November | 2009 | Jamie Ginsberg Social Media Strategist

Archive | November, 2009

Thanksgiving – The best time to lose some “friends”

by Jamie Ginsberg on November 24, 2009 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn

This is a post that hurts me write, but I have been thinking about it for awhile. Once a year you need to parse thru your friends and connections on your various networks and cut some fat. Delete or remove some of the random people you have connected to that have not enhanced your online experience. Maybe that person on FaceBook who you hid, now is the time to simply remove them. Start now and finish your clean-up by the end of the year. I started last night with one on FaceBook and one on LinkedIn.

Yes, I understand some of you are going to drop me after reading this post, I know I am fat to some of you (more ways than one). Yes, I will miss your status updates on FaceBook and recommendations on LinkedIn, but if I annoy you or simply don’t add value to you, then now is the time to cut me. Our social and professional networks have grown dramatically over the last two years. You are being overwhelmed by information and have to learn how to manage it. I think it is natural and healthy to add some random people over the course of the year. With trees and plants, sometimes you have to cut them back for them to grow, this is true for your networks as well. Open up some space in your life and then fill it with some new people.

I understand this may appear on a superficial level to be anti-effective networking. Fahgetaboutit. Yes, you should be using Lists on FaceBook and have edited your options at the bottom of the newsfeed so you can see more than 250 people. Yes you must check-in on LinkedIn regularly and look at your connections regularly. Still, you need to trim that 10% fat and add some new fat. Your online life will be more interesting as a result. If you dump me after this, no hard feelings – hopefully we can connect again in the future. See you on the other side.

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Meeting People is Easy – Getting to know them takes work

by Jamie Ginsberg on November 17, 2009 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn

As I wind up my second night in a row of getting out to events and engaging with people, I am reminded that meeting people is easy, getting to know them takes work. The reason I am so passionate about networks like LinkedIn, FaceBook and to a lesser extent Twitter is that it makes it so easy to get to know people. All you have to do is put in the work.

In FaceBook, I use Lists to make it easy to keep up with all of my friends and connections. By managing my Lists effectively, I can slowly get to know as much as you share about yourself with me. I still have to check FaceBook regularly to keep up with the flow of information. On LinkedIn, I have to look at profiles and learn what you have done or are doing. I have to read the answers you post to questions and the recommendations you write. This is how I get to know you better. Twitter, I have to look at your links, analyze your content and get you offline and into the real world for coffee or wine…otherwise my memory does not retain enough information to match the face to the person.

Why is this important? Every day there are opportunities to connect people and make introductions. The better you know people the easier it is to see how you can help them. I put the work in to try and get to know you better, because I want to make the world a better place for all of us. This means looking at business cards at 11pm, following up on that email from this morning, commenting onthe micro level news occurring on various networks, as well as sharing the seemingly boring details of our lives. Talk with me about food, wine, sports, politics and life. Share your pictures, passions, successes and failures. This is the only way we will get to know each other better.

Put the Work in. Grow Organically. Develop deep strong roots. Bend – Be Flexible, it is better than simply breaking. Whatever you do, participate. We are waiting for you.

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LinkedIn to Twitter – Not Exciting Yet

by Jamie Ginsberg on November 11, 2009 in Best Practices, LinkedIn

Today was a big day for me on LinkedIn. First, I noticed I have 500 connections, some sort of strange marker that I have now reset – next stop 1,000. Second, I noticed under Edit Profile, the first integration of Twitter, widely reported with scant details. Upon adding my Twitter account there was a quick Twitter connect approval and just like my Website, my Twitter account is now a link in my LinkedIn Profile. I had to make a choice, Do all Tweets update my Status on LinkedIn or only Tweets with the Tag #in attached. I choose to use #in because there is no way in the world I want all of my wine related posts and in general griping and promoting to hit LinkedIn every day. Generally, I advise people to be more selective in updating their status on LinkedIn. Every 2-4 weeks unless something special is happening or you are traveling frequently. It will be really exciting to see what this collaboration brings in the future, for now the most exciting feature is a Link in my Profile, whatever.

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How Twitter Lists can help you get your first 2,000 followers

by Jamie Ginsberg on November 9, 2009 in Best Practices

Twitter lists are a very very very valuable tool. Click around and check a few out. What you will see is people are organizing and categorizing their Twitter friends. Are you looking for more followers in your local area? Find Twitter lists of people who have broken out your regional Twitter connects. Maybe you want a specific niche like Yoga or Cycling, fahgetaboutit there are tons of lists for that. Find the various Lists on Twitter, look at who the list is following and follow them, all of them. When you get cut off by Twitter take a break for a few days, then delete all the people not following you back using Twitter Karma and start adding followers again, this is the secret of finding your first 2,000 followers on Twitter.

Should you create Lists? Of course, this is how the system works! Create Lists that fit your interests and passions and add your friends to these Lists. What is the advantage to you? How about as I scroll thru your list of 400 people I am seeing your page and logo the entire time. Yes, your list is a great big advertisement for you. Yes, Twitter has Private Lists, but why bother? Twitter as a communication tool has become an opt-in spam machine. Cut thru the noise by building your own Public Lists. Leave Private for the crazies. Twitter is an open relationship, keep it that way. Start building a List today, at the very least do your homework and check out a few Lists.

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Pictures, FaceBookand your Fan Page – the Missing Tag

by Jamie Ginsberg on November 9, 2009 in Best Practices, FaceBook

You can’t get enough pictures on FaceBook, especially if you have a Fan Page. With 16 Billion plus photos on FaceBook, this is an area you do not want to miss. It is a great way to promote your business and your Fans! Photos hit your Fans news feed, just like a post does. Add Captions, tag people and find the balance that makes photos interesting and comment worthy. Remember you must enable tagging of photos on your Fan Page, this is not on by default. Scroll down to the bottom right of your Fan Page and you should see a photo box and edit options, click on edit options and enable your Fans to Tag themselves and their friends in Photos. Why? Because when people are tagged in photos their friends see those pictures and as a result they see your Fan Page. This is an easy, cheap, great way to organically grow your fan base.

You can only tag people you are friends with, asking people to tag themselves works or find a contest or prize as an incentive for people to tag themselves. If you have a business with walk in traffic, start taking pictures of people and getting them up on the Fan Page, ask the people in the photos to tag themselves and to share the fan page with their friends. You can also put up a sign with your FaceBook address encouraging people to become a Fan of your page on FaceBook. Whatever you do, get photos on your fan page and start interacting with your people.

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Bored with FaceBook?

by Jamie Ginsberg on November 7, 2009 in Best Practices, FaceBook

If you are bored with FaceBook, it is your own fault. The first steps to curing this fault are expanding the number of profiles hitting your News Feed, then creating Lists. Scroll down to the very bottom of your Newsfeed and select Edit Options. Now you can change your default from 250 profiles to a higher number, I made mine 700 giving me some room to grow. I’ve discussed how to create and use Lists to manage your newsfeed previously. Remember these Lists are Private, only you see them, unlike Twitter which can be Public or Profile.

Now you are ready to play. Maybe be a little more generous with your friendship. Add some more people from the past or even people you have just met. Take the time to email people from the past and give a more detailed update to your life. Better yet ask some questions. Make friends with your scanner and add some of those old pictures you have buried in the closet. When you have exhausted your personal resources, start creating. Typing a “Note” on Facebook is just like Blogging. Pick a theme and start writing about it. Tag some of us so we see it. Write about whatever interests you and the odds are very good you will find some people who share that interest. Suddenly, Facebook isn’t that boring anymore…and neither are you.

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