socialauthority

A2: No, unless those people are in your industry or know them. #StrangerDanger

A2: Nope ... connect only with people who give you context and who can add value to your experience. #trust

A2 I accept connection requests from anyone who has common connections or similar interests to mine.

A2: I am strategic with my LI connections, you do not have to accept all!

A2 I do not accept all requests. I look at their connections and whether they offer value to my LinkedIn communty

A2: Personal opinion - I don't accept a #linkedin invite unless I "know" the person somehow.

A2 This is a common question and everyone has his or her own preferences. Do what works for you.

A1:I tend to look to see if the person is in the same industry and then accept if so. More connections=more visibility.

A2: If you do get someone random who reaches out to you, you're more than justified to ask them why they are looking for a connection.

A2. I don't think so. Evaluate their profile, and make an informed decision. I can't tell how many people have connected with me and then tried to sell me stuff out of thin air (mostly insurances). My motto is accept potentially valuable people.

@pgillin generally I want more connections to drive people to my blog.

A2 I think everyone has their own comfort level too

@JacobSoSocial it's a good lesson that no one wants to be sold to.

@JacobSoSocial yes, value add!

A2: You can use the "advice for contacting me" feature to show how open (or closed) you are to connections.

A1: best way is to listen and monitor specific topics for those who might be worth connecting with.

A1: Search on #Twitter with hashtags or use a service like @hootsuite to search for quality accounts.

A1: Check your colleagues, prospects, customers and friends past and present to find a good base of "starter followers."

A1: A good way to find valuable connections on #Twitter is to monitor #Hashtags for your industry

A1 I like to see who my trusted connections are following

Go back to the goals and decide on a targeted group of people first rather than aimlessly wandering. #LinkedIn

A1: Another way to find prospects through #LinkedIn would be to monitor groups and those who are most active

A1: Then grow the base by following @GilbBrian 's advice.

Look at Twitter profiles and see who the people you're following are following

A1 - I tend to look for colleagues of my LinkedIn connections, for example.

A1: @LinkedIn is a gold mine for interesting people to connect with. Search by keyword and in groups.

@cathcamheldt awesome! Piggyback!

A1 I also look at products and appropriate hastags

@pgillin yes! piggy backing on what is already good. :)

It's important to keep in mind that no. of followers is less important than strength of affinity.

A1: Also, look at who the top Twitter accounts in the industry are following. They are often discriminating in who they follow.

A1 Go through those business cards you've been collecting!

A1: use the find connections feature in #twitter

A1: As a business, use your mail contacts and search for them on social.

A4: No, unless you have strong opinions about a subject, its best to keep it simple and have one account.

A4: You can, but don't have to. Many people mix personal and professional well, like @pgillin who tweets about #B2B and sports!

A4 Great question. I recommend as few Twitter accts as possible, but if your business account is transactional (like customer service), then a separate personal account is appropriate.

A4: Most #SocialMedia platforms have good filters and tools for privacy and who sees what information you post.

A4 Also, if your personal account is very specific (like @baseballnut) you might want a separate account..

A4 It depends. Some people are able to combine personal and professional. Other people NEED to have separate accounts. I do.

I use mine for both, but don't really do a ton of personal tweeting.

A4: I like to keep a personal account as a playground ... almost like Pinterest where I share things that interest me.

A4: In my opinion, its easier to concentrate on building a following no one platform instead of several

Classic answer: It depends. If you are involved in completely unrelated issues/interests, separation might be a good thing.

A4: if you manage two, say personal and corporate, proceed with caution as with the Chrysler example from @pgillin

I found that people like to follow a face rather than a logo.

@PaulKrappman I agree. I have a separate twitter account to support my #blog

A4 Obviously, if you tweet about controversial topics, you don't want that in your business account.

A4. I keep separated accounts. Not that I have anything to hide but living in Mexico, make it a little of a conflict of audiences, languages, but mostly messages. Follow @jcobgc :P

A3: I like to share this article from @inc http://www.inc.com/j...

A3: Search for an active group that covers the areas in which you are interested. Then jump in.

A3: Search bar...

A3 Look at profiles of your connections and see what groups they belong to.

A3 Ask your customers, clients and staff what groups they find useful.

A3: Also, look at who you are connected to on LinkedIn to see if they have a Twitter handle.

Q3a: And what has surprised you about a group if any?

A3: utilize the LI search tool, look for industry specific groups and see who the top influencers are!

A3 - TBH, IDK.

A3 Search for relevant groups and join the ones marked "Very Active"

A3 But on a more serious note, do a search for key words in your industry and monitor the groups for activity

A3a: Getting outside my industry realm and looking for general business groups sometimes have great conversations.

A3a - People who interact without a photo ...

A3a I'm surprised how many LinkedIn groups are similar/compete with each other. Also how many are inactive.

Q3b: have you experienced anyone not kind in a group?

Paul Gillin I have a bias against open LinkedIn groups, but I was surprised to see how good the interaction is in the Social Media Marketing group bit.ly/1DSDw5G

A3b No, all of my experience in LinkedIn groups have been positive