social media marketing guide for the insurance professional

7/28/2019 Social Media Marketing Guide for the Insurance Professional

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Social Media Marketing Guidefor the Insurance Professional

by Ted Januszwww.januspresentations.com/social-media.htm

Section Page

The Importance of Social Media Marketing 3

Getting Started on Facebook: 8 How to promote your agency to one billion possible fans

Getting Started on LinkedIn: 38

The professional social network

Getting Started on Twitter: 112 Marketing yourself in 140 characters

Getting Started Blogging: 132 The most explosive outbreak in the information world

since the Internet itself

Getting Started with Local Search: 143 Do you remember when you would let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages?

Answering Your Unasked Questions about Social 153

Media Marketing

Copyright 2012 @ Ted Janusz, Janus Presentations LLC


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Social Media Marketing Guide for the Insurance Professional

The Importance of Social Media Marketing

Isnt Social Media Just a Passing Fad?

Do you sometimes think, If I just cover my head with a pillow, all of this talk about social mediamight soon go away.?

Yes, it does seem like a new social media site is popping up every day, and it is easy to getoverwhelmed with it all. Is it just a passing fad? Lets look at the facts.

Do you realize: 87% of adults in the U.S. who go online say they

have used some form of social media in 2012 Facebook captures 54% of U.S. Internet users Users spend more than 700 billion minutes

(1.3 million years) per month on Facebook 74% of social network users send messages

to their friends as part of their daily routines 87% of parents of teenagers are online 96% of Generation Y participates in social media?

Why Do We Need to Understand Social Media?

If we intend to sell insurance services to younger clients, we need to understand how theycommunicate. For instance, when my daughter was home from college, I never once saw her sendan e-mail. She certainly never opened up a newspaper or even the Yellow Pages. Instead she was

busy with text messages and Facebook. But lets bust the myth that only Gen X and Gen Y useSocial Media.

For instance, the fastest growing segment of users of Facebook is now neither high school nor college students, but rather females age 55 65 . Why? With the rest of their family on Facebook

(the average user now spends an hour a day on the site), its the best way for them to keep upwith the stories and the photos of their children and grandchildren!


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According to Social Media Revolution, here is the number of years it took each of the following to

reach 50 million users: Radio 38 years Television 13 years The Internet 4 years iPod 3 years

Facebook, on the other hand, has added 100 million users in just the last nine months!

Here, according to the Facebook Global Monitor, is alisting of the percent of a country's citizens (not just

the percent of those citizens who are online) whocurrently maintain a profile on Facebook:

o Iceland - 53%o Norway - 46%o Canada - 42%o Hong Kong - 40.5%o United Kingdom - 40%o United States - 35.5%o Chile - 35%o Israel - 32.5%

o Bahamas - 30.5%

With over 1/3 of Americans now on Facebook, it is important that we have an understanding of thissocial media phenomenon that is rapidly spreading across the globe, and to learn how we can use

this new form of communication to grow our agency business.

How Can You Learn About Social Media . . . Painlessly?

You may not want to turn to someone who has multiple pierced body parts, and tattoos on those bodyparts that are not pierced, to gain that understanding! Instead, join a fellow professional in this Social

Media Marketing Guide for Insurance Professionals as he walks you though the steps of getting

set up on social media in an easy, fun and interesting way!

Shiny New Toys?

Once you have mastered the use of these new social media tools, the key to success will bedetermine to an overall social media strategy : How can you use these tools along with your existing

marketing strategy to grow your agency business?


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A Paradigm Shift for Marketing Success

This will require a new and different mind set, since social media is not about advertising but rather about growing communities. Rather than the one-way communication of traditional media, socialmedia is about having a conversation with your clients and prospects and developing relationships .

You wont get new business in social media by telling people how wonderful you truly are, but bybecoming a trusted member of the community . Rather than spraying ad copy, you will now give your fans, connections and followers valuable content that will have personal value to them and they will

want to share with others using these new tools.

When I was speaking at the Annual Convention of the Professional Insurance Agents of Tennessee,one agent told me how he uses his Facebook page. He gets his fans involved by asking questionson the site such as If my tree falls down and hits my neighbors house, am I responsible?

The agent then joins in the conversation, showing that he is a trusted member of the community andan insurance expert. This engagement is what leads him to write new policies from the site, instead

of using his Facebook page to shout, Call me today for a free insurance quote!

Finally, social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk reminds us, Social media is a marathon, not a sprint.

As we discussed earlier, going forward, effective use of social media will need to be an essential part

of your marketing plan.

How Long Will Social Media Take Me? After All I Have an Insurance Agency to Operate!

Once you get your accounts set up on the top three social media sites, you can use an aggregator like Sendible (www.sendible.com ) to coordinate all of your social media efforts. As a result, you cankeep up-to-date with your online customers in as little as a half hour a day. But, for now, lets learn

the basics of how to effectively use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The Author of this Guide

Rather than focus on the technology, Ted Janusz speaks to PIA state affiliates on how to use socialmedia to grow your agency business. He has been a contributor to all three annual editions of the PIA

National Agency Marketing Guide .


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Because of his business insights, Ted was invited to appear on Geraldo at Large on the Fox NewsNetwork. He has conducted over 500 full-day seminars in 49 of the 50 United States (lone exception:

Wyoming), and in Puerto Rico and across Canada.

Through a nationwide American Idol -like search, Janusz was selected to conduct "eBay University"for eBay at sites across the country. Several hundred people gathered at each of these Saturday

events to learn how to start their own businesses on the popular Internet auction site.

Janusz earned his MBA in Marketing from the University of Pittsburgh. He presents his Social MediaMarketing workshops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, New Orleans and other

cities across the country.

Ted is also the author of ten CD-ROMs taken from his Webinars on social media marketing. To learnmore: www.januspresentations.com/social-media.htm

How to Use this Guide

Lets hear from Ted:

My motto in conducting all of my computer training is always: No frustration! My goal in this guideis to take you by the hand and walk you, step-by-step, through the process so that you, too, can join

the social media revolution quickly and easily.

This guide presents three sections on the three popular social media tools:1. Getting Started on Facebook2. Getting Started on LinkedIn3. Getting Started on Twitter

Each section will address four topics about each social media tool:1. What is it?2. So what? Why should I care?3. How do I get started?4. How have other insurance professionals used

these tools for success?

Well include plenty of screen shots along the way, so that you can see that you are on the right track.Within minutes, you will be able to impress you children (and your grandchildren!) with your new-

found knowledge. As a result, you will be able to communicate with them in an exciting new way, aswell as to open yourself up to a myriad of new business connections and opportunities.


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Plus, we will present two additional topics of interest in this guide regarding how to market your insurance agency on the Internet:1. Getting Started with Local Search

2. Getting Started with Blogging

So lets get started!


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Getting Started on FacebookHow to promote your agency to one billion possible fans

What is it?

Facebook is a Website that has attracted more nearly one billion active users (thats almost one out of every seven people on the planet).

Users of Facebook create a personal profile, then add other users as friends and exchange messages withhem on the site. Facebook users now post a billion pieces of content, such as photos and messages, eachday. Additionally, Facebook users may join common interest groups, organized by workplace, school, or

college, or other characteristics.

