Business benefits for your company with LinkedIn

Posted: May 29, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Company stuff, Social media | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Social media have become an ever more self-evident part of marketing by companies. For those companies that have B2B clients, LinkedIn is a natural choice with several ways of creating business benefits.

According to LinkedIn the world’s largest professional networks operate on the Internet with more than 150 million members in more than 200 countries (statistics from 9 February 2012). What possibilities exist then to market your company and create business opportunities with LinkedIn? Several are listed here.

Company profile in LinkedIn

Start by creating a company profile for your company on LinkedIn. But, first of all, check to see if your company is already present. Where several people have indicated your company as their employer, the profile has already been created automatically.

Fill in information about your company, for example contact details, description of the company and services/products etc. You can also link in RSS feeds from other social media, for example the company’s Twitter, Slideshare and blogs.  See an example http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/comaround.

Feel free to ask your employees what it’s like to work for the company. You can also obtain recommendations from clients and co-operation partners. Be proactive and send out a question via LinkedIn asking them to write a few lines on your company profile page.

Search engine positioning and optimisation in LinkedIn

As is common where web pages are concerned, it is important to specify relevant search terms and phrases which we want to end up high on Google’s search result list, in order to maximise search engine traffic to a webpage. This principle, of course, applies also to the company’s profile page on LinkedIn, something it can be easy to forget. Google loves LinkedIn, that is to say it has a high page rank and this makes it easier to come high up on Google hits on complex search terms and phrases. Even if you come high up on the search results with your homepage it is possible to take more positions on Google hits. See the example below where we wish to come high up with the term ‘web-based self-service’.  We have achieved first place via LinkedIn and place 2 and 3 via our homepage.

Since Google loves LinkedIn, it is also possible to improve your own company’s page rank. This is done through creating links from LinkedIn to your homepage.

Advertising on LinkedIn

With LinkedIn you can also create business benefits via advertising. You can create text ads similar to keyword advertising such as Adwords and text ads with a small illustration. You pay per click (CPC) or per 1,000 times the ad is shown (CPM).

Lead Collection is a function in LinkedIn which enables you to track leads directly through your LinkedIn ad campaigns. When this function is activated, persons (members of LinkedIn) who click on your ad can simply request that you contact them through clicking on a button ‘Request Contact’. This option is shown at the top of your target page. For each lead, you will see the person’s name, heading and a link to his/her LinkedIn profile. The person also has the possibility of sharing his/her e-mail address. You will be able to send a free follow-up message to them on LinkedIn.

Create or be part of a group on LinkedIn

Through creating a group for your brand or trade name/trade mark, you will be able to extend the reach beyond your own network.  Within the brand group you are able to initiate discussions, share news etc. or create sub-groups. This is a good way of creating a dialogue with key persons in your business sector and with potential and existing clients.

You can also participate in other groups in order to reply to questions that relate to your area of expertise. This is valuable because you can thereby expand your network or acquire updated news associated with your particular line of business.

Job advertising on LinkedIn

When there is a need to recruit new employees you are able to place job adverts via LinkedIn.

Events on LinkedIn

There are also possibilities for marketing events. You will find the function under the ‘More’ flap.

Polls on LinkedIn

You are able to create interest and find answers to important questions through creating your own survey or poll which you can distribute on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. You can also embed the voting module on your own website or blog.

You can learn more about how to market your company in order to create business benefits under Learning Center (under ‘More’ flap).

You are welcome to report how you have managed to create new business through marketing yourself via LinkedIn.

Source: www.linkedin.com

Why you should move to the cloud – 5 good reasons

Posted: March 9, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Company stuff, Software | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

This week Inspiration Day Cloud 2012 is being held in Stockholm. The purpose is to inspire decision-makers to take the step into the cloud. The question is for whom the cloud is suited, when is the right time to take the step and, of course, what do we gain by going to the cloud?

We at ComAround have, for example, ever since 1999, worked with deliveries of software via the Internet (Software as a Service or SaaS) so the cloud as a concept is not a wholly new phenomenon. What is new, however, is that one now moves the whole operation and the entire IT environment to the Internet or to the cloud. Preconditions that enable this step include a considerably improved infrastructure with faster connection times, new more intelligent software and enhanced security.

Why move to the cloud? – Why not?

The simple answer why you should move to the cloud is quite simple: because you can. Or try to answer “why not?” Previously it has been possible to answer the question with the arguments mentioned above i.e. – we don’t have sufficiently good connection speed, the operation is too unstable and it is too unreliable. But today these arguments don’t stand up. In many respects an own operating environment is considerably more unreliable from the viewpoint of operating reliability, at least for small and medium-sized companies. The trend is also that it is just these small and medium-sized companies that have moved to the cloud most rapidly. Larger companies, on the other hand, have made substantial investments in their own operations which it has not been possible to replace as quickly. Frequently, moreover one is stuck with long service agreements with sub-contractors that over many years have done everything they can to become irreplaceable.

An educated guess is that we  shall see a rapid consolidation of the number of data centres and some experts believe that in just a few years we shall have ten or so large data centres in the world that will handle all operations. The reason is quite simply that there are such enormous  economies of scale in this activity; indeed it is the same trend which means that there are benefits for companies in placing all – or at least large parts – of their IT environment in the cloud instead of running it themselves. We shall also see solutions where the basic operation is handled in-house and then cloud services are utilised to handle peak loads.

