Here is a great new marketing tool for your business or your clients. This mystery promotional card let’s everyone you give it to wins not matter what. What they win is up to you or your customer. Excellent for trade shows, membership campaigns, loyalty rewards, foursquare rewards, mobile marketing, etc.
What can I say? This is so new, that all we have to demonstrate at this time are artist’s renderings.
Now you can promote your brand in style. The hoodiebuddie is a “smart-garment,” that integrates your iPod with your hoodie. The integrated headphones are actually, the drawstrings on the hoodie. There is an inside pocket where you can safely store your iPod and connect to the drawstrings.
Personally, I think this is going to be huge. The hoodiebuddie, fulfills all the requirements I look for in promotional items. It’s something new, fun, cool, techy and it’s functional.
Oh yeah, it’s MACHINE WASHABLE! I know… right? That’s amazing.
Let me know what you think.
Your investment in Promotional Solutions provides more return than most media. Of course, when putting a promotional solution in place, it is always best to add measurement to determine ROI. Wouldn’t it be nice to see what kind of return you get on average from various promotional products?
Thank you ASI for the Research.
If you’re looking for a partner for all of your promotional, printing eCommerce and multimedia needs, we’d love to hear from you.
Focus and Discipline are the Keys to Social Media Success
As you read this, it will become painfully obvious that focus and discipline are two things I desperately need to work on.
I initially decided to attend the Social Media 101 presentation to meet (face-to-face) Nicole Crimaldi (aka @MsCareerGirl), Matt Chevy (aka @MattChevy) and Mari Madden Luangrath (aka @FoiledCupcakes). I was invited and wanted to make sure to show up and maybe even learn something. In my mind, “probably not…” I know everything – right? I hate when I’m proven WRONG!
I was excited to go and couldn’t wait to get there. I left with plenty of time, but who would have guessed there was construction so early in the season. Not to make excuses, I wasn’t going to make it, on time. You’ve heard “Your first impressions are the most important”. Taking that into account, of course, I didn’t pay any attention to the details of where the function was being held (ADD Alert!). I had to call Matt to find out, and again (ADD) didn’t really listen. I walked around the entire campus (Elgin Community College) looking for the location. To make a long story short, it was where I had originally started. My hair was all wind-blown, I was hot and exasperated by the time I finally arrived.
Yay, I’m here! Now let’s get started. There was a nice sized group of enthusiastic newbie’s. Coffee, donuts and bagels were provided as well as a booklet called “Social Media Guidelines.” Which I thought that was fantastic, by the way.
The meeting started, everyone introduced themselves and Matt and Nicole began their presentation.
I was very impressed to learn a whole bunch of stuff that I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t get to take full advantage of. One of my bitchiest, pain in the ass wonderful customers was driving me crazy with shipping questions for their orders that were to be delivered in three different states. Phone was ringing and texts were flying, but I was still able to tweet, take and share pictures and believe it or not learn some valuable information. Sorry, Matt and Nicole for having to get up so many times. Work takes priority…
Here is what I got out of Social Media 101:
Social Media 101 covered all the main points of what it takes to effectively participate and take advantage of the opportunities we are afforded through Social Media.
Matt would be surprised to know, I picked up on one point that kept resonating throughout the presentation. “You have to be disciplined and dedicated,” with your Social Media activities. If you cannot discipline yourself to stay the course, you cannot succeed with Social Media.
Begin by working towards building a positive reputation on the web and establish your online footprint by being yourself, being genuine and most importantly being PRESENT. Your objective is to establish a Social Media Strategy and set goals, focusing your online activities towards meeting that objective.
Discipline yourself set time aside for Social Media. Make it part of your daily routine as part of your strategy by dedicating a few hours of the day to manage your online presence. Your strategies should include engaging with people on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin as well as reading and commenting on blog posts.
If you get a chance to attend one of these, you will also learn about the role Google plays in Social Media and networking. Google Reader, Google Alerts and Google Analytics are super important if you are serious about meeting your Social Media goals.
They also talked about blogs, branding yourself on the web, case studies and much, much more. Mari came in around Noon, which was a treat (no pun intended) she came bearing her famous Foiled Cupcakes. She also spent time engaging the group with interactive marketing exercises. Having attendees use their businesses as the subject for the group to come up with Social Marketing strategies.
Mari ROCKED it out!
At the end of the day, I was honored to meet Matt, Nicole and Mari. I learned a hell of a lot more than my thick headedness would have ever imagined I would.
