Our Top LinkedIn Tips.....

We have been doing lots of LinkedIn work this month, helping networking colleagues to make the most of their LinkedIn profiles and to really make their connections work for them and their business objectives.

Are you LinkedIn? 

If not....why?!?! It's SUCH a good social media tool for businesses and the free account is packed full of features and functions.

If you are....do you thin you are using it to it's full advantage? 

We've developed the following 'top tips' to get you started....happy networking!

CONNECT

Stating the obvious?! Perhaps but once you’ve signed up to LinkedIn you need to connect with people, businesses and groups.

After every networking meeting spend some time working through the business cards collected and search for the individuals on LinkedIn. If they’re on there, send a request to connect.

DON’T send LinkedIn’s generic “I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn” request – be more personal. As an example a recent request I sent said….. “We met at the charity evening in Burnham last week, it was great to meet (and compare our love of all things Mint Velvet)…..it would be great to connect here on LinkedIn.”

INTERACT

Once you have connections – interact with them by perhaps commenting on their status updates.

LinkedIn will notify you of any job changes that your connections have – congratulate them, ask them about their new role. ENGAGE!!!!!!

  

JOIN

Groups are a great part of LinkedIn and one of my top tips is to join groups relevant to your industry.

I am a member of the CIPR and social media marketing to name just 2 and I regularly join in discussions within these groups and have connected with other members and in fact have a meeting with another member in a couple of weeks to discuss a collaboration.

  

You can start a discussion chain – it needn’t be an in-depth analysis of your industry – I asked the question which e-newsletter provider do you prefer, a client asked me to do a quick poll…..had around 8 replies and some really useful feedback for the client

SHARE

LinkedIn (like all social media) isn’t about selling. It’s about awareness and it’s about sharing. So share your knowledge, share your expertise. Try to post an update at least once a week – link back to your website or other sites that may be of interest to your connections. Make people want to look out for your updates because they are useful, insightful and helpful.

RECOMMEND and ENDORSE

If you work with someone and enjoy how they’ve helped you – write a short recommendation  or endorse them!

Don’t be shy about asking for recommendations! No-one will mind being asked. The worse that can happen is they won’t reply! The best they’ll write a glowing paragraph about working with you!

If you are asked to recommend someone and are happy to – make the time to do it. It need only be a sentence or two but this is the life-blood of LinkedIn and if we all used it ‘properly’ it would be an even more powerful networking tool!

One tip – don’t be too ‘trigger happy’ with the endorsement button.

YOUR PROFILE

I’ve tried to save the most important ‘til last!

Complete your profile – get it to 100%

It is important for you to spend time building your profile.

This is going to be the first thing people see when they find you on LinkedIn so make the first impression the right impression!

Aim for:

-       A well-written summary of who you are and what you do – you’ll only have around 150 words so get it right!

-       A professional picture (not a blurry holiday snap) for your profile – and whatever you do don’t leave it blank or use a picture that is 10 years old!

-       Fill in as many of the profile sections as possible and revisit to update when you

have taken on a new project or gained a new qualification

WIBN Conference 2013 - our highlights!

Hanbury Manor was the setting for the first ever WIBN conference and it was exciting to see almost 150 women in the room....what a force to be reckoned with!! Both myself and Lisa attended, as WIBN members we  ere excited to be part of this conference and it didn't disappoint.

The first guest speaker was Helen Roberts, MD of CPG Executive Consulting Ltd. Her biography shared that she set up in business aged just 25 and made £1million in her first year trading! Wow!!

Her presentation shared with us her belief that hard work, planning and positive mindset are three key ingredients to business success.  Can't argue with that!

She recommended we all change our mindset to be positive not negative and plan! Have a business plan in place, draw up a marketing plan (oh we know people who can help with that!!) and know what makes you different.

She told us to delegate where we needed to, communicate and be courageous. Don't stop developing personally or professionally - live life to the full and continue to learn and have vision for what you want out of life.

How can that fail to inspire?  

A quick coffee break and a chance to chat with other members from around the UK before the wonderful Jennie Bond took the floor.

