TPS Toolkit: Social Networks
Whether you’re a job seeker, freelancer, entrepreneur or in a career of your own, you cannot afford to ignore social media in your professional life. Let’s break down some of the top networks and how you can be using them to expand your opportunities no matter where you are in the world. Mark Granovetter of Johns Hopkins University published a paper called “The Strength of Weak Ties.” His study found that “weak contacts, even distant acquaintances, are often more powerful sources in our network than close friends. In fact, the study also revealed that 80% more people found jobs through weak connections than they did through friends. So, how’s your network?
If you’re not on LinkedIn, you’re wrong. LinkedIn is one of the most powerful professional networks you can utilize to empower your opportunities. Discover new connections for building your team, career opportunities, and even potential sales. LinkedIn allows insights into your network of people, making getting an introduction easier. Plus, if you’re serious about doubling down on your network, you can get LinkedIn Premium which allows you to look at your opportunities with more fidelity and more.
If you’re just now getting onto LinkedIn, make it a goal to have 100 people in your network in the next six months and see where your new connections can take you!
With over one billion users on the social network, it’s not hard to see why Facebook is hard to ignore. While you may not want to be on Facebook for your own personal page, the benefits of having a business presence with a “Facebook Page” is almost obligatory today. With so many users, people are using Facebook to find, screen, and rate businesses without ever having to leave the app.
That being said, with Facebook changing the way they do business and their algorithms, you’ll have to try even harder to stand out to land on other’s feeds. However, with a targeted ad campaign you can still reach many customers you otherwise wouldn’t. This is just the tip of the iceberg though, Facebook has many business solutions, be sure to check them out!
The impact of visual marketing can’t be understated, and no one does this better than Instagram. Video and images are key to engaging with audiences. Whether you’re a solo freelancer or just starting your business, Instagram can give you a healthy dose of followers just by simply understanding what people are searching for when they’re looking for you or your business!
Hashtags are like “key terms” in search results. Use up to 30 of them in any post to drive traffic to your Instagram and your business! It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s free, and most importantly it’s effective. Give it a shot and see how Instagram can open up more pipelines for you!
Many people skip over Twitter as a viable marketing strategy or networking methodology. However, it’s one of the best platforms to increase your reach quickly for both individuals and business. The trick to unlocking Twitter is engagement: the more you engage (post, retweet, comment and like) the more likely people are to engage with you. Combine that with a healthy dose of hashtags (see “Instagram” above), and you can reach thousands of people within hours; all without spending a dime.
The only downside is Twitter is a very high-maintenance platform, meaning you have to maintain your engagement levels to reap the rewards. With very short attention spans, Twitter requires near constant attention to grow and scale your presence. Expect to put some time in to get the most out of Twitter.
We hope you enjoyed our list! This is just a brief look into social networks you should be using, for a more in-depth overview on how best to utilize these tools for you and your business, be sure to follow us and join our community!
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