The Facebook

The name Facebook stems from the name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by many university administrations to help students to get to know each other better.

On February 4, 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched "The facebook", originally located at thefacebook.com.The site was founded by Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students. TheWebsite's membership was initially limited to his fellow Harvard students (within the first month, more than

half of the undergraduate population was registered on the service), but was soon expanded to other colleges and universities in the Boston area. It gradually invited students at other universities before

opening the site to high school students, and, finally, to anyone in the world aged 13 and over.

Profiles and Pages

Users create profiles with photos, lists of interests, contact information, and other personal information.Users can communicate with friends and other users through private or public messages and a chat feature.

They can also create and join interest groups and "like pages" (formerly called "fan pages", until April 19,2010).

The website is free to users, and generates revenue from advertising.

Facebook Photos


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Insurance Company Pages on Facebook

To view how the following insurance entities are using Facebook to attract new business, and how you cando something similar for your agency, enter www.facebook.com and type in the Search box at the top of the

screen the company name:

McKinnon Insurance

Alan Galvez Insurance Baker & Associates Insurance Agency Hill & Hamilton Insurance and Financial Services Westfield Insurance Progressive Flo, the Progressive Girl Securance Service The National Alliance for Insurance Education &

Research Allstate Insurance State Farm Insurance

Nationwide Insurance Aflac Duck GEICO

To create a page for your agency on Facebook (which is free), first register for a Facebook profile.

How do I get started?

Follow these simple and easy steps:

Go to www.facebook.com


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Fill in the text boxes with your o First Nameo Last Name (Hint: to make yourself unique, be sure

to include your maiden name, nickname or other name that your friends who will be searching for you may have known you by.)

o E-mail Address (twice, to make sure its typedcorrectly!)

o Password (I used a Password of 6 alphanumericcharacters here.)

o Sexo Birthday

Click the green Sign Up button


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Type the CAPTCHA code in the Text in the box: textbox.

Click the green Sign Up button

(The term CAPTCHA, for Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart,was coined in 2000 by professors of Carnegie Mellon University.)

Find Your Friends

Of course, the main purpose of Facebook is for social networking. So lets find your friends on Facebook!


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You can import contact information from an e-mail service you currently use like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or AOL. Follow these two steps:

Select your e-mail account type on the left side of thescreen.

Click the Find Friends link. Select the people you want to invite to be your

friends.

Create Your Profile

This step will help you find friends from your high school, college or university, and your employer who arealready on Facebook.


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As you fill in the text boxes, Facebook will provide suggestions.To accept the suggestion, simply click on it.

Be sure to include your graduation years for high school or college or university.

Then click the blue Save & Continue button.

Based upon your entries, Facebook will then make suggestions for friends to connect with:


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At this point, you are probably saying to yourself, So thats what they look like now!

To Add people you know , simply click the Add as friend link under the persons name.

When you do, that person will be notified that you would like to add them as a Facebook friend. They caneither confirm or deny that request. You will be able to do the same as others look to add you as their

friend.

One of the best features of Facebook is that you communicate only with your friends. This closed networkhelps to eliminate spam, which composes up to 90% of regular e-mail messages.

When finished, click the blue Save & Continue button.


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Choose Your Profile Picture

You friends will want to know that it is really you that they are looking to become Facebook friends with, notsomebody else with the same name.

To Choose your profile photo :

Click the Upload a Photo link A new text box will appear:


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Click the Browse button From the pop-up window, choose the folder and the

file in which that fantastic digital photograph of you isstored!


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Click the Open button Your picture will be uploaded to your Facebook

profile.

Alternatively, if you have a Webcam, you can click the Take a Photo link to get your profile picture andfollow the instructions.

Click the blue Save & Continue button.


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Welcome to Facebook

To help your friends find you when they are looking to add friends on Facebook, provide additionalinformation about yourself.

Click the Edit Profile button.


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You will see the first of several data entry screens that you can complete to tell your friends, and your potential friends, about yourself:


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At this point, one of your concerns might naturally be, But who can see this information? My boss? Afuture boss? My ex-boyfriend?

To get a thorough understanding of Facebooks default (automatic) privacy settings and more importantlyhow you can change them, click the privacy settings link (just below Contact Information ) on the left of

the screen:


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As you can see, at this point Everyone (which can include anyone surfing the Facebook site) can see (if youhave made entries in the following fields in your profile):

Your status, photos and posts Bio and favorite quotations Family and relationships

Only Friends of Friends can see this information,plus:

Photos and videos youre tagged in Religious and political views Birthday

Your Friends can see all of the above information,plus they have:

Permission to comment on your posts Information on places you check in to Your contact information


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Should you desire, by clicking on the link, you can Customize (these privacy) settings

Continue to build your profile by clicking the Edit Profile button at the upper right of the screen.

As you do, at any time you may click the View My Profile button at the upper right of your screen to seeyour work-in-progress.

Feel free to click on any of the Edit links, the Edit Profile button, or the icons on the screen to provideadditional information that you would like to share about yourself.

Create a Facebook Page

Now that you are personally represented on the most popular networking site, lets create a presence onFacebook for your business.

Go to www.facebook.com/pages


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Click the Create Page button in the upper right corner.


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Click the Company, Organization, or Institution box.

On the next screen, shown below:

Using the drop-down arrow next to the box thatcurrently says, Choose a category, chooseInsurance Company (or whatever else might better apply)

Type the name of your company, organization or institution

Read the terms of use by clicking the FacebookPages Terms link

If you agree to the terms, click the check box Click the Get Started button


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Your new Facebook page appears, similar to the one below:


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Lets start to build your Facebook page!

Step 1 - Add an image. Click the Upload an Image link

A new text box will appear. Click the Browse button From the pop-up window, choose the folder and the

file in which a digital photograph of you, your buildingor your logo is stored


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Click the Open button Your image will be uploaded to your Facebook page.


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Youll want to be sure that the world (or nearly one billion users) knows that you have a Facebook page, sothey can begin to interact with your business in a whole new way.

Step 2 Invite your friends . So that your Facebook friends will see that your Facebook page is arecommended page:

Click the Suggest to Friends button When the pop-up appears (as shown below), click the

All button to the right and then click the SendRecommendations button


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Step 3 Tell your fans. You can let contacts in your e-mail address book know that you have aFacebook page and a new way to interact with your business:

Click the Import Contacts button Enter your e-mail address and password Click the Find Contacts button


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Building Interesting Content

Add to your new Facebook page, so that your fans (people who like this) will want tocome back for more.

You can get started by:

o Writing something on your Wall tabo Clicking the Edit Information link on your Info tabo Clicking the Create a Photo Album button on your

Photos tabo Clicking the Start a New Topic button on your

Discussions tab


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Your Agency Facebook Page: What If You Build It and They Dont Come?

Okay, so I took your advice and created a Facebook page for our agency, you might say at someoint. But now its just sitting there with hardly any fans. What should I do?

First of all, let me congratulate you! With nearly a billion users (thats one of out every seven people on thelanet who has a Facebook account) be assured that you are in the right place to promote your agency.

