Tag Archive for 'LinkedIn'

Using LinkedIN People Search To Profile A Company

Published
by
Ian Smith
on December 7, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

The blog post, “Competitive Intelligence Research With LinkedIn - Who’s Hiring?” discussed the use of LinkedIn to anticipate a strategic move at a competitor through a potential hiring (i.e., job opportunity).  This type of competitive intelligence  research can be an element to a larger initiative to profile a company.

Through the Advanced People Search function on LinkedIn, researchers may gain further valuable strategic insights about a company.  Figure 1 illustrates the advanced search interface.

LinkedIN - 1 - People Search - Tools For Thought - Intelegia

Figure 1: Advanced People Search Interface on LinkedIn

One of the pieces of strategic intelligence that can be collected from this type of search is profiling a department / function at a company.

Case Scenario: As a competitor to Hewlett Packard in Canada, you are asked to have an understanding about the company’s strategy planning function.

Solution: Using the advanced search interface, enter the following information to build the query based on the case scenario:

  • In the “Location” field,  select “Canada” and delete the content, if any,  in the “Postal Code” field
  • In the “Position” field, enter “strategy” and select the “Current or past” option
  • In the “Company” field, enter “Hewlett Packard”

Figure 2 presents the query when the details are entered.

Figure 2: Building An Advanced People Search Query For Individuals In The Hewlett Packard Strategy Planning Function
Please Click On The Image To Enlarge

Figure 3 is the screen shot of the results based on the submitted query.

Figure 3: Results For The Query For Individuals at Hewlett Packard’s Strategy Planning Function
Please Click On The Image To Enlarge

Selecting the individual with the position of “Senior Business Strategy Manager” leads you to access to the following job description available in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Job Description For The Position Of “Sr. Business Strategy Manager” at Hewlett Packard

From the image above, you can see that the strategic planning function at Hewlett Packard is composed of:

  1. Forecasting
  2. Budgeting
  3. Resource Planning
  4. Strategic Direction
  5. Financial Controls

Furthermore, you are able to find out that there is an existing competitive intelligence unit at the computer hardware giant in Canada.

Competitive Intelligence Research With LinkedIn - Who’s Hiring?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 23, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence and Web 2.0 Search
. 1 Comment

Without a doubt, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn has afforded competitive intelligence researchers alternative sources to gather data about their industry and other firms.  LinkedIn, the Facebook for business people, offers two outlets of information that are worth keeping in mind when analysing competitors: 1) Jobs and 2) Companies.  This post will focus on the Jobs section of the web 2.0 resource.

Similar to other job search sites like Monster or CareerBuilder, the Job section of LinkedIn provides individuals to find employment opportunities.  Figure 1 presents a look at the search interface for jobs.

Figure 1: Job Search Interface on LinkedIn

To use the section in a competitive intelligence context, it is recommended to use the “Advanced Job Search” interface as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Advanced Job Search Interface On LinkedIn

To competitive intelligence researchers and analysts, job opportunities at competing firms can provide valuable insights.  Job openings can indicate anything from a shift in the strategic outlook for a firm to a sign of expansion of operations.

Case example: As a competitor in the software industry, you have the responsibility to investigate if there are any job opportunities for an executive at Dell Computers that may signify a change in strategy or organizational structure.

Solution: Using the “Advanced Job Search” page as seen in Figure 3:

  1. Select “Executive” in the “Job Experience” field
  2. Enter “Dell” in the “Company” field

Figure 3: Query For Job Opportunities At Dell Computers At An Executive Level

Results for the query appear in Figure 4 in which the first hit, “Director of Software Engineering” is the most relevant for the initial purpose for the search.

Figure 4: Results For Job Search At Dell

It is interesting to see that the first job posting listed on the page is exclusively available on LinkedIn as indicated by the blue star.

The end result of the search process is illustrated below in Figure 5 where a lengthy job description is provided.

Figure 5: Job Description For Director of Software Engineering At Dell

Looking at the job description, the following strategic details can be collected about the position:

  • The Director of Software Engineering will be responsible for leading the team that designs and/or develops Dell’s SaaS (Software as a Service) products for the Large Enterprise business unit
  • The executive will work closely with Sales & Product Management groups to set direction for multiple software products
  • The individual will set application technology development direction and strategies

LinkedIn is available at www.linkedin.com

What role has social networks played in your competitive intelligence research practices?  What have been your greatest challenges? Tell us!!!

Web 2.0 and Investment Attraction: UK Trade & Investment

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 11, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Investment Attraction, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 2 Comments

E&B DATA’s recent benchmark study, “Web 2.0 And Business Attraction - Canadian Cities Online Marketing Index” examined how well economic development agencies in large Canadian cities are utilizing social media marketing tools for investment attraction.