WOW!!!

She commanded the room, was fascinating - she really has worked her way up the media ladder from cub reporter in Richmond to sub editor at the BBC and then Royal correspondent. I loved her honesty - she said the Royals didn't really interest her when she got the job (!) but for 10 years she followed them around the world reporting on every step they made. She shared the relationship she built with princess Diana (now there's an off the record note book I'd like to read); she shared a gaff she made whilst speaking with the Queen....the room was enraptured! She also shared the juggle of this International career with her role as a Mum - her husband took on the role of 'house-hubby' and they are clearly a great team.

Jennie Bond quit as royal correspondent because she wanted a new challenge, she felt she had done all she could and admitted that although she had a financial cushion she was scared......but what a good feeling being scared was.

Her big leap was taking part in I'm a Celebrity

......she said she loved it. Her husband didn't want her to do it....her daughter did and she thought "why not."  (The picture to the left shows her underground surrounded by rats and snakes - yuck! But she did the challenge!) She explained how this u-turn in her career saw her suddenly being viewed differently by the media and TV execs and she now works on programmes very far removed from her serious news days (she even appeared on Stars in their Eyes as Blondie!) But she is  loving it.....and making more money than ever before. Has she sold out?....I say NO she has pushed herself and is reaping the benefits, good for her!!!

Her message to the room was don't be scared of being scared, of change! Step out of your comfort zone and you may achieve great things!

Lisa and I got to meet her after her speech and she took the time to have a photo taken with Lisa and I?..a genuinely nice, inspiring lady (who looks amazing for 63!!) 

More open networking over lunch and some great connections were made in the room with much business card swapping!

The day was rounded off with the panel discussion where experts in finance and law answered questions from the audience.

For those of you who attended I hope you had as great a day as we did and for those of you who didn't, I urge you to consider attending if another event is held in 2014 ........even if just to take time out for you and be inspired by all of the business women in the room.

I can promise you won't come away disappointed!

Claire x

Twit-ter-woo!!!

If you’re fans of Hootsuite (and if you’re not…get yourself over to Hootsuite.com for a look around!) you may have heard the news that Pinterest and Gmail are now available on your Hootsuite dashboard.

The official word from Hootsuite is this:

Gmail app:“Monitor and manage email alongside your social communications with the Gmail app for HootSuite! Monitor multiple Gmail accounts, preview messages, publish, and more all from the HootSuite dashboard. Achieving inbox zero just got a lot easier.” 

The Gmail app is currently £1.49 per month and a 2-day free trial is on offer.

Viraltag for Pinterest app:“Pinterest management for brands and publishers are now available in the HootSuite dashboard! Pin, schedule and analyze Pinterest content with the ViralTag app for HootSuite. Easily distribute social content to Pinterest from the ViralTag stream, view key metrics including Clicks, Likes and Repins, search for pins and more.:

The Viraltag app is currently £3.49 per month and a 2-day free trial is on offer.

So what do these changes mean to you? Well we say, they can’t be a bad thing. Having that Hootsuite screen as your main communications dashboard works wonders for many of our clients. Our advice would be, give the free 2-day trials a go and make a decision based on how much value these apps will add to your day to day management and think about the time you’ll save not switching screens and logging on.

We love the functionality of Hootsuite  - for FREE you can have your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare and Mixi profiles all in one place - We’re sure you’ll be experts in no time…and if you need help you know where we are!

x

Back to school...with a bang!

So the junior One to Three team (four boys between us!) are back to school next week and whilst we've enjoyed lots of fun with them over the summer we've been busy helping clients to keep on top of their marketing too!





Many of our clients are, like us, working parents and some have commented on getting back in to 'work-mode' now that the nights are drawing in and the first Christmas (I know, don't get me started!) ads have started popping up.

So....how best to do this?

Our advice is three-fold:


1) Get out there and network!

Those of you who know us will have heard us raving about business networking. Whether it's a weekly breakfast meeting, a monthly lunch or a drop in session where you grab a coffee, networking WORKS! Attending meetings and expanding your contact list is a sure fire way to get you back into 'work mode.' As members of both WIBN and Athena we can highly recommend these groups and we also love the set up of Business Biscotti and Fabulous Women and Marvellous Men. 