And let me assure you a Facebook page can work for you. When I spoke at the annual convention for thePIA of Tennessee, an agent told me that he was able to write numerous new policies by posting questionsn his Facebook page such as, If my tree falls down and hits my neighbors house, am I responsible for the

damage? He involved his fans in the conversation and then showed that he was an expert on the topic of

nsurance to his community. (Notice he did not use his Facebook page to shout: Call me today for a freensurance quote!)

n fact, just of few of the many insurance Facebook pages you may want to study and emulate include:

McKinnon Insurance (Notice how this page doesntpitch insurance products but instead allows their prospects and clients to get to know them on apersonal level. People want to buy insurance fromthose they know and like,)

Alan Galvez Insurance

Baker & Associates Insurance Agency Hill & Hamilton Insurance and Financial Services Westfield Insurance Progressive Flo, the Progressive Girl (This page was not

created by some corporate marketer, but rather by an18-year-old male fan of Flos from Oklahoma. Noticehow many millions of likes the page has today!)

Securance Service The National Alliance for Insurance Education &

Research

Allstate Insurance State Farm Insurance Nationwide Insurance Aflac Duck GEICO


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Advice from the Experts

Here are some of the best tips and tricks I have found on how to grow the fan base for your agencys Facebook page from six other social media experts.

Our first expert, Ching Ya, of Socialmediaexaminer.com, suggests these three ideas:

. Take the Initiative: Request Help from Friends

ts difficult to start a Facebook page with no engagement whatsoever. Why not send messages to your riends and clients who are supportive of your agency? Ask them to help out in some discussions, rewardhem with publicity, or return the favor. Ask them to use Facebooks Suggest feature to suggest that their

riends like your page. When the request comes from these community thought leaders, its a lot harder for thers to decline to hit that like button.

. Use Tagging

One of the most popular features on Facebook is tagging , which gives you the ability to identify andeference people in photos, videos and notes. Friends you tag in your status updates will receive a

notification and a Wall post linking them to your post.

. Participate Outside Your Page

Use Facebook Directory and Facebook Search to locate other Facebook pages in your insurance niche.Look for public discussions based on search terms related to your business.

Our second expert, Laura Rubinstein , of the Social Media Marketing Strategist, suggests two ideas:

. Hold a Contest Jupiter Research reported in 2001 that 49 percent of consumers enter an onlineweepstakes at least once a month. Sponsoring a contest will do two things for you: first, you will easily beble to determine which of your fans want to interact with you, and, secondly, once they do, they will be

more open to future marketing messages from you. Progressive and State Farm are just two of the

nsurance companies which have recently sponsored contests on Facebook.

To get ideas on how other companies have incorporated contests and social media, please see this articley David Spark entitled 10 Creative Contests Powered by Social Media,

http://mashable.com/2009/08/11/social-media-contests/:


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. Promote a Charity . This benefits you, your fans, and the charity. Its a triple win! Let everyone know thator every x number of fans who join, you are going to donate x dollars to a certain charity.

Rob Dickens of Memeburn:

. Suggest to Friends

ust below your Facebook page picture youll find a link that says Suggest to Friends. This allows you tonvite all of your friends on Facebook.

. Promote Your Facebook Page

f you send out a newsletter, be sure you include a link to your Facebook page. Have a Facebook badge onyour Website.


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. E-mail Signatures

ust imagine how much exposure your page will get if the link to your agencys Facebook page is included invery single e-mail sent from your agency!

Ruth White-Cabell , Strategic Campaigns Manager at Cisco:

1. Create Exclusive Content Ask yourself what valuable, relevant content you can provide toyour fans on Facebook that they cant get anywhere else. By offering exclusive content onFacebook, you immediately give users a reason to join. It also provides a powerful motivator

to share your page with their own networks.2. Ask Questions and Take Polls and Surveys You want people to interact with you on

Facebook. To drive engagement, be genuinely curious and ask questions. (Remember thesuccess of the PIA of Tennessee convention attendee?) To get even broader feedback, useregular polls and surveys within your Facebook page. Two helpful tools: www.polldaddy.comand www.surveymonkey.com .

3. Respond to Comments Encourage interaction by being interactive. Make sure you areresponding to comments from your fans.

4. Share Content from Others Its not just about you and your agency. Its important to sharecontent videos, photos, blog posts, articles and links from others as well.

5. Finally, Dont be Afraid to Experiment There is no cookie-cutter approach to success with

social media. Being actively engaged is a key part of success on Facebook.

Mari Smith, co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day :

Invite Your Email and Ezine Subscribers Send out an invitation to your subscribers via e-mail(several times, over time) letting them know about your Facebook page and encouraging them to join.Provide them with a description of the page and, rather than just asking them to like our page, tell themexactly whats in it for them when they do.

To get helpful tips directly from Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/business .

Finally, our sixth expert, Cindy Ratzlaff of the International Social Media Association, asks:


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Did you know that video postings on Facebook are chosen more often to appear in the "Top News"

stream of your fans and therefore have a better chance of being seen by their friends? Post shortvideo messages with insurance tips that your fans can share with their friends. Keep thesemessages under one minute and include only solid advice or tips that your fans will be thrilled toshare with their friends.

People love videos! In fact, YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world behindGoogle. And if you want your video to be noticed, make sure that you dont have someone from theagency in a headshot going blah-blah-blah in insurance speak. If you want to have your video standout, make it witty, off-beat, or intensely personal . .

Four Keys to Facebook Success

Lets conclude with these four key steps to build, grow and manage your Facebook page:

1. Develop a Strategy Why do most of the more than 3 million Facebook pages fail? Becausecreating one was a reactive, rather than a proactive, event. Many businesses create Facebookpages simply because it seems like everyone else is. (48% of all small businesses now have aFacebook page.) What do you want to accomplish with your page? As an example of an effectivestrategy for a Facebook page, the Buffalo, New York CPA firm of Freed, Maxick & Battagliadetermined that it wanted to humanize employees, showcase community involvement, and positionthe company as a thought leader with their Facebook page. Once you develop a strategy for your

agency, it will make your efforts on your Facebook page a whole lot easier.2. Based upon what you want to achieve with your Facebook page, create great content . Your Facebook page is not the place to recycle your self-serving commercials and press releases.Develop fabulous exclusive content (especially captivating videos and photos) that will make it easyfor your fans to like your page, and to keep them coming back for more. The main reason peopleunsubscribe from blogs is because the blog holder doesnt update the blog often enough with quality,consistent posts. Make sure that the content on your Facebook page is always fresh .

3. Promote Your Page. With a Facebook page, it is more than build it and they will come. Includeyour Facebook page URL on all of your marketing materials.

4. Track Your Successes by Using Facebook Insights . Want to see whats working and not workingon your Facebook page? This free analytics tool available at www.facebook.com/insights will give y

information that will show you, so you can refine your efforts along the way.

The effective use of social media in general and Facebook in particular requires us to shift our thinking.Using traditional marketing including your Website, you would simply shout out to your customers and your rospects about your agency. Now with Facebook you have the ability to actually engage with your fans, to

have two-way communication with them. You can now find out how they really feel about your services,llowing you to deliver what they truly need. And once you do, you will be surprised how your fans will


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ctually help you spread the word about your agency and your services to their friends. In the end, youll be

ble to deliver better results for your agency, your clients and yourself. And isnt that what its all about?