Just to show that cities are not the only entities that are using web 2.0 applications, countries have hopped on the bandwagon.  A perfect example is: UK & Trade Investment.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the government department that helps businesses locate in the UK and grow internationally.   The department’s website ranks amongst the best in class according to Organization for Economic Co-operation Development as stated in The World Bank’s Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking 2009 Summary Report (Please see page 62)

Upon visiting the website, you will be able to spot their collection of social media marketing  tools.  The site provides links to the following applications:

  • Blog - The provides insights on various aspects of trade and investment attraction activities.  UKTI uses a multi-blogger approach by having different staff members post on a regular basis.
  • Twitter - This  page acts as a vehicle to push information regarding  UKTI activities and relevant news items.
  • YouTube - This channel is an outlet to:
    • Learn about London’s success stories
    • Provide information on High Growth Markets
    • Provide country information
    • Access past speeches from Lord Davies - Minister for Trade & Investment
    • Access case studies
  • Flickr - The Flickr photostream allows individuals to view pictures from past business events involving UKTI representatives and ministers.
  • Facebook - The Facebook Fan Page is mainly composed of UKTI staff members and is used to provide updates on new posts on the other social networking platforms.
  • LinkedIn - The LinkedIn group is avenue in which UKTI can bring together trade and investment experts and businesses.  It is interesting to see that the department has created subgroup for business people interested in trade and investment between Canada and the UK.

Figure 1 illustrates the UK Trade & Investment’s Twitter page.

Figure 1: UK Trade & Investment’s Twitter Page
Please click on image to enlarge

UKTI shared their thoughts on their web 2.0 strategy in terms of their objectives and tangible benefits:

Objectives:

  • Reach new audiences: new and existing customers; consultants; the media; other government departments; colleagues
  • Spread the word about UKTI through news and insights
  • Raise awareness of events/initiatives/news
  • Support marketing pushes
  • Be more accessible/responsive/open/two-way
  • Keep track of what is being said about UKTI and have the opportunity to respond direct

Benefits

  • Opportunity to feed back, re-inform and offer further information
  • Increase attendance at events, and in turn increase take-up of UKTI services
  • Reach new audiences and be where conversations are already taking place
  • Positive (unsolicited) tweets about UKTI/services have reached a large and diverse audience (of previously untapped potential customers)
  • A major website traffic driver. Both Linkedin and Twitter are in the top 5 traffic referrers to the investment services website.
  • Drive (trade website) registration by raising awareness of how we can help. Eg, by tweeting business opportunities we are broadening reach beyond the current customer-base

Are you thinking about creating an economic development 2.0 strategy for economic development initiatives such as investment attraction for your city, province or state and/or country?    What are the main challenges that you will have to deal with?   Tell us.

Ping.fm – Manage Your Presence On Social Networks In Five Easy Steps

Published
by
Ian Smith
on August 24, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Internet tools and Web 2.0
. 1 Comment

Today, many of us have multiple accounts on online social networks (ie, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) and are wondering how to save time when posting the same message on various social networks without having to log in multiple times.

Thanks to Ping.fm, you can centrally manage your accounts on different social networks.

Here is a quick tutorial that will allow you to manage your presence on social networks in five easy steps.

Step 1: Sign up on Ping.fm by entering your e-mail address and a password. You can configure your profile in the future.

Ping.Fm Index Page

Ping.fm Index Page

Step 2: Add your social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to the account. New with Ping.fm, you can add your Facebook Fan pages.

Adding social networks to Ping.fm

Adding Networks

Listing of Possible Online Social Networks

Step 3: Create and name your group, choose the method of post selected social networks associated with each of your group. You can change them if you are not satisfied.

Creating Your Group


Selecting and Posting To Your Group

Selecting Which Group To Post

Setting Up A Posting Shortcuts

Step 4: Instead of returning to the ping.fm site each time you wish to post a message,, you can install the toolbar and send messages by clicking on “Post Message” or use “Ping this!” button to post a link you are visiting.

Using The Ping.fm Toolbar

Step 5: Click on the “Feedback” button if you have any questions.

You can now enjoy the benefits of Ping.fm.

Intelegia is using Ping.fm to manage content on the following platforms.

Competitive Intelligence Research Advantages of Social Networks

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 31, 2009
in Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

Social networks are great.  Tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn are handy to have to become reacquainted with old friends and meet new contacts.  The amount of information that is available on such  platforms varies however, competitive intelligence professionals can agree that they are just tools to be placed in a CI researcher’s toolbox.