If you have an opportunity to attend a Social Media 101, 102 or whatever level is offered, you should definitely take advantage of it. If invited, I would go again in a heart beat.
Credits:
As a full-service solutions provider, Proforma PPG has assembled a complete offering of products and services to handle all of your graphic communications needs. We’ve been the One Source…with Infinite Resources for all our clients’ promotional products, printing services, business documents, marketing (mobile, online, direct) and eCommerce solutions. With our vast experience, Proforma PPG applies creativity and innovation to all of your business challenges.
We are also a proud partner of “award winning” Panoptic Studios, a nationally recognized multi-media production company. Our online and multi-media services are uniquely focused on integrating strategy, motion and design to help companies communicate with customers, prospects, employees and shareholders through powerful video production.
When you partner with Proforma, you connect to the power of a large North American organization with the responsive service of a local business.
Please visit our Proforma website for Our E Commerce Solutions.
Proforma is proud to partner with Panoptic Studios, a nationally-recognized multimedia production company to create award-winning media for some of the biggest names in business and industry. Connect here: Proforma Mulitmedia Services.
As one of the largest promotional products distributors in North America we offer countless brandable consumer saftey minded products. I think this is something you will find very interesting.
SAN FRANCISCO – March 11, 2010 – Life360, the all-inclusive online service for managing family safety and security, announced the acquisition of Foundog, the DFJ-backed lost item recovery service. The acquisition provides a powerful set of next-generation promotional products to corporate customers.
Life360 board member and former CEO of Visa USA, John Philip Coghlan, remarked, “With the addition of Foundog’s recovery solutions and corporate promotions channel, Life360 is able to offer unparalleled brand awareness and return-on-investment to corporate marketers with a suite of products that integrates into the daily lives of consumers.”
All recipients of Foundog’s brandable global item recovery tags will gain free access to a white labeled version of Life360′s online safety and security suite, which includes services that provide identity theft protection, cell phone-based family tracking, emergency child identification, lost item recovery, sex offender monitoring, and an emergency messaging system to reconnect families even when some communication lines are down after a natural disaster. Every time an end user logs into the Life360 suite, they will be exposed to the sponsor’s brand.
“Our corporate clients such as IBM, Symantec and HSBC will now benefit from extended touch-points in their marketing campaigns using Life360′s suite of promotional products,” said Foundog Chairman Geoffrey Nudd. “A Life360 campaign generates customer loyalty over a multi-year period with a broad safety and security value proposition.”
Life360 CEO Chris Hulls commented, “In this tough economy, corporate marketers are looking for promotions that provide a clearly measurable value. Through the integration of the Foundog and Life360 offerings, ASI, SAGE, PPAI and other distributors can offer corporate customers a suite that generates immediate returns through brand awareness, the ability to obtain sales leads and actionable market data from recipients.”
For more information, please visit: www.life360.com
About Life360
Life360, a Google and Facebook-backed technology company, offers consumers a way to manage their full range of safety and security needs all in one place. Services range from identity theft protection, to lost item recovery, medical identification, and family tracking. Founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Life360′s mission is to use emerging technology to help people prepare for both major emergencies and everyday worries. For more information, please visit www.life360.com.
About Foundog
Foundog is an ASI, SAGE, and PPAI supplier of next generation promotional products. Foundog’s flagship product line, the eTriever Tag and Global Recovery Service, is used by many of the world’s largest high tech companies, law firms, financial services providers, hotels, transportation companies, insurers and others. Foundog’s team of software developers, manufacturers and marketers works with distributors to provide customized marketing solutions for corporate clients. For more information, please visit www.foundog.com.
With the 2010 National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA) convention this weekend in Orlando, it got us thinking about how to make the most out of a trade show exhibit. Successful trade show marketing is more than just a “pretty” booth, giving out company literature to passers by, engaging in conversations about your products with visitors and collecting contact information. Though so much effort, time and money goes into the planning and execution of trade show marketing, the real work doesn’t stop there! To have a truly successful trade show exhibit you must promptly and continually follow-up with the visitors to your booth and convert them to sales.
It is astounding – and almost embarrassing for anyone who employs trade show marketing – that, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (2009), 80% of leads made at trade shows never receive a follow-up. Why put all that money, time and effort into a marketing effort if you’re not going to follow through?
