Archive for the 'Web 2.0' Category

LinkedIn: What Is It?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on August 18, 2010
in Author-Simon Hénault and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

The following post is a translation of Intelegia’s VIP blogger, Simon Hénault’s “LinkedIn, ça sert à quoi ?”“

Linkedin is already 7 years old. Curious isn’t it, since its recent popularity … at least in Quebec. In fact, over the last 12 months, the primary business social network in the world has doubled in size from 35 million to 70 million members, including 2 million in Canada and 500,000 in Quebec. Well, it’s still small compared to 500 million users of Facebook however; the profile of its members is quite different. The average member of LinkedIn earns more than US$ 100,000 per year.

Most importantly, LinkedIn is a business network first. Forget the pictures of the weekend and gossip - people really do business on LinkedIn.

For most people, LinkedIn is not a directory of resumes that are online.  To some, it is a network because they have received many invitations from others. Too bad, because LinkedIn offers many advantages that are free.  Here is a list.

1. External Communication

Forget the false email addresses, CRM applications and email campaigns - LinkedIn simplifies and integrates everything.

2.  Internal Communication

Start a group with employees in your company. Take advantage of their contacts, share your knowledge and be notified of any changes.

3.  Business Development

Enhance your visibility and be found by thousands of users. Find potential customers and partners and strengthen your business relationships.

4.  Employment

Targeting businesses, stay abreast of job openings, recruiters or join any contact within the targeted companies.

5.  Expertise

LinkedIn is a rich directory full of experts. Thanks to the advanced search, find a specialist on any topic, sector, company or region.

6.  Training

Get answers to your questions, read the comments of members and read the replies of your contacts.

7.  Business Intelligence

Stay abreast of your competitors and hiring of new individuals in your industry. Ask questions to your contacts, members of your communities or former employees of your competitors.

8.  Recruitment

Over 80% of recruiters use LinkedIn. Surprisingly, since this tool gives you access to the roadmap of millions of candidates.

In summary, if used properly, LinkedIn allows you to:

  • Reduce your operating costs
  • Improve your operational efficiency and
  • Improve your sales … for free!

About The Author Simon Hénault:

Simon invites you to join the largest business community in Quebec, Linked Quebec Linkedin Group and read the eBook, which includes the sub-group, Communications and Marketing which is moderated by Isabelle Poirier.

Simon welcomes you to listen to a set of elearning podcasts in which he provides a guide to how to use LinkedIn.  The podcasts, which are the most visited by individuals in francophone countries comprise of the following eight episodes.

  1. Why use LinkedIn ?
  2. How to complete your LinkedIn profile?
  3. How to build your LinkedIn network?
  4. How to optimize your presence in LinkedIn?
  5. How to search LinkedIn?
  6. How to keep your information confidential on LinkedIn?
  7. How to find a job on LinkedIn?
  8. How to find customers on LinkedIn?

Please Note: Content is available in french only.

Online Community Building: Linked Québec

Published
by
Ian Smith
on May 17, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

One major aspect that often gets overlooked when using LinkedIn is the ability to become, participate and build an online community, especially when it is in a language other than english.  Linked Québec can be considered as a best in class example of building an online community of french speaking professionals with the social media tool.

The group is the largest Linkedin group of business professionals and students from the province of Quebec (Canada) with 4 323 members of May 17th, 2010.   The objective of the group is to “facilitate networking and learning for linkedin.com members”.  The discussions that take place on Linked Québec covers an array of topics.  Figure 1 is  a screen shot of the listing of the recent discussions.

Linked Quebec Recent Discussions

Figure 1:Linked Quebec’s Discussion Topics

As an extension, Linked Quebec Founder, Simon Hénault, created a resource center for business professionals located at POD Média.  The center offers access to articles, podcasts, presentations, videos dealing with subject such as:

  • LinkedIn Training
  • Content-based Marketing
  • Social Networks

Content is available in french and english.  Below is a video that can be found on Pod Media regarding Mitch Joel’s comments on content and new media.

