Justin Freid is an internet marketer who specializes in social media marketing and search engine optimization. Currently pursuing an MBA in marketing from Philadelphia University, Justin is amazed how social media puts so much power in the user and enables someone to create a personal brand and build a strong network. You can find Justin’s thoughts on the world of social media and SEO on his blog, JFreid.com (http://www.jfreid.com) and follow him on Twitter under the handle @Justin_Freid (http://www.twitter.com/justin_freid)
I recently had the chance to read 42 Rules for 24 hour Success on LinkedIn written by Chris Muccio with David Burns and Peggy Murrah. For those of you unfamiliar with LinkedIn or looking to understand how helpful it can be for your career, this E-Book is a great resource.
What I really found helpful with this E-book was that it takes the reader from the very beginning steps of understanding LinkedIn and social networks and leads them through more advanced techniques and the capabilities of growing your network and career through social media networking sites like LinkedIn.
In chapter 4, Chris addresses the topic of measuring your time spent on LinkedIn and social networks to measure if your return on investment is worth it. He raises the point that you may not see immediate results when expanding your network on LinkedIn and not to judge your success too quickly. You will need to measure your time spent on social networks by looking for spikes in traffic to your website, an increase in opt-in for your weekly email or new inbound links to your web site referencing your work or company. You will also be able to measure your success by the relationships you build and the influential people you interact with.
We all know that social networks come with a common set of rules, if you are looking to promote your website or product that is perfectly fine, but do not annoy your followers and those you interact with. Those users you interact with will quickly dismiss you as a credible source and often end their online relationship with you. In chapter 8, the author addresses this subject and gives some great insight on how to communicate with the public without over stepping the boundaries. Chris also goes into detail about things as simple as updating “what you are working on” and how it is broadcasted to all of your followers and your industry.
As you travel further into the book, it begins to narrow from an overview of social media sites and turns to optimizing your LinkedIn profile and growing your network. This is the area of the book I found truly helpful, tips on who to connect with, what to include in your profile and which groups to join are all areas that are touched upon. I also personally found chapter 18, You Are Your Brand extremely thought-provoking. With social networks blossoming, this chapter gave some great tips on building your personal brand and how everything you put out in public can affect your brand name.
I consider myself a pretty advanced LinkedIn user and still found an extremely large amount of helpful information within this publication, especially in the later chapters. This book truly runs the gamut and can turn a newbie into a pro when it comes to LinkedIn. At the same time the later chapters give tips that even some of the most advanced LinkedIn users could benefit from.
