'Establish connect on LinkedIn, win biz deals'

BANGALORE, INDIA: Rick Itzkowich does what a globally recognized mobile handset brand claims to do: Connecting people. The platforms he employs are different, though.

Meet the Linkedin Guy.

An expert in both offline and online marketing communications, Itzkowich utilizes the power of business networking sites like LinkedIn, MO.com and Focus.com to give a boost to organizations.

How crucial does he think networking is to companies? "I certainly believe it is very important for people to connect to others. Organizations have to find ways to gain advantage out of their networks."

In this context, he says, social media would be of great help and make the task much easier. "World is a lot smaller with more competition coming in. So, it actually depends on the purpose of a specific business — it may be recruitment, expansion or other business needs," explains Itzkowich, who has been associated with BNI, a business and professional networking organization that exchanges qualified business referrals, for more than a decade.

All said, social media marketing is here to stay, he reckons. "It's not going away. If younger generation companies fail to take advantage of it, they are going to lose out."

According to him, it's necessary for every company to go for it. "If you don't, your competitors will anyway do it," he warns.

Itzkowich points out that companies can adopt two strategies. "They can create a company page, with a complete profile, to gain visibility and credibility. The other way is for the individuals (associated with the company) to put up information. It humanizes the company and you can position yourself as an expert this way.

But how different is online networking from the traditional face-to-face option? He doesn't find much to single out.

"It's all about building relationships. An advantage with online networking is that one can get away with some mistakes. You can also network with a lot of people faster on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook than doing so face-to-face. Ultimately, how it is executed is more important (than where)."

One can't deny the fact that LinkedIn is the only platform that focuses on business, "even if you are not interested in social media."

As the business world grows more online than ever before, it certainly seems the way ahead.