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Getting Started on LinkedInThe professional social network

What is it?

Unlike the other two other major social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter which we arediscussing in this guide, LinkedIn is the networking site for business .

No fun and games here. No poking your friends or posting photographs like on Facebook, or tellingyour followers what you are eating for dinner like you might on Twitter, LinkedIn is like the three-piecesuit or the corporate boardroom. It is the social networking site that is serious . . . about commerce.

Its All About Connections

The main purpose of LinkedIn is to allow its more than 150 million users, who include executives fromall Fortune 500 businesses as well as businesses in 200 countries from around the world, to maintain

a list of contact details about people they know and trust in business. The people on the list areknown as connections (similar to Facebooks friends ). Users can invite anyone (whether a LinkedIn

user or not) to become a connection.

This list of connections can then be used in a number of ways:

A contact network can be built consisting of o direct connections o the connections of each of their connections

(called second-degree connections ) ando the connections of each of their connections

(called third-degree connections ). This network can be used to gain an introduction

to someone a person wishes to know through amutual, trusted contact.

LinkedIn can then be used to find people andbusiness opportunities recommended by someonein one's contact network.

In addition, you can join one or more business related interest groups and network directly with themembers of those groups. As mentioned above, influential members can be drawn to the groups

from various locations internationally.


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How Popular is LinkedIn?

According to Wikipedia, two new members sign up on LinkedIn approximately every second. Abouthalf of the members are in the United States and 11 million are from Europe. With 3 million users,

India has the fastest-growing network of users as of 2009.

So what? Why should I care?

Lets say you built your contact list to 342 connections. LinkedIn tells you that have over 5,109,300users whom you then could reach through a friend and one of their friends.

Thats the power of LinkedIn!

Compared to the other two major social networking sites, LinkedIns users are: Older (median age: 41) Wealthier (six-figure household income) Predominantly male (2/3 male, 1/3 female) College educated (4/5 have a college degree) 28% of users are 35 to 44 years of age 28% of users are 45 to 54 years of age

Wouldnt you like access to that group of potential insurance clients? Best of all, your use of LinkedIncan be free .


Go to www.linkedin.com


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Type your First Name Last Name E-mail Address Password you would like to use for LinkedIn at least

6 characters long

Click the green Join LinkedIn button


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As the next screen indicates, Lets get your professional profile started

From I am currently:, click the arrow in the drop-down menu to indicate that you are either employed,a business owner, looking for work, workingindependently, or a student

Choose your Country from the drop-down menu Type your ZIP Code . LinkedIn will not display your

ZIP code, but will use it to assign a Region to your profile, so others will know the general area whereyou reside

Type your Company . As you type, LinkedIn mayhelp you by recognizing your company name.

Type your Job Title Click the blue Create my profile button.


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Your LinkedIn Profile

What is a LinkedIn Profile? Think of your profile as your personal home page to the business world.Your profile is like a real-time, up-to-date resume that gives a complete picture of your background,

qualifications and skills.

At any time, you can go to www.linkedin.com and click the Profile link in the top-left corner to accessyour LinkedIn profile to view or edit your profile.

Creating Your LinkedIn Profile

Click on Profile and then Edit Profile from the resulting drop-down menu, and you will see a screenthat looks similar to the following:


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Clicking Edit just to the right of your name will get the following screen:


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On this screen, you can fill in the blanks to add a Former or Maiden Name . Some potentialconnections may know by and look for you using a previous name.

You can also change your Professional Headline . Think of this as your job title. Enter a headlinethat will grab peoples attention.

After you have entered or changed your Basic Information, click the blue Save Changes button.

LinkedIn will then take you back to your main Profile screen with the note The information has beensuccessfully updated at the top of the screen, as shown below:


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Photo

LinkedIn was the last of the major social networking sites that allowed you to add a photo. Even now,you can only add one.

Next, we will add your Profile Photo . Why add a photo?

Chances are, with over 90 million registered users, there are multiple people in the LinkedIn databasewith a name the same as or similar to yours. By viewing your photo, a potential connection can be

assured that you are indeed the nice person who worked with him or her at XYZ Corporation back in2006.

To add a photo, click on the Add Photo link under the image that currently appears as a silhouette. Ascreen similar to the one below will appear:


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Determine the folder in which you may be storing that professional photograph of you that makes youlook just marvelous. (My guess is that it is in your My Pictures folder, so double click on My

Pictures or other subsequent folders until you find where you store the images from your digitalcamera.)

Once you have located the photo you would like to use as your Profile photograph, click once on theimage and then click the Open button, as shown below.


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LinkedIn will return you to the Upload a Photo screen with the file name that describes thephotograph you just inserted.


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Click the blue Upload Photo button, and . . . Voila! . . . LinkedIn will update your Profile and tell youon the subsequent screen that Your picture has been saved.


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You can select who can view your new profile photo: Your Connections these are the people who

are connected to you through the LinkedIn site. Your Network these are the people you are

linked to through your connections. Everyone anyone who logs on to the LinkedIn

site and searches for your name.

Once you decide who can see your photo, click the blue Save Settings button.


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You now have a photo associated with your LinkedIn profile. You are really making progress now!

Post an update

Should you like to let your connections in on what is happening in your professional life, you can Postan update . In the box that currently says Share an update, type your good news.


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Once you have posted an update about, for instance, winning an honor, you can enter in the boxbelow a link to the article on the Web that announced the award by typing the articles URL:


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Click the blue Attach button, then decide whether to make this announcement visible to anyone whomay search your profile or just your connections.

By clicking in the box to the left of the blue t Twitter logo, you can also send a Twitter messageknown as a tweet to all of your followers on Twitter after you click the blue Share button. (See the

next section of this guide on Getting Started on Twitter.)

On LinkedIn , the people I am connected to are called connections , on Twitter those people arecalled followers .

Current Position

As a next step, you can edit your Current position. I have entered my position here as a Registered Agent at American Federated Insurance by clicking the Edit link to the right of my entry. Doing sowill bring up a new screen. You can now change or add the following information in the boxes on the

screen:


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Under More information about this company , in the blue box, you can type the URL for your current company Website.

To the right of Time Period , you can click the check box to indicate that you currently work at thiscompany, and then indicate the month and year that you started in the position. (If you click the I

currently work here check box, the second entry for month and year will automatically change to topresent.)

For the Position Description , provide details of the position, so users viewing your profile can get aquick idea of what your position involves.

If you click the See examples link under the Description box, you can view examples of PositionDescriptions from other industries.

To save your entries, click the blue Update button.

Past Positions


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Now that we have completed entering information about your current position, enter information aboutyour Past positions by clicking the Add a past position link.

You will see an entry screen that is very similar to the Current position entry screen we justcompleted:


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After you enter information in the appropriate boxes on the screen, click the blue Save Changes button.

You may wish to enter additional Past Positions to show the breadth of your experience. For each additional Past Position you would like to enter, simply click the Add a past position link.

