Something LinkedIn Networkers Should Manage, But Most Don’t!
Unless you read the bottom of Monday’s post, you will likely never guess what every active networker on LinkedIn should be managing and doesn’t. I’ll be willing to bet that less than 2% of LinkedIners actually manage this asset.
In fact just for kicks, if you are reading this post and already do this leave a comment with at least “I do” and if you wish a success story would be welcome. Be honest now – this isn’t about showing off.
Last chance, do you know what it is?
Who would have thought?
It’s your Questions and Answers in the forum. Your questions and answers are an extremely valuable asset and not managing this information is a big loss to you not only in information but in time. I’ll explain in a minute…
I believe that I’ve gotten best answer for the same answer, with only slight modifications at least once, maybe more. I believe it was a CRM question. There is one question on this subject that gets asked over and over again.
Anyway, let me start by explaining what you should do and then tell you why – though it will probably become obvious as I explain.
Steps to Managing Your Questions and Answer Data
Step #1 Keep the data for further use
When ever you answer or ask a question (That is if it is related to your expertise.) you should make a copy of the question or answer and store it in a word document for future reference. I believe that when you ask questions you can have them sent to yourself.
When you save these documents save them as the question itself. You can make directories for different types of questions so that you can more easily sort and manage the data. You want to do this off line as you will quickly have so many it becomes impossible to use them as stored on LinkedIn.
Step #2: Store the data in an organized way
You should always engage those who answer your questions and copy and save your engagements, both your comments and theirs. You should try to put the threads together within the document you have created for that question and if possible capture the whole discussion. You should also be saving and encouraging people to engage you in discussions on their questions. Again if the question isn’t relevant to your expertise you don’t need to bother except in the case where it is a hobby or interest of yours that you might enjoy keeping the information.
These are the two key steps to managing your questions and answers off line.
The Benefits and Uses
Here are just a couple of benefits to doing this.
They can be used again – many of the questions you ask or answer can be used again or will be put up by others. If you have this data you can now use it to answer questions or even ask better questions in the future. Often you will discover in reviewing this data sub questions you can use to further discussions. You may find things in the discussions that will add to the answer you gave and thus be able to give an even better answer the next time around.
They are useful for web sites, blogs, and even books as base material – I find as in just writing this blog that I discover new subjects, spins on subjects, and topics I can add to my course materials on LinkedIn networking. Not only do you get the original material but you will frequently find in reviewing it that you get many other valuable and useful ideas.
Summary
There is great advantage to collecting the data and conversations from your Question and Answer forum discussions. You will find that you very quickly develop a wealth of material that can be used in many different ways.
Something LinkedIn Networkers Should Manage, But Most Don’t! - ( 7 Comments » )
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