Like the Philosopher\u2019s Stone, \u201cGroups\u201d alchemically transform LinkedIn from a \u201crolodex on steroids\u201d into a true social media network. A place where you can expand your network by creating true relationships with your connections. And the magical element? Sharing valuable information and helping people.<\/p>\n
Not so magical, and yet many people are still using the \u201cDiscussion\u201d and \u201cAnnouncement\u201d section of their groups, and groups they belong to, in order to sell their crap. (That\u2019s what your website is for – so I hope you have good conversion ratings)<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s back up. I\u2019m going to pretend you know how build relationships (hey – you are on Twitter, so my guess is you do.) Where exactly are you going to share this wealth of valuable information you already have access to? You can do this by joining groups and by creating your own groups. (That\u2019s the next post) Let\u2019s take a look at a few best practices..<\/p>\n
First of all, with almost 700,000 groups on LinkedIn, which ones should you join? In my opinion, you need to join the following groups:<\/p>\n
Once you join some groups (you can join up to 50) do a bit of lurking to find out what people are talking about, who is doing the talking, what the \u201cfeel\u201d of the group is. Once you get a feel, dive in and begin to participate in an interactive and helpful way.<\/p>\n
You can choose the regularity at which LinkedIn informs you about group discussions: The group digest will be sent to you daily, weekly or not at all. It won\u2019t take you too long to see which groups are the most valuable to you. These are the groups where the discussions intrigue you. Where the people are communicative. Where the discussions are active and interactive.<\/p>\n
These are the groups that you find stimulating, that seem to be a good source for relationships. These groups you will participate in daily \u2013 even if it\u2019s just minutes a day \u2013 so you can become an \u201cinfluencer\u201d, perhaps attracting the coveted \u201cManager\u2019s Choice\u201d position, getting you more recognition, authority and visibility.<\/p>\n
To Do:<\/p>\n
What NOT to do:<\/p>\n
If you spend too much time in the \u201cdon\u2019ts\u201d you\u2019ll also be more likely to get negatively flagged by other members of the LinkedIn group. So just – don\u2019t<\/p>\n
From some groups you\u2019ll receive a weekly digest. These are the groups that have interesting information, but you don\u2019t see as much a need to invest your time in creating relationships with the members. At the most you may spend a few minutes a week in these groups, and follow a few of the key members. You\u2019ll keep these groups on the back-burner for potential future connections with members.<\/p>\n
Some groups you will connect to only to build your network (Remember you are only as visible as the size of your network<\/a>) You will join these groups because they have a lot of members (LinkedHR). Or you join the group because a person you want to communicate with is member of that group (Hint: This is the way you can get around paying for an \u2018InMail\u2019)<\/p>\n But no matter if you join groups you interact with daily or only very occasionally, you want to remember that you are on groups to share valuable informations and build relationships.<\/p>\n TIP: If you are one of those strategic and organized people, consider creating a database (Excel, etc) to keep track of your groups, how useful they are, what their topics are and key players.<\/p>\n Valuable Information: What have you already created that your network finds useful? (How do you know this? They tell you \u201cThat was really useful.\u201d) Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. What do you have stored in your computer right now? What do you have in your blog site. What have you just read that YOU find interesting. That\u2019s what you share. Groups are not for posting your sales letter. Engage your network. If they like you, they\u2019ll go to your website or profile. They\u2019ll want to learn more about you.<\/p>\n Growing relationships: Ask and answer questions. Really. People love to be helpful. Let them be by asking them questions. Ask them for clarification. Ask them for advice. Ask them – almost anything. And when someone asks something that you can answer, especially if you already have supporting docs (blogpost) answer them.<\/p>\n Its not rocket science, but it does take consistent effort. Even if its only a few minutes a day. And remember. This is social media. We are here to help each other out. To attract clients and partners through relationship and service. To be Go-Givers lending a hand and raising up each other.<\/p>\n Next up? Best practices in creating your own groups. Viveka von Rosen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like the Philosopher\u2019s Stone, \u201cGroups\u201d alchemically transform LinkedIn from a \u201crolodex on steroids\u201d into a true social media network. A place where you can expand your network by creating true relationships with your connections. And the magical element? Sharing valuable information and helping people. Not so magical, and yet many people are still using the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,733],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-vivekavonrosen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1468"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1471,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions\/1471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHere is the link to LinkedIn\u2019s latest blog on the new Groups features. Watch the video<\/a>, it’s worth the time.<\/p>\n
\nLet me know how you use groups to create relationships in your business. I want to know!<\/p>\n