I have examined 4 ways how social networks can increase user revenue & engagement. The last is how a brand partnered with a Social Network to drive product sales.
Publishing/Marketing/Branding
1.Why all Social Networks should build a Publishing Platform
Social Networks are great places to discuss and share ideas. While many networks have developed various proprietary video apps, they do not have a place to write and publish original content.
2.How LinkedIn can increase its user Revenue from Pulse
LinkedIn’s long form publishing is a great resource for users of the platform. Users can upload, pictures, videos and share links in their posts. Members can also add up to three tags for SEO purposes. The long form offers the blogging functionality of other platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, tumblr & Medium.
3.How YouTube can increase User Engagement & AD Revenue
YouTube is a great platform. It has been very beneficial to me. I enjoy using the app on my mobile device as well. However, the app on mobile devices can be improved.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include a Start Up, Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Below is the second installment of my marketing insights by topic.
Brand Marketing/Marketing Strategy
7 Steps to Building the Brands of the Future
Previously, I discussed about how to develop and market a product. In this post, I am going to discuss how you can build a brand for tomorrow. While attending the Pivot Conference in New York City, I learned that whether you are a start-up company or a large fortune 500, it imperative that you react and anticipate changes in your customers’ needs. For a brand to be successful today and in the future it has to be customer focused.
In the past, brands would create content that consumers had to like.
How Marketing is being Disrupted by Tech
The goal of marketing is to help drive products sales. However, we can not blindly follow the model of marketing & advertising of the 1960’s. Today, consumers have more access to more information than ever before. As a result, Marketers and brands
Has Marketing Strategy Changed?
Marketing in the digital age has shifted from content to context. Up until recently, many brands created the content that was used to market their products. Consumers were expected to like their products just because they looked cool or were hip. With the rise of social networking with sites such as
Did Mobile Kill the TV Star?
Everyone remembers the popular song Video Killed the Radio star, which was a song about how the technology of television made radio and the radio star obsolete. As mobile devices and social media have become more prevalent worldwide; access to video content via video search engines/sharing services such as YouTube, Hulu and Netflix have disrupted how content is accessed. Prior to this shift, television/cable networks have controlled how video content was shared and distributed. Today the
Why Brands Should Use Visual Storytelling
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth 10,000 words. Telling a story with words alone puts the burden of visualization on the prospect. As words mean different things to different people based on life experience and culture, it is possible for your message to be misinterpreted. For brands to truly engage potential buyers
7 Things Brands Should know before Launching a Product
Developing and marketing a product, requires a lot of planning. You need a vision for your product. Whether you are a start-up company or a product manager launching a new product, there is a lot of research that has to take place. Your budget will dictate the size of your marketing campaign. However, you are in control on how to allocate that budget. I touched on some of the questions that should be asked in a previous post. I will focus on them in more detail. The research should focus on the following:
How to Apply Marketing Research to Product Sales
Before businesses can sell anything, they need to determine if there is a market for their products and services.
Most businesses will not necessarily be creating new product categories. As a result, they will be entering into a market place that already exists.
Selling & Marketing Brand X in a Name Brand World
When you are selling and marketing a brand X product, there are many challenges that you face. These challenges range from questions on product reliability to a lack of brand recognition.
Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world. Facebook has over a billion users worldwide. Almost everyone is on Facebook. From teenagers to baby boomers, people from all walks of life are using Facebook. In this post, I am going to discuss the basics of personal branding on Facebook.
To sign up for an individual account you need to do the following:
How Brands can use Facebook Pages to Connect with Customers
In my last post, I discussed about how to build your personal brand on Facebook. Today I am going to discuss how to brand your business using Facebook pages. Remember Facebook is the largest Social networking site which means that your customers and prospects are on the site. Your job as a business and a brand is to engage with fans, prospects and customers. The goal is to convert this engagement (marketing) to product sales. Facebook pages are a great way to do this.
