Facebook may reign supreme when it comes to the social networking space as it is now pushing upwards of 500M members. But when it comes to business networking, one site stands above the others: LinkedIn. This past week, I hosted a live webinar with two individuals that have been labelled “The Linkedin Rockstars“.  Lori Ruff and Mike O’Neil shared a number of great tips that you can implement right now to optimize and improve your ranking on Linkedin.

If you have a moment after reading this article, check out the Linkedin webinar replay and download the FREE Linkedin profile guide provided by Lori & Mike.

Now, since Linkedin was top of mind this past week, I was keen to see what I could do to improve my own Linkedin profile.  And, ironically, I was scanning my Facebook wall today and came across a post that caught my eye.

Robert Grant who recently launched Crowd Conversion (Facebook Training) hosted a webinar with Lewis Howes and Sean Malarkey.  Lewis and Sean are well known in the social media space for their Linkedin and Twitter training and Robert hosted them to share their secrets with his followers.

I signed up for this webinar, but didn’t get a chance to attend the live event.  But, I was able to watch the webinar replay today.  You can access this webinar replay by clicking on the Facebook image to the left.

Now, I have seen a number of events where Lewis and Sean have presented and they always deliver great content.  However, this time, I learned something new that I want to share with you now.

Linkedin SEO Tips

Lewis began the presentation with a challenge for all of the attendees.  His 5 step Linkedin SEO challenge asked people to think of the keywords they want to rank higher for in Linkedin and to include them in the following sections on their Linkedin profile:

1. Headline
2. Current Work Experience
3. Past Work Experience
4. Summary
5. Specialties

As Lewis and Sean continued with their presentation, they were interrupted periodically by Robert while he shared some of the responses they were getting from the attendees.  The response was astounding as one after another, the attendees were telling Robert that they were starting to see positive results within minutes of implementing Lewis’s Linkedin SEO tips.

Of course, this caught my attention, so I decided to test out this method myself and have recorded the results in the video below.

Needless to say, I continue to be amazed at the kind of things you can accomplish with social media (and in this case, Linkedin).  The results of my Linkedin SEO experiment resulted in me ranking #1 for the keywords “Social Media Consultant” and within the top 15 for the keywords “Social Media Trainer” and “Social Media Speaker”.

I’d like to encourage others to implement Lewis’s simple Linkedin SEO tips.  And, of course, if you’d like to know more about how you can optimize and get the most out of your Linkedin profile, consider purchasing Lewis’s Linkedin book: Linked Working.

The Good

Panchero’s Mexican Grill

I recently returned from a business trip in Minneapolis and Iowa State and want to share a positive story about my experience with Panchero’s Mexican Grill via Twitter.

For those of you that don’t know, Panchero’s Mexican Grill is a quick-serve, fresh-Mexican franchise that is know for it’s fresh-pressed tortillas. The franchise headquarters are located in Coralville, Iowa and currently has over 50 locations in the United States with plans for extensive expansion in 2010.

So, to give you a little bit of a background, I was in Ames, IA doing social media consulting, presentations and workshops with the Cyclone Hockey program. Following my meeting with the Iowa State Athletic Department, I decided to take advantage of a free burrito voucher given to me by the team. We do not have Panchero’s Mexican Burrito restaurants in Canada, so, this was my first time visiting the franchise.

Upon approaching the order counter, I noticed that Panchero’s was displaying the “Follow Us on Twitter” and “Find Us On Facebook” logos and also asked patrons to check them out online on their blog (http://bobmyburrito.com). Of course, being in the social media industry, I was very impressed that this franchise had the foresight to prominently display these logos.

With that in mind, I quickly followed @Pancheros on Twitter and mentioned them in a Tweet.

Again, being deeply involved in the social media world and having many positive experiences to draw on (including my experience with @WestJet), I am still skeptical at times on whether or not businesses are willing to embrace these new tools for what they are……..a two-way conversation….not a broadcasting tool.

