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10 Tips Guaranteed to Make the LinkedIn Reciprocity Gods Smile
“I don’t bother with LinkedIn because it’s too much work.”
“LinkedIn isn’t fun. I’d rather play on Facebook. “
I hear many people complain about LinkedIn. That’s a shame because the people I hear complaining about LinkedIn are some of the finest professionals I know in the bricks-and-mortar world. In the meantime, I’m watching people I revere as thought leaders and movers and shakers succumb to mind numbing Facebook games while important corners of their social media presence remain neglected and ignored.
LinkedIn offers members a chance to write and receive Recommendations about their Connections. This is one of the most powerful features of the platform.
Imagine a prospective client or employer arrives at your LinkedIn profile page and sees a thread of Recommendations from people at all stages in your career. Imagine the impact that event has. Imagine the confidence you can inspire with written testimony of your service.
Leverage your presence on LinkedIn using the Recommendation feature. Writing Recommendations for others will ignite a reciprocity exchange and social adrenaline will inspire recipients to respond with Recommendations for your LinkedIn page.
- Don’t ask people for Recommendations. Write Recommendations for other people! Making a request for a Recommendation creates social indebtedness. Writing a Recommendation places the recipient in the social capital receivables bucket.
- Make LinkedIn Recommendation writing part of a weekly engagement plan. Write at least two recommendations for people you have worked with successfully. Thank each for a job well done and state that others can have confidence in receiving the same service.
- Create a list of people you have worked with successfully. Connect with them on LinkedIn and put them on a schedule for written Recommendation acknowledgement. Use a memory jogger and date plan.
- Write a Recommendation for a competitor. Example: Real estate agent or broker writes a Recommendation for an agent who recently cooperated in a successful transaction.
- Write a Recommendation for a staffer or colleague. After following Tip #2, be certain that you are extending testimonial support to your company staffers and independent contractors.
- Write with integrity. Do not exaggerate about someone’s service. Be honest and truthful.
- Refrain from writing Recommendations that do not reflect your honest enthusiasm. It is better to abstain from writing a dishonest testimonial than jeopardizing your reputation.
- Issue written gratitude for persons who write Recommendations for you.
- Hide from view and delete Recommendations from others when the writers are persons with whom you would not do business. Consider removing those people from your network and disengaging completely when you feel your reputation is at stake.
- Review your written recommendations periodically. If there is deleterious change in your business relationship with someone who displays your personal Recommendation, withdraw your Recommendation.
(Are we connected on LinkedIn? Here’s my profile.)
Realtor Association Execs: Social Media Risk Management Webinar Replay
Here is a replay of the Webinar Marcie Roggow and I presented to Realtor Association Executives this afternoon:
Watch Realtor AE: Real Estate Social Media Policies in News Online | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Reputation Management for Real Estate Professionals
Drew Meyers of Zillow.com made an excellent presentation to real estate professionals earlier this week at the Virtual Real Esdtate Barcamp. Thanks for sharing, Drew.
Online Reputation Management (and Social Media Survival Skills)
Design a Social Media Business Plan for 2010
This is a Webinar I presented several days ago.
Real Estate Social Media Plan Webinar Handout
Happy New Year!
Design a Social Media Business Plan for 2010 - Click here for the most popular videos
Successful Facebook Engagement Hinges on Depth of Penetration
Real estate coach Joeann Fossland wonders why so many people are eager to be her friend without giving her a clue about who they are and why they are looking for friendship in her coachy quarters. She laments on Twitter this morning:
“Why do people you don’t know invite you to be friends on Facebook and have ALL their information hidden so you haven’t a clue who they are?”
I’ll bet that when Facebook was launched, members invited only people they knew personally to their inner circles of friendship. Remember. Facebook was built as a platform where members could share and collaborate. Commercial applications were hardly a twinkle in the developers’ eyes. Some people still draw their friendship circle with people they know personally and who are persons they like and trust.
Fast forward to 2009. Business people are charging social media like gold rush prospectors. Every Friend on Facebook, each Follower on Twitter, and each Connection on LinkedIn is tallied like a gold nugget and squirreled away until someone figures out what to do with all those little nuggets and convert them to negotiable currency.
Shallow Engagement Waters
Making a friend on Faceboo…k is the first step in building a relationship with that person here. Don’t take it too lightly.
Wham-bam-click-this-link-and-be-my-Facebook-friend is the most common approach among real estate agents and brokers. Lenny Lonesome surveys a list of a friend’s friends and starts to click links. He only clicks the Send Request link, and a plain vanilla friend invitation appears on that person’s Home Page.
Wham-bam-click-this-link-and-I’ll-accept-this-friend is most people’s response to a friend invitation. No words are exchanged beyond a solitary click.
Add a personal message to accept an invitation to become a Facebook Friend.
Differentiators Dive Into Deeper Waters
Here are options for more meaningful introductions on Facebook.
- Know some background about the person you are selecting as a friend. Why do people friend people if they don’t know who they are, what they do, or if there is a reason to engage in a relationship.
- Write a personal note with the invitation to be friends. It could be simple as, “I saw your thoughtful comment about foreclosures on the Women’s Council of Realtors Region 4 Fan Page. I would be honored to connect with you.”
- Write a personal note to someone who asks you to be a friend. Review the information available at the name link and consider the request. Sometimes it may be scarce … look for a point of commonality and respond accordingly. If this is a person you want in your inner circle of friends, accept the request. If this is a business contact, consider inviting that person to your Fan Page instead of your personal account.
One of my favorite friend requests came to my attention during a social media class this summer with a group of real estate brokers and I had an opportunity to demonstrate this lesson live. A real estate agent located in a distant state wanted to be a friend but her profile information was very scant. There was a note about her interests and pole dancing figured as a major point of attraction.
The class laughed. (Guess they did not consider that point of commonality with the lady at the keyboard.)
I responded with a note:
“Thank you for connecting with me on Facebook. It seems we share a love of dance. Sadly, I confess, I am the only middle-age Polish woman in the world who cannot Polka. Have a great day!”
Measure your engagement at the start of your friendship and Go Deep!
(Frances Flynn Thorsen will speak at the Social Media Mastermind Live Conference in Sedona January 15-16, 2009.)