Education

To indicate your educational qualifications, click the Add a school link .

Enter information for the fields on the following screen, and then click the blue Save Changes button:


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You may desire to indicate to your connections and others that you have multiple educationalexperiences, such an undergraduate and then a graduate degree. So you may want to make multiple

entries for Education .

Simply click the Add a school link for as many entries as you would like to make and follow the samesteps as above.

Recommendations

According to marketing guru Dan Kennedy, in talking with his clients, the number one marketingmistake his clients make is failing to collect and use testimonials .

What matters is not that we say we are great. (Prospects expect us to say wonderful things aboutourselves!) What matters to potential clients is who else says so . Especially if it is someone they

know or whose opinion they trust, it will be worth far more than our own marketing puffery.


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In the brick-and-mortar world, it is sometimes cumbersome to get testimonials. You may need to ask

your client write their gracious comments on company letterhead using their precious time. As aresult, it may be something that, despite their assurances to you or their best intentions, they may notquite get around to doing. But getting a testimonial on LinkedIn can be as easy as requesting a client

to compose an e-mail!

To request a Recommendation in LinkedIn, begin by clicking Profile , and then theRecommendations link.

Once you do, LinkedIn will present you a screen that looks like this:

Across the top of the screen, you will see three tabs, one each for: Received Recommendations Sent Recommendations Request Recommendations

If you have a Current or Past position on your LinkedIn profile for which you have not yet beenrecommended, you can click on the link Ask to be endorsed . You will then see the following screen:


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After you have chosen 1) what you want to be recommended for, you can 2) decide who youll ask.

LinkedIn makes this step easy for you. Click the blue LinkedIn logo to the right of the Your connections: box, and your current list of connections will become visible, as shown below.


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You can select up to 200 connections from whom you can ask for a recommendation.

To increase your chances of success, narrow the list to only those connections that would haveknown of the quality of your work while you held that particular position.

When done, click the yellow Finished button. LinkedIn will return you to the previous screen:


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You may notice that LinkedIn sends each recipient (of up to 200 connections) you have chosen anindividual e-mail. Your e-mail requests will not be sent as a group e-mail.

To complete the Recommendation request process, click the blue Send button.

The Golden Rule

How can you get Recommendations?

One of the best ways to get Recommendations is to write Recommendations for others. The next tabwill show you for which of your LinkedIn connections you have Sent Recommendations :


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The third tab, Request Recommendations , allows you to ask for Recommendations from your connections, using the process described above.

Connections

A connection is someone with whom you have an association through the LinkedIn.

One of the benefits of LinkedIn is that, once you have established a connection with someone, youwill always have a live link to that person. It doesnt matter if that person changes their e-mailaddress (which many often do), since you will always be connected to them through LinkedIn.

There are three different degrees of how you areconnected with people on LinkedIn:

1. First-degree connections are people that you knowpersonally. They have a direct relationship from their account to your account.


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On the left side of the screen you can See Who You Already Know on LinkedIn by allowingLinkedIn to search contacts from your e-mail address book.

If you use Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or AOL as your e-mail service, simply type your complete e-mail IDand password and click the blue Continue button.

LinkedIn will then show you your e-mail contacts that are not yet connected to you on LinkedIn andask you if you want to connect with them.

Word of Warning

A temptation for you may be to simply click the box to the right of Select All . Dont do it! (I donteven know why LinkedIn offers this option!)

In my case, that would result in 2,877 contacts being invited to join my network in LinkedIn. As youcan imagine, I certainly dont have a personal relationship with all or even most of them. You

probably have a similar situation with your e-mail contacts.


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LinkedIn makes it very easy for you to send invitations in bulk to your entire contact list if you want.However, even though its easy to do, its not necessarily a good idea, warns Joel Elad in LinkedInfor Dummies . It can have negative social implications and can even potentially get you suspended

from LinkedIn (and you wouldnt want that!).

Recipients of your LinkedIn invitation will see an I Dont Know This Person button. If several peopleyou have invited click this button, LinkedIn will consider you a spammer and will suspend and

possibly even remove your profile and account from the site. Ouch!

Rather than try to get the maximum number of LinkedIn connections (or, for that matter Facebookfriends or Twitter followers), a better course of action is to determine why you would want to expand

your social network.

You may want to add: Colleagues from a former or past employer Classmates People You May Know

Lets explore how to do that.

Adding Colleagues from a Former or Past Employer

Click the Colleagues tab, which is just to the right of the Add Connections tab:


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You will be able to Find past or present colleagues by clicking on the View all buttons. (Note: Youreally wont be able to view all, since the results you will see will be limited to 50 of your colleagues.)


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Check the boxes under the green arrow for the people whom you know who you would like to invite tobe connections. Their names will then appear in the box to the right, with the heading Send

invitations to connect to: .

To increase the chances that these people will reply positively, include a personal note with your invitation to indicate why you are asking these colleagues to join your network. A quick key to

success: specify what their connection to you could do for them .

Check the box to the left of Add a personal note with your invitation? and then type the note in thebox below.

Finally, click the blue Send Invitations button.

Joel Elad in LinkedIn for Dummies gives us this advice: When people get an Invitation request,they understand pretty clearly that you want something from them, whether its access to them or

their network. If youve sent a canned Invitation, what they cant answer is the question, Whats in itfor me? A canned Invitation gives no motivation for or potential benefit of being connected to you. A


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custom note explaining that youd love to swap resources or introduce them to others is usually

enough to encourage an acceptance.

Adding Classmates

In addition to colleagues at present or past companies, you could probably receive benefit by linkingyourself to present or past classmates. And they could benefit by associating with you!

To get started, click the Classmates link , which is just to the right of the Colleagues link:

When I clicked the name of my school in the box under Select a school from your profile: I wassurprised to find the names of 77 of my classmates, as shown in the screen below. (That number is

about half the number of students we had in the entire graduate school that year!)


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I can then select which of my classmates I would like to invite to my network by clicking the Invite icon (which resembles an envelope) under the Send Invitation column heading.

Adding People You May Know

LinkedIn suggests people for you to consider adding to your connections.These may be people who:

are 2 nd degree connections may have one or more shared connections with

you.

Click the People You May Know tab, which is to the right of the Classmates link.

Once the names and possibly the profile picture of these people are shown, click the Connect link for any who you would like to add to your network.


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Returning to Your Profile

Now that we have added to your network, lets return to build your Profile, so that current andpotential connections would know how they could help you and you could help them. Click on the

Profile link.

Websites

Next, lets click on the Add a website link.


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On the next screen, LinkedIn asks for Additional Information, such as: the URL for a Personal or Company Website and

Blog Interests Groups and Associations Honors and Awards.

After entering this information, click the blue Save Changes button.


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Twitter

Do you have a Twitter account? Do you tweet?

If you dont currently, dont worry. Well show you how to set up a Twitter account in the last sectionof this guide.

If you do, and would like to link your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, you can click the Add a Twitter account link.


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LinkedIn will then give you the ability to customize your Twitter settings within LinkedIn:


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Public Profile

The next option in your Profile allows you to set how visitors to LinkedIn (maybe professionals whowould be looking to do business with you) can view your information.

