Advanced Social Media:
Understanding
LinkedIn & Twitter
September 28, 2011
Kirsten Judd, Social Media Strategist
NLC Social Media
www.nlcsocialmedia.com
Agenda – Part One
 LinkedIn
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Setting up your LinkedIn account effectively
Using LinkedIn as a business tool
Creating relationships / expanding networks
Using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool
Using LinkedIn advertising
Agenda – Part Two
 Twitter
 Setting up your Twitter account
 Linking your Twitter account to LinkedIn and other
networks
 Twitter etiquette
 How to tweet & respond to tweets
 Using automated tools to increase your followers
 Using Twitter as an advertising platform
Goals for the day
 Keep this training very informal, ask questions when
you think of them
 Set up your LinkedIn & Twitter accounts effectively
 Increase your comfort level and understanding of using
LinkedIn and Twitter in your organization
 Learn new ways to connect with your audience
LinkedIn & Twitter
 Enjoy some time out of the office!
Understanding LinkedIn
for Nonprofits
& how to use it in your organization
Get yourself “LinkedIn” first
 You must have a personal LinkedIn profile before your can set
up a profile for your organization.
 Use Your Personal Profile to Benefit Your Nonprofit:
 Post Network Updates about your organization’s work.
 Post Questions and be an expert by answering questions in the
nonprofit category.
 Join and participate in Groups relative to your organization’s
work.
 You can also add Apps to your profile which will allow you to
feature slide shows or Blogs about your organization. The
LinkedIn tool set has expanded significantly over the last year
and there’s a lot there to utilize to benefit both your personal
brand on LinkedIn and your organization.
Create Your LinkedIn Account
www.linkedin.com
Is your profile @ 100%?
What does your summary say?
Does it speak to your
audience?
Your elevator pitch goes
here! Tell your audience
what you can do for them.
Relevant to your current
position
Keyword friendly
Little things, but important
Create a personal
tagline …
“Social Media
Strategist”
Be Specific – Don’t
leave them guessing.
Profile Settings
Profile Settings
 Use Full View for maximum exposure / Be transparent
 Show all details
 Full View very important in improving your Google ranking,
individually and for your organization
 Link to your LinkedIn profile often with email signature
Your past connects you
 Complete your employment history section
 Request recommendations from your trusted
agents. Try to get recommended from others
who you have not recommended
 As your network grows, make a couple of
recommendations a month – it puts your
information out to their networks
 Be an expert on the Answers section … search a
category or keyword, find questions to answer.
(Located under More tab)
Updating your profile
 Use status updates often
 You can use Twitter to feed your status update if you
don’t want to do it manually
 Update your profile when you have
 A change in products/services
 A change in your territory (marketers)
 A shift in marketing campaigns / new video
 New addition to your website, etc.
 An upcoming event
Connections & Contacts
 1, 2, & 3 degrees of connections
 1=your direct contacts, trusted agents
 2=your trusted agents’ connections
 3=your trusted agents’ connections’ connections
 Open Contacts, Network Statistics
Adding Connections
 Allow LinkedIn to search your Outlook or Webmail
accounts for contacts who are already on LinkedIn
 Send batch invitations using email addresses from your
database
 Review your 2 & 3 degree contacts and request a
personal introduction through one of your trusted
agents
 Explore LinkedIn for past or present colleagues (if you
fill in your work experience thoroughly, LinkedIn will
do this for you)
Protocol
 Add no more than 20 new contacts per day, to
maintain conversations. Adding more than 20 will flag
you as a possible spammer
 Be polite, add a personal message to your invitation
 “Hi Gina, please accept my invitation to connect. I am
seeking to build a group of executive women in healthcare
and I’d be pleased if you would join my network”
 When they accept, reply back
 “Thank you for accepting my invitation to connect. I look
forward to collaborating with you in the future.”
Categorizing
Contacts
Use these TAGS to
organize your contacts
Setting Up Your Organization Profile
To get started, go to the “Companies” menu on LinkedIn. From there,
select “Add Company” (located on the right hand side under the search
box).
Organization Profile, cont’d
 Enter basic information about your company, like its
description, number of employees, and industry it
operates in.
 Follow LinkedIn’s wizard for creating your company
profile – you’ll be able to add a logo, locations, and a
feed for your company blog.
 Once you’ve completed LinkedIn’s steps for getting set
up, your company profile will be available. Now is
where it gets interesting though. In addition to
showing off the basic information you provided,
LinkedIn will pull in data about your company from
around the site.
Links to the profiles of all current employees, former employees, new hires,
and recent promotions, news about your organization, job opportunities,
etc., will be published to your organization page.
Best practices for non-profit
organizations on LinkedIn
 Encourage Your Staff to Create 100% Complete Profiles
The more complete staff members profiles are, the more likely your
organization is to attract and connect with all your critical audiences: staff,
supporters and clients.
 Create Groups at No Cost
There are over 75,000 nonprofit Groups on LinkedIn, offering nonprofits a
place to connect and host conversations with all their audiences.
 Raise Awareness
Prominent stakeholders (volunteers, advisors, board members) help raise
awareness and build your organization’s credibility when they list their
involvement on their profile or display a group badge.
 Search LinkedIn Answers – BE AN EXPERT
Find questions or search by topic in the ANSWERS section (under MORE tab).
