groups « Spiderworking.com's Social Networking blog

February 17, 2010

Your Social Media Questions Answered – Facebook Groups

We were asked by Lorna from Garrendenny Lane Interiors:

“Wondering about the effectiveness of forming a group on Facebook – how do I invite people -is it friends or fans or both? “

Facebook groups are a good way to create a bit of a buzz around your industry. A business should always have a ‘Page’ first but a group is a good way to add value to your brand. They can be a great place for people with a similar interest to share information. For example, it might be worth Lorna starting a group about interior design in Ireland, that way she could keep on top of the current sentiment attached to her industry, share information, start discussions on particular trends all whilst gathering a group of people together who would have an interest in her brand and what she has to offer.

Mashable published a great article on the difference between Groups and Pages recently.

There a couple of things you should consider when you are setting up a group:

They have a very short shelf life – group pages do not update members news feeds the way that Pages and Profiles do so it can be easy for people to forget about them.
They are connected to your personal profile. Members of the group will know it is you that is administering the group, unlike a page which appears as an entity on it’s own.

The advantages are:

You can message members directly. From a business page it is only possible to send ‘updates’ which often remain unread in a fan’s inbox. From a page you can send a message which appears in the inbox the way a personal message does. Be aware not to overload your group members with messages though, use this feature sparingly to avoid people leaving your group.
If your business already has a page and you are running a new initiative it can be a way to gather together those with a specific interest in it, rather than overloading your fans news feeds with the same message. For example, Spiderworking.com just launched it’s Work The Web Workshops. Imagining that a number of the poeple interested in the workshops would already be fans of Spiderworking.com we decided against setting up a business page. Spiderworking.com’s page will be promoting Work The Web and clogging up fans news feeds with the same recurring message could result in loosing them. For this reason we set up a group. It also means that we will be able to message directly those interested in the workshops.
People may be more inclined to join a group because they know that a group cannot pollute their news feed.

Inviting people to join a group

You can invite your ‘friends’ directly to join your new group. You cannot invite ‘fans’ of your business page directly but can post details of the group on your wall and ask them to join.

If you have a social media question that you would like answered no matter how large or small leave a comment on this post or tweet us @spiderworking.

Tags: Facebook, Your Questions Answered — Tags: Facebook, groups, Questions and answers —

Comments (1)

October 19, 2009

How to create a new group in Linkedin

If my last post about ‘The 10 Minutes Street Network” has inspired you to start your own group here’s how you do it:

Sign in to Linkedin
On the left hand side of the page click the ‘Groups’ button.

On the right hand side of the next screen click the ‘Create Group’ button.

On the next screen you will be asked to enter some information. You can upload a logo in PNG, GIF or JPEG format and add information about the group here.
You can choose a specific geographical location if relevant to your group eg: Ireland
Click the ‘Create Group’ button at the bottom of the page.
On the next screen you can send invitations to others to join the group.
You can add connections by clicking the book to the right hand side of the screen.

You can add people that you have email addresses for by clicking ‘Add other email addresses…’ below the connections box.

You have now created your group. You and other members can add news stories and start discussions within the group.

Tags: Linkedin — Tags: groups, Linkedin, tutorial —

Comments (0)

June 16, 2009

Linkedin, Colin Carroll and The 10 Minutes Street Network

Linkedin is a fantastic social networking tool for business, yet it is one that I often feel is underrated. I find that a lot of people set up their Linkedin profile and then are not sure what to do next.

One suggestion I offer to clients is to join a group that is suitable for their business, and if there isn’t one there start one. As MD of Feelgood Organic Hampers I joined lots of green and eco groups but couldn’t find one specific to Ireland so I started Eco Business Ireland. I also recommend that clients take the relationships they form on Linkedin one step further and try and meet as many of their connections as possible in real life.

Someone who has very successfully combined these two strategies is Colin Carroll, a Kildare based Solicitor who started the group: ‘The 10 Minutes Street Network‘, which in his own words:

“…offers a novel, unique and fun opportunity for business people to connect, meet up face-to-face and “street network” on the First Saturday of every Month at 12 noon. This is networking with a twist – firstly the networking takes place on the “street” (top of Grafton St @ the entrance to Stephen’s Green Park) and secondly there is a “mystery tour” element to the event. Once the attendees have met up on the “street” and chatted for “ten minutes” an announcement is then made to let the group know which cultural venue (art gallery/museum/theatre) the group will wander off to on foot to continue networking in a sophisticated environment until 1 pm.

So one hour is all it takes for business people to expand their professional network in a fun and informal way.”

I spoke to Colin and asked him how he had benefited from the group and he was very positive. Not only had he gained new clients and widened his network he also felt that he had been able to cast off the stuffy image that can be associated with those in the legal profession. People now view him as an entrepreneur and not just a Lawyer.

Colin was also contacted through Linkedin by a businessman from Washington DC who is interested in starting something similar there. In fact people from across the world have been in contact with him since he started the network.

Word is spreading too. Although the network meets in Dublin, word of it has reached his Kildare based clients.

He’s been getting a great reaction from the other network members too. Because it’s informal, fun and only an hour long they feel much more relaxed at the meetings and the network is growing as a result.

So Colin is a Linkedin success story he has started a group, utilising his connections and forging new relationships as a result. He has also taken this one step further, he gets to meet the group members face to face, he is then able to improve his connections and widen his network which is ultimately having a positive effect on his bottom line.

Tags: Linkedin — Tags: face to face, groups, Linkedin —

Comments (5)