In the last two years, I have become a convert to the power of social media to make connections, educate potential and existing interior design clients and build my brand. I frequent Twitter, post on my blog a few times a week and dabble on Facebook. I am on LinkedIn but have not nearly harnessed its power as a social media tool.
But last week I heard the LinkedIn Lady, Carol McManus, speak at a ConnectMore event. She was phenomenal. She gave us great pointers on how to use LinkedIn and then encouraged each of us to spend 17 minutes a day using it. I have never been one to resist a good challenge, so here it is.
For the next 30 days, I am going to commit to spending 17 minutes a day on LinkedIn.
As of Saturday, my starting point is 261 connections and 2 recommendations.
MY GOALS
Goal #1 Educate potential clients on the benefits of hiring me as their interior designer.
Goal #2 Increase awareness of Avery Design Interiors and the person behind the brand, Catherine J. Avery.
Goal #3 Find an intern.
And I will add two long-term LinkedIn goals courtesy of business coach, Kathy Caprino.
Goal #4 Five hundred connections on LinkedIn
Goal #5 Twenty recommendations
Day One
I started yesterday evening by sending invitations to about 50 people. This took much less time than you would think, because I just accessed my g-mail account and then checked off the names of people with whom I want to connect. Results so far… ten people have accepted.
I wrote a recommendation for my amazing graphic designer, Tracie Valentino.
Then I sent out letters to two clients asking for recommendations.
I also weeded through my groups and eliminated two that I never follow. Then I answered questions on two other groups. The goal here according to Carol is to answer questions in two groups every night and rotate through your list. You can have up to 50 groups. I believe I have about 46. That would mean I could cover every group at least once in a month.
I answered a bunch of emails. Results: I set up a coffee meeting with two real life connections who I connected on LinkedIn but I think should also meet in person. I also offered to write a referral for a local business coach. She was extremely grateful for the offer.
Lesson learned on day one. There is a lot more to LinkedIn then I ever realized. Thanks Carol! And today, I spent waaaaay more than 17 minutes. Like so much of social media it was easy to get sucked in. Tomorrow, I am setting a timer…
Day Two
Today, I spent only the requisite 17 minutes (timer and all) on LinkedIn and then buzzed over to Facebook to wish a dear friend a happy birthday.
I continued to send out invitations to potential connections – this time by perusing several of my groups. I then answered questions on two different groups and checked out the answers page. I am still in the learning stage about the answers page. More on that soon.
I returned several emails and reviewed my Profile. Carol McManus would have told me my Professional Headline was sorely lacking so I updated it. I found some other gaps in my Profile and plan to tackle those tonight.
I love to hear from you. Which social media tools do you use and why?
Want to learn more about interior design or how I use social media? You can find me on
LinkedIn: Catherine J Avery
Twitter: @averydesign