Let’s take a look at how Facebook and LinkedIn can be used in a competitive intelligence context.

1 - As a marketer of telecommunication and television services , you have a feeling that a competitor, Bell Canada, is not seen in the highest regards by its clientele.  One avenue that individuals can utilize to voice their displeasure is in a Facebook group.  Groups are easy to start, join and post comments on the groups’ wall or discussion board. By simply conducting a keyword search with ‘Bell Canada’ on Facebook and clicking on the “Groups” tab, you will find a number of groups as seen below.

Searching Groups For Bell Canada

Taking an in-depth look of one of the “Bell Canada Suck” group with more that 700 members, you can access some of the strong opinions held by others about Bell Canada.  As a result, competitive intelligence researchers can gather stories of malcontent with may uncover many Bell Canada’s weaknesses when it comes costumer service.

2 - As a corporate strategist, you are seeking out who your key competitor is recruiting.  Recruiting certain individuals with particular skills may indicate a strategic move in the future.  Let’s take the case of aerospace giant, Bombardier.Aerospace.  Upon logging onto LinkedIn with a valid username and password, select “Search Companies” from the drop down menu and use the keyword “Bombardier Aerospace”.   The result of the query is a company profile with relevant human resource information.  Below are two screenshots of the page.

In the first image, you find that LinkedIn supplies information such as:

  1. Career path for Bombardier Aerospace employees
  2. Listing of current employees on LinkedIn
  3. Companies that Bombardier Aerospace employees are most connected to
  4. New Hires

On the second half of the page (2nd image), the LinkedIn profile provides such details as:

  1. Recent promotions and changes
  2. Key statistics about the company (i.e., locations across the world, top schools of the employees and median age of employees)

Keep in mind that the information on LinkedIn may not be up to date however, it is a very good starting point for human resources related information.

Facebook Or Not To Facebook For Business – That Is The Question?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on March 12, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

At first, Facebook may seem like a toy that is handy to have for a distraction to get your mind off of things for a while however, it does have its professional uses. Granted, LinkedIn is selected over Facebook when it comes to a preferred social networking platform as an enterprise solution however; here are some of the advantages of selecting Facebook:

1 – Critical mass.  As of March 2009, Facebook has 108.3 million users to LinkedIn has 15 million users. (Source: The Sydney Morning Herald).

2 – Applications. Adding applications to your profile may prove beneficial. For example, placing a RSS feed on your page will allow you access to news that will pushed to you rather than searching for it on the web.

3 – Groups. The sheer number of groups on Facebook allows you to network with more individuals on a variety of topics.
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Some of the main reasons that business professionals fail to join Facebook are i) perceptions that registration process is too lengthy or complicated and ii) Facebook is for teenagers.

Not so in both cases.

Once you have visited the site, you will be asked for basic information to set you up with your account.  Details such as your full name, email address, password and date of birth.  Thereafter, you will asked to fill out your profile.  Many individuals are usually turned off by this point but here is a piece of advice.  Approach this process as the means of promoting yourself.  This profile is a hybrid of a business card and your resume.  Be brief but precise in regards of your career.

Now that the basic stuff is out of the way, other details in regards to your profile is gravy. Posting a photo is recommended so that individuals can match your name with a face.

To address the notion that “Facebook is for teenagers”, here are some interesting facts: the largest growth in Facebook membership comes from the 35-49 year old set. Facebook has added twice as many 50-64 year old visitors as it has visitors under 18. (Source: Reuters) Translation: Many of your peers are hopping on the Facebook bandwagon and it is waiting for you to jump on quickly.

At this point, you should have all the requirements and good reasons to use your presence on Faceback to reach your corporate and professional objectives.  A handy use of Facebook can be seen when establishing a group or page for networking purposes.  A prime example is the Northern Lights Mining Network (NLMN) page on Facebook.

Internet Intellgence & Social Networking - Hitting The Jackpot

Published
by
Ian Smith
on July 26, 2007
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 0 Comments

I have a particular interest in all things Web 2.0, especially social networks. I was listening to the radio this morning when the co-host mentioned his involvement in an upcoming “social network” project. He was not too forthcoming with any details that piqued my interest.

Off I went to Google to see what I could dig up. As I tried different keywords, it occurred to me that the co-cost would be most likely be a member of the popular sites like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Within seconds, I hit the jackpot. The co-host had the name of the company behind new social network on his profile page. It was only seconds that I was able to visit the particular social network site.

For a person that was quite tight lipped about a project, he should know with the right mindset and tools, it is possible to find information on new online products and services.