Discussions have been greatly enhanced and brought to the front with large author cons prominently displaying beside each post.

It appears that LinkedIn has moved away from highlighting links that members may share in favor of one row of rotating shared discussion links.

Members now have the ability to vote on links that they like (or dislike) which will in return feature those links more prominently on your group’s home screen.

There is now a Top Influencers section which points ou those who start discussions that gather many comments from fellow members.

Perhaps most importantly it looks as if LinkedIn FINALLY did away with the ill-conceived feature which allowed any member to move a discussion from the regular posting area to the jobs section (the cause of many internal problems when well meaning members either unintentionally or intentionally moved postings out of sight of other members). UPDATE: Nope – LinkedIN just changed terminology – they still unwisely appear to allow any member to instantly move a post out of discussion and into the less trafficked Jobs. This is likely because many of their discussion areas a mess and overgrown with job after job and little readable content.

The ability now exists to flag a post as a job offer/inquiry but doing so no longer seems to automatically move it to the jobs section of your discussions.

One of the best features of the discussion area has been the ability to promote important discussions to the top of the viewing area.  We use this all the time to make sure that important discussions aren’t missed by members who perhaps don’t login as frequently.

To promote a post a manager of the group (this option is only viewable by managers) only needs to click a link within the message. From then on that discussion is highlighted in the Manager’s Choice area for all members to review.

These important discussions are then “stuck” at the top so that other discussions won’t push them down and eventually off the screen.

Same affect as the prior functionality which also allowed posts to be featured –  but instead of being attached to the top of your discussion forum the chosen posts display on the right.

Wise use of this Manager’s Choice allows discussions of importance to avoid what’s referred to as scroll. Which occurs when a message is posted, gathers few (or no) replies and then is scrolled out of easy view. Most members don’t search for older messages so on heavily trafficked areas like the Sage group messages can scroll out of view of certain members who may only visit the site once every several days.

Manager’s Choice messages will now display in a box (see below) that is positioned on the right side of your group screen. These important messages contain links for members to view them without worry that the scroll rate of the forum pushes them out of site before their next login.

LinkedIn has a complete list of new features – as well as a brief video overview – available on their blog .

These new features should significantly increase discussion participation across groups. While many users visit LinkedIn only to look for jobs the real connection is when you share and participated in discussions with other users.

If you haven’t participated in a discussion on LinkedIn – what are you waiting for? The new layout makes it easier and more convenient than ever.

Instead of always returning standard search results as indexed within Google – the search giant now displays a total of 9 additional places that a searcher (aka prospective client) can find your company.

Nine!

Just when you thought that SEO was a snap and all you had to do was throw a few hundred keywords up on your firm’s home page – the game is suddenly changed.

Actually the game has been changing for years. Blogs have emerged as relevant research tools. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have enabled our customers to reach out to their friends for recommendations as opposed to relying upon raw searches through Google or other easily gamed Internet search engines.

Is there a way for you to keep up with all these changes? I think so – and it’s been right in front of your nose all along.

Here’s The 10 Ways Your Customers Can Now Search Google

1. Traditional search
2. News
3. Blogs
4. Images
5. Videos
6. Maps
7. Shopping
8. Books
9. Updates (social media such as Twitter)
10. Discussions

Most of these different search venues have always been available to Google searchers. The re-design of Google’s search layout now emphasizes them making them more valuable than before.

Will customers use a news or blog search to research their purchase decisions?

Yes. And they’d already doing this now – just not in as great a number as they will in the future.

What does this mean to your company’s search engine optimization efforts?

Welcome To The Land of Quality Content = Good SEO

For companies who have always focussed on creating great useful content online across multiple types of media (organic keywords, blogs, images, social media)  - the changes won’t mean much of anything.

For those who’ve increased their web presence via deceptive links from unrelated but highly ranked sites this Google change means that they’ll have to focus much more on quality content and less (if at all) on spammy back links meant to artificially bolster their presence on the main Google engine.

Where To From Here?

You know all those social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube and Blogs that you’ve laughed at as “not really business oriented”.

Surprise.

Under the new Google search – which will likely focus more attention  on those services – you can expect future customers to increasingly research via what we once considered non-traditional sources.

That means blogs, social media, quality content and sharing ARE the new SEO.

Out are spammy back links from overseas server farms and link shares with unrelated but highly ranked web sites.

In are content rich helpful links, posts, and video. And this content now needs to be spread across multiple types of sites and not only our web site hosted on our domain.

The game has changed for search. It’s 9 times harder – but also 9 times more rewarding for those who play it smart and embrace the new SEO with content and sharing across multiple sites.

This version works with OS 4.3+ and requires either a Bold, Tour or Curve model (that’s right – no Storm support at the moment).

The application is  quite good. The main benefits over the iPhone version being deep integration to the native BlackBerry inbox (try that on the iPhone!).

LinkedIN for BlackBerry resembles the Facebook for BlackBerry program.

The design is not as pretty as that on the LinkedIn for iPhone interface — though the integration goes so much deeper that you’ll probably want to use the BlackBerry LinkedIN version.

In fact I’m going to declare the LinkedIn for BlackBerry application as a key reason (for those of us on LinkedIn)  to use a BlackBerry. I believe it’s going to be an essential business tool for almost any serious BlackBerry user.

Here’s why.

One of the coolest things about the BlackBerry LinkedIN application is how tightly it connects to your inbox.

