| A few years back I heard someone say, "People buy from those who educate them." This has probably always been true to some extent but never as much as today, with social media playing a bigger part in our marketing and branding efforts.
This takes some time to get used to, especially for those of us who are not from the Facebook generation. We were taught and have experienced a much more in-your-face type of branding and marketing, like run an ad and see what you sell.
So, if you believe my starting statement, "People buy from those who educate them," you will want to make sure your efforts on LinkedIn help you to educate others. Here are some great LinkedIn applications to help you, along with an explanation of how you do this and why it works.
As a reminder, you download these and all the other applications (they're free) by going to your top tool bar, clicking "More," and then scrolling down to "Get More Applications."
Warning: Attempt to use Google Presentations at your own risk. I and many others have a terrible time getting this to work consistently.
SlideShare
You are an expert on many topics in your field of expertise, and you have probably used Power Point presentations, videos, and pdf files to help educate people on these topics. If you place these types of files into Slide Share, they will show up on your profile for people to read and/or download 24/7. Be sure to reference these documents in your profile Summary with a statement encouraging people to check them out. This is a great place for company presentations, product videos, customer testimonials, and much more.
I have had more than one person tell me that potential customers called them and said something like "I reviewed your company Power Point on your LinkedIn profile. I like what I see, and I want to see you on Monday morning."
Box. net files
The reasons for using Box. net files are similar to those I mentioned for SlideShare, but the documents for this section are pdf files, Excel files, and Word files.
You will be notified when someone downloads any of the documents you have loaded into Box. net files. You will not be told who downloaded this unless you subscribe to the Box. net files paid service, but many times you will be able to guess who it was based on some of your latest conversations and contacts.
Several people have commented that they downloaded the free chapter of my book from my Box. net files on my profile and headed right to Amazon to snap it up. Ka-ching.
Events
You can publicize your live events here and also share with your connections the events you are attending. Whenever you say you are attending, that event shows up on the home page of all the people in your network on the day you register. It will stay on your individual profile until the event date passes. This is a great way to show you are continuing on your journey to be an expert in your field, and people respect people who are students of what they do.
Reading List by Amazon
You can post the books you are reading along with your detailed review. This is a great way to pass along your thoughts on a book you have read to other industry professionals, showing them you are "on top of it."
The last two books you post actually show up on your profile. So, if you are trying to increase your educational position in the marketplace, don't post and review the last two "Twilight" books unless your expertise is vampires.
Feel free to post my Linkedin book in your Amazon list!
Check out my profile to see examples of how I use all four of these great applications to educate my audience.
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Social media tools help us build online relationships in which we share and help. Then when the time comes, the people you shared with and helped will remember you and what products and services you offer and purchase them from you or recommend you to their friends and associates. 