Social Media

Category: Social Media

Twitter: My Personal Approach

Near as I can tell I first signed up with Twitter in 2007, but I did not begin to actively and consistently use this service until January 2009. There must be something about the month of January that makes me want to begin using a particular social media/networking service, because in January 2007 I began to use StumbleUpon.

Perhaps some sort of secret new year’s resolution pushes me forward.

Anyway, Twitter is by far and away where I connect with people online followed by StumbleUpon a distant second. Much further back is Facebook which, although a very good tool, is a bit too chummy for my tastes. At the moment, I would probably move LinkedIn up to third place ahead of Facebook with Mixx, Digg, and a few other sites meriting the occasional visit.

But back to Twitter. I now maintain three accounts through Twitter, each one serving a different purpose. @mattkeegan is my oldest account, while @theautowriter is my most active. I also manage @wordjourney which is my most intimate. All three serve their own purposes, with some overlap—after all, it is me doing the tweeting, retweeting, and connecting.

I know some people think multiple Twitter accounts is a waste of time or simply not beneficial, but I am not here to argue that point. Everyone approaches social media/networking in their own way, sometimes reflecting the way that they interact with people face to face. I found an approach that works for me.

I am not advocating multiple accounts either. They are a lot of work, easy to neglect, and open to spamming. But, hey, we are talking about Twitter where people still tell you what they ate for lunch, how they survived life in a crowded airport terminal, and lots of other mundane details.

Here is how I approach Twitter:

@mattkeegan – If you are a writer, you probably found me here. After all, when you find my Twitter connection on the sidebar of this blog (which has mysteriously disappeared…I shall investigate) that link takes you to my oldest account. Lots of writers, bloggers, journalists, and other media folks connect with me here, but I am not all that restrictive when it comes to connections.

@theautowriter – My automotive presence online is huge, thanks to my The Auto Writer and Auto Trends news and information blogs. I have one account for these two sites (@autotrends is taken by someone else, but not used) where I tweet up tons of industry news. I am most active through this account when a major auto show is held, tweeting while press conferences are being held. Has this helped me? Oh, yeah! I am connected with all of the major media people working with the car manufacturers—something I need when writing a story for my magazine gigs.

@wordjourney – I express my faith through this site, though not exclusively. Word Journey is my Christian blog, a place of encouragement and a way for me to emphasize God’s love. Unlike my other two accounts, I am very choosy about my connections because I want my Twitter stream to contain relevant tweets. I use this account to pass along prayer requests, information about the persecuted church, and have been very active of late sharing news about Haiti.

I like to use several tools to enhance my Twitter experience including TweetDeck which crunches URLs via Bit.ly and allows users to connect to Facebook as well, FriendorFollow to purge inactive users, and I am experimenting with SU.PR and TR.IM, a pair of URL shorteners. I tried scheduling tweets, but that wasn’t for me. I am experimenting with paid tweets, but I have yet to make my first million. When that happens I will let you know!

How about you? Are you active with Twitter and, if so, how can you be found?

Tags: SEO, social networking, The Auto Writer, tweets, Twitter, Word Journey

SEO, Social Media | Matthew C. Keegan, 16 Jan 10 | Comments (10)

Getting LinkedIn For 2010

Do you use LinkedIn? I do, having been a member of this professional networking site for several years now. Admittedly, I wasn’t keeping my profile up to date or active on the site until recently. Just before Christmas I decided that a makeover of my profile was necessary and could go a long way in helping me update my image online.

And that is what sets LinkedIn apart from just about every other online networking site: instead of connecting with people socially with perhaps a business component included, LinkedIn reverses that by putting the emphasis on connecting with people professionally. There is a social component thanks to groups, questions and answers, and a Twitter connection, but LinkedIn is all about enhancing your professional position online, perhaps finding a job as you connect with influential people in your field.

No posting pictures of your cat nor should you tell everyone what you ate for breakfast.

LinkedIn Backgrounder

First, some background details about LinkedIn for the novice: Officially launched in May 2003, LinkedIn is based in Mountain View, California, home to Google and other internet start ups. Much like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn has been experiencing an explosive growth in the past year, topping 53 million members from 200 countries as of early December. Most people, myself included, use the free account to connect, but a paid business account gives you even deeper access to other members.

