How to buzz with XING Vienna, August 2009 ambuzzador marketing gmbh
Intro Welcome to our latest ambuzzador social media guide. This time we focus on the well known business network Xing. On the next few pages we show why social media and business networks are important and why Xing is an important player in this area. Furthermore we will show you the first basic steps in Xing. Explaining a profile, the basic functions of your dashboard and how to use Xing from a company s point of view. Since we do explain some steps in particular, we do not explain every single site or step on Xing. We believe that everybody is able to handle the very basic steps himself. If we did miss some points or simply did not mention some important facts, please feel free to get back to us any time. Since it is our first Xing guide we know that there might be missing something but we are keen to learn and do better next time ambuzzador marketing gmbh, August 2009 2
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Tools @ Xing Conclusion 3
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Tools @ Xing Conclusion 4
Why Social Media? Social Media enables Companies and Brands to become more personal. Publish MMO Share Social Media is the best way to upload, create and share content. Social Gamers Virtual Worlds Social Media Discuss Social Networks There are many possibilities to participate within social media (networks, sharing, casts, publishing, etc.) Livecast Lifestream Microblog There are 625 million active internet users worldwide. About 71% of them uses social media.* Study: Wave 4 Power to the people, July 2009 The graphic contains only an example of social media platforms 5
Why Social / Business Networks Social Networks Opportunity for companies / interested parties to communicate directly Exchange possibilities with other members Social Networks become the focus of Social Media since they embed more and more social media features within their platforms (e.g. video & media sharing).* Since people tend to use Social Networks, Business Networks are becoming more and more common too. Business Networks help to connect people of similar interests with each other without being actively on the search. But looking actively for interessting contacts won t hurt either, of course ;-) * Study: Wave 4 Power to the people, July 2009 6
Userzahlen Social Media Map Germany > 7,0 Mio + > 5,7 Mio Special Interest > 5,3 Mio > 4,6 Mio > 2,3 Mio > 1,2 Mio > 3,2 Mio Business Networking > 4,9 Mio > 3,1 Mio Private Networking > 5,2 Mio > 3,2 Mio Sharing Platforms > 2.6 Mio > 1.3 Mio > 470.000 > 870.000 > 900.000 >300.000 > 300.000 > 430.000 > 240.000 - > 60.000 + Zielgruppenspezifisch - Update: June 2009 7
Users Social Media Map Austria + Special Interest > 813.640 Networking Sharing Plattforms > 375.000 Mio Business Networking > 300.000 > 550.000 > 630.000 > 450.000 > 470.000 >570.000 > 560.000 > 170.000 > 150.000 > 175.000 > 180.00 > 65.000 - > 30.000 > 60.000 > 6.600 > 30.000 > 25.000 + specific target audience - Update: July 2009 8
Users Social Media Map Switzerland + > 1,5 Mio > 1,3 Mio Sharing Platforms Special Interest > 430.000 > 760.000 > 290.000 > 190.000 > 290.000 Business Networking > 350.000 Private Networking > 350.000 > 150.000 > 140.000 > 120.000 >84.000 > 110.000 > 72.000 > 42.000 - > 40.000 + Special interest - Update: June 2009 9
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Groups Direct Msg Guestbook Tools @ Xing Conclusion 10
Why Xing http://www.xing.com fastest growing and biggest business network in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and most of Europe more than 8.0 millon users worldwide more than 90% of all members log in regularly Xing is available in 16 languages leading to international contacts possibility to embed own files on profile and to offer interaction possibilities applications for work A B Basic Xing idea C B knows A B knows C C needs what A offers B introduces A to C A & C start networking Sources: http://blog.freshnetworks.com/2009/02/facebook-is-the-most-visited-social-network-and-twitter-is-third/, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics 11
Xing Dashboard First Contact When logging in to Xing, the first screen that appears is the one on the right side. From here you can coordinate every action on Xing. The 1 menu bar at the top enables you to browse through different sections and the dashboard itself gives you a brief overview about what s going on in your network The focus lies on the biggest box called what s 2 new in your network. Here you can see what has changed at your contacts profiles as long as they did not disable this feature in their privacy settings. Beyond the big box there are two further boxes 3 showing a) the latest Xing members and 4 b) members you may know based upon your (former) companies and your contacts. This is thought to get networking started. So try it out by clicking through some profiles. On the right hand side there are some smaller boxes leading you to your inbox or pending 5 contact requests or to the lately released Xing 6 applications. 2 1 3 My personal dashboard yours might differ depending on the boxes you selected to appear and your personal order of them 4 5 6 12