Intelegia invites its readers in both languages to visit both sites and join the network.

On May 19th, 2010, Linked Quebec will be hosting a networking cocktail for its members at the W Hotel in downtown Montreal.  More information on the cocktail at the Linked Quebec’s Linkedin Group or in the article, “Les réseaux sociaux réinventent les 5 à 7“

Building Twitter Followers With Google Follow Finder

Published
by
Ian Smith
on May 7, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Internet tools and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

Here’s a tip for individuals looking to increase the number of followers to their Twitter feed.

Last month, Google introduced, Google Follow Finder via their post, “Google Follow Finder: Find some sweet tweeps“.  The application allows users to enter a Twitter handle or account name with the objective of finding related feeds to expand an user’s network.  Figure 1 is a screen shot of the results for a query using the Greater Halifax Partnership Twitter account, Greater_Halifax.


Figure 1: Google Follow Finder Query For Greater_Halifax

As seen in the image, the application will suggest a “Tweep” or individuals that may interest you and  individuals with similar followers.  In the case of Greater_Halifax, the proposed individual is Carman Pirie of Kula Partners and the common feed between Carman Pirie and Greater_Halifax is halifaxchamber, the Twitter presence of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce

To add a follower, users can simply click on the “follow on Twitter button” that is located on the bottom of each result

Google Follow Finder is available here.

APDEQ 2.0 - Economic Development Meets Web 2.0

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 14, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

For those who will be in the Montreal area on May 5, 2010,  Intelegia invites you to the (Association des professionnels en développement économique du Québec (APDEQ)’s event, Le Web 2.0 C’est Vous. Maintenant!.

APDEQ’s objectives of this event are:

  • To provide an understanding of Web 2.0 and different social media tools
  • To put the use of Web 2.0 into context for economic development
  • To establish a strategy in order to help create a web identity for participants
  • To demonstrate the importance of following the principles of Web 2.0 to put a region on the radar for existing and potential stakeholders
  • To allow participants to question speakers regarding their visions on the new economic development paradigm

The event will be kicked off by Benoit Meunier, a web strategist and  Sébastien Daoust of Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, who will be dealing with the topic of “Web 2.0 and Social Media: How?, For Who?, Why?”

My colleague, Isabelle Poirier, will be on hand at the event to present best practices in terms of the use of social media applications for economic development and to discuss  E&B DATA’s, benchmark study, “Web 2.0 And Business Attraction - Canadian Cities Online Marketing Index“.  In addition, she will participate in a panel discussion regarding practical uses of social media marketing tools and real case examples.

The event will be in French.

For more information on the event, please visit www.apdeq.qc.ca/

Economic Development Groups On LinkedIn

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 10, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

Part of having an economic development 2.0 strategy is participating in discussion groups on social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.  The benefits of being members of groups related to economic development are:

  • Expanding your network beyond your region and areas of expertise
  • Sharing your expertise with other professionals in the field
  • Learning from others located around the world

Below are a few groups that are on LinkedIn that the team at Intelegia are members.

  • Business Retention & Expansion International (BREI) - This group is composed of economic development professionals that are dedicated to investment attraction initiatives.  Some of the common issues that serves as discussion points are incentives programs, business retention strategies and marketing initiatives for regions.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th, 2010): 129
    Owner: Ernest Strickland
  • Economic Development Network - This group is a collection of professionals from around the globe who are concerned about the engagement of research organisations with the economy.  Recent discussion topics include the use of social media marketing applications, marketing strategies and strategic planning issues.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th, 2010): 347
    Owner: Steven Brown
  • Economic Development Professionals - The Economic Development Professionals Linkedin group is geared towards individuals who wish to share and learn about best practices in field of economic development.  Lately, members have exchanged thoughts on subjects such as website design issues, search engine optimization strategies and incentive programs.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th, 2010): 2 468
    Owner:Gary Knight
  • Foreign Direct Investment - FDIexecutive - This LinkedIn group brings together professionals from all points around the globe in the field of foreign direct investment.  Issues such as attraction strategy, competitiveness, location selection and decision making are the major themes that members discuss.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th): 442
    Owner: Douglas van den Berghe
  • Next Gen Economic Development Marketers - As the name suggests, this group is meant for professionals focused on marketing in regards to economic development.  Members include economic development officers and consultants that talk about such issues as social media tools, website design and branding initiatives.
    Level of access: Open
    Number of members (as of March 9th): 171
    Owner: Ben Wright

