An old friend of mine recently asked me this about LinkedIn:<\/p>\n
I see your active with LinkedIn… have you upgraded to the pay version of the site, and if so, which version and would you be willing to share your feedback with me?<\/em><\/p>\n Since I’ll be talking about this at the Bloodhound Blog Unchained Online Marketing Conference<\/a>, in Orlando, on November 7, 2008, I thought I’d share this answer with the Bloodhound community:<\/strong><\/p>\n I haven’t upgraded to the pay version but I use LinkedIn obsessively; I have since 2004.<\/p>\n Whenever I meet a new “contact”, I check LinkedIn and Facebook to see if they’re on that platform.\u00a0 The automated “top of mind status” these platforms provide is invaluable.\u00a0 If you were to look at my Facebook profile<\/a>, you’ll see that I’m using the “status” tool a lot to talk about our mutually loved baseball team.\u00a0 While that conversation has nothing to do with business, it gives past and potential clients a peek into my personal life.\u00a0 In the age of the participatory web, customers crave information about people with whom they do business.<\/p>\n You’ll also notice that I’ve given people a peek into my political ideology; that’s probably not the best practice for a salesperson.<\/strong> The controversial conversations that spring from a Yankees\/Red Sox rivalry are taken in fun.\u00a0 The controversial conversations that come from ideological differences can drive a potential (or past) clients away.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, LinkedIn (and now Facebook) can be used as a database or CRM.\u00a0 While it’s hard to balance the stated purpose of these media (connecting) with commercial uses (straight selling), a reasonably intuitive salesperson will learn “the community rules” quickly.<\/p>\n One of the biggest challenges for sales professionals is getting people on the telephone after meeting them on social networking platforms<\/a>.\u00a0 If you’re asking or answering questions on LinkedIn Q&A or participating in Facebook groups discussions, you’ll break down the digital wall and those prospective customers will be more receptive to your call.\u00a0 I feel pretty comfortable calling someone if we’ve had an interesting exchange in the LinkedIn Q&A.\u00a0 More than 80% of those calls are appreciated and future communication from me Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An old friend of mine recently asked me this about LinkedIn: I see your active with LinkedIn… have you upgraded to the pay version of the site, and if so, which version and would you be willing to share your feedback with me? Since I’ll be talking about this at the Bloodhound Blog Unchained Online […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-marketing","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6185,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/6185\/pictures-still-sell\/","url_meta":{"origin":5313,"position":0},"title":"Pictures Still Sell","author":"Brian Brady","date":"December 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"From Constant Contact: ConnectUp!SM Poll Do you have an online profile that you keep current on networking sites? I have one that I don't actively use 6.54% I primarily use Facebook 38.69% I primarily use LinkedIn 38.32% I primarily use something other than LinkedIn or Facebook 3.74% I don't have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2437,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2437\/unchained-social-networking-setting-up-a-linkedin-profile\/","url_meta":{"origin":5313,"position":1},"title":"Unchained Social Networking: Setting Up A LinkedIn Profile","author":"Brian Brady","date":"December 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"LinkedIn is the first social network I joined. I received an invitation in 2003. Back then, the network was dominated by tech types networking for jobs. I set up a profile and was BLOWN AWAY by the rich user-provided content. I was a National Sales Manager, in 2003, and new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2447,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2447\/unchained-social-networking-setting-up-a-facebook-profile\/","url_meta":{"origin":5313,"position":2},"title":"Unchained Social Networking: Setting Up a Facebook Profile","author":"Brian Brady","date":"December 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I was a latecomer to Facebook. I was an early adopter of MySpace and, as a marketer, still prefer the open access to user data MySpace provides. Facebook profiles are \"closed\" to the public unless you have a \"connection\". As a user you may love that but as a marketer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8063,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/8063\/social-media-marketing-homework-for-bloodhoundblog-unchained\/","url_meta":{"origin":5313,"position":3},"title":"Social Media Marketing Homework for BloodhoundBlog Unchained","author":"Brian Brady","date":"April 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Ready for the big week ahead? I'm Brian Brady, one of the co-founders of BloodhoundBlog Unchained.\u00a0 I'm that guy with the suspenders on Facebook, LinkedIn, ActiveRain, et al.\u00a0 My goal (and yours) will be to establish a ubiquitous presence on these sites so that any past or potential customer can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13269,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13269\/id-rather-be-left-alone-than-linkedin\/","url_meta":{"origin":5313,"position":4},"title":"I’d Rather Be Left Alone Than LinkedIn","author":"Mark Madsen","date":"September 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been looking for an excuse to cancel my LinkedIn acct for months now. The extra web exposure on a platform that I don't control is concerning to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegashomegroup.com\/files\/2010\/09\/Bill-Gates-Quote-1984-e1285107412522.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5538,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5538\/social-media-marketing-conversion-you-are-permitted-to-get-paid\/","url_meta":{"origin":5313,"position":5},"title":"Social Media Marketing Conversion: You Are Permitted To Get Paid","author":"Brian Brady","date":"November 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Screwing around on social networks is fun but it isn't gonna get me paid !\" Say it ain't so, Joe !\u00a0 I addressed this topic in my \"Ninja Social Media Marketing\" session at Unchained Orlando.\u00a0 I'll lay it all out in Phoenix, this May.\u00a0 The truth is that a disciplined\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5313"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5321,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5313\/revisions\/5321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}