Here’s what LinkedIn say’s about the integration:

Native features of LinkedIn for BlackBerry include:

• Contacts.  Integrate your LinkedIn connections with your BlackBerry address book, and view the profile of any contact directly on your BlackBerry.
• Messages.  LinkedIn invitations and messages will now appear in your BlackBerry Inbox, just like any other email.  You can also view the LinkedIn profile of the sender of any email you receive.
• Calendar.  You can now view the LinkedIn profile of any attendee of a meeting on your BlackBerry calendar.

Now, right from the convenience of your primary BlackBerry applications, you can easily select “View LinkedIn Profile”, and view the full LinkedIn public profile for anyone. Whether it’s a meeting invitation, an email, or an address book contact, you can get the information you need about someone, anytime, anywhere.

So, how does it work in practice? Is it as good as they say?

In a word – yes.

When you receive an email, you’re able to read that mail as you always would. What LinkedIN for BlackBerry adds is a menu (accessible right from the BlackBerry inbox) where you can request to view the profile of the person who has just sent you an email.

How handy is that!?

Clicking on the view profile takes me right to Mark’s LinkedIn page. This is a very handy feature for those of us who do most of our work in the field and are not near a computer from which to look up someone’s LinkedIn profile.

For BlackBerry users who are also heavy LinkedIN users – this is a killer feature of the BlackBerry LinkedIN application.

There are even more cool features – you can comment on a contact’s status update:

View a list of all your contacts — including their REAL email addresses. Amazingly the LinkedIn application allows you to either use the native LinkedIn mail application for messaging or you can view the true email of your contacts and send a normal email through BlackBerry email.

Not sure if someone is a LinkedIn member? Search for them from your BlackBerry LinkedIn Application

The BlackBerry version of LinkedIn isn’t as sexy as the iPhone. However the deep integration to the inbox, ability to review the LinkedIn profile of anyone who sends you an email and the ease with which you can comment on status updates make it a keeper.

Limitations of LinkedIN for BlackBerry

There’s a lot to like about the LinkedIN for BlackBerry 1.0 application.

And a few things that I’d like to see.

First, there needs to be support for the BlackBerry Storm asap. The lack of a version that will run on the Storm is puzzling and here’s hoping that a version update will fix this is the very near future.

Second, I’d like to see the ability to participate in discussion areas via LinkedIn for BlackBerry. Starting and participating in discussions is one of the most high value uses of the LinkedIn service and I’d like the ability to start and reply to discussions from my BlackBerry. I’d also like to see new discussions appear in my main BlackBerry inbox.

How To Obtain LinkedIn for BlackBerry

If you’re in the United States, search the BlackBerry App World for LINKEDIN.

If you’re outside the United States you can visit BlackBerry LinkedIn Download.

For more screen shots of the LinkedIn for BlackBerry application – visit my Picasa web album.

via: LinkedIn Blog – LinkedIn for BlackBerry: Anytime, Anywhere

connect: Wayne Schulz on LinkedIn

I really enjoy reading your posts and observing how you are leveraging social media. You have presented yourself as an expert on many topics–good for you!

I am interested in learning more about how you are using social media in your business. Do you currently promote products through Facebook, twitter and other forums? If so, I would really like to talk with you about the metrics you watch and time you dedicate to contributing and responding in these forums.

Thanks again for sharing your articles.
While I don’t think I have any unique answers to this question — it is one that I get quite a bit and perhaps by sharing my response I’ll provide value to someone else who is wondering about the same thing. Namely – how does all this Social Media fit into business and can you make any money at it (and how??).

My Response:

Hi -

We’re lifestyle consultants over here — that means we earn more money than awards….;-)

Almost all of our marketing is to existing users and “our end” (aka – why we are doing this and how we monetize it) of the marketing is to offer both project work and ongoing support plans to existing “A list” users of MAS90 or MAS200. Selling our services is the most profitable business line for us to be in.

Another reason I use social media is that I’m a terrible salesman. If people didn’t come to me I would starve….

We probably turn away 6 to 10 people every month who want to ask a quick question or pay only for 15 minutes of our time.

In a good month we’ll bring on 3 or 4 MAS90 phone support clients at $2,800 each and usually a project to go along with it. This does not happen every month (certainly not in summer) but it isn’t out of the ordinary – especially during times when Sage issues upgrades, etc.

We don’t take on existing users who are looking for free quick questions or for pay per call type support. I don’t see any business model in that and have found those types of customers to be very disloyal and resource hogs (to put it candidly).

Social Media is one component (not the only) that helps to establish us as experts that a user should feel comfortable writing a check to without a lot of back and forth sales discussions. So far this works well.

Time estimates and measurement?

Really the only measurement I’m doing now is Google Analytics to measure page growth.

I also run an email newsletter that publishes twice per month and goes out to 2.200+ subscribers. This is VERY effective in obtaining new clients.

I can’t say whether Facebook or Twitter are going to attract any particular business. My gut feel is they are a part of a way that prospects expect you to communicate — and not an entire marketing program in themself.

I’m Senior Editor at Geardiary.com which I blog for from 4:30 to 8:00 7 days a week. This is where I learned WordPress and the art of generating and posting my own unique content.

Until recently the concept of blogging for VARS was unheard of. Now you see some big ones get involved and I think you’ll see a lot more. Most of them struggle mightily with the concept of finding something worthwhile to write regularly about.

The biggest issue with VAR bloggers is they think the same 15 articles about “why you should use ____ ” is a pretty good article inventory….and they write the same damn ones over and over. B-O-R-I-N-G…

With respect to time commitment it’s a matter of re-using content whenever possible and getting good at the tools needed to post. So much of what is available online will cross post to other blogs — and Twitter serves as a good source — that once you leverage these tools it make the time a little less.

I blog probably 4 to 5 hours per day — counting geardiary.com

Wayne