To increase the ROI on trade show marketing, it is imperative that you put as much money, time and effort into the post-show as you did the “big show”. Here are a few things to consider:
Remember, the follow-up is one of the most critical aspects of trade show marketing. It is possible to effectively and efficiently turn your booth visitors into customers so long as you have a good strategy in place. If the size of your company and/or size of your target prospects are incompatible then we strongly consider hiring someone else to prioritize them and follow-up.
Construction IndustryMoney is short and the years of frivolous spending are over. We are no longer living in a time when companies will throw money at a marketing campaign without looking for results. Companies have been forced to be smart and are now being held accountable for their efforts.
The most popular term that marketers use to measure results is ROI (return on investment), which evaluates the effectiveness of an investment. Most often it is simply referred to as the return or benefit. However, a new buzzword has arisen in marketing circles. Beyond ROI, marketers are increasingly using ROO (return on objective) as a measuring tool. A bit more simplistic and straightforward, ROO measures the achievement of set goals. Simply: “A client wants that.”
This is where you come in. Promotional products, if used correctly, can deliver the level of measurement that marketers are looking for. Because of their ability to appeal to all five senses and their adaptability to any industry, promotional products are the ideal solution to any marketing dilemma.
For example, the construction industry is complex and ever changing, as the demands are great and the challenges are many. Builders are finding it more difficult than ever to maintain a strong labor force, while securing raw materials.
Remember the ROO. Work with your clients to set realistic goals. Then deliver. It’s this simple. Whether in the construction industry or any other industry, clients want an edge that sets them apart from the masses. Look at the challenges they face and how your efforts can solve them.
Remember: You offer more than just products—you offer solutions. Promotional products are an essential element in the marketing mix. Adding your message to a tangible product turns an ordinary message into a marketing experience your audience can see, touch, hear, smell and even taste. Promotional products are the only way to make a sensible—and memorable—impression.
For more information about Proforma PPG or to learn more about the proven power of promotional products (including research, products and services), visit the Proforma PPG website or contact Proforma PPG at 847-429-9349, kathy.labbe@proforma.com.
Promotional products are an $18.8 billion industry and include wearables, writing instruments, calendars, drinkware and many other items, usually imprinted with a company’s name, logo or message.
If the dry cleaner didn’t give you a 2010 calendar, but you’ve amassed a collection of logoed, reusable shopping bags and your HR department gave away hand sanitizers, you have general idea of what happened to the $20 billion-a-year swag business.
The part of the advertising industry behind giveaways and freebies – swag, or Stuff We All Get, as the star of The Officetelevision show once called it – exhibited new lines of promotional products at the Dallas Convention Center this week, hoping to make a comeback.
Rows and rows of exhibitors were hawking future freebies in a setting where you’d expect Michael Scott, Steve Carell’s character in NBC’s The Office, to come around the corner.
Don’t say tchotchkes around this group. “The word has a negative meaning, standing for something without value,” said Joe Haley, managing editor of the Advertising Specialty Institute’s Counselor magazine.
Celebrity and fashion events made bags of expensive swag stylish and, on The Office, Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton manager made swag cool with the show’s sizable audience.
“I basically decorated my condo for free with all of my swag,” Scott said in the third season after returning from the Office Supply Convention in Philadelphia.
There’s a whole line of Dunder Mifflin swag, but the pros at the Dallas show sell the real stuff.
“No one is expecting a year as bad as last year,” said Bob Teese, vice president of Hotline Products, a St. Paul, Minn.-based maker of promotional calendars, one of the industry’s stalwart products. “Attitudes have been more upbeat the last couple of months.”
Last year is expected to be the first year that sales have fallen since 2002. The third quarter marked the fifth consecutive quarterly decline in sales, and early full-year tallies show they’ll be off by as much as $2 billion from $19.8 billion in 2008, according to the industry’s trade organization.
“Business was off, but companies were still buying the green products,” said Edward Hanson, co-owner of Richardson-based shopping bag manufacturer Metropak.
Wearable products ready for corporate logos are the industry’s biggest category. Performance fabrics with UV protection or anti-microbial qualities are gaining on fleece. Neon colors and trucker hats – the ones with foam fronts and mesh backs – are back.
Umbrellas, golf balls, lanyards, thumb drives encased in any shape imaginable, coolers, message pads, bags, drink bottles, flying discs and solar-powered battery rechargers are among products ready to make a company statement.