10 Ways People & Brands can Market themselves using LinkedIn
Use of social media is essential in personal and corporate branding. The networks that brands should be on are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google+. Writing blogs and having websites are also essential for building a brand. Today I am going to discuss how to build your brand using LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows people to search for jobs and connect with people they know. You can also make new connections on the site. Right now, 400 million people around the world are using LinkedIn. The Basics
Trade show Marketing
Direct, Digital & Trade Show Marketing Meet at 2015 NY Auto Show
Trade shows are a great opportunity for brands and whole industries to sell and market their products. I have experienced this first hand during my time in Outside Sales and Marketing. Since then, Social Media has exploded. Last week, I had the privilege of covering the New York Auto show as I do each year. This trade show is an example how the Auto industry interconnects digital, direct and Trade show marketing in one synergy. The New York International show is promoted through various social networks, advertising and direct marketing i.e promotions and discounts.
What the New York Auto Show Can Teach Us About Trade Show Marketing
Trade show marketing is important for companies to build brand awareness. The purpose for trade shows is to drive sales. As a Dental Sales Rep, I worked the Greater New York Dental meeting. This is a show where Dental Manufacturers and distributors show off current and new products they have to offer. Today, I am going to discuss how companies can drive sales at trade shows. I am also going to use the New York Auto show to offer examples of best practices for trade show marketing.
How Live Customer Testimonials help to Sell & Market Products at Trade Shows
Below is an example of the Power of in person testimonials from the 2013 NY Auto Show.
Last year, I wrote an article about what the auto show could teach us about trade show marketing. This year I had the honor of covering the show as a member of the press once again. I really enjoyed attending the show. All of the manufacturers had great presentations and unveils of their cars. Each company presented their vehicles with a great presentation.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include a Start Up,Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Today, many people and organizations are using Social Media to get their message out. If you are not using Social Media you are missing an opportunity. The major Social networks are LinkedIn, Twitter ,Facebook tumblr, & WordPress. These networks have similarities in the sense they are designed for people to communicate. Below is how to get started on these platforms.
2 Tools Brands can use to increase Customer Engagement & Reach
Screen-shots and hash-tags are an invaluable tool for marketers to reach and sell products to their audience. The old adage is that a picture is worth a 1000 words. As the fields of Marketing and Advertising shift to digital and mobile formats, the power of the image to tell stories and get your message across are the new tools of the 21st Century.
How to use Google Analytics on your Website & Blog
Google Analytics is a great way to monitor your efforts online. It allows you to see how many people are visiting your site, the duration of their visit, what content they are looking at and from what network. You can also see what country they are from. Another thing you could do is to set custom goals to check for certain things. The site allows you to measure the amount of traffic that comes from social networks. To access this, just click under the social tab under traffic sources. Google Analytics also lets you track your Adwords campaigns. I use Google Analytics for my website and tumblr blog.Today I am going to discuss how to setup Google Analytics for your website and blog.
How to Optimize your LinkedIn Profile for Storytelling
A LinkedIn profile is a great opportunity to show case who you are and what you can do for others. To effectively show case yourself with your LinkedIn profile, you need to be able to tell a story that is credible and engaging. How do you tell a story on LinkedIn with your profile? There are 5 Steps you need to take in order to optimize your profile for storytelling.
How to use @Twitter to build an Audience & Engage Customers
Twitter is also a great marketing tool for brands to promote products and services. Twitter has a few hundred million users worldwide. Getting started with Twitter is quick and easy. To get started using Twitter you need to do thefollowing:
Pinned Tweets have now Gone Mobile: How to Pin Tweets from your iOS & Android Device
Twitter now let’s users Pin Tweets from iOS & Android Devices. Here is how to pin your Tweets.
Content Marketing-Blogging & Content Curation
How to Start Blogging on WordPress & tumblr
Writing a blog is great way to share your ideas and market your expertise in an area. I began blogging back in November 2011. Blogging had connected me with so many great people around the globe. I began publishing on the WordPress platform. Recently, I began cross publishing my blog on Tumblr. In this post, I am going to discuss how to set up your blog on WordPress and tumblr.
