Sales and Marketing Mashup » Linkedin

Are You LinkedIn?

Tim Kocher — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:52:18 +0000

I had the pleasure of co-facilitating a workshop on LinkedIn this week. There were more than 20 people in the room with varying degrees of familiarity with the LinkedIn platform. It was a fun event, and we received some great feedback on the usefulness of the tool, particularly for these folks, many of whom are in a job search.

They say you never learn something until you teach it. What I learned was just how far this platform has come in the past 6 months. As an early adopter, I sometimes take it for granted. But seeing it through the eyes of a newcomer really highlighted just how powerful this tool set is.

LinkedIn is:

Your Personal website. It’s YOU.com (just Google yourself and see)
Your LIVING Rolodex (it grows exponentially as you nurture it)
A “P [professional] RM” System (moves with you from job to job)
A Social Media Platform (hooks into Twitter, “like”, “sharing,” etc.)
A Database of Corporate Information (“Company” entity added)
A Job Posting / Search System (powerful for recruiters /job-seekers)

If you (or anyone you care about) are still not on LinkedIn, you need to get on pronto. If you are a power user, it’s time to take a look at the new features available to you. LinkedIn has centralized some very useful training information in a section called ”The Learning Center” http://learn.linkedin.com/ where you can quickly update your knowledge and skills.

Get to it!

Today on LinkedIn – A New Way to Share Ideas…

Tim Kocher — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:22:29 +0000

Logged in to LinkedIn today to share a post and found a great new feature that we can all use to connect more deeply with our networks. You can now embed links inside of your status updates to more directly communicate web content to your contacts. Here’s a YouTube link that explains.

Ode to LinkedIn

Tim Kocher — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:50:16 +0000

LinkedIn has reached 60,000,000 members! RT @techcrunch: LinkedIn Now 60 Million Strong – http://j.mp/9vkPWB

Think about that. 60 MILLION members. It is even more incredible when you think that these are people connecting regarding their public/professional lives vs. the private/casual users of other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

This service is one of the most fundamentally game-changing new tools for professionals. What did we do without it?

When I imagine what the first half of my career might have been like if I started out with this tool for helping and leveraging my network of relationships as I began in sales, it makes me want to cry.

But we have it now!

Social Media Policy – Is it Possible? Ask Coca-Cola

Tim Kocher — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:49:39 +0000

Many companies with whom I have worked struggle to get into the game on social media. Due to engrained habits, they can not see a clear way to add this new dimension to their marketing mix. Today, it is really not an option. Conversations about your company are happening out there – period. The only decision you really have is, “Do I want to participate?” I would suggest that your answer should be YES! But that begs the question - what do you do on Monday morning? How do you really operationalize these media that can be (and should be) much more colloquial than our traditional corporate communications? Establishing a policy in this area seems a non-starter for many firms. However, it is happening. See Coca-Cola’s new social media policy: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/coca-cola-launches-new-social-media-policy/ . If a global company with 92,000 employees can do this (in 3 pages no less!) don’t you think your company can swing it?

Hello world – Sales and Marketing Mashup is Here!

Tim Kocher — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:44:41 +0000

I have wanted to do this for some time now – so here goes! My name is Tim Kocher. I have been in sales and marketing for my entire 19-year career, most of it for professional services companies. I hope this blog will become a place where people who are connected to sales and marketing can come to see valuable information on the tricks of the trade (and the trade itself) in one stop. We’ll touch on all aspects of business development so be sure to come visit often! Feel free to Look me up on LinkedIn as well: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timkocher