, Minneapolis, 9,000 connections
www.linkedin.com/in/lonnygulden

Neal Schaffer, Los Angeles, 15,000 connections, 13,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/nealschaffer – Twitter @nealschaffer

Patrick O’Malley, Boston, 10,000 connections, 2,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/patrickomalley – Twitter @617patrick

Lewis Howes, Columbus, 5,000 connections, 6,000 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/lewishowes – Twitter @lewishowes

Miles Austin, Seattle, 5,000 connections, 1,500 followers
www.linkedin.com/in/milesaustin – Twitter @milesaustin

Integrated Alliances Web Site

Dan Schawbel of Gen-Y has a terrific post entitled “6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Brand Yourself as a Social Media Expert” that goes very well with this topic.  See the post

For the latest in what’s happening in the Denver area concert and festival scene, visit Mike O’Neil’s personal blog.

In the LinkedIn and social media training we do, we always seem to get asked about the status function and if one status update might cover all three, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Twitter statusing is really at the heart of it all. Statuses (Tweets) from here can feed LinkedIn, Facebook and a long list of other social media platforms by using tools like Ping.fm.  But, because you CAN share the status, does that mean you SHOULD?

This is what we do here at Integrated Alliances.  Maybe it will work for you:

Do NOT use a status utility to feed all three.  They have different purposes in terms of what types of information. I think you might want to try the following strategies.

LinkedIn statusing  is best for activities that have a 1 week to 1 month horizon.  It is not a real time statusing system, although you could do that if you liked. One other problem is that LinkedIn inserts your name at the beginning of the status statement. For example, on Twitter you might send:

“At the Denver Metro Chamber event meeting lots of new downtown business partners, Brown Palace, goes until 10.”

Whereas in LinkedIn it becomes:

“ Mike At the Denver Metro Chamber event meeting lots of new downtown business partners, Brown Palace, goes until 10.”

 Facebook statusing is generally for activities that are on the 1 day to 1 week horizon.  It works out well getting the feed from Twitter. People often comment on my Tweets right on my Facebook wall. This allows me to see and reply quickly to each comment.

So, how might actual status messages differ?

Some good examples of status updates for LinkedIn:

• “Meeting with new customers from India, never thought that there would be more English speaking people there than in the US.”
• “Looking for C++ programmers for 6 month project, data architect and coders needed. http://www.tinyurl.com/Tcsw3“

Some good examples of status updates for  Facebook:

• “Taste of Colorado this weekend. Opie Gone Bad hits the main stage at 3:30 on Sunday. Look for me in front.  I’ll be dancin”.
• “Scored big – touring the commercial studio where they make 9News commercials, excited to meet Adele Arakawa, heard she races Porche’s.”

Some good examples of Twitter Tweets (status updates):

• Hazel Miller band rockin’ the house at the Taste of Colorado, tunes from the new album.
• At National Speaker Association event watching @klutze, knows her stuff. @stevespangler is up next – Learning how to do a YouTube Channel.
• At #SXSW with my East Coast Buds, hitting 6th Street tonight for the VIP party, end up at Chili Willy’s.

This is actual video of the weekly Integrated Alliances Ask an @LinkedInExpert Q/A Webinar here the audience asks questions for the panel of experts.  In this case it is Mike O’Neil, Founder of Integrated Alliances and Lori Ruff, VP of Operations for Integrated Alliances.  This was shot May 18, 2009, Noon Eastern.

See the Video