LinkedIn Secret Tools for Construction Business Owners and Business Development March 11, 2013
Posted by carolhagen in iPhone, linkedin, Social Media Tools.Tags: business, business development, construction, linkedin, marketing
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In my attempt to help others leverage LinkedIn it dawned on me just how unfamiliar most construction business owners and their business development staff really know about LinkedIn and the apps that utilize it’s information. I have shared the “7 Lesser Known Apps to make LinkedIn Pop” and recognize there are more apps and tools to share that will improve productivity, garner deeper relationships and manage your connections. These are the Secret LinkedIn Apps to Success for Construction Business Development. Every SMPS member should be leveraging these tools and become more effective in managing their construction industry connections.
Evernote Hello (Android, iPhone) – Scans Business cards, automatically connects, makes meetings memorable. Great for prequalification presentations, jobsite, and pre-construction meetings!
CoBook (iPhone) Imports your contacts with Rich Profiles, organizes volumes of contacts with intelligent search by name, company or group. It also displays the local time for each contact – a handy feature!
To get it to work with LinkedIn, On your iPhone, open Cobookâs Settings and simply shake your phone. Aggregating your contacts in one place so you’re never caught without your contacts while at the jobsite.
Tout Email analytics, email templates, live feed interaction with links to call, email or access your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for personalized follow-up. If you don’t have a CRM solution you can import your contacts by group or association. Works with Outlook, Gmail and synchronizes with your LinkedIn Connections. The ultimate in easy follow-up to all your important construction meetings and business development opportunities.
Five Hundred Plus For those of you with over 500 LinkedIn connections, this personal CRM tool now has a team feature if you have team members nurturing a prospect. Keep you LinkedIn connections close and nurture referrals with those that influence the construction industry.
ProInsights.me (Android tablets, iPad and the iPhone) This app offers a better way to visualize your connections with infographics, has an intelligent search that’s useful for finding someone when their name escapes you. Sorry no videos available on this one but there’s a quick overview preso on their website. Most construction professionals are visual, so make your LinkedIn connections and relationships easier to navigate.
NoteLeaf (Android, iPhone and Blackberry) This is a fantastic app that takes your Google Calendar (Which I sync my Outlook too daily) and gives me a recap of who I am meeting with 10 minutes before my meeting on my mobile device. Although not currently accessible in beta trials, add your email and get invited to their official release. I’ve used this for over a year, keeping me informed with my construction prospects, influencers and customers.
Charliehq Another suggestion to sign-up for early. CharlieHQ will give you a reminder before a meeting and help you stay current with a contacts activities. Heard about this tool via my network. Looking forward to it’s release!
Top 30 LinkedIn Groups for Construction Business Development April 19, 2012
Posted by carolhagen in Construction Industry - Software, linkedin.Tags: business development, construction, linkedin, LinkedIn Groups, marketing
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LinkedIn has become the place for networking with the construction, architecture and engineering industries. With over 3,122,108
profiles world wide in the construction industry as of April 18, 2012 – there are more people to connect with everyday than we can ever approach for business development opportunities. The US has over 1,000,000 LinkedIn profiles in the construction industry and over 284,000 are construction owners. The best way to reach and influence this large volume of AEC movers and shakers is using LinkedIn Groups.
Keep in mind that joining a group doesn’t mean “Aha – look at all the people I can spam!” but rather “How many people can I honestly help” and “What can I share that will make a difference to each group member”. Business development also means more than marketing. We all need an education, to network with peers and with prospective clients. Be careful in joining too many groups or weighting them too heavily to your peers (I see this problem often), rather that to focus on your targeted prospects. Remember you are looking for business opportunities. Once you have a discussion going you can build trust and eventually set a face to face meeting. Yes, that’s still how it’s done in construction. So which groups seem to be most beneficial for construction business development professionals?
30 Best Construction Business Development Groups in the USA:
New Addition updated on May 2, 2012: Owner’s Representatives – see comments
A/E/C Industry Networking Group
AGC Construction Leadership Council
Architecture, MEP Engineering, and Construction (A/E/C) Networking Group
Associated General Contractors,Subcontractors,affiliates,
Business Development Forums
Business Development
Business Development – The Missing Link between Marketing & Sales
Business Development Leaders
CapturePlanning.com Business Development & Proposal Management
Construction Management
Construction Management Association of America
Construction Marketing Ideas
Construction Professionals Forum
Construction Users Round Table (CURT)
Design and Construction Network
Design-Build Institute of America
eMarketing Association Network
Federal Business Development Network
Federal Government Contractor Network (TFCN)
International Facility Management Association
International Council of Shopping Centers – ICSC
Leadership in Capital Projects (LinCP) Forum
Marketing Advertising Brand Management
McGraw-Hill Construction
Retail Industry Professionals Group
SMPS National CPSM Group
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Society of American Military Engineers
The HEALTHCARE DESIGN connection
The Owner’s Dilemma
Best Construction Business Development Groups in Phoenix
Alliance for Construction Excellence
Arizona Builders’ Alliance
ASU Arizona State University
Arizona Association for Economic Development
Arizona Land Development
Arizona Professional Networkers
CMAA Arizona Chapter
IFMA Phoenix
Society for Marketing Professional Services Arizona Chapter
ULI-the Urban Land Institute
Valley Partnership
Most of the national LinkedIn groups have 1000’s of members but a few are specialty niches. Some are construction or business development focused while others are not. The local groups are often more intimate with a few hundred members. Pick and choose wisely. Take the time to look at the membership statistics of each group. Sometimes more members isn’t better as the seniority and regional info is a tell tale measurement. Remember that balance is important and plan to participate after listening to the discussions that evoke the most responses. Finding what resonates in the group will keep you busy and make you more successful.
If you found this construction business development article helpful, I’d like to hear from you. Either connect with me on LinkedIn (say biz dev in the invitation and use the “we’ve done business together”) or leave a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you.
More Tips on Blog Subscriptions November 13, 2009
Posted by carolhagen in Construction Industry - Software, twitter, web 2.0.Tags: blogging, howto, marketing, web2.0
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As promised this is a continuance of “Attracting Blog Subscriptions” highlighting other functions and features of Feedburner. Today we’re spreading the news of your blog (and if you attended my recent seminar Web 2.0 tools for the construction industry or one of my Social Media on a Shoestring Budget workshops , this is a homework assignment). If you have a few subscribers, why not make it easy for them to share it with the friends and co-workers? You can do that easily giving them options to email it or share it on Facebook. The tool is called FeedFlare and it’s found under the optimize tab: 
This gives the viewer of your blog feed or site an opportunity to pass it along, make it more popular with Digg and spread your message. Once you choose FeedFlare, select the options you want for your feed or site and it will show you what it will look like to your readers:
You can reorder the choices you selected by dragging the Share on Facebook or Digg it hyperlinks using drag-n-drop. You’re done when you hit SAVE.Â
The next time your feed goes out, all your subscribers will have these choices to share and you will reap the rewards!Â
There is also a FeedFlare catalog of other choices to add including english to spanish translations, adding links to your favorite charity, event promotions and Map It
(to Link to a web mapping service display for feed items that have location context associated with them).Â
Go ahead and experiment. Try out FeedFlare and let me know about your success. We love your comments.
Oh, and since you read the whole blog post, you can add a follow me on twitter flare with these instructions from HyveUp
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