Xing Dashboard Info boxes 1 2 3 Further down on the front page there 1 are even more boxes with even more information. If this is to much for you simply delete the boxes you don t want to see. Of course it is also possible to rearrange all of those boxes until your dashboard looks the way you want it to. On the right hand side you get the 2 chance to invite friends or business contacts to become a contact on Xing. Beyond the quick invite box and the Xing ad (if your are a free member) there is a box showing your contacts. 3 Direct contacts, contacts of contacts and 3rd degree contacts are shown. Especially the last number is mostly pretty impressive 13
Xing Dashboard More info boxes Even more info boxes ;-) Just have a look 1 what you need or want to see and decide by yourself what makes sense the most 1 The boxes at the bottom of the dashboard represent, in this case, the new invented Xing 2 applications. There is, once more, the chance to drag them wherever you want them to be on your dashboard. 2 14
Dashboard @ Xing Applications As mentioned before applications are shown in boxes as well. Since Xing just started the applications channel a few weeks ago, it is expected that the amount of available applications will increase as time goes by. Most of the applications that are not developed by Xing, need a registration with their provider. (can be done right away) 15
You @ Xing Your Profile When your done with setting up your dashboard it comes to you! How would you like to be found at Xing? That is exactly what it is all about. Your personal profile. This is a Xing Profile how it looks like when you re looking on it without being logged in. It shows a lot, but not everything (e.g. address). Of course you can choose what you want to be displayed and what should stay hidden. We will walk through this on the next few pages Furthermore Xing offers two different memberships. A free membership and a premium membership. I will try to mention the differences right where they appear so that you can decide whether becoming a premium member would be worth it or staying free is enough. 16
You @ Xing Let s start with the first impression photo and current position. 1 2 3 4 In Addition to the points named before, there are also some interesting links on top of your profile. Those links show 3 different results. For example who came to your profile because auf your latest changes. Which other member fits best your wants or haves. etc. But more on this, later on On the very right hand side there is a box showing your status message (if you are a premium member), the 4 reasons why you joined Xing and some editoral options. On top of each profile there is a name 1 and a picture. Just to get to know the person one is talking to. Of course there is no need to put a picture on Xing but it definitely makes a profile more personal. 2 Furthermore the current position is displayed so that everybody can see what you are doing and where you are working unless you don t want to provide this information. Take home message Take your time to complete your profile. Don t hurry. You will have the advantage afterwards Everything that is shown here can be, of course, edited and deleted. Everytime. 17
1 2 3 You @ Xing Your Profile When looking down there appears a navigation bar. Here you can choose 1 between the available subpages. But obviously, the pre selected business detail page, is the most interesting. When staying on the business detail page, this is the first time you can specify 2 what you are looking for, what you are offering and what your interests are. No need to hurry. Be as exact as you like. This makes matching way more easy. Beyond your information goes your background. Current Position at the top. Same over here: Be precise, so that 3 everybody knows what you re talking about 18
1 2 3 You @ Xing Your Profile As mentioned in the beginning: Xing gives you full control of your data (everything else would be disappointing). So you can choose what should be found on the web and on your profile. All this can be edited in the privacy settings section which we will focus on in a few pages (page 21) The next step in your CV is, if you are a premium member, to enter your references 1 & awards. Tell the world how good you are that s what Xing is for ;-) A little deeper you can add and display your educational background in order to show your expertise. 2 The last point on this photo shows you the web section. A place where you can add other web presences you would like to be found by people that are interested in you. You can provide profiles to Communities, Websitelinks, Blogs or even your Twitter- Site. On the very bottom there is a field contact details showing all of your entered contact 3 possibilities. Whether it is your working address, icq, msn, skype or your private telephonenumber. 19
