Approximately 15 years ago, I led the restructuring and relaunch of a small product division of a company in the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (ie “HVAC”) industry. Talk about an industry steeped in tradition. It’s the domain of plumbers, electrical contractors, and air conditioning installers, many of whom have been in the business for decades, and many come from multiple generations of HVAC contractors.
I was new to the industry, so I just followed a lot of the traditional tactics for launching and introducing the new products we created: attending booths and meetings at industry and regional trade associations, traveling to meet and train our wholesale product distributors, taking customers on golf checkouts, distributing product brochures at HVAC supply stores, and the like.
The main trade show was the ASHRAE Conference (sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, founded in 1894 with over 50,000 members). Held annually, the Conference is a true giant, with thousands of attendees and the venue to showcase new products. Their publications and newsletters (all print at the time) were the key avenues for placing print ads. ASHRAE was not a thought leader or gatekeeper to the HVAC industry; he was THE leader.
Some things have changed; I have not
When I think back to that time (very fondly), I think about how many similar aspects of the strategy development process remain the same today. When we created the relaunch strategy for the division, I first dug up my articles on Porter’s “Five Forces” model, Peters’ “Seven S’s Model” and the “7 Steps” to creating a marketing strategy that are taught in most business schools to create a framework for studying the industry and exploiting its opportunities. These models are still taught in business schools, and in fact, our strategy teams at Growthink and many of our clients use them as a starting point to develop their business plans.
I also can’t help noticing how radically things have changed. I had an AOL email account in the early 1990s, but few websites existed. However, since the release of Netscape’s Navigator web browser in the mid-1990s, the Internet has changed countless aspects of virtually every business, including the old-school HVAC industry. In a couple of seconds, one can search for information about new products in “Google” and read the press releases of competitors announcing their corporate approach. If one’s competitors are public, meaning listed on a stock exchange, the company’s various financial statements and other documents can be found online. Competing products and their prices are also listed online. An HVAC product manager can quickly determine if another competitor has been purchased and imply the value of their company (or division) based on the acquisition announcement. The Internet allows for almost instant market research.
One of the Most Powerful Windows Opened on the Internet for Entrepreneurs – At Least For Now
The most recent change has happened so fast, on so many levels, that the Internet’s shift toward immediate communication and interconnection between people has surprised even those of us who follow technological trends and opportunities. It’s called social media.
Blogging. wikis. Twitter. Facebook. Youtube. LinkedIn. My space. classmates.com. They seemed to appear overnight. These networking sites allow someone with Internet access to connect with old friends, post videos of their prom (which happened ten years ago), and create a professional description on a website and network with industry peers. “Bloggers,” or those who write about topics on a website, have emerged from total obscurity in a particular field or are subject to the status of rock stars of the blogosphere with millions of followers.
If you have a business and you don’t know LinkedIn, it’s time to find out. LinkedIn, as the site says, “is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with the qualified professionals you need to work with to achieve your goals.” In short, it’s a bunch of online resumes and personal profiles: about 53 million to date. Like FaceBook, it allows you to connect with various people in your network and meet others. You can find other people in your industry by searching for keywords just like you would on Google. To post a basic profile, it’s free.
Like many people, I was initially resistant to joining LinkedIn. The idea of having a profile of all my professional and educational background seemed, well, weird. But as more and more of my colleagues and friends joined in, I finally gave in. Several months later, I am now finding some of my clients through my LinkedIn account, or they are finding me. (Hint: If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, stop reading now and create one. Then come back and finish the article.)
ASHRAE, What is ASHRAE?
I mentioned at the beginning of this column the great importance of the ASHRAE Annual Conference and access to its members 15 years ago when we were launching a new product. Why not create your own virtual ASHRAE to develop a professional network and build your brand? Just use LinkedIn’s “Group” feature.
Anyone can create a group on LinkedIn. Groups are collections of LinkedIn members who have joined them because of a common affiliation, such as an alumni group (“Ohio State Alumni”) or a business relationship (“Microsoft: Current & Former Employees”). For several months, there were a few groups and the site had limited search ability to find them. Now there are more than 309,000. We are likely facing a tipping point on LinkedIn right now: There is a critical mass of existing members and groups, but there are still opportunities to develop a strategic niche on the site.