Swag comes in all prices. Personalized pencils cost 13 cents each, and reusable bags are 90 cents apiece. For those extra-special bank customers or this month’s best salesman, there’s a $69.99 solar-powered PDA charger or a $200 digital picture frame that can store 4,000 photos.
After scoring last year with half-ounce hand sanitizers, Harry Fotopoulos, national sales manager for Colorado-based Leashables by Oralabs, said the flu-inspired product still does well, especially with advertisers at sporting events and places with families. It’s not as strong “now that people have been vaccinated,” he said.
Some of the biggest customers of promotional products were among the worst casualties of the economic downturn: financial services companies, car dealers and small businesses. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies and health care providers are under stricter gift rules, both self-imposed and some due to new state laws.
“We used to think we were more recession-resistant because this is advertising on items that people use and companies like to give out,” said Scott Fuhr, a spokesman for the industry trade group.
More than 3,300 distributors attended the show, which ended Wednesday, down about 250 from last year. About 500 suppliers showed off their goods, down from 523 last year.
According to an Advertising Specialty Institute survey in 2008, 84 percent of people remember the advertiser on a product they receive and one in four said they are more likely to do business with that company.
Bags made from polypropylene or recyclable materials have remained strong sellers for the last three or four years, said Metropak’s Hanson. “But while that part of the business was good, it also attracted more new competitors.”
Businesses are “counting the pennies,” he said.
“Last year, everyone put the kibosh on all buying. It started to pick up in November and December, and January was busy,” said Dan Townes, president of Shepenco, one of the industry’s oldest pencil and pen suppliers. The Shelbyville, Tenn., company was founded during the Great Depression in 1933 by Townes’ grandfather, who was fired by another pencil company to make room for the boss’ son.
Pens and pencils have remained top sellers. “It stays around for a long time, and it’s an inexpensive cost per exposure,” Townes said.
His sales declined more than 20 percent last year. The company invested in new machines that allow more complicated graphics. It expanded its green products, including pencils made from recycled newspapers and a pen that’s made of biodegradable plastic.
“We’re ready for the business to turn,” he said.
Another family-run business, Gill Studios Inc., also started in 1930s with founder Forest Gill’s invention of the bumper sticker.
Every two years, it has its own form of government stimulus.
“Nonpresidential years are even bigger for us,” said sales manager Michael Malinowski. The company’s factory in Lenexa, Kan., also makes yard signs and lapel stickers.
“This year, there are 37 governors up for re-election and 573 statewide and above races,” he said, without checking notes. “That’s a lot of opportunity.”
Wading into the fast-moving flow of social media can be daunting to a small business owner with very little time on his hands. Here’s Inc.‘s comprehensive social media cheat sheet for the time-strapped entrepreneur.
1. Offer a peek behind the scenes. Offering a sneak preview of new products, services, or features online can help build demand and provide critical feedback to help smooth the launch. For instance, John Doyle, founder of chocolate company John and Kira’s in Philadelphia, posts photos of new products on Flickr and invites comments from customers.
2. Harness your expertise. Chances are your company’s white paper won’t go viral. But sharing knowledge you’ve gathered through your trade can go a long way toward boosting your brand. Ford Models, for instance, became a YouTube sensation through a series of videos that featured its models giving beauty and fashion tips.
3. Demonstrate what your company does. Because multimedia is so integral to social media, getting connected allows you to express your company’s value proposition beyond words. To show just how powerful his company’s blenders were, Blendtec’s head of marketing, George Wright, created a series of videos showing the appliances churning up such diverse items as a rotisserie chicken, a Rubik’s Cube, and an iPhone. The series’ 100 million combined views helped boost Blendtec’s sales by 700 percent.
4. Put your website’s content to work. Want to draw more traffic to your website? Help spread the word by encouraging visitors to share content they enjoy. GotCast, a website that connects television casting directors with aspiring actors, draws new visitors by posting audition videos on Digg and allowing others to share video links on the site. One way to promote the sharing of your site’s content is to install a widget, such as AddThis, that automates linking to popular sites.
5. Be candid. In unsure economic times, transparency goes a long way toward retaining and attracting customers. Giving readers the scoop on your company blog is an easy way to keep the lines of communication open. Giacomo Guilizzoni, the founder of San Francisco software company Balsamiq, even posts sales and profit figures to show that his company is on solid financial footing.
