Recommend your way to more business
I love almost any social network, but one network I have not spent a lot of time engaging on is LinkedIn. I have a presence on it, but my LinkedIn strategy has been relatively non-existent. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present a session at ReBarcamp NYC with Todd Carpenter on using online to develop relationships in real life. It was a great interactive session, and during the session, I had an “A-HA” moment I had to share. A lightbulb moment!
Recommendations are the key to engaging on LinkedIn.
Often we write recommendations because someone requests them. What if you started writing recommendations for people in your network that were unsolicited? Perhaps someone you used to work with in a previous occupation, a service provider you use, someone you heard speak at a conference. The recommendation has to be genuine and deserved, but imagine the power of an unsolicited recommendation. You might get a recommendation back, but that is not the point or the power. The power is in the feeling that you create with the person you recommend.
I have heard many of my social media “expert” friends say LinkedIn falls into their top three social networks they use, and I never got it. I found LinkedIn a little boring – you can’t engage like you do on twitter or facebook. I like that “feel good” aspect of twitter and facebook.
What can be more “feel good” than telling people how much you admire and respect someone in your network? The feel good power of LinkedIn exists- you just have to create it.
Start spreading the news...
This article published on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 4:39 pm | Contact the editor
Topics: Real Estate
About this Columnist (Full Profile)
Ginger Wilcox is a Broker Associate at Alain Pinel in Marin County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is an accomplished speaker, writer and trainer on the real estate industry, online marketing and social media strategy. Ginger is the publisher of the Marin Real Estate Guide -”Blog by the Bay,” a highly regarded Bay Area real estate web site. For more information about Ginger, visit gingerwilcox.com.
Email Ginger Wilcox
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Comments (8)
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- Mark Eibner:
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- sheilabragg:
Recommend your way to more business: Get out of your feed reader and comment on this post- we PROMISE that the S.. http://tinyurl.com/892hft
Benn Rosales
Conal Campbell
Elijah May
Lani Rosales
Tara Steele
Marti Trewe
Charlene Jimenez
Hey, this is pretty good!
The one application that I’ve had NO use for has been Myspace. Any aha moments there? I don’t even have an account…
You’re talking to me.
Yeah, I have a Laccount, but it’s just sorta there. You’ve prodded me to reach up and yank the little chain that clicks on the lightbulb too.
I like the idea, this will be a added gem in the online social media crown I’m trying to create.
Thanks.
I concur
http://snurl.com/karma-is-a-mofo
Rudy
Social Media Guru at Trulia
Ginger,
I feel the same way. My LinkedIn account is my 3rd and last social networking site.
I have a problem with people I barely know ask me to do a recommendation. Now how does that work, and do I lie, because I don’t know what else to say.
Ginger – I haven’t utilized my LinkedIn account as I should either. I started going through a couple of weeks ago and joined local communities within LinkedIn. I was surprised to find several in Indiana. I guess I should now see if there are people I can write referrals for:)
You’ve echoed my feelings completely. Twitter and Facebook seemed like a much more fun way to connect. I know that people have had tremendous success with Linkedin – I just have never found the site that engaging. I’ll take a second look.