Earlier this year, I was fortunate to have a sit down with LinkedIn expert and Forbes Top 10 most influential on social media, Viveka von Rosen. Viveka travels the world as a keynote speaker training executives on how to best use LinkedIn for business. She also contributes to the Social Media Examiner and is the author of, “LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour A Day.”
Here is a little piece of our conversation…
John White: Viveka, you have a very interesting job. Can you tell us a bit about your business, as well as, the favorite aspect about what you do?
Viveka von Rosen: Since I’m the kind of person who gets bored in about 30 seconds doing the same thing, I think one of the aspects I like most about my business is that it’s always changing. In any given day, I will do a 1 on 1 consultation with an amazing author or executive, teach a few thousand people how to use LinkedIn on a webinar and write a blog post for the Social Media Examiner. And then there’s the travel – which I love. I get to meet so many amazing people – many of whom I already knew through Social Media.
John White: Out of all the places your job as an international keynote speaker has taken you, what is your favorite spot and why?
Viveka von Rosen: Do I have to pick just one? I’ve been so fortunate this year, traveling to Victoria and Vancouver, BC; to Puerto Vallarta and Auckland, as well as some pretty amazing places in the States like San Diego, Boston, New Orleans and NYC. But since you asked – this year my favorite place was Auckland. It’s beautiful, the people are amazing and its very tech savvy. And they have really good honey!
John White: I’m sure that not everything has always gone to plan. What is the most unusual thing that has ever happened to you while on the road for work?
Viveka von Rosen: Well – I think the trip to Puerto Vallarta. I was there with some pretty heavy social media hitters – it was amazing. So even though the Conference organizers skipped out on paying our fees and expenses, it was totally worth it getting to hang out and drink copious amounts of Tequila with folks like Andrea Vahl, Lon Safko, Brian Massey and Jamie Turner (and their equally amazing spouses). We really formed a bond – totally worth the lost wages!
John White: What do you like to do when you’re not traveling around the globe? What are your hobbies?
Viveka von Rosen: Well – I try to get away from it all when I’m not working, so I like hiking near my house in Colorado. We also try and take a few camping trips away from cell service a few times a year! And there is the great skiing. It’s my goal to get my legs back and master those bumps this year! I am so blessed to live here. I also got my PADI certification last year so I have been diving like a crazy woman wherever and whenever I can! I’ve been fortunate to add a few days of diving on to some of my speaking gigs too!
John White: What does the future hold for social media and digital marketing? How will it affect the way we do business in 5-10 years?
Viveka von Rosen: I don’t think we’ll recognize it. I’m not sure what will influence the future more – hardware or software. You see things like Oculus Rift that popped up seemingly overnight and that’s got to have a massive effect on the direction we’ll go. But then again, when I was in Auckland the other Keynote Speaker was Dr. MarkSagar who introduced the first fully responsive, CGI AI baby. The emotions it evoked in its responses to the audience were amazing! So stuff like that will have an effect too. I can barely tell you what next year will bring – much less 5-10 years! Crazy tech. AI responsiveness, fully adaptive and responsive systems. It’s amazing!
John White: Got any hot tips for readers on how to maximize their LinkedIn experience?
Viveka von Rosen: To steal a phrase from Bryan Seely (who has the funniest profile on LinkedIn), be
boldly humble. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. Make connection. Get introductions. Ask for help. Just don’t blatantly push your wares on your unsuspecting audience. And then when you are approached or engage with folks, be humble. Listen. Try and be of service. LinkedIn gives you lots of tools to help you do this – groups is a great place to be both bold and humble! LinkedIn is a tool. It’s just another channel you can use to communicate with the people that can help you grow you. I think my best advice is “Just use it.” A little bit every day goes a long, long way.
About the Author: John White is the Chief Marketing Officer at Social Marketing Solutions, the LinkedIn group owner of Publishers and Bloggers, contributor to Dice Tech News, The Goodmen Project, and more. In June of 2015, John completed his MBA with a specialization in Marketing.
