One of the business uses for LinkedIn is to ask and answer questions. When you help answer questions posed by other professionals, you demonstrate expertise and generosity - thus building good karma and in many cases a good and visible reputation in the network.
If you want to keep track of questions asked by colleagues, the easiest way to do that is by adding the feed to that specific topic to your Google Reader account. If you add more than one topic, you can organize them by folders.
The difficulty comes when you're the one asking the question. If you don't word it carefully, all you get are pitches - and I've seen plenty of those recently. The top ten reasons why your LinkedIn question is getting (mostly) pitches are:
(1.) It reveals lack of confidence in your abilities - when you share something that is tentative about what someone in your role or position should know, the recommendations for services pour in.
(2.) It reveals you're not such an expert after all - there is a fair share of duh! questions being posted by professionals who define themselves as experts routinely. Might it be worth going over the five attributes of being an expert before posting?
(3.) It shows you've not done your homework - are you hiding under a rock and have no knowledge of the abundance of wikis, blogs, and lists shared daily on things like monitoring tools, analysts who blog, so on and so forth.
(4.) It doesn't give enough information about your objectives - if you ask something generic like "what are the top social media sites?" you might not get to find the ones you're really like to get involved in for your market and customers.
(5.) It's not declaring the purpose of asking - this goes to context. If you pick one tool, let's say it's a traditional marketing tool, and ask your network to rate it against online or digital tools, but give no information as to how it's used and integrated in your marketing, well you won't get the useful insights you were looking for.
(6.) It's a veiled attempt at figuring out your own relevance - this is the classic I refer to as "the lie is the in question". If you're asking because all you want is reassurance that your service is cool, you may be in for a disappointment.
(7.) It's a forward attempt to get the community to do your work - these are by far the most entertaining as they clearly show that the person behind the question is just sitting back and waiting for the ideas and examples to come in so they can use them as theirs.
(8.) It's pointless - you're not asking the real or more useful question. Instead of asking if people increased or decreased a budget, be more curious and inquire about how they were reallocated, or something more specific along those lines that will give you insights into what your peers on LinkedIn are doing.
(9.) It hardly gives enough information to get good answers - if site users need to interpret your question, they will interpret it to their advantage. You can count on that.
(10.) It's expecting others to calculate the ROI of your activities - this is by far the most egregious. How do perfect strangers know to calculate the ROI of a business strategy they have no idea about?
Remember that your questions will reveal much more about you than your answers. Choose your words and context carefully, or you will get (mostly) pitches. It's not only answers that build your reputation on LinkedIn, questions matter. Or said another way, you can be in control of your experience by doing what it takes to make it useful.
What are some of the strangest - as in "really?" - you've seen on LinkedIn? How do you go about formulating a question?
© 2006-2009 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.
Valeria,
Great points 1-10. I've struggled with the true value and ROI of questions for months; I've yet to find the answer.
From the "asker" side, it's imperative to be very thoughtful with the question asked so that answers help you move forward.
From the "answerer" side, I haven't figured out an automated way to listen for the questions I'd want to answer. Do you have one?
I'm glad to report that I haven't found a strange question, probably because I haven't looked for one.
Cheers,
John
PS. Great talk @ IMS09. BTW, parlo Italiano. Sono stato a Siena e Firenze per sei mesi in 1986. Mi piace ascoltare l'Italiano.
Posted by: John Marchiony | October 23, 2009 at 09:11 AM
Valeria,
Bravo on the list. All good points, though for whatever reason #6 is really making me nod my head and think yes, yes, this is so annoying.
Right you are, so much pitching in the questions (and discussion) area of LI. It is getting to be that good questions get lost in all the self-promotion.
As for how I ask...
1) It is a topic that I genuinely want to hear the thoughts/opinion of others.
2) I do often use questions to link to a blog post I have written about the same topic -- where I have greater elaboration on the same subject -- but I always also have enough info in the text area of question so that a person can respond based on that text alone.
3) Hot/controversial topics tend to get people's responder juices going.
4) Sly humor in question is good way to reel 'em in, and then having good text explanation -- the thoughtful factor -- helps elicit response.
