Dear LinkedIn User,

Why, WHY would you mark your profile as “private”? This is equivalent to spending the time and money to put an ad on a billboard, and then throwing a large opaque sheet over to whole thing! Further, why, WHY would you take the time and effort to register as a user, and then leave out any information about your company, position, work experience,  specialties and other pertinent information? Again, you wouldn’t spend the time and money to create a billboard ad and then leave off the company name, logo, website and phone number.

LinkedIn is a tool for professionals to promote and discuss professional endeavors. It’s not a place for pictures of kids or parties, discussions about religion or politics, or any other unprofessional topics. Because you’re discussing professional endeavors, it would stand to reason that you would want your customers and colleagues to be able to find you and join the discussion. Unless you’re a high-profile CEO on the level of Bill Gates or the President of the United States, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be receiving such a high volume of inquiries and connection requests that you won’t want to accept them. Further, if you know a professional and regard them with esteem, why wouldn’t you accept their request to connect? It’s said that you are often known by the company you keep. With the internet making the world a smaller place, wouldn’t you want to show that you keep company with intelligent, hard-working people? Making more connections on LinkedIn allows you to keep a finger on the pulse of your peers and industry leaders, helps you find qualified, job-seeking professionals, allows you to expand your opportunities for business and professional growth.

There’s nothing more frustrating than finding a colleague online, only to discover that they’ve made it nearly impossible to connect. A sparse profile with extreme privacy settings is useless, so take the time to fill out the information and find some people to connect with. We’re beyond the Yellow Pages, but the concept is the same: don’t place an ad where people can’t see it, won’t see it, or don’t care to see it… you’ll never improve your standing!

Thank You,

A Fellow LinkedIn User

I watched the season premiere of “Glee” tonight on Fox, and oh how I love it! Also, can we talk about how they brought in Idina Menzel? SO excited about that. But, enough with my music and theatre love, let’s get down to the Marketing.

“Glee” was the 4th highest trending topic on Twitter, and logging into my Facebook account showed “Glee” related status posts all over the Home page. There are already comments on the premiere episode at Fox.com, and news stories come up in the search engines to discuss the genius Marketing by Fox. “Glee” has over a million fans on Facebook, and several thousand people like their wall posts. It’s a social media marketer’s dream and success story. The thing is, all this talk is turning into a huge fan base that recruits more Gleeks. The buzz also kept the fan base alive and growing during the show’s four month hiatus, and positioning after “American Idol” is set to sky rocket season premiere viewership.

I checked out “Glee” on Bing, and the first search result gave me this link to CNN.com, which talks about the Marketing and audience for the show. I’ve also been impressed with the show’s ability to cross audience barriers, bringing in people of all ages. I got my mom and dad to watch the show with me tonight for the first time, and my mom’s first comment was that they had done an excellent job reaching different people. She’s not a Marketer, but even she can tell that there’s something different about the premise and execution of this show. To add my two cents to the online buzz and loyalty, I encourage you to check out “Glee” if you haven’t already. If not for the music, then at least for the water cooler conversation at the office tomorrow!

I was recently asked to speak to a group of business women on the topic of social media. Most of these women have been in business for years, and they know how to succeed. However, they wanted to know more about the social media scene, so they asked me to give an overview of the topic. I was struck by the knowledge gap as I was speaking, and I feel that as Marketers, we still need to make sure that we are educating business people about these tools. I’ve seen several blog posts about convincing the CEO to embrace social media, and I found myself fighting a similar battle during my presentation. So, how do we bridge the knowledge gap?

First, we have to quell the fear. Many business people are still afraid of moving their message online. They fear that their email addresses might be sold, that clients or co-workers may have access to private information, and that there’s no way to establish and decipher truth. We need to assure them that as connectivity grows, so too does accountability and integrity. Just as there are bad seeds in the real world, you will find bad seeds in the virtual world. But most entities will keep your information secure and site credible sources for their work. The virtual world is not a place to fear, but rather, a place to grow exponentially.

Once we’ve conquered the fear, we need to show the relevance of social media. There are statistics, case studies, and success stories all over the internet, so find and present the information that is most compelling. When business owners see how social media has impacted their competitors, they won’t want to be left behind. When they see how it has helped organizations that they work with and hold stock in, they will want a piece of the action as well. By helping them understand the future of business, you can help them figure out how these tools fit into their strategy.

Finally, help them strategize. Many business owners don’t understand that social media is a tool to advance their strategy, not a fad that forces them to change what they’ve always known. Social media is about connecting with people, so you don’t have to stop using your brand, message, and product. Rather, you can use social media as a way to expose these core components to many more people. When clients are ready to accept social media into their Marketing strategy, you need to be diligent in showing them how to use the tools. Help them create and monitor their accounts, teach them the lingo, and address security and ettiquette concerns. Every company may not need every tool, so help them evaluate which tools are most profitable for them. When you help them strategize, you ensure a long-term place for social media.

I was excited to speak on social media, and I’m excited to help implement social media strategies. However, I realized that I need to lay the foundation before I can build the house. And once the house is built, it’ll be open to the community!