Really. They did. How? By first connecting with one another online, of course.
LinkedIn offers account holders, Basic and Premium, the ability to automatically show Twitter messages in their status updates. If you use WordPress or TypePad you can have each new post show on your LinkedIn page.
A Facebook Fan page can be customized, one of those customized tabs can be an RSS Feed of your blog. Also, an application can be added to the Fan page to add your blog feed directly into the Fan page NewsFeed.
Facebook also now brings in your personal profile to other social platforms and gives you an opportunity to ‘Like’ that page or website, which posts to your personal profile NewsFeed.
Your blogging platform, free or otherwise, offers you the ability to announce your new blog post to all of your social media accounts.
Slow Down and Think Before Connecting
Now that you know this, please don’t go changing each of your accounts to reflect the status updates of the others just yet.
First you must consider the reason you have each account. Here are some basic reasons most of us have these accounts:
- LinkedIn – for professional use. To connect with professionals in your industry, learn and participate in groups related to your industry, and meet local connections.
- Facebook Fan Page – for business use. To connect with your customers and potential customers, separate yourself from your competition and create a space for people interested in your service or product to talk to you and to others.
- Facebook Personal Profile – for personal use. To connect with family and friends, share personal stories about interesting events in our lives, post photos of our kids and pets.
- Blog – for business use. To tell visitors interesting things about parts of your business, service or personnel that they otherwise wouldn’t know.
If you are using all of these for one use, business or personal, then linking them together makes sense. But think about this; If your Twitter account is connected to your LinkedIn account, then the next time you tweet a message it will show up on your LinkedIn status – is this what you want your professional connections to see? Really? What if your last Tweet was about:
- Your reaction to a lousy movie?
- Your spouse’s broken finger episode?
- Your dog’s reaction to eating brussel sprouts?
- Your reaction to your dog’s reaction?
Seriously. Please consider the consequences of your social media sharing and make sure you understand what each platform is being used for – by other people. If you don’t, you will lose business opportunities and personal connections. There are many people on Facebook right now that are cleaning up their Friends list because their NewsFeeds are filled with product or business ‘advertising’. There are many people on LinkedIn that are removing contacts because the status updates are ridiculous or offensive (imagine reading a status update from a business contact that includes the F*** bomb).
Sometimes people get the misconception that social media is all about them. Well, it’s not. Social media is all about the other people that are reading and chatting with you. If you keep that in mind and apply common sense, basic etiquette (business and personal) you will find yourself connected to fascinating people interested in helping you succeed in your business and in your personal life.