Within your Profile, click on Public Profile

You will notice that automatically anyone who views your Profile will see basic information:

Name Industry Location Your number of recommendations

But other information about you that they can view is up to you.


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Simply check the box to the right of the item to be viewed or not viewed.

Then click the blue Save Changes button.

Add sections

You now can Add sections to reflect achievements and experiences on your profile.

Click the Add sections link, as shown below:


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LinkedIn gives you the option to add: Certifications Languages Patents Skills

To add this information, simply click on the particular link in the pop-up window, as shown below:


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These sections can include: Certifications such as CIC, CISR, CPIA, CPCU

and CRM Languages and whether you have native or

bilingual proficiency, professional workingproficiency, or elementary proficiency

Applications such a link to your blog

Experience

The next section of your LinkedIn Profile displays your competence through your Experience .

To demonstrate more of your industry knowledge to clients and prospective clients, click the Add aposition link.


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As you did when you created the record for your Current position earlier, type information for: Company Name Title Time Period Description

Click the blue Save Changes button.


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Publications

Have you written an article, research paper or book?

Click the Add a Publication link and enter descriptive information about your work.


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Education

Have you gone back to school to earn your degree or an advanced degree?

I tell my audiences, We tend to like and trust people who are like ourselves, and dislike and distrustpeople who are unlike us.

What if a potential client is looking at LinkedIn profiles and notices that you attended State U.? And

that is the same State U. she attended?The chances of you doing business with her had just shot up significantly. But if you did not add this

information to your profile, the potential client may never know.

Here is how to capture that additional information in LinkedIn:


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Click the Add a School link and enter information into the following fields:


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Click the blue Save Changes button and youre done!

Recommendations

LinkedIn says that users with recommendations are three times as likely to get inquiries throughLinkedIn searches.

In the Recommendations section of your Profile, click the Ask for a recommendation link.


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Then determine for which positions or college experiences you would like to have a recommendationfor your work.


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1) For the Position for which you would like to beRecommended, simply click the Ask to be endorsed link. (Endorsed is an old LinkedIn term. It would bebetter if the word recommended were usedconsistently. But you get the idea!)


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2) To decide who youll ask, click the LinkedIn icon,which you will find to the right of the Your connections: box. You can select up to 200 of your connections (if you have that many!). Each will get anindividual e-mail (not a group e-mail) with your request.

(Believe it or not, some LinkedIn users have over 500 connections ! LinkedIn stops counting and displayingthe number at that point. These particular users arecalled LION s, for Linked In Open Networkers. Your goal should not be to collect as many connections aspossible. As we mentioned earlier, think why youwant to use LinkedIn. Then go after as many quality connections as you can.)


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3) You may send the pre-filled Subject line and e-

mail body of the text shown, or you can enter your own.

4) When done, click the blue Send button.

The Golden Rule of Recommendations

One of the best ways to get a recommendation on LinkedIn is to give a recommendation. AndLinkedIn makes it easy for you. No special letterhead required!

Simply scroll down under the Received Recommendations tab.

Under Make a Recommendation


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Enter the persons First Name, Last Name and e-mail address, or even easier, click the select fromyour connections list link.

From the resulting pop-up window, click on the name of the connection.


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The name and e-mail address will then populate the fields on the screen.


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Next, click the button to indicate that this person is either a: Colleague someone you worked with at the

same company Service Provider someone from another

company that you or someone else at your company hired

Business Partner someone you worked withmore closely than as a colleague or client

Student you went to school with them. Theywere either a fellow student or you were their teacher.

Click the blue Continue button.

On the next screen you will create the recommendation.


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Under Relationship

For Basis of recommendation , click the down arrow to the right to indicate either You managed this person directly You reported to this person You were senior to this person, but not their

manager The person was senior to you, but you did not

report to them The two of you worked in the same group at the

company The two of you worked in different groups at the

company

For Your title at the time , you will be presented with a drop-down menu with the Positions you hadentered earlier into LinkedIn.


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For the persons title at the time , you will be presented with a drop-down menu with the Positions

the person had entered into LinkedIn listed as the choices.

Under Written Recommendations , you may ask yourself, What should I write?

Enter your professional accolades for this person.Keep in mind that someone reading thisrecommendation is likely to be thinking, What canthis person do for me ? The reader will be viewingyour connection through your eyes, but with their own needs in mind. Given this realization, anyquantitative, results-oriented information (such as

When we implemented the ideas Mary hadsuggested, our department realized over $1 millionin savings.) will be most valuable to theconnection for whom you are writing therecommendation.

When you are satisfied with what you have written, click the blue Send button.

The connection for whom you have written the recommendation will be notified through LinkedIn.You can use the standard notification message or create one of your own prior to the

recommendation being sent. You can edit or remove your recommendation at any time.

Additional Information


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By clicking the Edit link to the right of Additional Information , you can allow your connections andother LinkedIn visitors to get to know you even better!

Enter your Associations in this area. In the next section we will discuss how joining LinkedInGroups can help you gain additional exposure for your career.

Some final information you can add to your profile (by clicking the Add link to the right of eachdescriptor) includes:


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Honors and Awards Personal Information should you desire to

share it Contact Settings indicate to LinkedIn users

what types of contact youre interested in Applications tools provided by LinkedIns

featured partners

. . . and you have successfully completed your LinkedIn profile!

LinkedIn Groups

Why join a group?


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A LinkedIn group gives you a special association to fellow group members. As a result, you can see

their full Profiles and they can appear in your search results, if even they arent within the threedegrees of separation of everyone in the group.

What are the different types of LinkedIn groups?By joining several groups, especially large ones, you can increase your visibility within the LinkedIn

network without having to add thousands of contacts.

One of the key groups you should consider joining is PIA-National Association of ProfessionalInsurance Agents.

This group describes itself as PIA is a national trade association that strives to create unlimited

opportunities for professional, independent insurance agents. Our mission is To promote, protect anddefend the integrity of our members, the value of their profession and the success of their businesses.

Alexi Papandon, AVP, Communications at National Association of Professional Insurance Agents(PIA,) is the owner of the group, which currently has nearly 800 members.

To join the PIA-National Association of Professional Insurance Agents LinkedIn Group

From the top line of the LinkedIn home page, click onGroups

From the resulting drop-down menu, click GroupsDirectory In the box under Search Groups , type the keyword

PIA (as shown below)


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To the right of the PIA-National Association of Professional Insurance Agents listing, click the Join Group button

On the next screen (shown below), you can specify options on how you would like to be affiliated withthe group:


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After you have completed making your choices, click the blue Join Group button.

On the next screen, you will get notified that your request to join the group is being sent to the group

owner for manual approval:


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Searching a Group

After you have joined a group, you may be interested in finding out who else is in the group. The ideaof joining groups is to be able to connect with like-minded individuals.

From the top line of the LinkedIn home page, clickon Groups

From the resulting drop-down menu, click MyGroups

Under the name of the group, such as PIA-National Association of Professional InsuranceAgents , click Go to

From the resulting drop-down menu, click

Members LinkedIn will display a screen similar to thefollowing:


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On the left side of the screen, search among the members of the group by entering their names or keywords to find specific members of this group.