How to Create & Curate Content through Blogging
Blogging is a great way to build your brand and market your products to the masses. Writing a blog allows you to demonstrate your expertise through writing. Blogging helps to provide prospects and customers with valuable information. Providing valuable information helps to position you as an expert and a resource. (Content Creation)
How to use Content Marketing for Lead & Demand Generation
Content Marketing is a great way to connect and engage with potential customers. Only through thoughtful connecting and engagement with others will you be able to obtain quality leads and create demand for your products.
How to Curate Content using Paper.li
Blogging is a great way to establish and market yourself as an expert. However, there is only so much you can write on a topic in a time period. This is where content curation comes into play. Besides writing, experts share articles and opinion of others in their field. This can come in the form of a retweet on Twitter, like on Facebook, +1 on Google plus and various other forms of re-sharing. However, if you want to curate content from multiple sources, an online newspaper comes in handy. This is where Paper.li comes in.
Small Business Marketing
How to Market your Small Business to Potential Customers
For your small business to have any success in generating sales, you have to know four things:
9 Ways to Generate Leads for your Business
Lead Generation is an essential building block for businesses to find potential buyers who are interested in their products and services. In previous posts, I discussed how to prospect and identify your target market. In this post, I will discuss how businesses can find leads and what mediums can be used to obtain leads.
How to Qualify and Convert Leads into Sales
In my last post, I wrote about the various ways businesses can get leads. Now that you have collected all these leads, what do you do with them? In this post, I will discuss how to qualify and close the leads you get.
Prior to calling on the leads you need to do the following:
How Businesses can use the Power of Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of Mouth Marketing is one of the most powerful tools that you can use to build your business. Whether you are a Sales Rep or run a small business, what customers and prospects say about you determines the kind of success you have.
Word of Mouth Marketing or WOMM is what your customers and prospects say about you when you are not around.
About the Author
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include a Start Up,Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Content Marketing is a great way to connect and engage with potential customers. Only through thoughtful connecting and engagement with others will you be able to obtain quality leads and create demand for your products.
Making people want to connect with you on Social Networks is the key to uncovering any needs they may have. A great place to start is to write and create content that informs people on how they can use something or how they can fix an issue that they are having. This has the effect of offering a value message to potential customers because you are showing them what you can do to help. In essence this is your digital portfolio. Just as in the offline world, when you are trying to acquire new customers part of your strategy is to show samples of your work and what you have to offer.
Now this might sound like a lot. To start, try writing comments on blogs that you think are interesting. This is a great place to get comfortable sharing your insights in the digital world. Once you write a comment, make sure to follow up and respond to any replies as this will help get a conversation going. Make sure that you share the blog that you commented on so your insights can reach others. You can do this with articles on LinkedIn as well.
LinkedIn
As you start to build up your confidence to write, you will start to realize that you possess a lot of knowledge about your industry and business that you can share with others. However, if you are not ready to start writing blogs on a regular basis you can start by sharing thoughts on LinkedIn by using the LinkedIn long form.
The LinkedIn long form is a publishing platform that allows users to publish blog articles and share them with LinkedIn users. The long form can also be shared on other networks like Twitter & Facebook through the Social Sharing buttons. You can also share the URL on sites like Google+.
Using the LinkedIn publishing platform is a great way to generate leads because you can quickly share your thoughts and insights that demonstrate the value to connections. Your articles will also make people want to connect. People will start to send you invitations to join their network and send you messages asking to learn more about you. Once you have the interest of the people, you can tell them about what you have to offer.
The LinkedIn publishing platform is a great first step to creating your own blog. However, if you want to build up a following on other networks, you will need to build a website, and create blogs on sites like WordPress , tumblr & blogger. I use WordPress, tumblr, and the LinkedIn publishing platform.
WordPress & tumblr
Writing a blog is great way to share your ideas and market your expertise in an area. I began blogging back in November 2011. Blogging had connected me with so many great people around the globe. I began publishing on the WordPress platform. Recently, I began cross publishing my blog on tumblr.