6. But be careful what you say about others. When Leslie Richard, owner of a North Carolina clothing company, described Vision Media Television as a “scam,” she was slapped with a $20 million lawsuit. While recounting negative experiences with others won’t necessarily lead to a court battle, it’s best to steer clear of name-calling.
7. Interact with visitors—really. Just putting up a blog or a Facebook fan page won’t do much good if visitors sense the flow of conversation only goes one way. In fact, Matt Mullenweg, founder of blogging platform WordPress, lists not participating in comments as a surefire way to kill a community. Mullenweg and his team field the many suggestions users have for WordPress through his blog.
8. Don’t try to create a stand-in for yourself. With all the other tasks required within your company, it’s tempting to outsource managing your social media or even to try automating the process. That can easily backfire, as Joe Pulizzi, founder of Cleveland marketing firm Junta42, learned when he tried sending automated welcome messages to new followers on Twitter. His online contacts quickly called him out for sending out what they perceived to be spam.
9. Don’t pretend to be someone else. Thanks to IP address tracking, observers can also quickly tell when company figureheads adopt fake identities for the sake of fluffing up their reputation. Not only can the practice hurt your company’s reputation, it could also land you in legal trouble. The plastic surgery Lifestyle Lift had to pay $300,000 in settlement costs to the state of New York for having its employees post flattering reviews of the company without disclosing their affiliation.
11. Reward customer loyalty. Through social media, companies can not only run promotions more frequently than coupons in the mail will permit but also devise more whimsical and engaging campaigns. Sprinkles Cupcakes, a bakery chain based in Beverly Hills, California, uses Twitter to send out daily promotional offers. The tweets, which ask customers to whisper a “password” to receive a free treat, have helped the company draw more than 17,000 followers.
12. See what people are saying about you. A quick search for mentions of your company on Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp can yield a goldmine of information concerning your reputation. Several users on Yelp, for instance, suggested that employees at Quimby’s Bookstore in Chicago were less than welcoming. After reading the comments, owner Eric Kirsammer focused on improving customer service. Applications such as monitter and Trackur can help you keep track of the conversation across the Web.
13. Make amends with dissatisfied customers, quickly. Andy Carlson, owner of an Ace Hardware store in Denver, once came across an angry Twitter update from a customer who had bought a tool that broke after one use. He resolved the issue in a matter of minutes by referring the customer to an area store and notified him of Ace’s lifetime guarantee. Best of all, he was able to catch the complaint after store hours—and prevent negative word of mouth.
14. Don’t go on the defensive. A harsh rebuke of your business on sites like Yelp can not only bruise your ego but also hurt your livelihood. But resist the temptation to lash out in public. Sarah Dunbar, owner of Oakland vintage boutique Pretty Penny, privately responds to less-than-flattering reviewers and encourages them to visit her in person. And keep in mind that you can’t please everyone. After Dunbar wrote to one dissatisfied customer, the reviewer accused her of conducting “shady business” by trying to sway opinions.
15. Keep customers in the loop. Frequently on the go? Twitter can help your customers keep track of your latest destination. Kogi Korean BBQ, which operates a food cart in Los Angeles, keeps its Twitter followers constantly informed of its location on the street. The real-time updates help Kogi keep up demand, as customers line up in advance at the broadcasted locations.
16. Find potential customers. A quick keyword search can help you find prospective customers who may not be aware of your company but could nonetheless benefit from your product or service. Bob Scaglion, a senior managing director at New York real-estate management company Rose Associates, generates 100 leads per month on Twitter for his company simply by replying to users whose tweets include phrases such as “moving to New York City” and “no-fee rentals.”
17. Reach more markets. Social media can help your company reach multiple markets at a time. Restaurant chain Boloco focuses most of its advertising on Boston, which houses 13 out of its 16 locations. But as an experiment, CEO John Pepper decided to post a copy of a coupon from a local newspaper on Twitter in order to reach customers in Vermont and New Hampshire. Coupon redemptions increased by more than 150 percent as a result.
18. Target your online advertising. Both Facebook and MySpace allow businesses to run ads that attract specific groups of users based on what information they include in their profiles. By running Facebook ads targeted at students at specific colleges, StorQuest Self Storage, which has locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Hawaii, increased its number of rentals by more than half.
