Our London half day workshops are going down a treat so we wondered if we combined a morning session on LinkedIn with an afternoon session on better business blogging, how that would work out in the popularity stakes in Windsor.

Do Berkshire’s business people want to get their heads around blogging? As luck would have it, Mark White, who runs our LinkedIn workshops to rave reviews, spent 2005-10 creating the betterbusinessblogging.com website which attracts thousands of visitors every month.

So as with the LinkedIn top tips, you can sign up to the blogging top tips for FREE or you can come along and spend a day learning how to make the most of the two most important social media tools in your virtual tool box.

Keeping the model simple, you can attend either session individually for £145 + VAT, which includes lunch or you can attend the full day for just £245 + VAT.

Please pay via PayPal below or we can invoice, simply email billing details to jon@socialmediadirectors.co.uk and we’ll forward an invoice, payable before the course date. Thank you.

LinkedIn training plus Blogging workshop

LinkedIn training plus Blogging workshop 29th February £245.00 GBP LinkedIn half day Windsor 29th February £145.00 GBP Blogging half day Windsor 29th February £145.00 GBP

Please review the LinkedIn workshop details below and to get an idea of Mark’s extensive knowledge on blogging, visit his betterbusinessblogging.com website.

There are now over 135m business people worldwide and over 8m in the UK (let alone 150,000 within a 10 mile radius of Windsor) who consider LinkedIn to be the pre-eminent business networking platform online. A key place online where professionals have the ability to connect, develop their sales and market themselves, their skills, services and products.

Using live demos, the LinkedIn for Business workshop in Windsor is designed to ensure that you are best placed to use the power and opportunities of LinkedIn for you and your business, giving you the know-how to market yourself, increase your visibility & reputation and, most importantly, develop new business on it.

We’ll be covering:

• How to get the most out of LinkedIn
• Key considerations when creating a Profile which will market and sell for you
• Developing your network and integrating your current one
• How to best connect with people (and how not to)
• Tools on LinkedIn to promote you and your business
• Targeting prospects using the Advanced Search and other tools
• LinkedIn applications making your life easier
• A recommended weekly LinkedIn regime
… and many more key areas …

Questions are encouraged throughout – the format is a mixture of slides, used to introduce the key areas we are looking at, before then going online to demonstrate the capabilities of the site in live situations.

What you take away

The cost of the Windsor LinkedIn for Business Workshop is just £145 and includes:
• Half-day workshop covering Using LinkedIn for Business
• Lunch
• Handout pack containing slides for note taking
• Document covering LinkedIn Profile Setup & Optimisation
• 4 weeks email support (for any follow up questions while putting the contents of the session into practice)

LinkedIn for Business Windsor Workshop Overview

Our Windsor LinkedIn for Business workshop covers the following areas:

i) Introduction to LinkedIn
• Why LinkedIn is key and its place in the social media and business worlds
• Setting your LinkedIn strategy
• Getting your Settings right for you as a recruiter

ii) Creating the right profile: the cornerstone of your LinkedIn activity
• Developing your profile to attract new prospects and clients as well as acting as “social proof” for referrals and word of mouth
• Getting to the top of search results on LinkedIn for your target keywords
• Using the available applications to enhance your visibility and credibility

iii) Developing your network to increase your reach and visibility
• Methods and approaches to extend your network
• Using the advanced search facilities to find the right candidates and target new business
• How to approach and connect with people – and how not to!
• Opportunities with the ‘tagging’ function examined

iv) Raising your profile and marketing yourself, your company and services
• Developing and raising your profile to set you apart from the competition on LinkedIn
• Updates: how to use them best without re-inventing the wheel
• Groups: participating sensibly and establishing your own
• Answers, events, messaging, testimonials and other on site tools

v) Company tools and coordinating activities
• Setting up and developing a powerful set of Company Pages
• Listening tools and how to get the best from them
• Coordination at a company and team level
• Ensuring all your target areas are covered

vi) Establishing a LinkedIn routine
• Getting organised and making best use of your time
• Key activities and how to arrange them
• LinkedIn Tools to help you achieve this while managing your time

For the latest open social media and LinkedIn workshops and training event details click the link.

To discuss the opportunities further please contact

Jon Davey
Social Media Director
01753 852904

Or complete our enquiry form… Thank you.

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Just done a search for “marketing assistant” OR “marketing intern” based within a 10 mile radius of HQ… got a great opportunity for them but they need to know it exists…

LinkedIn is showing 165 and so now all I need to do is tell them about it… but only 10 are in any connecting groups !

I guess they think LinkedIn is for older farts like me Well these are the old farts with jobs going so they’d better get their stuff together and start engaging on Linkedin… call themselves marketing assistants

http://www.socialmediadirectors.co.uk/social-media-awards/top-marketing-assistant-needed-in-slough/

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As they say, “It’s not the size, it’s how you use it!”

In 2012 there are thousands of social media platforms to choose from but which one will you use for what purpose is the question… do you choose the big platforms because you’ve heard the names mentioned so many times by so many “experts” that you feel you really should… or do you wait and see what floats past your view finder?