5 reasons to go to the cloud:

  1. Price (most self-evident for SME’s)
  2. Can focus on core operations
  3. Enables simple and rapid growth in line with operations
  4. Enhanced accessibility
  5. Because it can be done 

Many are competing to deliver cloud computing

Here are certain of the large cloud computing suppliers that expect to be involved in running our IT operations.

Desktop virtualisation leads straight to the cloud

Desktop virtualisation using PC’s as thin clients, which means that software lies on a server instead of a client computer, has also reduced the gap between the old traditional local PC and external clients operated in the cloud.

One thing is certain. The cloud affects us deeply and the younger generation now entering the workplace views accessibility via the Internet and thereby the cloud as something self-evident. There are clear advantages with shorter “get-started times”, the possibility of only paying for what one  uses and the prospect of having capacity expand as activities and needs change.

Cloud packaging services still immature?

The problem, at present, is still that there are too many different ways of presenting the cloud as an option. A consolidation is required where these are divided up more clearly on the basis of target group and demand and where it is possible to present the right solution for the right customer. Today, in my view, there is too much general talk from suppliers of advantages in general without demonstrating ready and practical solutions. One is pushing on an already open door! One conjecture is that cloud services will soon enter a more mature phase and thereby also the cloud computer offers available to small and medium-sized companies. When that day arrives I shall gladly choose to scrap our HP Server with Microsoft SBS!

Should you have examples of companies that actually have clear-cut packages for cloud services, I am hoping you will be able to share this information. Yes, I do look forward to the cloud but, in the meantime, I am happy to take things easy here in a cloudless environment.

Facebook Timeline for companies during 2012

Posted: March 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Company stuff, News, Social media | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

What does Facebook say about Timeline for companies?

Since Facebook Timeline for private persons was launched during 2011 there has been lively speculation as to when Timeline for companies (Pages) will arrive. This speculation is natural since Facebook, on the launching of Timeline in September, said this was a long-term and important development in the way of presenting pages and information in Facebook. It is also easy to see new possibilities for companies to leverage their brand and highlight their business pages in Facebook with the increased possibilities that Timeline offers, not least in terms of graphic impact.

Timeline is also able to offer interesting connections to other sites and services that the company has, not least with Facebook Connect’s trusted connections. We at ComAround, for example, would be able to disclose the latest shown or most popular guides in our ComAround Free service directly on our ComAround Page in Facebook.

On 15 February, representatives for Facebook said to Mashable: “we are currently focused on Timeline for individuals and will consider how to make consistent experiences for Pages, but we have nothing to announce at this time”. The fact is that this giant in social media never stated, in so many words, that Timeline would be available for companies.  Nevertheless, it seems self-evident that we shall see some variant of Timeline for business. The question is not if but when it arrives. Just now it does not appear that such an update is close at hand bearing in mind the above statement.

In September 2011, Mashable had certain graphic designers involved in marketing at major companies create brand pages based on the graphic preconditions from Timeline for individuals; you can see some of the results below. A direct transfer of Timeline as it operates at present to Pages would, without doubt, have a great impact in leveraging a company’s profile and presentation on Facebook.

Timeline for pages – increased business engagement or Myspace trap?

Certain sceptics warn that a launching of Timeline for companies would mean that the focus is shifted from communication and interaction between users to strong graphic statements and branded Facebook pages with a more push-oriented approach from companies where information is pushed into the face of fans and visitors. This same group is only too keen to point out how things went for Myspace. They also claim that Timeline for business, in purely visual terms, would remind one a lot of Myspace before things started to go wrong. The people at  Facebook have so far done most things right and they will surely find the golden mean and ensure that it will engage both the business sector and their visitors.

Giant public listing = a note of caution

Something that suggests that we may have to wait some months for Timeline for companies is that Facebook just now stands on the threshold of a giant public offering of its shares. The clearest criticism directed from investors in connection with this has been that one has not demonstrated that it is possible to capture a decent volume of paying corporate customers and the other uncertainty relates to how one can charge for adverts on mobile phones. At present it has been decided not to display any adverts on mobile phones and the latest figures shows that Facebook had 450 million logged on users in one month in December 2011. The scale of mobile use is thus enormous; were it possible to create clearer income streams connected to this strong trend then the earnings would increase very substantially. To launch Facebook Timeline for companies would, I believe, increase companies’ engagement in Facebook in terms of business and its business ‘pages’. Moreover, when companies come to allocate their marketing budgets it is no disadvantage if the company succeeds in engaging businesses even more. Just now, everything points to the public offering taking place and the capital sought being obtained; the valuation points to 75-100 billion dollars. This means that Facebook is valued as highly as McDonald’s, for example, and at about half the value of Google. At this stage the giant has no need to take unnecessary risks or to make major changes which might turn out badly and create uncertainty. My guess is that we shall not see any major updates or changes such as Timeline for business before the public listing is wholly complete in April-May. The last thing they want just at present is wild speculation concerning how new changes might affect Facebook’s future prospects and the prerequisites for creating earnings in future. After the public listing is settled in May-June we should see a series of changes in the pipeline being rolled out during the second half of 2012.

 If you haven’t activated your own Timeline so far then take this opportunity to watch my video “The new Facebook Timeline – take a look before upgrading your Facebook account”. You can also check out Facebook’s own presentation of Timeline.

Thanks for having read this article! I look forward to reading your comments concerning Facebook Timeline for business.

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