Are we missing some other LinkedIn groups?  Let us know by leaving us a comment on this post.

Looking for an efficient way to manage your contacts on LinkedIn?  Read Intelegia’s tutorial, “Tag Function In LinkedIn“

Customizing Your Facebook Page For Economic Development

Published
by
Ian Smith
on January 6, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0
. 2 Comments

Now that you have created your Facebook Fan Page for your economic development agency, it is time to customize the page to make it is easier for fans to find information.  Not only can it be beneficially to your fans but to your economic development agency’s search engine optimization strategy.

Here are few examples of economic development agencies and cities that have selected to customizing their Facebook Fan Page.

Levelland, Texas

The City of Levelland’s Facebook Fan Page has a section that is customized thanks to boxes which contains content.   Figure 1 presents a look at the section.

Figure 1: City of Levelland’s Facebook Fan Page With Customized Boxes
Please Click On Image To Enlarge

Fans of the page has a “one-stop” point for news and information about Levelland.

To visit the City of Levelland’s Facebook Fan Page can, please click here.

Chaleur Region

The Chaleur Region, located on the northeast coast of New Brunswick, has a Facebook Fan Page with customized tabs to facilitate navigation of the page. This Web 2.0 initiative is managed by Entreprise Chaleur, an economic development agency. Figure 3 presents the tabs for the RegionChaleur page.

Figure 3: Navigational Tabs On RegionChaleur

Individuals interested in investing in the Chaleur Region can simply click on the “Invest” tab and access information on the industrial parks in the region as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Information On Industrial Parks In The Chaleur Region

Customizing a Facebook Fan Page entails obtaining the assistance of a programmer and searching for different web applications available on Facebook that can be added to the page.

Are you seeking to build a Facebook Fan Page for economic development purposes?  Learn more about Intelegia’s seminar, “Optimize Investment Attraction Strategy Through Information and Social Media Applications“

Web 2.0 & Health Information Delivery

Published
by
Ian Smith
on December 16, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

My colleague, Aicha Habiby, who blogs at Des Outils et Des Hommes, informed me on the use of social media tools to push health information to citizens.

The Public Health Agency of Canada provides health information in regards to the H1N1 flu via the following five Web 2.0 applications:

RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds allows the agency to disseminate information via users’ RSS readers.  As seen in Figure 1, there are four topics covered as of December 15th, 2009.

  • H1N1 Flu Virus (Human Swine Flu)
  • Travel Health Advisories
  • Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR)
  • Chronic Diseases in Canada (CDIC)

Figure 1: Public Health Agency Of Canada’s RSS Feeds

Widgets

To help citizens access information easily, the agency has created a widget in which individuals can plug into a website, blog or a social media platform.  Figure 2 presents a look at the widget and the content that is updated in real time supply information about the H1N1 flu.

Figure 2: Public Health Agency Of Canada’s Widget For H1N1 Information

Twitter

Figure 3 illustrates the agency’s Twitter page with 1,433 followers.  Browsing the past tweets, the agency disseminates information on the H1N1 Flu.

