As LinkedIn® continues to grow, now boasting over 46 million members as of September, 2009, they run the risk of providing so many features and capabilities that some of them get lost in the mass. Company Buzz is one of those tools. As a part of the LinkedIn Applications portfolio, it enjoys a place amongst the ten featured webtools that can be enabled and integrated into your Profile and LinkedIn experience. It is one of two applications (Polls is the other) created directly by LinkedIn.
If you ever wonder what others are saying about you or your company, Company Buzz should be on your short list of web tools. It displays the Twitter activity associated with key terms or names that you provide. You are able to view tweets made by anyone that include the word(s) or name(s) that you have entered into the application. You are able to customize and modify your keywords to reflect your changing interests. Company Buzz works even if you do not have a Twitter account yourself!
What would you want to track using Company Buzz: Here is a list to get your thinking started:
- Your company name
- Your name
- Your boss’s name
- Your customer’s company name
- Your business partner’s name
- Your vendor’s name
- Your competition’s name
- Your supplier’s name
- Popular topics in your industry
You get the idea. So let’s show you how to enable this WebTool so you can start tracking your important words and/or phrases.
- Company Buzz can be found by clicking on the Applications section on the left of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Select Company Buzz from the menu of tem Applications available.
- Select the Add Application button on the right of the screen.
- Select Edit under Search criteria.
- Add your Company Name in the Title and Search Terms fields and select Save.
- Repeat the steps again for each keyword or term you would like to track.
Once you have completed a few of your keywords, take a minute and review what has already started to show up on your screen. If Twitter has anything flowing across its service, it will show up in the middle of the screen. On the right hand side, you will see Buzz Words connected to the name or phrase you have entered. Also the Trends graph will show how many times the term has been mentioned by day for the past week.
The only remaining decision is whether you want to have it visible on your LinkedIn homepage. If not, you will access it by clicking on Company Buzz on the menu each time. Go for the homepage view, it is easier to remember and monitor that way.
Pretty cool, and you don’t even need a Twitter account. I have had beneficial information come across my screen for a competitor, and view several clients’ mentions every week. If you use trigger events as part of your sales strategy this will be a valued part of your tool box. Let us know what you find discover by sharing your experience in the comments area.
