Much has already been written about how charities can use social media to develop their brands and build relationships with their stakeholders. I want to talk about how you can use social media tools to network and to build your own personal brand. As resources become scarcer, and the job market more competitive, I think Twitter and LinkedIn can help us all achieve more at work and widen our networks further.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve come to rely on LinkedIn and Twitter to the point where I don’t think I could do my job without them. In the last few months alone I’ve deployed them to help me bring in a significant corporate partnership, develop a relationship with a well known journalist and secure a meeting with No 10 (yes, really), amongst other things. Naturally all of these opportunities involved a blend of offline and online networking, but Twitter and LinkedIn played significant roles in growing the relationships. The beauty of these tools is how quickly and easily they help you get to know people and find out what is important to them. The informality, friendliness and collaborative nature of social media encourages this process.
Here’s what I’d recommend you do when using Twitter and LinkedIn for networking:
- Get into the habit of using them everyday. Like you I’m super busy at work and with my family and friends, but I make the time to check social media several times a day. It’s like exercise- even ten minutes each morning will start to make a difference. And it does. I learn at least seven things that are helpful every day. If you’re really pushed for time, Twitter and LinkedIn have apps for the iPhone and the Blackberry so you can keep in touch with them on the move.
- Talk to people – get involved. Once you’re signed up to Twitter and LinkedIn, keep using them to talk to the people you’re connected to and those that you’d like to get to know. If I meet someone interesting at a networking event I always try to connect with them on social media afterwards- there may be ways we can help each other in the future. (LinkedIn even has a nifty Cardmunch app which allows you to find contacts on it by taking photos of business cards.) It works the other way round as well; if I’ve been talking to someone online a lot and I’m sensing we can be useful to each other then I might suggest chatting more over a coffee. I’ve made some of my most useful contacts this way.
- Use social media for research. I’ve blogged before about how to use social media for market research as it can offer you some invaluable information. LinkedIn has some excellent discussion groups which are a great forum to discuss issues with other charity sector professionals and to get to know them. Social media is also great for due diligence. Recently I had an initial meeting with a decision maker at a very well known corporate. By connecting with them on LinkedIn and Twitter beforehand I was able to find out a little more about their background and interests as well as the people they work with.
- Be aware of the potential risks. Obviously everything you say on social media is publically available, so it’s just a matter of common sense to take due care in what you say and do. In my view it’s important to differentiate your views from those of your employers by including words to that effect in your Twitter biography. The case of Sarah Baskerville, a civil servant whose Tweets about hangovers amongst other things ended up in the newspapers demonstrates this point. I would also avoid using your organisation’s name in your Twitter handle, otherwise this could lead to a dispute about ownership of Twitter followers.
I expect that we’ll see more features and functionality from social media platforms this year, leading to yet more ways to use it for networking.
Have you used Twitter and LinkedIn for networking? How did you find it and what tips would you share?
Zoe Amar is Head of Marketing and Business Development at Lasa, a charity which provides services to Shelter, Age UK and thousands of other charities across the UK. She is a regular personal commentator and speaker on charity marketing, contributing to The Guardian, Charity Comms, and Charity Finance. Zoe is also on the board at Bright One and is a Chartered Marketer. She tweets from @zoeamar
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