Six Things to Not Do On LinkedIn and in Social Media Forums...Think Before You Post!

My last two rants have covered the irritating hijacking of productive online networking discussions. I've never written three pieces on the same topic before. But there is much to be said and learned, so I'm going to close this topic with one last thought on social media etiquette.

What I've addressed so far has touched on language barriers, listening and effective communication skills. In this Rant, I'm going to offer some basic DON'T suggestions for posting on LinkedIn and in other social media forums. I'm hardly a social media expert, and some of this is just common sense. But it's worth spelling out since social media is still a relatively new communication medium and clearly some people don't quite get it... yet.

These new communication strategies are challenging to stay on top of, so I've made the investment to learn more about it through The Marketing Animals program. They have some great content available and I would encourage you to check it out.

I'm going share some real world examples along with my Six Things to Not Do list. Click here for my video Rant on this topic.

1. Don't Derail Discussions with Solicitations.
Here is another recent example of what not to do. An excellent question was posted and constructive suggestions were made on this topic: What do you use as your title on your business cards? Sales Rep? Account Executive? Promotional Product Consultant? King of Creativity?

Responses included creative titles like:
Director of First Impressions
Business Construction Foreman
Director/Creator
Branding Strategist
Creative Consultant
Marketing Director

One person commented to each person who posted on this topic. Here are samples of his posts:

"Dear Cathy,I have gone through your profile.I have an idea to create a joint business where we grow by marketing and sourcing promo products to and from INDIA-CHINA-Bangladesh.What is your idea?"