10 Great Small Business Smartphone Apps | Company Activities & Management > Company Structures & Ownership from AllBusiness These days, business doesn't just happen between the hours of 9 to 5 or only at the home office. Work gets done almost around the clock wherever a small businessperson happens to be. That makes having a capable mobile device a necessity -- and, for the most part, a "capable mobile device" means a smartphone. But a smartphone all by itself isn't very capable. They all come with some basic productivity software -- calendar, email client, browser -- but to truly get things done, you need apps. Fortunately, you have lots to choose from: hundreds of thousands in the iPhone App Store, nearly a hundred thousand in the Android Market, and thousands more in the BlackBerry App World. - Jake Widman
LinkedIn Aims to Show Up in More Places Online - Bits Blog - NYT LinkedIn is hoping to let its users tap into their professional network across the Web. On Monday, LinkedIn will make its technology available to software developers who want to use it in their own sites and applications. By incorporating information about someone’s professional profile and connections, LinkedIn can make those sites more useful, said Adam Nash, LinkedIn’s vice president of search and platform products. Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s chief executive, has said he wants the site to be the hub of all conversations about business on the Web. A few developers have already been experimenting with LinkedIn’s new platform.
LinkedIn: 11 Tips to Find the Best Groups A friend of mine landed his last six clients as a direct result of his participation in LinkedIn Groups. Another sees his groups as a natural extension of his social-media marketing efforts. And believe it or not (I still find it hard to believe), a third somehow managed to meet her fiancé in an HR-focused group. LinkedIn groups are informal communities formed around industries, professions, themes, niche topics, etc. Find and join the right groups, and it's easy to keep up with news and trends, make connections, ask and answer questions, land new clients--even start a romance. Here's how to find the right groups for you: Set your goals. Because groups are relatively focused, one group probably can't meet all your needs. If you're new to groups, start with one primary goal. Then search. Go to the Groups Directory page and enter search terms related to your goal. And sift. You can refine your search by using the check boxes on the left-hand side of the page. And borrow ideas. Join a few groups.
XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World Twitter, LinkedIn Get Together: How to Get Started - CIO.com - B CIO — LinkedIn and Twitter announced a partnership on Monday that will allow you to tweet your LinkedIn status or stream your tweets to your LinkedIn profile. Twitter cofounder Biz Stone called called this "bringing the peanut butter and the chocolate together to make the perfect combination." What Not to Do on LinkedIn Groups: Advice for Sales and Marketing A version of this article originally appeared on the AdMarco blog. You can view it here. This is a warning and some sage advice from someone who has been burned by making some of the mistakes listed below. The industry is rife with consultants offering best practices on LinkedIn and selling services around helping you get started and leveraging the power of the network. This is not one of those articles and I have nothing to sell. The fact that the HubSpot-LinkedIn combination is so powerful and convenient comes with some warnings and a few things to consider when you start up. 1) It’s okay to be a member of 40 groups, but as a rule, your blog posts will be relevant to only a handful of groups. 2) Quality, not quantity, is the rule. 3) Don't post to Alumni groups, unless it's relevant to the group. 6) The best way to engage on LinkedIn when getting started is to read and comment on others' posts and ask questions. 11) Beware of trolls.
LinkedIn Book | Social Media Training & Speaker | Rock the World Microsoft Outlook To Become More LinkedIn Professional social network LinkedIn is showing a little Microsoft love today. In conjunction with the announcement of the beta of Microsoft’s Office 2010 at its Professional Developer Conference, LinkedIn and Microsoft have partnered to offer an add-on that integrates much of your LinkedIn contact information with your Outlook contacts. The add-on to Outlook will provide professional and social context to any Outlook users everyday email experience. So in Outlook, you’ll be able to see a picture of contacts (pulled from their Linkedin profile), who they have recently connected to on the network, and any status updates they’ve posted on the site. The other bonus of the add-on is the synchronization between Outlook and LinkedIn contacts.
Best Practices for Linkedin Group Management Linkedin groups can be a powerful way to connect with other business people in a meaningful way. People are just discovering the potential, and there aren’t a lot of guides to group management on Linkedin, so I came up with some tips that would be useful for beginning community managers as well as experienced ones just learning the ins and outs of Linkedin groups. Remember, creating the group is only the first step. Manage The most important thing is to be an active manager. Engage Share When new features are added to Linkedin, share how to use them with the group, ask for success stories and examplesMake connections and suggest connections between users where appropriateTake the time to point out new features on Linkedin and how to use them for best advantageCreate a way for users to showcase their talents. Promote Have fun.
Giant Solar Blast Headed for Earth | Wired Science The biggest solar blast in four years erupted late Monday, and it's sending jets of charged particles right at Earth. The spray will spark bright auroras when it hits the magnetosphere in the next 24 to 48 hours. A cluster of sunspots called Active Region 1158 unleashed the flare at 8:50 p.m. EST, Feb. 14 [1:50 a.m. UT, Feb. 15]. It was categorized as class X2.2, meaning it's the most powerful flare since December 2006. As Spaceweather.com notes, the sunspots didn't even exist one week ago, and now cover a swatch of sun wider than Jupiter. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45 percent chance of geomagnetic activity on Thursday, Feb. 17, when the bulk of the radiation hits Earth's magnetic field. Should the new storm prove as powerful, it could be a preview of what's expected this year and in 2012, as the sun reaches an expected maximum in its natural cycle of activity. There is, however, a silver -- and green, and yellow, and glowing -- lining to the flares. Via Spaceweather.com See Also:
Writing Great LinkedIn Invitations | Investing, Raising Capital, Great LinkedIn invitations? Are they really that big a deal? Sure, canned messages are lame, but inviting someone to connect via LinkedIn (or any other social networking site) is just a simple matter of record-keeping. What’s wrong with just, “Hey, let’s connect?” That’s one way to look at it. There’s another reason your LinkedIn invitations matter: if too many (five or so, best guess – LinkedIn doesn’t publish the actual number) of your invitations are rejected (“I don’t know the sender”) by the recipient, your account may be temporarily suspended and you will lose the ability to invite people to connect without their email address. One way to ensure having your LinkedIn invitations accepted is to email the person before sending them a LinkedIn invitation and ask them if they’d like to connect on LinkedIn. The basic format is the same in all cases: Establish context. Scenario 1: Current active contact Here are a few actual examples I’ve sent/received: Hi Paul! Scenario 2: Acquaintance
5 LinkedIn Company Page Tips to Enhance Your Marketing Do you use LinkedIn for business? Do you have a LinkedIn company page? In this article, I’ll show you how to get the most from your LinkedIn company page, in five easy steps. Why a LinkedIn Company Page? The benefits of a well-oiled LinkedIn company page include engaging followers with company news, updates, events and relevant content. There’s also the improved search engine rankings as LinkedIn pages often perform well in company searches. In fact, research shows that 50% of LinkedIn members are more likely to purchase from companies when they engage with them on LinkedIn. Here’s how to make your LinkedIn company page work for you: #1: Optimize Your LinkedIn Page Showcase what your business has to offer. Use this page to tell members what you do best and give them compelling reasons to follow you. Remember that you can link to just about anything from your products and services page, including your latest and greatest white papers, case studies or how-to content. #2: Engage Your Audience