Figure 3: Public Health Agency Of Canada’s Twitter For H1N1 Information

Facebook

The content of the agency’s Facebook Fan Page is divided amongst the following four sections:

  • Wall - The wall offers access to links to current news and information about the H1N1 flu.
  • Info - Fans have access to links to Public Health Agency of Canada and Fightflu websites in English and French.
  • Notes - The Notes section offers general information on the H1N1 flu with the ability to have fans to post comments.
  • H1N1 Information Centre - This section is the one-stop shop for H1N1 information.  The resource is divided into 10 activity modules as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Public Health Agency Of Canada’s H1N1 Information Centre on Facebook

YouTube

The agency’s YouTube Channel is composed of a series of bilingual videos regarding H1N1 Flu and on-going initiatives to keep the public health.  The video below is a short 30 second clip about the H1N1 Immunization Campaign.

Google Introduces Real-Time Search

Published
by
Ian Smith
on October 28, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Internet tools, Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

Google has entered the market of real-time search without making a big deal nor a fancy new search interface.  If you blink quickly, you may miss the search option for content on social media platforms or Web 2.0 applications.

As enter your keyword(s) in Google and see the first page of result, click on the “Show options”  link located below the search box.  The link is highlighted in yellow in Figure 1 posted below.

Figure 1: Google Search Query For “Economic Development” For Real-Time Results
Please Click On Image To Enlarge

Once the link is clicked on, Google provides the option to access results by:

  • Source (ie, video, blogs, reviews, forums)
  • Time period (ie, Any time, Past hour, Past 24 hours, Past week, Past year, Specific date range)
  • Relevancy or date
  • Visited pages or Not yet visited

These options are available on the lefthand side of the result page.  The image below highlights the links to the options.

Figure 2: Google Search Real-Time Search Options
Please Click On Image To Enlarge

To access the real-time results, click on one of the links related to a time period.  In the case of the search query for “economic development”, clicking on “Past Hour” will provide hits from news sites and blogs as seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Google Search Real-Time Search Results For Keyword Search, “Economic Development”
Please Click On Image To Enlarge

If the Past 24 hours option was selected, chances are that you will see relevant hits from Twitter.

Google is available at www.google.com

Conversation Search With BackType

Published
by
Ian Smith
on October 19, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Economic Intelligence, Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

Search engines such as Google and Bing have been late arriving to the party when it comes to real time search capabilities.  Time will only time on whether or not these big players will buy up little niche players such as Samepoint, Addictomatic or itpints when it comes to web 2.0 search applications. In the meanwhile, online researchers can be content with another conversational search tool called BackType.

BackType allows users to find relevant content on blog applications and others social networking websites in real time.

Figure 1 presents the simple search interface of BackType.

Figure 1: Index page of BackType

Using the keywords, “foreign direct investment” to test BackType provides the results as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Results for “foreign direct investment”
Please click on image to enlarge

Highlighted in yellow are the number of relevant tweets that BackType has found on Twitter.

As of October 13th, 2009, the advanced search function for the tool was not online.

BackType is available at http://www.backtype.com

itpints…Another Real-Time Search Engine

Published
by
Ian Smith
on October 13, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Internet tools, Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

Another day, another real-time search tool to add to your competitive intelligence research toolkit.

itpints allows you to submit keyword(s) to search for relevant content on social networking platforms and blogs.  Figure 1 below illustrates a test for a query using the keywords, “Gourmet Magazine“, the very popular cuisine magazine that has ceased publication two weeks ago by Condé Nast.

Figure  1: Results of search for “Gourmet Magazine” on itpints
Please click on image to enlarge

By browsing through the results, one can see that the tool pulls content from such Web 2.0 applications as:

  • Twitter
  • Plurk
  • Facebook
  • Friendfeed

Any relevant content found by itpints on Digg and blogs will be presented as an abstract as seen in Figure 2.

Figure  2: Abstracts from Digg and a blog for keyword search, “Gourmet Magazine”
Please click on image to enlarge

The beta version of itpints can found at www.itpints.com

Tell us how itpints compares with Samepoint, OneRiot and Collecta.