To sell or not to sell, that is the question......

I think we’re all well aware of the importance of new digital (or ‘social’) media – enabled by internet technologies and populated by millions. These digital channels of communication have developed seemingly unlimited potential for reaching new customers and identifying new markets – but are they used to their full potential?

Well, here’s a short story for you about ‘Linkedin’ – a ‘professional’ social network designed to enable ‘reconnections’, ‘power your career’ and ‘get answers’… away from the younger, less-professionally focused and, at times, frivolous social network (you know the ones I mean!).

One thing that’s really interesting about Linkedin is the opportunity to ask questions on any business topic and draw on the knowledge and experience of all of your contacts. You can also join specific interest groups (for example the eMarketing association) and you can draw on knowledge and experience of thousands worldwide by asking questions relevant to your current need.

So, what’s the point here? Well, you post a question and wait for people to offer their responses and all of a sudden you see that it’s full of people selling – not subtle, or based on recommendations, but cold, hard selling. Is this right? Should these digital channels be used in such a way? A little bit of further research and you can uncover a variety of opinions from…

‘If you are on a professional network, you are usually there to sell something to someone. Maybe it is just your resume, in case you are fired or your company “lets you go”, or it may be a product or service. You are selling something. You know it, I know it so let’s stop wasting time talking about it.’

http://blog.emarketingassociation.com/blog/emarketing-association/0/0/selling-on-social-networks

…to something more considered…

‘Get to know a network’s policies on promotion, as it applies to your plans. The last thing you want is to be labelled a spammer. Understand that these tools are more about networking, building relationships, and communicating than blatant promotion, as in marketing and sales’.