Some of you may just be coming to grips with Linkedin but it is becoming a network heavily relied on by headhunters and recruitment agencies so it makes sense to keep your profile up to date.

 

In early March Linkedin announced that they have launched a news aggregation service called Linkedin Today. You can see a video about the new service[1] which enables you to filter your news based on the industry sectors you are interested in. If I go to www.linkedin.com/today I can see that on March 23^rd the most heavily read news relates to the news story about 3 million people paying for their coffee in Starbucks using their mobile phone application and is not about the death of Elizabeth Taylor.

 

It shows you the source of the article and how many have read the article and you can guess that there are no familiar newspapers represented but new media news sites such as Mashable, Techcrunch and Social Media Examiner are the major source of eyeballs online. It’s clear that this organisation of content is going to have a big impact on how we organise data on our own sites as we already know that Google will rank it higher if it’s been sorted based on popularity. I can see the whole world of the web moving to the typical Wordpress templated model with content based on popularity.

 

Since some of the traditional news channels such as The Times have moved to a subscription model they have lost a lot of critical mass. The key difference in the way that you are consuming news is that you are specifying how you want it filtered and it is very much an opt in rather than a traditional broadcast model. This is definitely a glimpse into the future as we specify how we want to receive our information and perhaps we will see news polarise into the paid subscription model versus the filtered newsfeed based on what our network reads.

 

Linkedin feels as if it is changing to look more like a cross between Facebook and Amazon as it implements its “share” function and its clear that there are important lessons to learn in using this platform. It has encouraged many Linkedin groups to become open rather than closed which enables it to mine its database for richer content with a view to sharing it with its user base and adding value by filtering it based on your preferences.

 

Here are a few pointers in making the most of Linkedin:

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There has been growing interest of late in the importance of your “social capital” as Brian Solis has been letting us know at the recent 2011 Lift Conference in Geneva[1]. Brian has warned us that we need to be both careful and savvy in how we use social networks. Our online social activity is already being used for determining if we are worthy of a job or credit and our “influencer scores” may already be factored into how we are treated in hospitality companies and other sectors.  For some this may seem like an opportunity and for others this may seem too much like “Big Brother”. Participation in social networks creates a blurring between our private lives and professional lives. We will need to take care of our profiles and ensure that we are harnessing the power that our social networks bring. In addition we need to be keeping a close eye on our scores in networks such as Klout and Peer Index

 

Whilst the UK is now the lead market in Europe for the usage of Facebook with 30million UK users[2] and more than 50% using Facebook daily, it’s time to really evaluate whether you are harnessing and making the most of your online social presence and engaging with the right influencers.

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You might ask why this is important but it’s clear that both Google and Bing are now going to be using “influencer scores” and the number of your fans and followers and their influencer scores are going to have a bearing on the ranking of your content and site in the search engines as outlined by Tad Miller in December 2010[3]. This is one of the prime reasons for companies to take note and to roll out their social media plans and to ensure that they are maximising the strength of their online social activity. This might include ensuring that your company has a strong Google and Linkedin profile and is correctly represented on all the social networks. You will want to check that the links between your blogs are fully listed in your profiles.

 

It might mean setting up online groups and communities that enable the company to build greater influence in its chosen markets or to ensure that your employees and agents are listening to the conversations going on in Linkedin and other groups about your products and services. It’s a whole different way of communicating with your customers and influencers and may well mean more listening and less selling.

 

I was delighted to receive a charming thank you note today from the Ambassador of Columbia for my recent blog on my recent travels to Columbia. I doubt my influencer score would have impacted his decision to send a note but he realised the importance that blogs are now having on the reputation of his country as a tourist destination and was clearly seeing the opportunity to work with travel bloggers. For those who would like to know why Colombia is one of the happiest places on the planet click here:
http://tiny.cc/czfa1 You can also read lots of great travel stories from Andy and his other guest bloggers.

 

Are you ready for this brave new world of social influence and are you communicating with the “influencers” who are saying things about your company?

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