Baby Boomers Can Learn Social Media Starting With LinkedIn

At a networking meeting a woman a couple of years younger than I talked about the paradigm shift needed in order to switch from our old ways of thinking about marketing to the new ways of social media.

Another woman in this networking group always appears uncomfortable talking about her business. This is probably because, in the past, we have been taught that it appears to be selling to talk about what we do.

What is wonderful about effectively using social media is the freedom it gives you to share information about what you do in a way that isn't selling. In fact, as we are casting a very targeted net, we are providing an information service for people who need the products or services we provide.

This is incredibly empowering because it takes the focus off us and transfers the focus to the people we can help with our products and services.

If you are a Baby Boomer professional or business owner who has been dragging your feet over entering the arena of social media marketing, stop procrastinating. Commit to taking one small step now.

First, start with LinkedIn.com because including a resume is something with which most of us Baby Boomers are definitely familiar. In fact, LinkedIn offers an automatic resume upload feature.

Now what is new with an online resume on LinkedIn is our photo. This is a very vital element of any social media activity but is not something Baby Boomers are accustomed to sharing.

Don't overthink this element. Just get someone to take a good photo of you without a hat or sunglasses blocking your eyes and yes to a little smile.

When you become comfortable with the idea of your photo on social media, you may then use the same photo on your business cards the next time you reprint those cards.

And be sure to include your LinkedIn profile URL on those cards if you don't yet have a Twitter account or a Facebook Page or a website. (Get a customized LinkedIn profile URL by going to "Edit Profile" and clicking on the "edit" button next to your public LinkedIn URL.)

LinkedIn provides a good training ground for interacting online with others. You can join groups on topics of interest to you and take part in discussions in these groups.

Once you practice participating in LinkedIn groups, you'll be better prepared for participating in online conversations on Twitter and Facebook.

But there's no need to rush into the next social media site. You can wait until you wonder why you ever thought being on LinkedIn was difficult before you move on to trying another site.



And if you are a CEO of a company and not yet having someone in your company participating in social media as the company representative, read this guest post of mine for CEO World Magazine: "If Your Company Is Not Effectively Using Social Media You Are Losing Out to Your Competition"



(c) 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.



Phyllis and company co-founder Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) have an upcoming social media 3-part webinar series to help people become comfortable with the concepts of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Learn more now.