I Have Over 800 Connections In LinkedIn – I Must Admit I Am Excited About That

Merrill Dubrow — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:43:07 +0000

Like most of you I am on the social networking bandwagon. Yes I post on a blog, tweet, use Facebook and LinkedIn. Last week I noticed I got my 800th connection. First of all I am really excited about that! Here are a few reasons that I am excited:

Industry contacts are changing/losing jobs at a record pace and with LinkedIn I find out about it really fast
I can see what conferences people are attending in the future
I find that contacts in social networking communities respond faster than regular email. I actually tested this last month and sent out the same email to 20 people in LinkedIn and 20 regular emails. I was amazed that everyone responded on LinkedIn while only 55% responded through regular email.
In a fast and changing economy I find speed really important right now and I use LinkedIn to contact people about what is going on in the industry and the economy.
It’s a great prospecting tool for new business
It’s a great resource to find contacts you have lost touch with

Now your turn:

Do you use LinkedIn?
Do you like the community?
What changes or enhancements would you like to see them make?
How many connections do you have?

I look forward to reading your comments.

P.S. In case you were wondering, LinkedIn is not a CLIENT OF OURS AND DIDN’T PAY ME TO WRITE THIS BLOG.

Question Of The Day: Are You Following Celebrities On Twitter And Having Them Impact What You Buy?

Merrill Dubrow — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:49:55 +0000

I was reading the paper the other day and came across an interesting article about Kim Kardashian that I thought I would share. First of all I actually know who she is even though I don’t watch her show "Keeping Up with The Kardashians". The article mentioned that Kim has 2.7 million followers on Twitter. In terms of ranking that puts her 10th according to twitterholic.com — just ahead of Shaquille O’Neil. The article talks about how much Kim is paid for her tweets. Take a few seconds to think about it and then read on. Kim is paid $10,000 every time she mentions a product in one of her tweets. Imagine if she said, "Hey I just stopped at a 7-11, bought a Coke and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup." I wonder if she gets $30,000?

Ok $10,000 seems like a lot of money to me but the real question is – is it worth it?

Do consumers who are following Kim run out and buy products she buys?
Since followers are getting Kim’s "Tweets" real time is there a bump in revenue after she tweets?
What famous people do you follow?
Have you personally bought any products based on people you are following on Twitter?
Do you think this trend will be successful?

I look forward to reading your comments.

The Merrill Dubrow Blog » Social Networking

I Have Over 800 Connections In LinkedIn – I Must Admit I Am Excited About That

Question Of The Day: Are You Following Celebrities On Twitter And Having Them Impact What You Buy?