Let’s say you’re a venture capitalist and you want to build a LinkedIn presence to access other professionals, potential deals, industry news, etc., you might think about starting a venture capital related group. Unfortunately for you, these people were some of the first to realize the power of LinkedIn: There are already 360 related groups with tens of thousands of members.
However, there are many, many other opportunities for those of you in niche business sectors. Here are a few with great open potential:
or old guitars
o Prosthetic products and technology
Gastric bypass
o Oil drilling technology
These industries offer a wide range of examples that have little presence in the LinkedIn Group. Even a topic like “disease management,” which is one of the hottest topics (and sectors) in healthcare, has existing LinkedIn groups but few members, offering an opportunity to create a new, active, and strong membership group.
Summary of Growthink’s practical guide to creating a LinkedIn group
Here are some suggestions on creating a popular group on LinkedIn.
Step 1. Determine if your theme is “done” yet. Lots of groups with thousands of members? Its time may have already passed.
Step 2. If not, you can create a group in about 30 minutes by following LinkedIn’s easy instructions, and that estimated time includes writing a group description.
Step 3. Fill out the Group sections (News, Discussions, Jobs) with plenty of industry content. Our suggestion is to simply use Google and search for news on your topic and jobs related to your field and post them. We strongly suggest that you do not use this group to directly market your products; Future members are likely to be turned off by that. Post educational and other content that is of interest to members (such as national events related to your industry or research breakthroughs). Do not allow other members of the group to spam you with product advertisements.
Step 4. Recruit members for your group. Start with your inner circle of colleagues, like coworkers. If you’re already a member of LinkedIn, you can invite your network. Here are some other membership development techniques:
o Use LinkedIn’s search function to find people interested in the topic. For example, if your company sells vintage Barbie dolls and has started a group “Vintage Barbie Dolls”, search for those terms. (By the way, I checked, this topic is still available.)
o You can invite people to the group if you can demonstrate a connection to the person by sending a message inviting them to join with a link to the group’s URL. You can keep in mind that your connection is your group, but if the member decides to click the “I don’t know this person” button, they may be flagged and blocked from sending messages, so use this feature with caution and be sure to include a specific note for the person.
o You can also send regular emails to people who are in the field or work in your sector. In the email, create an invitation to join the group if you’re a LinkedIn member and include the link to the group.
Step 5. Take time every few days to update the Group sections with articles, news, job openings, and other information. The more interesting content you post to your group, the more people will find it without being invited. Also, keep inviting people you come across who are in your industry to join the group. Here’s an example of an email addressed to someone you’d like as a member if you managed the “Eliminating Health Disparities” group:
Subject Line: Dr. Davidson – Join our new LinkedIn professional networking group.
Body email:
Dear Dr. Davidson:
I enjoyed your recent article on improving health disparities in the Journal of the American Medical Association and found your contact information in the article.
If you’re a LinkedIn member, please join us in our new professional networking group, “Eliminating Health Disparities.” It is a group of professionals who work in the field. The link to the group is here:
[URL of GROUP]
Thank you. I hope to see you there.
Kind regards,
Dr. Theodore Smith
President, Community Health Services, Inc.
It is easy. The more you work at it, the more members you will probably attract. Again, make the group more focused on education and general information, not product promotion and you will inevitably be contacted by group members who will search for your profile as the “Manager” of the group.
Conclusion
We believe that you have a window of opportunity to use the LinkedIn group feature to establish yourself as an industry leader, whether you are a start-up or an established company. It likely won’t last as LinkedIn becomes a mature online networking option.
Much like the Web in the 1990s, when established companies finally realized that the Internet could revolutionize their business, there will inevitably be a group for virtually every topic.
Remember ASHRAE, the 100 year old industry association I mentioned at the beginning of this article that was “the” thought leader and gatekeeper to the HVAC industry network? Last year, they created a LinkedIn group and now have over 2,000 members online. Of more interest, in recent months, various ASHRAE chapters and committees have established their own groups, reflecting the rapidly changing times.
You may want to act fast.