WordPress
The first thing that you need to do is to register on the site. You will have the option to create either a wordpress.com address or a custom domain name. I suggest that you pick a custom domain name because your blog will come up better in search results. WordPress gives you a choice of web suffixes to choose from, for example .com, .me etc. I chose the address http://dangalante.me. If you decide to change the address after you set up the blog that is ok. The wordpress.com address will automatically be directed to your new address.
It is important to note that you will have to buy the domain name if you want your own. Hosting is inexpensive and should cost about $25 per year at most depending on the name you choose. The investment is well worth it because this will give your blog its own brand identity.
Once you register, you will see WordPress’s default theme. Click on the appearance tab and browse the free and premium themes that are available. You can then choose the one that you would like to install.
Now you are ready to write a post.
To do this click, on the new post tab. A window will pop up. Here you will find tools to write and edit your post. When you are ready to post, just click publish and you are ready to go.
tumblr
Like WordPress, you will have to register on tumblr to set up your blog. I have provided the link to the registration page. If you land on the home page, just click on the sign up button.
Once you have signed up, you will be prompted to create a web address. You will notice that the only address you could create is a tumblr.com address. Tumblr does not support or partner with site hosting companies. In other words, you will need to find a third party host on your own. I purchased a domain name from Yola.com . The name I purchased is http://askdangalante.com .
Once I secured the name, I had to point the address to the Tumblr servers. (Tumblr provides the specific address and exactly what CNAME or A-Records need to be changed. Here is the link. You will know if this is correct if your address redirects to Tumblr and it say page not found.
You can test your domain address in the box under your tumblr address in the blog settings. Your address will not link to the site right away. It took 24 hours; although it can take up to 72.
Now you can click on the customized theme and browse through the free and premium themes. Pick a theme and now you are ready to post. To post, click on the text tab which is located underneath the Dashboard tab. You will see a window where you can copy, paste, write and edit your posts. When you are done, just click the publish button.
Now you have your all of this content. How do you track your progress? To do this you will need to set up analytics. LinkedIn provides this for the long form and WordPress does this. However for your own blog on tumblr and a custom website you will need to use a site like Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is a great way to monitor your efforts online. It allows you to see how many people are visiting your site, the duration of their visit, what content they are looking at and from what network. You can also see what country they are from. Another thing you could do is to set custom goals to check for certain things. The site allows you to measure the amount of traffic that comes from social networks. To access this, just click under the social tab under traffic sources. Google Analytics also lets you track your Adwords campaigns. I use Google Analytics for my website and tumblr blog.
How to setup Google analytics for your website and blog. The first thing that you will need to get started is a Gmail account. Now with your Gmail account, go to the Google Analytics website. You will need to click the create an account button. Next you will be asked to login to you Gmail account. You will then be asked to create a profile and add the website URL that you want to track. You can also provide your time zone. Once you provide this, the site will provide you with a tracking code. Next, you will need to copy and paste this into the html section of each page of your website or blog. If you have done this correctly, you will see that the tracking code is installed.
You will start to see statistics about your visitors within a few hours. It is important to note that you cannot use Google Analytics with WordPress.com. WordPress provides users with a set of analytics.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include a Start Up,Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
The goal of marketing is to help drive products sales. However, we cannot blindly follow the model of marketing & advertising of the 1960’s. Today, consumers have more access to more information than ever before. As a result, Marketers and brands do not control the conversation like they once did. Hitting consumers with ads through television and print and even online does not have the power that they once did. Consumers are being bombarded with messages like never before. As a result, their attention span is being diminished; meaning that unless your message is highly engaging and valuable to the needs of the consumer; it is likely to be ignored.
Traditional marketing is being disrupted by technology. The technology comes in the form of the internet, mobile, social media channels, publishing platforms, audio books and video on demand. All of these channels have the effect of giving consumers instant access to information. As a result, consumers are looking to brands not to sell their products through traditional marketing and advertising but to provide answers to their questions. In other words, brands have to provide a value message and earn consumer trust to get them to buy.
