LinkedIn Groups and How Social Media is Like University

Good day everyone. I promised yesterday that I would report on my joining of groups in LinkedIn. I went out and requested membership in a few groups that interested me. So far only one has responded with an email saying they are evaluating my proposed membership. I’m afraid I’ve committed one of the don’ts of social media by not fully completing my LinkedIn profile. Let’s see if that keeps me out of the groups.

First response from LinkedIn Group

In the meantime, the first group that responded saying I was in ‘group limbo’ gave me a link to several related websites and I found some useful information there. Social Media in some ways, is like a university where you can wander around the campus, find experts in all sorts of fields and learn at their feet or even ask them questions.

Social Media – Magic Elixir?

A lot of businesses go into social media with the idea that they’ll just jump in and start selling their product to all those huddled masses waiting to spend their money. However, if you’re going to engage in social media for your business you need time or money or some of both. I’m finding out just how much time is involved. Even if you hire a professional, you can’t simply leave everything to them. Social media is about you networking with people. Engaging in social media via a professional representative is simply not the same as being involved yourself. There is definitely a place for a professional in the mix for helping you plan a strategy, avoiding social media pitfalls, assisting you in setting up your blog, training staff and helping you develop a presence on various suitable sites.

Update re LinkedIn Group

I’m in! I’m in the first group which is a group of over 40,000 media and marketing professionals. I just started looking around the group. I feel like the proverbial kid in the proverbial candy store. What a rich source of useful information and interaction. I’ve already been asked for my input and I can set up my own surveys and questionnaires as well. As I take part I’ll let you know more about the benefits of the group and post results of surveys that I undertake.

Thanks for reading. See you again tomorrow.