The reality is you need to understand the main platforms so you can add them to, or remove them from, your to do list…

If you’re in the B2B space, looking to find more customers, then a must visit and find out more about site is LinkedIn, of that there is no doubt in my mind. The closer you look to LinkedIn the more you appreciate both its simplicity and its amazing power and potential… truly a business lead generation platform you need to spend some time on.

But then there are other, newer, cleaner coded platforms that you’ll have never heard of. That have been thought through by their creators, designed, coded and ready for the world to engage with but because they are not on everyone’s lips, you are unlikely to explore their websites to find out more… unless you are lucky enough to bump into them through a random search… or the strategic use of social media!

At the Social Media Business Awards events we find new tools and give them a platform on which to shine… we hope to introduce UK platforms developed by local home grown talent but it is likely that they are shy in coming forward, being British. We’ll have to wait for them to show themselves while we celebrate great social media tools we have found that are being a little more vocal… probably US based because they’re not that shy when it comes to business and we all could learn from them.

Book your seat for our new Social Media Business Awards and get their bright and early for my presentation “Social Media Business Sales Update…”

Thank you.

Book your seat for the UK Social Media Business Awards Dinner £75 + VAT

The whole point of the UK Social Media Business Awards is to make new connections, meet buyers, suppliers and industry colleagues. We ensure the whole event is a learning experience… finding out how different social media platforms and service could help your business grow and prosper… we ensure you meet at least 25 people during the course of the day, this is to help those who prefer not to make the first moves and so usually don’t get to meet many people at events.

UK Social Media Business Award enquiries…

Jon Davey
Social Media Awards Organiser
Call 01753 852904
Or connect via LinkedIn

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When you start an online community then you need to try and manage the group with a small set of rules from the start. It might appear easier to just let people do as they please but then the quality will rapidly suffer and members will drift off… they’ll probably not delete from the community unless they need to … you can be a member of 50 LinkedIn Groups and so no great urgency and other forums may have no such limitations.

But what you are after is people wanting to engage with the group… and in my experience, most people like rules to follow. Secure in the knowledge that someone it taking care of the community environment.

The main rule I have enforced in the LinkedIn Groups is that discussions, for the most part, need to be actual discussions and not simply a pitch for business… if people choose not to hear my requests then their contributions are initially moved to other areas of the forum… those that just can’t hear are removed from the group… it’s the only way to keep forums and groups on track.

Thank you.

Jon Davey
Social Media Director
01753 852904

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LinkedIn has over 125,000,000 members world wide… that’s like loads! And nearly 1000 have joined our Business in Berkshire Group since 6th August 2008

Most of the members are inactive… they ticked the box to join but don’t contribute in anyway… Microsoft call these folk lurkers and when I heard this term a couple of years ago it was very reassuring. If you have spend year’s trying to build momentum into an online community, it can be terribly frustrating when you spend time encouraging folk to join in, they say they will and then nothing happens.

Times they are a changing… it’s time for ACTION…

Today according to Neil Warren, community leader over at Modern Selling, in 2005 it took 4 calls to speak to a decision maker… today it takes 41 !!! The phones are on answering machine, the PA is told “I’m out.” The pressure is on for everyone in an organisation to perform and so they don’t have time to talk…

BUT they do have time to listen… and they are increasingly doing that through web… searching for information and suppliers who resonate well with them…

Well managed LinkedIn Groups are where professionals of all disciplines are heading to find out who’s who and who knows what by joining and listening in to the conversations… join LinkedIn Groups and contribute positively… don’t just add links to your blog… we don’t know you are great yet… prove your greatness by adding value to groups and then people will ask you for more… to share your greatness…

Please join our Social Media Directors Group if you’d like to know more about social media or you see yourself as someone who knows their way around the web… and join our Business in Berkshire Group if you live in or around Berkshire and would like to connect with local business people.

Thank you

Jon Davey
Social Media Director
01753 852904

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Are LinkedIn Groups that prevent access to external blogs cutting the value their groups have to offer members?

My response was:

I’ve taken two opposite approaches with my groups to see what happens

I now filter all the new discussion posts on my Business in Berkshire Group

Initially this was driven by competitors simply posting news of their events on my group which irked me but in the interest of openness I allowed it until a few greedy folk went a step too far.

I have found that actually people want to know someone is in control. They don’t want to be bombarded with sales messages taking them off to other websites so someone can simply add another visitor to their web stats…

If the link is off to content that has some real depth to it and it has been pointed out by a third party, not the owner, this adds great value for the group.

People want to learn and engage in real discussions… they want people to ask real questions and for others to respond with real answers and not simply keep telling us how great they are at whatever they do.

This seems to be working for the BinB Group…

In my Social Media Directors Group I have left the door wide open with the proviso that if someone just keeps posting links and doesn’t engage in the group conversations then they are asked to stop simply spamming the group… if they ignore the request they, as individuals, are blocked from posting further.