This marketing disruption is known as information marketing through content or simply content marketing. As a result, Marketers and brands have to become the educators or teachers of consumers. To become the educators of consumers brands have to become the industry resource to consumers; showing how their products can solve problems and improve the lives of consumers.
Brands can do this by using an information marketing strategy. This can be done through creating custom digital and print properties that answer questions in that consumers have. Information marketing or content marketing has to provide answers to consumers and should not be a flat out sales pitch.
During my time in Outside Sales in the dental industry, I didn’t sell dental products, I educated and taught my customers about the products I sold along with those of my competitors. In other words, I served as an industry resource to my customers, helping them buy my products that would be a fit. If my products were not be a good fit, I would not force the sales; I would suggest other products. This is what helped me keep my credibility; allowing me to earn future business. As a classroom Teacher, I used the same strategy, when students had questions and when parents would ask me about what resources could help their children learn better.
As I make the transition, into digital and content marketing I provide consumers with information through content creation and advice.
Today, brands and marketers need to serve as industry resources for their consumers, educating them on what products would be best for them. This can be achieved through information marketing through content or content marketing. As you can see, marketing is being disrupted by technology into information marketing or content marketing. For brands to keep up their product sales, they will need to rise to the occasion and meet the needs of today’s consumer.
How has technology disrupted your Marketing strategy?
Want to learn more about the rise of Content Marketing? View this documentary from The Content Marketing Institute.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include a Start Up,Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
LinkedIn’s long form publishing is a great resource for users of the platform. Users can upload, pictures, videos and share links in their posts. Members can also add up to three tags for SEO purposes. The long form offers the blogging functionality of other platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, tumblr & Medium.
However, the link addresses assigned to the long posts are very long; each user profile is assigned a specific number. Here is the opportunity for LinkedIn to raise more revenue from users. LinkedIn should allow users to buy a custom url or domain. This way users can brand the content they publish on the platform.
Letting users have a custom domain name based on LinkedIn will allow the platforms to compete with other blogging platforms. This will come in handy when sharing the content on other social networks because the content branding will be improved.
Custom domains on LinkedIn is the next step for the platform to become a full blogging site.
Would you purchase a custom domain or url for your content from LinkedIn?
YouTube is a great platform. It has been very beneficial to me. I enjoy using the app on my mobile device as well. However, the app on mobile devices can be improved.
YouTube is a great video app, but remember, that video contains audio as well. I mention this because when using YouTube on my mobile device, it is the only thing that I can use when the app is open. Although it is okay when watching a video, listening to music or an audio track; you cannot listen to an audio track in the background. Apps such as Audible and other MP3 players on mobile devices offer this functionality.
If YouTube would allow its app to be used in conjunction with other apps on mobile devices, it would be used more
image via lh4.googleusercontent.com
often. If the app is used more often, the app could generate more advertising revenue because more eyeballs and ears would be focused on content for a longer time. In other words, YouTube’s users would be more engaged with content on the app.
Before businesses can sell anything, they need to determine if there is a market for their products and services.
Most businesses will not necessarily be creating new product categories. As a result, they will be entering into a market place that already exists. This is true if you are a re-seller or distributor of products and services. Once you decide that there is a market for your products and services; you need to study your competitors.
You can see who your competitors are by doing internet research, reading trade publications and attending industry trade shows. On the internet, you can view your competitors websites. Once you have all of this information you need to determine the sales, and marketing channels that you will use to sell your product. Are you going to sell products via a website, direct mail, social media marketing, retail space, trade shows or a direct sales force. There are many options available to you.
Knowing who could use your product is also something important to consider. If you do not have any existing customers you will need to be the Sales rep for your business to get yourself set up in the marketplace.
To be able to make an effectiveness Sales Presentation to a customer, you will need to compile your Marketing research in a competitive analysis chart as seen below.
image via smartdraw.com
You will need to perform a SWOT analysis by assessing your strengths and weaknesses compared to your competitors on the products you offer, the price, quality, the service, reliability, stability, expertise, company reputation, location and appearance of your business along with how important it is to the customer.
