Using Linkedin Groups to Promote Your Business

I cur­rent­ly par­tic­i­pate in sev­er­al Linkedin Groups, and I mod­er­ate a cou­ple of them myself. This has been a great expe­ri­ence in net­work­ing, and it has also shown me some exam­ples of what not to do. As a mod­er­a­tor, I am respon­si­ble to flag improp­er con­tent as pro­mo­tion­al — actu­al­ly, it’s quite fun! Here is the word of cau­tion to those who are learn­ing to use Social Media for busi­ness pur­pos­es. It should nev­er be viewed as adver­tis­ing; it is social net­work­ing, and you should treat it like a place where peo­ple get togeth­er to be peo­ple. Pic­ture this: you are sit­ting down in a café, drink­ing your espres­so, when a well-dressed busi­ness­man sits down beside you. Casu­al­ly, you ask, ​“Hey, how ya doin’?” With­out even look­ing you in the face, he blurts out, ​“XYZ Con­trac­tors is the King of home remod­el­ing, and can save you mon­ey in hun­dreds of ways!” Slight­ly put off, you ask how long he’s been in the remod­el­ing busi­ness (though you want to ask how long he’s been out of the asy­lum). But he ignores your ques­tion. You men­tion that you also have some con­struc­tion expe­ri­ence, and he walks away. Of course it sounds ridicu­lous, but in effect that is what I often see busi­ness­es doing with social net­work­ing. They post their email blasts or pro­mo­tion­al sales mate­r­i­al to a Linkedin Group on a week­ly basis. They do not engage in con­ver­sa­tions or respond to com­ments and ques­tions — they just post their ​“cool” top­ics and walk out, so to speak. Instead of treat­ing Social Media like a com­mu­ni­ty mes­sage board or a side­walk soap-box, think of it as a way of meet­ing peo­ple and devel­op­ing con­tacts. Engage, share, con­nect, and help oth­ers for free. Ask ques­tions and real­ly lis­ten, always learn­ing and only offer­ing advice when it will be appre­ci­at­ed. It’s like the good ol’ days when you would take a prospec­tive client out for cof­fee. Be gen­uine, be real, be respon­sive. If you plan on post­ing to Linkedin or any Social Media as a ​“feed,” then make sure you or some­one in your office keeps track of the post and man­ages respons­es, respond­ing quick­ly to those who show inter­est. If you are one of those who cur­rent­ly use Linkedin Groups for pro­mot­ing… find a more appro­pri­ate venue, or change to a more con­ver­sa­tion­al style.