My reason for using LinkedIn parallels what the site is all about: connecting with people professionally. Your main connection with other members is your personal profile, a detailed page which can and should become your online resume (more about that later). Until recently, my profile had been wanting until I began to clean it up. There are some more changes that I will still make, but I’m satisfied that what appears there right now accurately reflects who I am and what I can do for my customers today.

Tips For Linking In

When you sign in to your LinkedIn account, you will be brought to a page crowded with information including your inbox, network updates (status, recommendations, profile changes, events, and more), group updates, and more. But the section you will want to work on can be found on the navigation bar (see below).

Click on Profile > View Profile and you will see the same page that everyone else finds when they look for you on LinkedIn. If you are not satisfied with your details > Edit Profile and make your changes. This is where you will be bringing your information up to date, adding details just as you would with your resume.

But it is better than an ordinary online resume. Your LinkedIn profile can be supercharged to include your personal photograph, links to your website or blogs, your career summary, specialties, and work history. I write my information in the third person, but I have noticed that others use their profiles differently, often as a way to market themselves directly to their customers.

Sample LinkedIn Profile Page

Maintaining Your Connections

Your connections are what puts you front and center with other people. Though some folks are happy with a small group of manageable connections, I have chosen a path favored by many others: connecting with the most people possible.

You can do this by joining groups that make it easy to connect. One of the first things you learn about LinkedIn, is that you really need the help of others to link to others still. Sure, go ahead and import your email contacts as LinkedIn will find out which of those are already LinkedIn, allowing them to connect to you.

Be careful though: you don’t want to include people who do not know you as they may reject your connection request, instructing LinkedIn that they do not know you. LinkedIn will then restrict your ability to connect with others until you agreed to abide by their terms (which you thought you were doing), a small nuisance but one to keep in mind.

I have also been able to connect with thousands of people by joining a the LION group – Linked In Open Network – which I have added to my name. LION identifies me as someone who accepts all invitations without restriction. That also means that I can add hundreds of new people when their weekly opt-in email list arrives with new members willing to connect to you. Simply follow the instructions given and your email inbox will soon be flooded with acceptances.

Yes, there is a drawback here as you will receive more messages in your inbox then you may get in a week, perhaps a month. Use it on occasion as you’ll be busy checking profiles, answering personal requests, and deleting messages.

Recommendations Are Critical

The most important feature of LinkedIn for me is the recommendations others give for your work. For each position you feature and school attended, you can ask other people to recommend your work. This is important as their recommendation is the equivalent of a reference. Ask your customers who are already LinkedIn to first connect with you and then once connected to recommend you.

You can seek recommendations for jobs held & schooling too.

I should have been more diligent about this feature as I only had one recommendation until recently. Now I have four and I am working on several more. Soon, I will be updating my contact information on this blog and on my main The Article Writer website to offer a link to my profile on LinkedIn.

This offers a huge advantage to me: instead of writing pages of “about me” stuff and posting on various sites I own, I can offer one link to my LinkedIn profile, with everything people need to know about me. This can be a real time saver as it ensures that I maintain a consistent public face across the internet. By the way, when you google your name, your LinkedIn profile should appear on the first page of the results, provided your name is unique.

Questions & Answers

My favorite way of connecting with people on LinkedIn is by participating in their question and answer feature. Go to More… > Answers and you will be able to ask people a question or answer questions already posted by other members. As long as the question remains open, you can add your answer which will be one of many answers received.

Ask a question or answer a question on LinkedIn.

Importantly, if your answer is spot on and you have written an article related to that answer, you can include that link in the web resources section following your reply. You can also notify other experts to forward the question to for them to answer and send an optional personal note to the person who asked the question in the first place.

Don’t be surprised if you hear back from the person who asked the question in the first place. Several times I’ve had people contact me directly to express their gratitude for my help.

Should You Upgrade?

While the basic package offers many features, LinkedIn also allows users to upgrade their accounts as a way to find and email influential people directly. I am not very familiar with what is offered and the price is not cheap, but there are some people who insist that the extra $25, $50, even $500 per month is worth it to them.

I suppose if you are looking for a new job, then the cost of an upgrade beats what you would pay a headhunter or recruiter for their services. I recommend starting out with a basic account first, upgrading once you understand what benefits are available to you.

Get Linked In

I have only touched on the benefits of LinkedIn from my own perspective, therefore I have also reviewed several additional resources which can help complete that picture for you.

2010 is here, so let us hope that it is a good year for one and all. If you are looking for work, then one of your resolutions should include starting or updating a LinkedIn account, perhaps the best way for professionals to connect online.