To my pleasant surprise, I received a response from @Pancheros within a few minutes:

Before engaging directly with the person behind @Pancheros, I quickly tweeted out the following (Yes….I am a big fan of Anchorman and Will Ferrell ;)

And, received the following response within minutes again:

Now, it’s pretty clear that this conversation was nothing more than a little fun banter back and forth as I sat and enjoyed my lunch. But, what it did was create an experience that I won’t soon forget. As the @Pancheros franchise is not in Canada, I likely wouldn’t have given them another thought leaving the restaurant that day. But, because A REAL PERSON actually took the time to ask my about my experience, I now have an personal story attached to something as simple as a burrito!

Panchero’s is only one of many examples of how social media can be used as a tool to build loyalty among clients/fans. But, we are starting to see more and more evidence every day that these tools can be powerful……..if used properly! The lesson learned here is that setting up a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account and Blog for your business is only the first step. Learning how to use these tools properly and finding ways to integrate them into your overall communications and marketing strategy is a completely different beast. But, it can’t be argued that there is a tremendous opportunity to build buzz about your brand if you are willing to invest the time to educate yourself and engage with these tools!

I have been on Twitter for over 2 years now and can honestly say that this social media tool in particular continues to amaze me with every single conversation and relationship that is built.

Check out Panchero’s Mexican Grill online

If you’d like to know more about Panchero’s, check them out on their social media accounts:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pancheros
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pancheros
YouTube: http://youtube.com/PancherosTV
Blog: http://bobmyburrito.com

Check out my interview with Reid Travis – Social Media Manager – Panchero’s Mexican Grill

The Bad

Brixx Pizza

Now, we have all seen our fair share of social media success stories and failures. And, unfortunately for many businesses, the fear of negative feedback causes many of them to steer clear of social media instead of embracing the fact that people are going to talk about their business online whether they like it or not. What social media does is allows them to respond to negative feedback and use it as an opportunity to turn a disgruntled client into a loyal advocate!

To give you an example of how NOT to use social media, I’m going to reference a story I came across the other day. An employee at Brixx Pizza in Charlotte, NC was recently fired for voicing her disgust to the world via Facebook about a small tip she received. To her surprise, she was told a few days later that she was being let go for making derogatory comments about a customer and that this breached the terms set out in her contract as an employee. Now, there are many things that could be said about this situation, but I’m not going to get into a long rant on “privacy”, “freedom of speech” and “just cause”. Instead, just take a look at the Brixx Pizza Facebook Fan Page and see what the world has to say about it!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brixx-Wood-Fired-Pizza/84618206631?

_

I’m not sure if the Brixx Pizza franchise ever saw this coming, but I can assure you that their executive staff has not slept well the past few nights! Now, I can already hear the response from “skeptical” business owners out there that look at this and say “See…..that’s why I’m not on Facebook!”. However, the reality is, even if you chose to not have a presence on Facebook, people will find ways and platforms to voice their opinion about your company online. Having an official Facebook Fan Page at least allows you to monitor those conversations and react appropriately.

If I had any advice for Brixx Pizza, the first thing would be to figure out what you want to say in response to this event, do it quickly and syndicate it across all of your official social accounts! After all, didn’t we learn anything from the Tiger Woods fiasco?? ;)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on both of these stories. Also, please feel free to share other stories (both positive and negative) about how social media is being used by businesses (big and small).

If you are already a Social Connect Blueprint Exclusive Member, please check back here shortly as will be adding new content daily. Click here to LOGIN

Social Connect Blueprint Membership

For more information on everything included in the Social Connect Blueprint Membership and how to become a Member, watch the video below and click the big GREEN button to start now!

Exclusive Limited Time Offer

Social Connect Blueprint is a community-based Social Media training website that encourages and facilitates participation and collaboration. Members have exclusive access to:

Quickstart Roadmap (Blueprint)

Core Content – detailed “How-To” training videos

Exclusive, LIVE interactive training webinars with industry experts (Q & A focused)

Access to the SCB Community (Connect with Mentors, Partners & Suppliers)

Resources (Case Studies, Media Downloads, Webinar Replays & Bonuses)

Already a Member? Login Here