Chocolate Blues Business Networking Festival June 2013 | Page 12

sweet business connections
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8

r
tices fo Building Real Connections
c
est Pra
B

in LinkedIn Groups

Pinterest may have ridiculous referral rates and a membership that, on average, really loves to shop. Facebook might
have billion members. But LinkedIn groups? That’s where the magic really happens. In a given day, you can access as
many as 40 targeted networking sessions from your computer or mobile device. If you play your cards right, you could find
yourself at the receiving end of LinkedIn’s astounding 2.74% visitor-to-lead conversion rate on click-throughs, which is
nearly 3 times higher than either Facebook or Twitter.. Consider these best practices before you start posting.
1. Ask Questions
The most surefire way to tell a naive LinkedIn member
is when they simply pop into a group, post a link without
comment, and leave. You simply can’t rely on other group
members to spark dialogue about the content you share.
Frame your posts around a question, to ensure there’s
plenty of room for discussion. Asking for feedback is a step
in the right direction, but asking for opinions on a certain
topic is bound to get more attention.
2. Be a Human
While LinkedIn does offer company pages, group membership and
interaction is limited to real humans. Resist the temptation to talk as a
corporation, and be a real human being.
3. Follow-Up
Even though LinkedIn offers members the option to belong to as many
as 40 groups, don’t be an active participant in any more than you can
handle. There is benefit to maximizing your group membership, due to
the fact the group names are crawled by both major search engines and
LinkedIn search, but start small. If you’re just beginning to join LinkedIn
groups, pick 2 or 3 with active discussion. When you post in a group, follow
up and engage with any responses you receive. If you gain the reputation
as someone who is there to promote, not listen, you’ll quickly find your
engagement rates plummeting.
4. Use Regular Language
Most of the people in your LinkedIn group are probably experts who are
fluent in the latest buzzwords. This doesn’t mean you need to speak in
sentences that include confusing terms like BOFU, business silos, or
“leveraging implementation.” Talk like a human, show your expertise by
answering other people’s questions, and group members will be much
more inclined to listen.
5. Don’t Copy from Twitter
While rumor has it that Facebook will soon begin using hashtags, there’s
been no such talk of changes on LinkedIn. In other words, if your LinkedIn
posts contain hashtags, people will know that you’ve copied and pasted.

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6. Use Polls
Data collection is difficult, and asking questions doesn’t always provide
the right information you were looking for. Groups offer members the
option to post polls, which could inspire your content creation process.
You could even capture more responses with a poll, where respondents
can simply click-to-answer.
7. Be Provocative
The largest groups on LinkedIn have over 500,000 members. If you’re
in any mega-groups, it could pay to be provocative every so often. Post
intriguing or controversial to stand out in a fast-moving content stream.
8. Help Others
“Oh, I just bought this expensive service from some random guy in my
LinkedIn group,” said no B2B or B2C decision maker ever. Technology may
have changed the way that people connect with companies and each other,
but it hasn’t changed the fundamental truth that people buy from people
they trust. Your primary goal of membership in LinkedIn groups should
be providing value to others, and answering questions. Showcase your
expertise, comment on others’ comment, and you’ll bask in the limelight
that you share.
Really, all you need to know about LinkedIn groups is that they’re a great
big dinner party. You’d never interrupt others, talk continually about
yourself, or ignore questions as a guest at someone’s house. Realizing that
the process of making relationships on social media still requires continual
effort can ensure you’re a star of your networking groups.

-by Robert Coles, Coles & Colomy

Networking Tips:
1. Occasionally look up new things for your
industry and make sure you’re correctly educated
on them or learn more about them. Being able to
deliver updated and relevant information about your
industry can go far for you.
2. If you’re in a group, encourage the occasional
“networking game”, such as one meeting per month,
someone else gives your commercial for you.

3. Create a social media calendar and schedule
updates to go out so you can constantly be present
online. Activate your alerts on the social media
sites so you can engage in conversation if someone
comments, replies, shares, retweets, or likes a post.
4. Get an accountability partner.
5. Pretend you’re not you. When you’re planning
out your networking, social media posts, meetings,

etc. step “out” of