For instance, I could look for all members of the group who have CEO in their titles by typing CEOabove the blue Search button, as I have on the following screen.


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As you can see, that search returned 40 members from this group.

One of the biggest benefits of LinkedIn groups is that I can now send a message through LinkedIn

directly to anyone who is a member of the group.They may be a first-, second- or third-degree connection, but they do not need to be . I am associated

to them simply by being a member of this group.

We Are the World

Through groups, you have the ability to network with members who not only reside in your state or country, but also with those who live in other parts of the world!

For instance, a fellow group member of mine resides in the Czech Republic, as seen by his profile

below:


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He is not currently a connection of mine. But since we are connected though this group, I am able tosend him a direct message . (I can also request that he become a connection of mine.)

Isnt it amazing all of the things you can do within your LinkedIn account?

Discussions

Heres another . . .

You can start a discussion with other members of your group. Why not tap into the minds of theprofessionals who know your industry the best?

To start a discussion

From the top line of the LinkedIn home page, clickGroups

From the resulting drop-down menu, click My Groups Under the name of the group, such as PIA-National

Association of Professional Insurance Agents ,click Actions


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From the resulting drop-down menu, click Start a

Discussion , as shown below

LinkedIn Answers

With LinkedIn Answers, you can post a question about a certain business-related topic. Other LinkedIn members can browse the questions and write their responses.

Asking people you know for business advice is the most common use of your professional network,said Keith Rabois, vice president of business and corporate development at LinkedIn. LinkedIn

Answers allows users to gain insight and knowledge from people you trust and tap into a powerfulnetwork of thousands of experts in almost every field.

The service is free and currently allows users to ask ten questions a month.

LinkedIn states: Experts receive expertise credentials for every best answer they provide thisbecomes part of their LinkedIn profile, informing other users that they are a proven expert on that

topic. . . LinkedIn will promote their expertise to other users, providing an opportunity for consultants,


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contractors and other service provider to build social capital and market their services to

professionals whose questions they answer.

If you are the one to respond using LinkedIn Answers, members can see examples of your knowledge and experience by reading the answers. They will also get an idea of how helpful or

enthusiastic you are in a professional environment.

Heres how to get started with LinkedIn Answers:

From the top line of the LinkedIn home page, clickMore

From the resulting drop-down menu, click

Answers

From the next screen you will be able to Ask a Question or Answer Questions .

To ask a question of your network, type your question in the box below Ask a Question , then clickthe blue Send button.

If you are willing to help establish yourself as a LinkedIn-designated Expert , click the Answer Questions link to get started. You will find the link just below and to the right of the More link.


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Once you click the link, you will be able to browse the Open Questions, as shown below:

If you are able and would like to answer a question, hover your cursor over the question as it appears just to the right of Q: . The question will turn into a hyperlink. Click on the link and you will get ascreen like this:


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You can then click on the yellow Answer button.

Or, if you would like to honor a colleague, a client or potential client, click the Suggest Expert button,

as shown below.


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Clicking the Select Expert button a second time will allow you to choose a connection from your network to answer the question.

In the entry box below the button, you can optionally type a message to the person who has asked

the question to indicate why the person you are recommending is an Expert in this area.LinkedIn Experts

If you would like to see who have already established themselves as Experts on LinkedIn, click on theExperts link, which is below and to the right of Browse Open Questions .

When you do so, you will see something like this:


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Six Quick Ways to Maximize Your Participation on LinkedIn

A question I often get asked in my conference presentations is, Ive signed up on LinkedIn. Whats next?

Though LinkedIn does not come with a users manual, you dont need to be a computer whiz to derivemmediate benefits from the site.

Here are six quick ways to maximize your participation on LinkedIn:

n the screen shot below of the LinkedIn application, on the left of the screen you will see the Groups linkAcross the top of the screen, you will find the People , Jobs , Answers and Companies links.

) Groups To network with as many people as you can, join as many relevant groups as you can.

For instance, I have joined alumni groups for the three colleges I attended, for the current and former ompanies for which I have worked, and for my business interests (such as keynote speakers).

have also created groups and have asked others to join.

Groups you may be interested in joining include the PIA-National Association of Professional InsuranceAgents (1,423 current members), Finance Club (253,554 members), Global Insurance Professionals 39,038 members), and Global Insurance Network (29,309 members).

You may never know when these people could help you, or more importantly, when you may be able to helphem.

To get started, simply click the Groups link on the left of the screen.


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) People By clicking on the People link at the top of the screen, you can search for LinkedIn membersby criteria such as:

o Nameo Companyo Locationo School attendedo Title

At one point in my career, I was interested in becoming a brand manager. Had LinkedIn been in existencehen, I could have done a keyword search on the title of brand manager.

could then look to see who was a direct or even a 2 nd degree contact. (A 2 nd degree contact is a directontact of one of my connections on LinkedIn.)

On a 2 nd degree contacts profile, I could click the Get introduced through a connection link. This will sendn e-mail both to my connection and the 2 nd degree contact.


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On average, you will get a positive response from one or both of the contacts about 70% of the time. That

percentage is a lot higher than if you tried to reach the 2nd

degree contact on your own.

Lets say you have 141 connections. LinkedIn tells you then that you have more than 20,400 contacts thatre just two degrees away. In addition, you would have over 1,802,400 3 rd degree contacts. (A 3 rd degreeontact is a connection of one of my 2 nd degree contacts.)

n other words, the total number of LinkedIn users you could contact through an introduction is over ,823,000 .

Thats the power of LinkedIn!

To begin to build your connections, simply click the green Add Connections button on the left of your creen.

) Jobs Once I received some insights about being a brand manager and decided that it was a positionworth pursuing, I could then click on the Jobs link at the top of the screen and, using the keywords brandmanager, search for jobs in that field among the 5 million jobs currently posted on LinkedIn without going to

different Web site.

f you are an employer, you can also post a job. LinkedIn claims, LinkedIn Jobs receive on average 35+pplicants.

4) Questions In the Questions section, after Browsing under your area of expertise, you might be ableo help a fellow member.

For example, a current entry in the Questions section states: Anyone know of any good markets for minimum premium work comp for IL condo associations vs. going through the pool?


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Perhaps you are the one who could assist this LinkedIn member by clicking the Answer button. Even

better, you might be able to click the Suggest an Expert button and recommend someone who you arectually seeking as a client.

f you are stuck, you can ask your own Question on LinkedIn. Many professionals find that spending time onLinkedIn answering such Questions for those who actually have a need can be a more efficient way to lookor new business than to spend money advertising or time cold-calling others who may have no interest.

) Companies Lets say you have been trying to get into Procter & Gamble. With a multinationalorporation like that where do you even start? Click on the Companies link at the top of the screen.

When I did that, under the company profile, I noticed that a 2 nd degree contact was listed, along with thename of my direct contact who knows her. Using the method described above, I could then request anntroduction through my direct contact.

Also are listed 22,100 current P&G employees who I am related to through one or more of my Groups.Now you see the benefit of taking action under Step 1, Groups , above.)