Posted by: Deni Kasrel | October 23, 2009 at 09:56 AM
I'd add one more: Your question IS a pitch!
Far too often, questions on LinkedIn look like lazy marketing rather than genuine pursuit of knowledge.
Questions like "Have you considered using a CRM to boost sales?" are a dead giveaway. Glance at the asker's profile and -- lo and behold! -- he works for a CRM provider!
Pitches masquerading as questions will get you pitches masquerading as answers.
Posted by: Scott Hepburn | October 23, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Valeria,
Great stuff, and thanks for creating this post.
Answering questions can be one of the best ways to build your expertise online, and if done the correct way can turn into major opportunities for you or your company.
One guy "I know" answered my question perfectly one time, and didn't give me a pitch (he did it the right way). I later asked him what type of benefit he was receiving from answering questions on LinkedIn... and he said by adding value to so many (without pitching anything) he was naturally bringing in clients because they knew he was sincere.
He told me he was getting about 3-5 new clients a month from this, generating some great extra revenue.
Just thought I would share, thanks again Valeria
Posted by: Lewis Howes | October 23, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Very interesting analysis. I agree about lack of context. Hard to help people when you have insufficient information. Maybe it would be easier if people could ask questions via audio or video? I suspect you'd get more back story that way.
Posted by: Jay Baer | October 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Valeria,
Related to Linkedin, you reminded that Linkedin, like most networks, delivers on what you put into it. The Question/Answer section always delivers a high return in terms of value.
But beyond the post, you are generous in reminding people that the question you ask is just as important, if not more important, than the answers provided. Online or offline.
Best,
Rich
Posted by: Rich Becker | October 23, 2009 at 03:55 PM
@John - I use Google Reader to syndicate the question topics I'm interested in. Automating anything is imperfect, of course, as the feed can only give you quantitative and topical information, but not qualitative. That's why we continue to rely on human filters, especially our own (no two people are exactly alike... although some assistants are remarkable in reading minds). Thank you for the kind words on the IMS09 talk. I'm working on the speaker page and always welcome testimonials by informed professionals, so feel free ;)
@Deni - perhaps it's insecurity that prompts people to embed "look how great I am" in the interaction? I'm evolving this theory that those who are prime numbers don't need to call attention to it, you figure it out by noticing that although the share the same characteristic, they are each unique (new metaphor I'm trying out for objectivity). Thank you for sharing your techniques. I'm liking the thoughtful parts a lot.
@Scott - of course it is, thank you for pointing it out. Well put!
@Lewis - since you're the one who wrote the book on LinkedIn (one of them ;) I'm glad your friend measures his results. We're not saying one shouldn't have a strategy. Of course, you should. The way the strategy is implemented determines success with everything in life. Great cooks have the same recipes / ingredients as everyone else... yet they manage to make dishes that are experiences. That's where the value is.
@Jay - interesting thought. By needing to explain in a different medium, perhaps we'd get more of the story and background.
@Rich - a friend of mine used to say "just like life". In life the question is how you show up.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | October 24, 2009 at 12:44 PM
I could be a bit off topic but: My answers for point 10... many ad networks and agencies offer Pay-for-what-you-get solutions.
In my sales experience I noticed (sigh) how many prospects expect to do online marketing "à la carte", i.e. €10 per registration, €20 per sale, etc... It became more or less like selling/buying a kebab. And these expectations are of course reflected on so many discussions, making acceptable for them to receive an answer that involves basic maths than to understand a project on full scale.
I guess that who answers is happy to work on these basis. Personally, I am not :)
Posted by: Denis | October 27, 2009 at 05:34 AM
Great post with some very interesting replies. There are some very obvious marketing questions but you can spot them quite easily. I've personally found that a detailed question will elicit responses from 'experts' and avoid the standard marketing answers.
When you come across an interesting question it also interesting to contribute and be involved in the meni debate that ensues!
I'd add to the comments that if you do ask a question make sure that you provide timely feedback and thank people.
Posted by: Scott Hewitt | October 30, 2009 at 04:45 AM