I joined Rich Akullian of Autotask on Thursday 16th February, 2012 for a free webinar aimed at IT Solution Providers and Managed Service Providers entitled “Effectively Using Social Networking to Build Your IT Business”. In the 60 minute webinar we covered:- * Principles for using social networking * ROI of social networking social networking vs. social media * Tips for Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook * Business reasons to blog * What are content loops and how to use them * Third-party tools to better manage social sites * How social networking differs from traditional business networking

1. Effectively using Social
Networking to build your IT
business
Richard Tubb
MSP Consultant
richard@tubblog.co.uk

2. Webinar Agenda
» The principles for using Social Networking
» The ROI of Social Networking
» Social Networking vs. Social Media
» Tips for Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
» Why Blog?
» Content Loops
» The Tools to use
» Social Networking vs. traditional Business Networking
» Question and Answer (also tweet us now at @autotask and @tubblog)

3. The Principles of Social Networking
» Do not sell!
» Use to educate
» Add Value, not noise
» It’s a two-way conversation
» It’s about quality, not quantity

4. The ROI of Social Networking
» Establishes you as a subject matter expert
» Begins process of building trust in you
» Gives you visibility
» Typically used as a conversation starter
» Business can be won thanks to Social Networking!

5. Social Networking
All about conversations

6. Social Media
» Primarily about content
» There are still opportunities for
conversations though!

7. Content Loops
» Create a video on YouTube – create a link to your web-site
» Create a blog post talking about the video
» Tweet about the blog post
» Create a LinkedIn status update about the Video
» Add photos to Flickr showing how you made the video
» Your e-mail newsletter references the blog article
» Different people consume information through different channels.
Help them to find you!

8. The tools to use
» Tweetdeck
» Outlook Social Connector
» SocialOomph
» Google Alerts
» Bit.ly – Shorten and track the links you share
» Autotask – Capture client & prospect Social Media details
» Read my blog article – “The Tools I use” (http://bit.ly/ydaECR )

9. Tips for Twitter
» 140 Characters – micro-blogging!
» What you say will be open for the world to see!
» Share links that share your viewpoint
– add your thoughts
» Follow like minded individuals, start conversations
» Use Groups to categorise those you follow – Business, Friends, Local, Vendors,
Prospects, etc.
» Getting started? Re-Tweet (RT) some articles, ask and answer questions
» Use Hash-Tags (#) to discuss specific subjects

10. Tips for LinkedIn
» Solely business focus
» Offers status updates like Twitter
– but use sparingly.
» Use as part of your process for managing business cards
» Scan the Weekly LinkedIn update e-mail for opportunities to reconnect with people
» Use LinkedIn Groups to engage with peers and prospects
» If cross-posting to Twitter, don’t use Hash-tags (#) on LinkedIn!

11. Tips for Facebook
» Facebook primarily for personal relationships,
but is used extensively for business too
» The line between personal friendships
and business friendships is blurring
» People do business with people they like
– don’t be afraid to be yourself on-line!
» Use Facebook Privacy settings to separate your friends and
colleagues where necessary
» Use @ sign to tag other people – in status updates, in photos

12. Why Blog?
» Blogging is free – it doesn’t matter if anyone reads it!
» It teaches you to effectively articulate your thoughts and points –
it’ll make you a better salesmen, a better speaker, a better party
guest!
» Be consistent with your message and your frequency of posting
» If you’re good at it, people will read. If you’re no good at it, you’ll
get good at it.
» Effectively builds trust in you and your brand

13. Social Networking Etiquette
» When in doubt, treat like “real world” networking
» Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to be quoted on
» But do be yourself!
» Don’t “Friend Collect” – *always* write personalised
introductions within connection requests
» Read my blog post – “Thanks for your Friend Request,
but who are you?” http://bit.ly/tubblog-friendrequest

14. Social Networking vs. traditional
Business Networking
» Social Networking compliments traditional networking,
and visa versa!
» Putting all your energy into just one or the other will
only get you so far
» Use a balanced “linked up” approach to networking both
on-line and off-line – Face-to-Face, Telephone Calls, E-
Mails, Social Networking
» Always try to “Be The Connector”

15. Any questions?
» Blog – opinions, info and news for SMB IT
companies - www.tubblog.co.uk
» Twitter – www.twitter.com/tubblog
» LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/richardtubb
» Google+ - http://bit.ly/z7tPQP
» E-Mail (remember that?) – richard@tubblog.co.uk