Publicise Your Event is the new subgroup available to members of the Digital Personnel Group on LinkedIn.

The Digital Personnel Group has evolved and grown significantly over the last 12 months and is now closing in on 2000 members. It was recently acknowledged by Online Marketing Jobs as one of the most popular UK marketing groups on the LinkedIn platform!

Due to the popularity of the group, a number of members have suggested various ways of utilising the subgroup facility. All great ideas but up until this point I had resisted as the fundamental objective of the Digital Personnel Group has always been to provide an open networking platform for people who share the same passion for digital media – to create new relationships between peers and offer a platform to discuss the evolution of the marketplace.

In addition to this, the underlying objective has been to provide members with a selection of fantastic new opportunities to further their careers by nurturing a live and relevant job board. Unquestionably these objectives have been achieved and the Digital Personnel Group has become a real hive of activity and a first-call for digital media professionals looking for a new challenge.

One area that I have found difficult to direct though has been the advertising of live events. Up until March 2010, the publicising of live events had been confined to the News section. Members can now get some real value by advertising their events on a platform dedicated to this purpose – the newly formed subgroup “Publicise Your Event”.

This subgroup provides a great facility to engage with fellow group members in discussion both before and after the events have taken place. My hope is that members who are involved with the provision and management of events (on or offline) can light up the discussion board and entice valuable critiques from other members who are keen to develop their skills and engage with new audiences.

This is a great new way of expanding your reach for potential visitors to your live events, digital forums, tweet-ups, seminars, webinars and any other form of gathering that has a digital media theme.

Since forming the Publicise Your Event subgroup on 12^th March 2010, over 50 members have joined and the list is growing by the day!

To join and start publicising your events, please go to http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2855170/.

I hope to see you there soon!

Ashley Seddon

ashley.seddon@digitalpersonnel.co.uk

I love the expression “Social Media Expert”! I’m one, and you probably are too, but this most recent contribution to new media is barely at walking stage yet, so the true pioneers are yet to be identified.

What we would all probably agree with though is that an effective Social Media strategy will result in an upturn in quantifiable results. Not necessarily just income, but new opportunities to progress in your chosen field of work. It all leads to revenue of course, but to measure the success of your Social Media strategy it is essential that you understand the importance of brand marketing, awareness and true engagement with your audience.

The common objective for some is to get out there and connect with as many people as possible. I’m not knocking that approach but surely with no defined strategy as to whom you would like to engage with, and vice versa, this process will lead to lots of connections / followers / fans and far too much information coming in that is of no importance or relevance.

Word of Mouth is probably the best way of creating a good following, this confirms that your output is relevant and communications with peers is valued. This is where the numbers game comes into play, instead of feeling good about yourself because you have a staggering amount of connections and followers – connect only with people close to your own market and immerse yourself in meaningful discussion that will propel your business forwards.

I always look to see if there is disparity between followers and followings on Twitter profiles, it is always a good guide as to whether the person is a connection hound, or someone who is adding real value to their chosen market and articulating their thoughts through social media. Lists are also a good indicator of true exponents in the art of effective social media interaction, this is only where the higher number can truly represent someone worth following.

Ultimately I have found, thus far, that to gain value from all the major Social Media platforms it is better to build your reputation over time. Build meticulously and don’t worry about the big numbers straight away. Address your market with knowledgeable insight, communicate helpful sources of information and add a little humour and the numbers will look after themselves.

Ashley Seddon

ashley.seddon@digitalpersonnel.co.uk