I’ve discovered a great way to learn about any industry using LinkedIn Groups. I do this every time I land a client in an industry that I’ve not served before.
For example, when I signed a new client in the digital printing business, I joined the “Digital Printing” group in LinkedIn. Not only does the Digital Printing group have more than 38,000 members, there are also subgroups for specialties including Wide Format printing, Label printing, and such. In the main group alone, there are 250 discussions ongoing right now – on the important issues and opportunities of the day.
By reviewing these discussion threads, you can learn about the industry at a hyper-accelerated rate. In essence, you’re learning from 38,000 brains rather than just your own (remember, none of us is as smart as all of us).
Better yet, you can post a question and get answers directly from these people. If you’re thinking about offering a new product or service, why not ask them for their input before making your investment.
There are a variety of other ways to benefit from LinkedIn Groups. If you’re running a not-for-profit organization and want to learn how to most effectively use social media, why not join a LinkedIn Group called “Social Media Today” and post a question: “Does anyone have best practice examples of how not-for-profits are using social media?” In fact, someone already posted this question and there are over 300 answers ready for your review. For the record, I was especially impressed with the social strategy of the American Red Cross.