You @ Xing Your Profile As mentioned in the beginning: Xing gives you full control of your data (everything else would be disappointing). So you can choose what should be found on the web and on your profile. All this can be edited in the privacy settings section which we will focus on in a few pages (page 21) On the very right hand side, beyond the ad (if you are a free member) pop up three further boxes. The first box shows the number of your contacts and 7 of them with pictures. This is 1 pretty random so do not worry about who is being displayed and who not. The next box tells whether you are a free or a premium member, shows profile hits, your 2 entry date and your activity meter which basically represents how often you log in to your Xing profile. The last box gives a short excerpt of all of your groups. Once more do not worry about 3 the way they are displayed 20
You @ Xing Privacy Settings Remember when I was telling you on the last pages you can edit this and edit that? Right here is the place to do so Under home > settings there are all the pages that you need in order to pimp your profile. You can edit your login data, your personal data, the notification settings, your language and, of course, your privacy settings. As you can see in the photo on the left, the privacy settings page gives you a lot of space to customize your profile. It is recommended to take your time and think about what you want to be displayed in public and what not. But, of course, changes can be made everytime. 21
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Tools @ Xing Conclusion 22
Xing enterprise solutions Xing enterprise solutions is the place to go for companies in order to use Xing as professional tool Xing devides its solution into 4 parts: Recruting Advertising Market Community 23
Recruiting @ Xing Xing Jobs makes it possible to reach highly qualified and actively searching people The Xing matching system displays suitable jobs on candidates home page. 1 job searchers can search active using the job listings and search functions. 2 job searchers can receive latest job listings by email or browse them 3 Job searcher sees tags that match his profile as well as the most recent offers and the most active companies. 1 2 3 24
Recruiting @ Xing If your business is in the need for more job postings, Xing offers contact possiblities in order to negotiate about bulk postings Posting vacant jobs on Xing is quite simple and easy to handle It s all on a pay per click basis One click is 0,49 EUR You can limit the clicks (e.g. to 200 so that you don t have to pay more than 200 x 0,49 EUR) When a job posting reaches the limit, it will be deactivated In order to post jobs, you have to be premium member & you have to have jobs account on Xing Each premium member receives 10 free clicks per month Repeated clicks in a certain span 25
Advertising @ Xing Xing offers highly targeted advertising opportunities. In order to use this opportunities you have to get in contact with Adconion Media Group since they are managing all ads on Xing. Adconion offers a variety of advertising media (basically banners). If you are interested you can download their specs and have a closer look at it. 26
Market @ Xing Xing best offers is a possibility to bring exclusive deals to the Xing audience. Most exclusive deals are for premium members, but some are for basic members too. If you want to offer your services / products at Xing you need to apply online. Xing will then get back to you. 27
Community @ Xing Xing enterprise groups enable to create communities within Xing. Easy to manage, develop and monitor Enterprise groups biggest advantages may be: Networking & information gathering Talk to customers, colleagues or other related members Employer branding Stay focused on talents and keep in touch with applicants and alumni Exclusivity You decide who can join the group Brand presence Represent your brand Let high potentials and decission makers network Organization Organize events with the Xing event tool 28
Xing Enterprise Groups Key features of Xing enterprise groups are: Individual design Embed your own logos Multilanguage forums Implement content via HTML or iframe Embed external RSS Feeds Play video or audio files & upload documents Easy handling Search within the group Export member data as xls or csv Html newsletter Organization via Xing Calendar Tool Services Microsite in brand design & with own URL (http://groupname.xing.com) Tracking & Statistics Workshops Best Practice Documents 29
Xing Enterprise Groups Best Practice (Germany) http://vwi.xing.com CI Branding Custom Header People can join Xing group from microsite 30
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Tools @ Xing Conclusion 31
Communication @ Xing Direct Messages When you are on Xing there are different communication possibilities. First of all you can write in a guestbook when you are on a profile. This might be not the best way to contact somebody since those entries are not very likely to be read in time du to the fact that there is no information email sent to a user when he receives a new entry. Another way is to write a direct mail to a user you just identified as an interesting contact. The only problem on this: You need to be a Premium Member in order to write to other members. Once the conversation is started, you can reply without a premium membership. Next possibility is to send contact requests. With each contact request you have the chance to add a few lines explaining why you want to connect (when your are a premium member, there is more space for explanations). Messaging with different options on the right hand side (blocking, showing contact details, etc.) 32