19. See where your customers are. A growing number of social networks are designed specifically for users on the go, and some, such as the mobile application Foursquare, offer tools specifically for businesses. Frozen dessert chain Tasti D-Lite, for instance, uses Foursquare to gather data on how many people visit its locations and send promotional offers to frequent customers,
10. Help employees bond. Corporations such as IBM have built in-house networks—even virtual worlds reminiscent of Second Life—to link employees working in different locations. Small and medium-sized businesses can take advantage of readily available tools to facilitate collaboration. The Hoffman Agency, a public relations firm, uses Ning, which enables users to build custom social networks, to connect its U.S. staff with employees in Europe and Asia
20. Let customers help each other out. Including a customer forum on your website or social network profile can help enhance your customer service while building a sense of community. At Poolcenter.com, a swimming pool equipment retailer based in Arlington, Virginia, customers often field each other’s inquiries on swimming pool equipment before they reach customer service reps. Get Satisfaction and Fixya are two sites that offer dedicated spaces for customer service forums.
21. Build a community beyond your business. Photo hosting site SmugMug has established itself as a resource for skilled photographers in part by operating a forum, Digital Grin, where members trade advice on topics such as the best techniques for taking photos at night and capturing wedding scenes. With the exception of a support section at the very bottom, the forum is devoted to photography at large, rather than the company’s own services.
22. Let customers contribute. FrontPoint Security, a home security provider in McLean, Virginia, began collecting video testimonials from its customers, who filmed themselves with Flip cameras. The videos are posted on FrontPoint’s site and on YouTube, and even some customers’ personal blogs. FrontPoint’s video efforts have helped the company more than triple its sales leads.
23. Help others promote you. Social media can help you find passionate customers who are more than willing to spread the word about your company. Crafts supplies manufacturer Fiskars reached out to scrapbookers by inviting four avid users to blog. Its crafts community, called Fiskateers, has since attracted 5,000 users who serve as brand evangelists.
24. Cultivate relationships that lead to sales. Soon after he joined Twitter, J.R. Cohen, manager of The Coffee Groundz, a Houston coffee shop, began encouraging his followers to visit him in his shop. He began getting to know customers so well that they not only initiated conversations with him through Twitter—they began tweeting orders through the site as well. Now Cohen periodically fields menu requests through Twitter, though he doesn’t use the page primarily for that purpose.
25. But don’t promote too aggressively. While social network users have proven to be open to marketing—especially if it involves a discount—they’re not flocking to Facebook or MySpace to hear sales pitches. If your profile or blog reads like an ad, it will turn visitors away. Kent Lewis, founder of Portland online marketing firm Anvil Media, encourages Twitter users, for instance, to pass along industry news and retweet interesting items from others along with their own promotions.
26. Find ways to engage visitors offline. In March, Cinda Baxter, a retail consultant in Minneapolis, ended a blog post on local business with one simple idea: choose three businesses to support, and spend a combined amount of $50 per month. The post spurred hundreds of inquiries—enough for Baxter to build a standalone website, which has since attracted the support of more than 12,000 businesses. Baxter has used the publicity to bolster her consulting business: she now travels nationwide to advise retailers on building support within their communities.
27. Find influential people in your industry. In addition to maintaining your blog, make sure to keep your eyes open to what others in the industry are buzzing about online. Reading independent blogs and joining industry groups on Facebook and LinkedIn is a good way to join the larger conversation. Spoonflower, a fabric design site based in Mebane, North Carolina, has built its community of more than 40,000 users primarily through word of mouth on crafts blogs.
28. Boost your credibility by helping others. For service providers, establishing yourself as an expert in the field can bring in a steady stream of business. LinkedIn’s Answers feature enables business owners to do just that. Heidi Cool, a Web design consultant in Cleveland, browses LinkedIn Answers for inquiries related to her industry and spends one to two hours per week answering them. In one month, she generated 29 leads for her services directly from her responses.
29. Look for talent off the beaten path. While LinkedIn is specifically geared toward professional use, some companies have found other social networks to be effective recruiting tools as well. Jason Averbrook, CEO of the management-consulting firm Knowledge Infusion, found 19 candidates in two days for an open position simply by writing about his search in status updates on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo, which aggregates contact information from social networks.
30. Connect with potential partners. Because LinkedIn is designed specifically for professional networking, businesses can find a host of valuable contacts there. Josh Steinitz, CEO of NileGuide, a trip planning website based in San Francisco, used LinkedIn to find business partners by identifying companies of interest and then asking his existing contacts to provide introductions. A third of the company’s inquiries resulted in eventual partnerships.