2) Get Social!!

Do you #hashtag and RT?
Have you posted or shared lately? Do you pin?

Social media is here to stay and an extension of the physical networking we mention above.

Get to grips with Facebook for Business, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram...the list goes on and on and a whole new world of business opportunity can open up to you.



3) Review

Dust off your marketing plan (and if you haven't got one.......give us a call!) and review where you are. What have you achieved? What are your goals for the next quarter? What areas could do with a refresh?




Review your website too - is in up to date? Do you have any recent testimonials and case studies online? Do all of the links work? How is it performing (Google Analytics is a FREE tool...a must have for this review process.)


Many of our clients use us to help them get into 'work-mode' - by booking a brainstorm meeting that can focus their marketing and provide achievable goals. We always leave clients with some 'quick win' ideas, a list of 'must-haves' and then ideas that can be put on the back burner. More information about our brainstorm sessions can be found on our website

So, enjoy 'back-to-school' and remember 1) network, 2) get social and 3) review!!



x

Get social.....

If we said ‘social media’ to you – what would you immediately think? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn?

You’d be right, these are traditionally known as the ‘big 3’ but there are many other platforms making nothing short of a meteoric rise in popularity.

Instagram has reportedly attracted 67 percent of the top brands in the world – taking it into the ‘big leagues’ of social media platforms.

With Pinterest also showing rising popularity – 48.7 million users (February 2013 figures) and Google + is quoting a figure of 135 million users whilst You Tube states it gets 800 million users each month.

These figures are just staggering aren’t they?

And do they leave you feeling a bit confused? Wondering which social media platform is right for you. Well here’s a brief guide to each of the platforms that we hope will cut through the figures and the hype and get you comfortable with being ‘social.’

Facebook has an incredible 1.11 billion active users so it is little surprise that Facebook has become the most widely recognized name in social media.

Facebook isn’t just about who’s dating who and who’s watching what on TV!

Facebook for business is highly credible and allows you to create a business page – a few minutes is all you need – and you can then invite people to join or like your page. We believe this is a must for any business!

Twitter has 200million monthly active users worldwide and is regularly referred to in the news – many stories break using Twitter (did you know the killing of Osama Bin Laden was first reported by a Tweet?)

There is no doubt that Twitter has caused a real buzz in the business world – in very simple terms Twitter is a free micro-blogging service that allows anyone to say anything to anybody in 140 characters or less!

LinkedIn has around 200million users worldwide and is said to be the largest network of business professionals in the world.

Very quickly LinkedIn can provide a host of business people with whom you can network with.

There is business to be won on LinkedIn, strategic alliances to be made and job opportunities for anyone looking for a promotion, a new career direction or just a change!

Here at One to Three we believe ALL businesses can find their place on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ALL businesses have a product or service to sell, hints and tips and news to share.

Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, products, styles, interests and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images from the web / their photo gallery to their own pinboards, and 'like' photos.

Pinterest is a fast-growing social media platform – launched in 2010, it’s a relative ‘new kid on the block.’

Instagram describes itself as “a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family.”

Pictures taken on your smart phone or tablet can be filtered to transform their look – posting a picture to Instagram allows all of your followers to view and comment on the picture.

Pinterest and Instagram are particularly important if you are selling a product – particularly a lifestyle product. You can showcase your goods in an elegant and visually exciting way on these platforms.

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created in 2005, it allows users to upload, view and share videos. Now this is stating the obvious but YouTube is all about video content – ALL businesses can benefit from having a video made about them. Whether it is a ‘piece to camera’ a product demo, a tour of a facility – video is a powerful marketing tool and an important part of your online presence. Don’t forget YouTube videos can be shared on all of the other platforms above (with the exception of Instagram.)

If you still feel you need a helping hand before you leap in to the world of social media please drop us a line - info@onetothree.co.uk and we'll help to make your social media as easy as 1, 2, 3!!