I also allow anyone to join the SMD Group whereas the BinB group requires some real connection to Berkshire, UK be that family or business related.

Ultimately to comes down to quality of the group and the engagement therein… setting up groups that just get full of people spamming is very easy and of little real value to anyone as nobody is really listening.

Jon
01753 852904

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This morning I decided that I would send out a short note to Sales Directors & Sales Managers within a 10 mile radius of Windsor who are connected to me via a Group. This search resulted in 29 possible new connections and to each I sent the following message.

Good morning

I’m using LinkedIn to search and connect with senior Sales people locally and to invite you to:

- Connect directly

- Join our Business in Berkshire Group

- Discuss our How to Use LinkedIn for Business workshops run monthly in Windsor

Thank you.

Jon Davey
01753 852904

They don’t know me so they need to know why I am connecting in order to process through their personal management criteria which will probably be random based on their mood this morning!

The chances are most will connect, as we don’t mind doing that but will they make contact? All, having some form of sales background, will not be in fear of the unknown and probably 1/3rd will come back with a question, comment or “Sounds great, when can we get started!”

If this was a random group, many with no sales exposure, then only a small percentage would be brave enough to say hello and continue any dialogue.

Let’s see what happens…

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How to use LinkedIn for Business workshop
Date: 31st October 2011
Timings: 9:00 for 9:30am start, finishes around 4pm
Location: Thames Hospicecare, Hatch Lane, Windsor. SL4 3RW
Cost: £175 + VAT

At Social Media Directors we enable charities to offer our LinkedIn training to larger organisations as a way to add to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) social accounting ledger.

A few years ago popular local charities like Thames Hospicecare could approach larger local businesses and they would soon find ways to give generously.

In today’s climate, the ability to give more to local charities is fraught with administrative process as every pound spent needs justification.

Social Media Directors “How to use LinkedIn for Business” workshop offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to add social value to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ledger while at the same time, providing invaluable training to their sales and marketing teams.

Come and find out why over 120m business people worldwide, 7m in the UK and over 140,000 within a 10 mile radius of Windsor consider LinkedIn to be the pre-eminent business networking platform online. A place where professionals have the ability to connect, develop their sales and market themselves, their skills, services and products.

We’ll touch on:

• Why LinkedIn is an increasingly key business tool
• How to get the most out of LinkedIn
• Key considerations when creating a Profile which works
• Developing your network and integrating your current one
• How to best connect with people (and how not to)
• Tools on LinkedIn to push you and your business
• Targeting prospects using the Advanced Search and other tools
• LinkedIn applications making your life easier
• A recommended weekly LinkedIn workout
• … and more…

Agenda

09:00 Registration
09:30 Why is it worth your while learning more about LinkedIn?
09:45 Who else is in the room today, say hello
10:00 LinkedIn: Getting the Foundations in place
(Creating a powerful Personal Profile & Company Pages)
11:30 Questions
12:00 Social Media Directors Networking Lunch
13:00 Developing Connections, Prospects and Visibility on LinkedIn
(Using the tools develop your network, marketing and sales)
[includes short coffee break]
15:30 Questions
16:00 Close

View more details, including testimonials, one from Raleigh Addington, Operations Director of Tickets for Troops at www.howtouselinkedin.co.uk

Booking your seat

You can pay via PayPal above or request an invoice for £175 + VAT by emailing jon@socialmediadirectors.co.uk (but do read below first)

Thank You.

Jon Davey
Social Media Director
01753 852904

P.S. Please call Katie and book via her as the hospice will make more money that way and the work they do is incredible.

Katie Beck
Corporate Events Fundraiser THc
01753 848932

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We had a very interesting and thought provoking meeting, discussing the new Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership and how we could get involved to help local businesses in Berkshire and the Thames Valley.

When we were wrapping up Tom said, “Face to face meetings are worth 1,000 emails!” and I had to write that down… brilliant.

If you are in business today then the best tool you have in your toolbox is YOU. So get out and press the flesh… not necessarily at some networking event, be selective… but definitely search out those you feel you could do business with, make the phone call and set up a face to face so you can establish who they are and if you can help each other.

And a great way to work out who you need to talk to is by searching LinkedIn where you will find over 7,000,000 UK business men and women… some may want what you’ve got… but How do you use LinkedIn for Business?

Let us show you the way, click above and then book via our www.whatislinkedin.co.uk website.

Thank you and thank you Tom for a chance to get to know you better.

Jon Davey
Social Media Directors
01753 852904

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Fair enough, but still a little forward, if we have done business together but to request recommendations when we hardly know each other… how does that work then?

I would put it to you that by requesting a recommendation from someone you haven’t done business with simply makes you look amateur and devalues your brand.

LinkedIn is a quality business platform, not one that requires the same mad brain rush that others may be associated with and should be treated without desperation, allowing nature to take its course.

A genuine, thoughtful recommendation comes with much more depth and value than one forced out of a client through persistent nagging.

It feels fantastic to receive an email saying a testimony has been given… enjoy the moment…

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