As many know, LinkedIn and Twitter recently announced that you can now update your Twitter status updates through LinkedIn and your Twitter status from your LinkedIn.  This is definitely a good thing for all involved.  It give Twitter more legitimacy in the business world.  It gives LinkedIn much more activity then it currently has.  And most importantly, it gives us, those that use the two platforms for business more efficiency in sharing information in our networks.

For those that tend to use Twitter more then LinkedIn, it’s easy to set your profile to automatically post your tweets.  Here’s how you do it.

On your profile page, you’ll see the new “Twitter” section (It’s right under “Websites”.)  Go ahead and click the “Edit” link.

In this example, I’ve already added my @scottjmanley Twitter account to my profile and now I want to add my company’s tweets (@FYIndOut) as well. To do so, I’ll click the “Add another Twitter account” link.

You’ll receive a popup asking if you want to allow LinkedIn to connect to your Twitter account.  Because I’m already logged into Twitter as @FYIndOut on my pc, it asks me to confirm the account or tells me to log out of Twitter and log back in as the account I wish to add to my LinkedIn profile.

Once you add the profile, you’ll see that you have the ability to share tweets from that Twitter account on your profile with either “everyone” or “no one”.

 You also have the ability to set your profile to share all of your tweets or just ones with the hashtag “#in” in them.  For those that tend to use Twitter for personal use as well, this is a great way to make sure only your professional tweets end up on your LinkedIn profile.  However, if you’re like me and you only use Twitter for your work life, you’ll want to set it to display all tweets.

All you need to do from there is click the “Save” button and you’re good to go.

Using this new feature makes it much easier to share your information with both networks in one action.  It’s worth the 2 minutes to set it up.  Good luck!

When those in business marketing discuss social media and how to make the most of it, many immediately say, “That stuff is great for B2C but I’m not seeing the value for B2B.”  While most will agree that the value to B2C is easier to find when you look at social media, there is value for B2B. You just can’t take the same path as your B2C counterparts.

The Big 3 in order of value to B2B:

Twitter is a fantastic tool to create relationships, monitor trending topics and engage with customers.  It’s astounding growth and viral demeanor has spread all around the world.   Twitter has become a great way to get involved in people’s real time discussions on various products, industries, and professions.  Connecting with new prospects, business partners, and media in your area has never been easier.  As the majority of B2B investments are not made immediately as in the consumer world, staying involved in the right conversations on Twitter can definitely boost a company’s share-of-mind with their prospects.

Linked in provides great business value in terms of recruiting and personal brand development.   In regards to B2B, getting involved in the right groups and interacting with others is a good way to build your brand.

Of course we can’t forget Facebook, with 300,000,000 users come 2010 it would be hard for any company to shy away and attempt to create a brand name for themselves.  While Facebook is definitely a consumer and B2C platform, many B2B companies are still creating fan pages while they try to figure out how to make the most of the platform.  With Facebook recently launching vanity URLs, there is at least the benefit of additional SEO value.

The key thing to remember about all of these platforms is that they were built with the goal of connecting people to other people. Depending on what your B2B solution is and who your customers are, joining these sites with no strategies or set goals is pushing a square peg in a round hole.  Companies need to have a strategy and know what platforms are best for them, if any.  As platforms continue to grow and companies continue to embrace social media, better opportunities will arise for B2B.  At FYIndOut, we’re pushing to be that platform.