Below them are my connections and 2 nd degree contacts who once worked at P&G. Should I get a job offer here as a brand manager, before I accepted the position, I could ask former employees for a truthful insidecoop, What was it like to work there? Why did you leave?

) Service Providers (in the drop-down menu under Companies ) In this case, lets say you are annsurance Agent and you would like the 53 million members of LinkedIn to know about you and also how

great you are. Its easy.

Simply click the Request a Recommendation link and, using the pre-filled form, ask one of your contacts towrite a testimonial for you. This again is easy, because your contact simply needs to respond to the e-mail,no fancy stationery is necessary. Have him or her write the testimonial so that potential clients can easilyee what could be in it for them to request your services.

f you are not an Insurance Agent choose your particular specialty from the Categories list on the right sideof the screen.

9% Information and 1% Promotion

The key to social networking tools is to have lots of connections, says Guy Kawasaki, the originalMacintosh evangelist. Its a numbers game. The more people who are connected to you, the moreopportunities you have.

But people dont connect with you because you are promoting yourself to them. People connect with youbecause you are informing them.


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Kawasaki concludes by saying, You need to be informing people 99% of the time and then 1% of the time

you can promote your company.


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Getting Started on Twitter Marketing yourself in 140 characters

What is it?

According to the Los Angeles Times , a recent LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll found that themajority of common folk surveyed still have little idea what Twitter is.

Of the 2,025 U.S. adults surveyed, 69% said they didnt know enough about Twitter to comment onthe service.

Lets begin to change that . . .

Twitter is a Website that allows its users to send and read messages called tweets . Tweets aremessages of up to 140 characters each. So Twitter is known as a microblogging site.

But Why Not Just Send a Text Message?

A typical text message is usually only sent to one or several people at a time. A tweet may be sent toor viewed by hundreds or even thousands of people at once.

The Language of Twitter

Like much of social media, Twitter has a language all of its own. Lets start to define some of theseterms.

Tweets

Users may subscribe to other users messages or tweetsthis is known as following and subscribersare known as followers .

When you choose to follow another Twitter user, that user's tweets appear in reverse chronologicalorder on your main Twitter page. Unlike with Facebook or LinkedIn, you do not need to first get

permission to follow another person on Twitter.

How to Send a Message to Other Twitter Users


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Start your tweet from your Twitter home page by typing the @ sign followed by the intended

recipients Twitter username (which is like typing a recipients e-mail address).

If you do not type the letter d before the @ sign (as explained below), this message will be able to beviewed by other Twitter users.

Direct Messages

All tweets are public, unless they are sent as direct messages . To send a private notification to thatindividual person, type the letter d followed by a Twitter username. A direct message is similar to the

e-mail or text message you send now to just one person.

Hashtags

A hashtag consists of words or phrases in a tweet prefixed by a # .

Why should you use a hashtag in your message?

Other Twitter users search for tweets on a particular topic by typing, for example #SuperBowl . If youincluded that particular hashtag in your tweet, they will be able see your tweet when they do a search

using that hashtag. As we mentioned earlier, 1.6 billion searches are done on Twitter each day.

How Much Does Twitter Cost?

All users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter Website or their smartphones. The service isfree, except for any phone service provider fees.

How Popular is Twitter?

Since its creation in March 2006 and its launch in July 2006, Twitter has gained popularity worldwide.It is estimated that Twitter now has 300 million users, generating 300 million tweets a day and

handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day.

Why the Word Twitter?

[W]e came across the word " twitter ," and it was just perfect. The definition was "a short burst of inconsequential information," and "chirps from birds." And thats exactly what the product was.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey


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So what? Why should I care?

Tony Hsieh has used Twitter to help build Zappos into the worlds largest online shoe store. Your agency can benefit from his free insights! Get a quick introduction to Twitter from Twitter evangelist

Tony Hsieh at: http://twitter.zappos.com/start .

To see how you can use Twitter to promote your agency, please visit http://business.twitter.com

To follow in real time what people are saying about you and your business on Twitter, type in whatyour search words at: http://search.twitter.com , then press the Search button.


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Go to www.twitter.com


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Click the yellow Sign Up Now button

Type your desired username, perhaps incorporatingthe name of your agency (up to 15 characters),password and a unique e-mail address.


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By clicking the Create My Account button, you areagreeing to Twitters Terms of Service. (You can readthe Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy byclicking on those two particular links.)


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Type the CAPTCHA code in the Type the WordsAbove text box, so that Twitter knows that a realhuman is attempting to set up a Twitter account.

Click the Finish button.


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Let Twitter Know What Your Interests Are

Choose some topics that you are interested infollowing by clicking the appropriate link, such asBusiness


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Then, for the individual Twitter accounts you may beinterested in following under that topic (such asconsumerreports ), click the Follow button.

Slide the scroll bar at the right side of your screen tosee more options.

When finished, click the blue Next Step: Friends button at the bottom of the screen.


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Who Would You Like to Follow on Twitter?

The fun of social media, and Twitter specifically, isinteracting with other people in 140 character bursts!

Which e-mail service do you use? If it is shown asan option, click one of the e-mail buttons, or theLinkedIn button, to discover which of your friendsor connections are already using Twitter. For instance, I clicked the LinkedIn button, andreceived the following results:


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Choosing to Follow Your Friends or Connections

62 of my LinkedIn connections are currently onTwitter. I can select to follow one or more of themon Twitter by clicking the light blue Follow buttonacross from their name.

I can view more of my LinkedIn connections bysliding the scroll bar at the right side of the screen.

After you have finished determining which of your friends to follow, go to the e-mail account that youentered in the first Twitter screen.

In your e-mail account, you should find aconfirmation e-mail there from Twitter.

Open the e-mail, click on the link, and you will seea screen similar to the following:


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Step 2 Get Twitter on your phone

If you would like to receive tweets on your mobilephone, go to Step 2 on the right side of thescreen, click the Set up mobile notifications link

You will get a screen that looks like this:


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Choose your country or region, enter your mobilephone number, and then verify your phone by clickingthe Start button

This service is free from Twitter, but standardmessage and data rates from your phone companymay apply

You will be able to send tweets by using the textmessaging feature on your phone

Let Your Followers Know Who You Are Create aTwitter Profile

At the very top of the screen, click the Profile link,and you will be taken to a screen that looks like this:


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Create Your Profile

You may be a good egg, but lets start by replacing that Picture in your Profile!

To Upload Your Picture (so that your followers know that it is really you that they are following):

Click the Browse button From the pop-up window, choose the folder and

the file in which that fantastic digital photograph of you is stored

Click the Open button Click the Save button, and your picture will be

uploaded to Twitter.

Finish your profile by adding your Location , a URL for your Web site and a Bio (maximum of 160characters this is Twitter, after all!) Click the Save button when you are done.


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You are Now Ready to Write Your First Tweet! Click the Home link at the very top of your screen

Under 4. Write your first Tweet! click the Tell theworld whats happening in 140 characters or lesslink


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In the pop up box, type your first tweet of 140characters or less.

As you type, the number of characters you haveremaining will count down and be displayed next tothe Tweet button.

When you are satisfied with your message, cl

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