Provide your expert opinion, explanation, or experience.
How to search for leads
 Find People
 Great for demographic/industry searches
 Advanced People Search
 Enter any piece of information you’d like to search by
 Refine as needed
 Save your search if you want to keep it as a reference
 Blind Reverse Search
 Search within a company to see who in your network knows
someone you want to know.
 Your contact can introduce you through InMail.
How to search for leads
 Group Diving – to find the right groups for you
 Search keywords
 Search for specific types of people (non-profits, healthcare,
etc.)
 Search discussions about topics of your choice
 When you find groups that interest you, look at group
information, # of members, do you have any 1 or 2 degree
connections?, join if you like and have the group leader plug
you in, join subgroups too
 Use advanced search to find people within a geographic area
and send a message to them, schedule an appointment
How to search for leads
 Use the Event section to promote events you are having
 Located under the MORE tab at the top, choose Events
Adding LinkedIn Applications to Your Profile
Understanding Twitter
for Nonprofits
& how to use it in your organization
Setting up your Twitter profile
 www.twitter.com
 Enter Full Name of Your Business, Email Address, &
Password
Twitter Settings
 Account
 Username will be your
public profile
(NLCSocialMedia)
 www.twitter.com/nlcsocial
media)
 Enter Email address that
will be used as main
communicator
Twitter Settings, cont’d
 Profile
 Add your logo or a photo
that represents your
organization
 Add your website address
 Add information about
your organization
***You only get 160
characters to use***
Twitter Settings, cont’d
 Design
 Don’t use a Twitter
template
 Use a graphic or photo that
is representative to your
organization
 Shows your unique
characteristics
 Sets your organization
apart from the rest
 Be creative!
Be Creative
Twitter Etiquette
 Follow back those that follow you
 Delete those followers who do not serve you
 Pay attention to direct messages sent to you or in
response to a tweet, asking a question. Many are
automated responses, but keep an eye out for those
needing an answer
 Tweet a general reminder now and then that your
organization cannot respond on Twitter to any
requests to engage services and provide a number to
reach your organization
Twitter Etiquette
 You don’t have to read every tweet on your page. Really!
 Build lists to watch people who matter to you more closely
 Retweet the good stuff from others - Sharing is caring
 Leave 20 characters or more space in each tweet to improve
retweeting
 Tools like http://bit.ly let you see stats
 Use your Twitter ID @NLCSocialMedia on email signatures
Twitter Protocol / Process
 Follow people with similar interests
Use Twellow and JustTweetIt (directories)
These sites can introduce you to Twitter users that have the
same interest as yours. Follow these people and observe their
tweets.
 Get into the conversation
Read up on what the people your following are up to and reply
if it interests you. When someone asks a question, don’t
hesitate to answer if you know it. Don’t be afraid to interact.
Twitter Protocol / Process
 Don’t spam
 Update daily
 Find the latest buzz and contribute
 Retweet messages of those you follow
One day you’ll be surprised on how eager they are to return
the favor.
 Create relationships
Interact with followers and create relationships. Ask how they
are doing and try to touch on their interests.
 Integrate Twitter with other social networks
Be on the lookout for:
 Relevant questions about your organization
 Relevant questions about your industry
 Requests for support
 Complaints and feedback
 Praise
 Competitor mentions
Automation of Tweets
www.Ping.fm
Allows you to update your status across
dozens of sites through a simple interface.
www.HootSuite.com
Manage multiple social networks
through one client; manage
multiple users over various social
network accounts (check in on
staff who are posting).
Twitter
 Terminology
 Tweet – status update of 140 characters
 Follower – someone who follows your tweets
 @ - used to reference another user (@nlcsocialmedia)
 RT – to re-tweet another user’s tweet to your followers
 Reply – to respond to another user’s tweet (public)
 DM – a direct message to another user (private)
 # - hashtags are used when people tweet about the same
topic or event (#worldcupsoccer)
How to find followers
 First you must follow others … remember etiquette is
that those that you follow will follow you!
 How do you find people or organizations to follow?
How to find
followers
• Do a simple search for a
topic or organization or
industry of interest to
you.
• To follow that
organization, click
• Listen, follow, interact,
retweet, self-promote,
create relationship
What the Bleep do I Tweet
About?
 Provide value to your followers
 Tweet articles or blog posts by your favorite
newspapers, bloggers, or other nonprofits
 Tweet powerful stats related to your organization's
mission
 Tweet inspirational quotes
 Tweet important events, campaign updates, anything
of purposeful interest to your followers
 Moving or inspirational photos of successful events
In your spare time …
 If your nonprofit has a profile inside of Network for
Good, then it has a profile on GiveaTweet.com
 List your Twitter profile on your Facebook page (on a
separate tab (application) … don’t feed your status
updates to your Facebook page … it will overwhelm
your followers.
 List your Twitter profile on your LinkedIn profile
Why Use Twitter for Business?
 Important to monitor Twitter for mentions of your brand,
business, products, services
 Respond immediately to any negative (or positive) statements
made
 Build a large following in a short amount of time
 Follow people in your circle of trust first, then build from
there
 Provide a value to your followers … golden nuggets of
information, hope, inspiration
 Inexpensive but highly effective communication tool
Contact Information
Kirsten Judd
785-550-9661
kirsten@nlcsocialmedia.com
www.nlcsocialmedia.com