Getting The Most From LinkedIn Groups

19 August, 2010 - 14:09

The value of LinkedIn –a social networking site primarily populated by businesspeople building relationships -- extends beyond the value of a great profile and staying connected with professional peers. Creating or joining a group within LinkedIn gives foodservice professionals a highly targeted opportunity to build industry networks and have meaningful exchanges with like-minded operators while expanding their programs’ marketing reach. Here are some tips to get started.

Joining a group:

Expand your Industry network – It’s easy. There are more than 500,000 groups within LinkedIn and hundreds focus on the foodservice industry. Search the Groups Directory to find ones that re most relevant and likely to produce communications that help managers reach identified business objectives. Many groups are local, providing access to events and conversations directly related to what is happening in particular communities.

Answer questions in your areas of expertise to build recognition and connections. Once you join a group, participate. There are many forums in groups in which foodservice operators can help others by sharing expertise. This builds personal online brands, as well as that of your company, institution or organization. Posting updates regularly also ensure more frequent matches in online searches.

Seek help answering tough questions. Joining relevant group gives operators handy networks of fellow professionals whose experiences may well contain solutions to labor, purchasing and equipment-selection challenges. At the very least, group discussions of common problems can generate “best-case” thinking and provide valuable checks and balances.

Creating a group:

Find your niche. Look at existing groups related to your area of interest. Passionate about sustainable production? Do a group search to see which are already in existence and then personalize your group to fit a niche – such as sustainable production in Midwestern Italian concepts.

What’s in a name? Well, a lot when it comes to groups. Operators can brand their groups with organizational names, but that may deter people from joining. Think about the group’s focus and whether people expected to join would want a given group name/logo on their public profile. Choose wisely: be accurate and not overly controversial.

Write a compelling group description. Lay out the purpose of your group and what types of information exchanges you are seeking to promote. Present ground rules describing what is appropriate content and what isn’t.

Start discussions. Encourage others to get involved and keep conversations relevant and interesting to the group. As group manager, discourage self promotion -– it marginalizes the exchanges and can discourage people from joining.

Add news feeds to keep the conversations fresh. Use “manage news feeds” to add RSS feeds from blogs or other online news sources.

Promote your group. Invite others in your network to join, encourage peers to invite contacts and promote your group to other (non-competitive) groups within LinkedIn. Link to other social media sites you are involved with. Have contacts blog about topics being discussed in your group to encourage interest.