1. Increase your visibility.
By adding connections, you increase the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they’re searching for someone to hire or do business with. In addition to appearing at the top of search results (which is a major plus if you’re one of the 52,000 product managers on LinkedIn), people would much rather work with people who their friends know and trust.


2. Improve your connectability.
Most new users put only their current company in their profile. By doing so, they severely limit their ability to connect with people. You should fill out your profile like it’s an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and activities.You can also include a link to your profile as part of an email signature. The added benefit is that the link enables people to see all your credentials, which would be awkward if not downright strange, as an attachment.


3. Improve your Google PageRank.
LinkedIn allows you to make your profile information available for search engines to index. Since LinkedIn profiles receive a fairly high PageRank in Google, this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for you. To do this, create a public profile and select “Full View.” Also, instead of using the default URL, customize your public profile’s URL to be your actual name. To strengthen the visibility of this page in search engines, use this link in various places on the web> For example, when you comment in a blog, include a link to your profile in your signature.


4. Enhance your search engine results.
In addition to your name, you can also promote your blog or website to search engines like Google and Yahoo! Your LinkedIn profile allows you to publicize websites. There are a few pre-selected categories like “My Website,” “My Company,” etc.  If you select “Other” you can modify the name of the link. If you’re linking to your personal blog, include your name or descriptive terms in the link, and voila! instant search-engine optimization for your site. To make this work, be sure your public profile setting is set to “Full View.”


5. Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks.
LinkedIn’s reference check tool to input a company name and the years the person worked at the company to search for references. Your search will find the people who worked at the company during the same time period. Since references provided by a candidate will generally be glowing, this is a good way to get more balanced data.  Companies will typically check your references before hiring you, but have you ever thought of checking your prospective manager’s references? Most interviewees don’t have the audacity to ask a potential boss for references, but with LinkedIn you have a way to scope her out. You can also check up on the company itself by finding the person who used to have the job that you’re interviewing for. Do this by searching for job title and company, but be sure to uncheck “Current titles only.” By contacting people who used to hold the position, you can get the inside scoop on the job, manager and growth potential.By the way, if using LinkedIn in these ways becomes a common practice, we’re apt to see more truthful resumes. There’s nothing more amusing than to find out that the candidate who claims to have caused some huge success was a total bozo who was just along for the ride.


6. Increase the relevancy of your job search.
Use LinkedIn’s advanced search to find people with educational and work experience like yours to see where they work. For example, a programmer would use search keywords such as “Ruby on Rails,” “C++,” “Python,” “Java,” and “evangelist” to find out where other programmers with these skills work.


7. Make your interview go smoother.
You can use LinkedIn to find the people that you’re meeting. Knowing that you went to the same school, plays hockey, or shares acquaintances is a lot better than an awkward silence after, “I’m doing fine, thank you.”


8. Gauge the health of a company.
Perform an advanced search for company name and uncheck the “Current Companies Only” box. This will enable you to scrutinize the rate of turnover and whether key people are abandoning ship. Former employees usually give more candid opinions about a company’s prospects than someone who’s still on board.


9. Gauge the health of an industry.
If you’re thinking of investing or working in a sector, use LinkedIn to find people who worked for competitors—or even better, companies who failed. For example, suppose you wanted to build a next generation online pet store, you’d probably learn a lot from speaking with former Pets.com or WebVan employees.


10. Track startups.
You can see people in your network who are initiating new startups by doing an advanced search for a range of keywords such as “stealth” or “new startup.” Apply the “Sort By” filter to “Degrees away from you” in order to see the people closest to you first.

[Republished from: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn via "How to Change the World" -- Guy Kawasaki's blog]

Content marketing is not a new concept however, the amount of money companies are diverting to the effort is.  A recent report published by Junta42, "Content Marketing Spending ... 6 in 10 Marketers Spending More on Content Marketing in 2010" unveils some statics surrounding the latest trends and types of technologies being used to distribute content. 

In addition to the vehicles by which content is being delivered, new technologies are being developed to capture and organize content in new ways.  Content curation a relatively new term being tossed around the industry is starting to take root.  A recent article "Why Content Curation Is Here to Stay"  published by Steve Rosenbaum the CEO of Magnify.net  discusses why it's important and the debate surrounding the practice. 

Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion.

Images can speak thousands words and are useful for making your main message stand out.  First impressions goes a  long way. Make sure your images are optimized not only for size but also for accessibility with ALT tags.  The best way to use images are for breaking up text to entice the visitor to read more.

Keep your text paragraphs at a reasonable length. If a paragraph is too long, try breaking it into smaller bits with bullet points or additional text blocks. This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content.

When I started this article, I followed my standard procedure and started to look for stats, interesting quotes and news articles and found myself quickly sucked into the social media world for what I found to be a fascinating experience... one so stunning that I felt compelled to share it with you and you'll note I used the words "compelled" and "share" in the same sentence as this is at the core of social media.  I found this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8) on YouTube and subsequently bought the book Socialnomics, by Erik Qualman. Are consumers as easily swayed as I was by this type of video/advertisement?

Powerful yet subtle tools are being used to entice audiences of all types to learn more, access more and purchase more with the use of viral marketing where word of mouth is created not through friends or family but through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video and photo sharing websites or blogs.

Each year it seems as if something new hits the internet. One of the newer phenomenon's involves online videos and their use in search engine marketing. In a recent article Dec 3, 2009 ... NEW YORK (Reuters) Google sees growth in online video ads, president of global sales operations and business development, Nikesh Arora was quoted as saying "The one big shift in the next three to five years is going to be video advertising".

So why the popularity? It is highly effective because it combines the classic advantages of TV advertising with the internet's most popular characteristic, interactivity. In addition, people from every occupation and lifestyle can use video's to get their message out at a fraction of the cost and time it takes with the use of traditional media outlets. Moreover, the availability of video editing software and a basic set of computer system tools makes video creation a very viable option.

The traditional marketing "box" or method of the 4 P's has stood as the standard in marketing since 1960. There have been various attempts to expand upon the 4 P's (the "7 P's" and the "New 4P's") but none have ever taken root until now with the introduction of the SIVA Marketing Model. Proposed by Chekitan Dev and Don Schultz in the Marketing Management Journal of The American Marketing Association, the SIVA Model attempts to rearticulate the 4 P's in a way that is more consistent with today's marketplace building brand power by community vs. the top-down approach of traditional marketing.

The SIVA Model Breakdown

The Foundation: Building an Effective Web Site

Web sites serve many purposes and in today’s fast-paced world of instant information and you have about 2.2 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention before they are off to another site. This article provides you with a set of guidelines to help you plan and build a web site. It touches on a variety of topics and is not meant to be an all-inclusive source but rather a basic guide to arm you with knowledge and resources for building your own site or researching web development companies.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural (organic or algorithmic) search results. This is one of a dozen general definitions you can find on the web but what does it mean to you and your web campaign?

Marketing to base; almost sounds like a call over a walkie talkie handset... marketing to base, come in... and in actuality you could think of it that way.  Generating new business out of your existing base of customers is something that is often overlooked and is easier than you think just by taking a few extra steps in your everyday activities.

Taking Inventory

THE ADVANTAGES OF LOCAL AND COMMUNITY DIRECTORIES

Do you search online for restaurants in your neighborhood? Look-up a phone number for local repair services? Or maybe you’re planning a weekend getaway and want to compare hotel rates? Chances are you’re using a local search to perform such tasks; what are the chances potential customers in your local community will find you?