Communication @ Xing Groups Furthermore there is the chance to get in touch via groups. Xing offers a variety of groups. By joining them and participating actively you will get in touch with interesting members automatically. Xing Group https://www.xing.com/net/buzzattack/ Xing groups are a perfect place to start conversations. There are groups for almlost everybody s taste. Professional groups focusing on business details, fun groups, sports groups, website testing groups, etc.of course there are a lot of groups that do not make sense at all. But that s the thing with social networks ;-) But, as mentioned before, there are even more that make sense. So simply join and have fun. It s going to be worth it most times ;-) 33
How to communicate Xing Cheat Sheet dm / contacts groups enterprise groups profile overall dm = direct message youse dm with care. No commercials! Do not add people if you only want to sell always bring something to the table! even though it s a network, it s still business! select groups of interest participate! add value to the conversations do not youse groups to self-promote it s ok to present your stuff once in a while as long as you re active do not spam with product information create a place to talk and have conversation have input for conversations specials for group members will help to let them stay happy ;-) provide as much information as you want the more the better stick to relevant information always respond in time! There is no need to let people wait. don t consider Xing as just another network it s still business stick to normal language. (no rofls, lols or whatever) it s about give-andtake polite participate no commercials relevancy participate actively do not do social media be part of it live it 34
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Tools @ Xing Conclusion 35
Example for applications Twitter Buzz As mentioned in the dashboar section at the beginning of this guide, there are a lot of applications that can be added to your profile. Twitter Buzz (screenshot) is just one of them. With Twitter Buzz Xing searches twitter s public timeline for topics of your interest. Usually it takes the topics out of your profile but you can delete or add topcis of course When seeing someone talking about topics your are interested in, you can contact them via twitter just another way to do networking Twitter Buzz Twitter Buzz is only one very good example of how usefull Xing applications can be if you take your time to get into it 36
Agenda Social Media Business Networks Social Media Map Xing Why Xing You @ Xing Dashboard Profile Enterprise Solutions @ Xing Conversation @ Xing Groups Direct Msg Guestbook Tools@ Xing Conclusion 37
Xing is definitely a platform to be on. At least in Europe there is no other choice for Business Networking. Do not think of Xing as just another social network. It is still business. It might take some time to get into it, but it will pay out. If you want to learn more about how to act on XING, in Social Media in general or what s it all about this thing called buzz marketing join our group, we re looking forward to seeing you there! https://www.xing.com/net/buzzattack/ 38
Glossary XING Link Connection between two websites. When clicking on a link the linked website will be opened. Live Networking Events Live Events organized via Xing. Social get togethers Moderators Xing-Members, that have an eye on selected Xing groups. Networking What you re doing on Xing ;-) Personal Data Information like age, gender, ethic background, etc. Posting What you say in a group or forum Premium-Membership Membership for which you ll get billed 39
Glossary XING Professionals People with experience in a certain field of work Professional Networking Networking on a professional basis Social Networking Creating social contacts within networks Web 2.0 Web 2.0 means the interactive techniques and services offered through use of the internet. Furthermore it is the change of how the internet is experienced. Focus on Social Communities and platforms. Web 2.0 puts the user in the central place of the focus. Webbased Applications that don t need to be installed. They are running on the server of the application provider and do not need local installation. 40
Sources http://www.checkfacebook.com/ http://www.openpr.de/news/318553/agof-01-2009-kwick-legt-groesstes-wachstum-im- Community-Bereich-hin.html http://www.deutsche-startups.de/2009/06/08/zweinull-trends-twitter-ist-nur-einvoruebergehender-hype/ https://www.google.com/adplanner/planning http://agof.de/ http://www.openpr.de/ http://www.christian-laux.de/2009/03/19/wer-kennt-wen-fuhrende-community-in-der-agof/ 41
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