This is a must do even if you do not hire sales reps. But if you do, it should be part of their training. This competitive analysis should be done on a regular basis.
This is how you can use Market research to drive product sales.
A LinkedIn profile is a great opportunity to show case who you are and what you can do for others. To effectively show case yourself with your LinkedIn profile, you need to be able to tell a story that is credible and engaging. How do you tell a story on LinkedIn with your profile? There are 5 Steps you need to take in order to optimize your profile for storytelling.
1. Creating a Great Headline
A headline is equivalent to the title of a book, essay or story. The headline should be engaging. Like a story, the reader decides if they want to read more or move on. This is the Attention Economy. Using the automatic headline that lists your job title is a mistake. It is boring and makes you just like everyone else. It demonstrates that you lack creativity.
Your headline should be a short introduction of how you help others in your current role; if you are happily employed or if you are looking to advance in your current field. People who work at LinkedIn do this effectively. If you are looking to change careers, the title should demonstrate how you can take skills and insights that you have developed and apply them to the career that you aspire to obtain. In other words, the headline should be able to answer the question “What are you looking to do or what do you want in your next role?” Next, every great book title needs a visual to impact readers.
2 Uploading a Photo
LinkedIn profiles includes large amounts of text. Similar to a story, text alone is not visually appealing. This is where a photo can help. When you upload a photo to your LinkedIn profile, your profile comes to life; similar to cover art on the front cover of an autobiography. Remember your profile is your story & brief career autobiography.
When you chose a picture, make sure that it is clear and makes you look professional. Get a professional head-shot if need be. LinkedIn is offering a Picture Opportunity across the United states where users can obtain a fresh professional head-shot along with profile optimization advice. I am using the picture that I received from the event in New York City.
3.Crafting and Creating a Summary/Presentation
Your summary should reflect and expand on the headline. This is the place where you provide a brief overview that supports your headline, thesis and title of your story. Your summary can be used to briefly introduce yourself to your audience. It is important to keep your audience in mind. Put yourself in the place of the reader. Would want to read your profile if the roles were reversed? If the answer is no then make it better! Ask for help if need be.
Once you introduce yourself, tell your story. Explain your background , where you are today and where you want to be in the future. Make sure to include how your current skill set and experience has helped others and how these skills can be applied to a new role. When you list your work experience, make sure to back up your headline and summary. Think of this as your body paragraphs.
4. Describing your work experience
As I mentioned above, the work experience section of your profile are the body paragraphs of your essay and story. It should be listed in chronological order. Each position that you describe should have specific examples of how you helped others in the role. LinkedIn also allows users to upload presentations and videos of their work. This can serve as a digital portfolio of your work that people can view. The next thing that I would do is to obtain recommendations. You can also share your presentations from Slideshare on LinkedIn as well.
5. Obtaining Recommendations and Endorsements
A LinkedIn recommendation serves as proof that you have done excellent work in your position. These recommendations should be from coworkers, supervisors and customers that you have served. They should serve as the conclusion to your story and essay where your claims are verified and validated. Recommendations should not be given away freely; doing that will undermine your credibility.
Endorsements are a quick way for someone to say that you are good at a particular skill with out needing to write a recommendation. LinkedIn allows users to list up to 50 skills that connections can endorse.
Putting it all Together
Using these 5 steps will allow you to create a LinkedIn profile that can help you tell a credible and engaging story to potential customers and employers.
How have you used your LinkedIn profile to tell your story?
Dominos uses Twitter and other technology platforms to help drive sales. I have provided a picture from anywhere.dominos.com to show how you can order a pizza from Twitter. They have launched an ad campaign to raise awareness. https://youtu.be/T7EIhrg1THI
As you start to build up your confidence to write, you will start to realize that you possess a lot of knowledge about your industry and business that you can share with others. However, if you are not ready to start writing blogs on a regular basis you can start by sharing thoughts on LinkedIn by using the LinkedIn long form.
Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today 