The attraction of social media for many is the low-cost entry. A few tweets and Facebook posts cost nothing but time. But to garner any sort of return on this time, your social media output needs to be refined and engaging. Its not enough to simply post messages and broadcast your news and products. You need to engage in conversations because its difficult to build up a presence on line without this. Of course, creating a buzz on line demands a commitment to investing the effort involved in cultivating and building a following. So, would you invest time and money in this? Spending hard-won profit on a social media specialist might be expensive but the return might also be well worth the investment. Because you can't do this half-heartedly, it needs a certain level of input, and this means you've got to put out to get in. Here's a great little blog post on social media marketing spending...

LinkedIn has more than doubled in size (OVER 160 million Members) in the past year with one user added every single second! Its something which has been overshadowed a little bit by the rise of Facebook and Twiter, but, as these facts below show, you ignore it at your peril!

* Executives from ALL Fortune 500 Companies are registered on LinkedIn!
45% of LinkedIn’s members are considered the major decision makers for their companies. (Twitter and Facebook account for only 24-29%!)

*LinkedIn holds the record for the Highest Average Household Income over all other Social Networking sites at over $109,000 per member!

*There are no distractions! On LinkedIn, you’ll only find high-caliber individuals with a business mindset, focused on networking for results!

*With the IPO of LinkedIn, it is now valued at over 10 Billion Dollars and interest and awareness are at an all time high.

So, have a look at this video, from expert coach Lewis Howes, and think about how LinkedIn might help your networking and your business to grow....

Linked in has a particular niche for networking, in that it's primarily a business to business tool, however, this is not always the case and to pigeon- hole this particular platform might be making a big mistake. Careful posting and judicious selection of group membership can allow you to position yourself as an expert or guru in your field, amongst other professionals with similar interest portfolio's. It can also be a valuable tool for increasing your professional learning network (PLN).

There are a few blog posts offering practical advice on using Linkedin. Have a look at Fiona Godsman's blog for some useful advice. Also, lawyer Michelle Hynes has Some useful advice

So, have another look at Linkedin. After all, 100 million users can't be all wrong can they ?

I'm on Linkedin. You can find me here




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