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Archive for the ‘LinkedIn’ Category

7 Ways To Get The Most Out Of LinkedIn

November 11th, 2009 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn | No Comments »

Have you checked your LinkedIn account lately?

I haven’t – and chances are you haven’t in quite some time.

What has long been considered the social networking site for professionals, is now losing steam to sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook status updates are now riddled with sale pitches and blog posts.

And, Twitter updates – well, we ALL know what they look like.

Unfortunately, with the Facebook and Twitter fad – numerous LinkedIn accounts have gone untouched.

Let’s end the neglect!

While it may not be as dynamic, LinkedIn can provide a lot of value – if used correctly.

So whether you’re new to LinkedIn or ready to reconnect, human resources consultant Sharlyn Lauby presents these strategies to help you get the most out of LinkedIn.

1. Include a photo avatar.

Some media reports claim that because organizations can use any criteria they want to make hiring decisions, photo avatars provide companies with information they may not have otherwise known about you based on a resume alone and could actually hurt you more than help. But, not including a photo with a social networking profile flies in the face of conventional wisdom when your goal is to build relationships and community.

2. Build your network of connections.

While we might be inclined to say quality is better than quantity, it could be possible that the number of connections you have says something about you. Greg Koutsis, corporate and international channel recruiter for Aplicor LLC, says, “if someone has 20-50+ connections then I know they probably check LinkedIn at least once a week. If someone has 1-19 then I realize they probably either haven’t begun to pop the hood and look inside or gotten past the initial threshold of their friends, family and past colleagues. They might be a great prospect for me to reach out to but this might not be the best use of my time. This combined with the profile they have listed lets me realize quickly if I am wasting my time with someone who has no interest or trust in LinkedIn.”

3. Use status updates to your advantage.

The one space where you can keep your connections informed is the status updates section.

Lori Burke, director of human resources at Neighborhood America, explains that updates are not only an interesting read, but very valuable. “I’ve found new networking groups I may not have thought about. Additionally, it allows me to learn what others are involved with or in, who they may be connected to, etc. In total, it widens the scope of knowledge for me.”

4. Seek meaningful recommendations.

A terrific feature of LinkedIn is the ability to provide recommendations. This is a place for your connections to comment about your work. Recommendations can be thought of as beefed up thank you cards. Instead of telling one person how you feel, you’re telling the world that person does good work.

5. Optimize your profile.

Your LinkedIn profile should not just be an online version of your resume, optimizing for search engines is key. The format of your LinkedIn profile might depend on whether you are currently employed and whether or not you are seeking new opportunities. If you are looking for a new position then you might want your profile to look more like a resume, but maybe not so much if  you are currently employed.

6. Use groups to expand your reach.

Groups are a beneficial networking tool and a great way to expand your network.

Today’s rule of thumb should be that anything you post in an online profile may as well be listed on your resume or bio. If you belong to a LinkedIn group that is inconsistent with the business image you wish to portray, then that could be a challenge for you.

7. Consider whether to link your profiles.

Burke believes that accounts should be kept separate. “I believe that this strategy allows me to keep my professional personae separate from my personal. Case in point was the one time I posted a social media article to both applications. My Facebook family and friends found the information of little value to them and I believe the same may be true in reverse. However, I will post general information about me (i.e., speaking engagements) with both networks. In essence, it depends on the content,” she says.

On the other hand, Lance Haun, vice president of outreach at MeritBuilder, explains that LinkedIn is “a snapshot of your life at the time you updated your profile so including Twitter, Facebook, or a blog helps to add living context to your profile.” With the lines between work and life being blurred, posting something business related at 1:00 PM and a picture of a cat at 1:00 AM helps “bring the picture of a person together completely.”

In the end, Koutsis asks, “if people see no reason after viewing your profile to connect with you, then why did you reach out to them in the first place?” The most important thing we can do is create a complete and compelling profile. Because the bottom line is the value proposition you propose when you try to connect with someone on LinkedIn.

 Tags: linkedin connections, linkedin strategies, linkedin tips, linkedin value

Small Business Blogs, LinkedIn Generate Leads

August 7th, 2009 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn, Small Business, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Here’s more proof that social media CAN work for small business.

According to a new DemandGen Report of business-to-business marketers, business professionals claim social networks are a powerful source for driving leads.

So which are the top social media channels?

Leading the pack was, of course, LinkedIn (58%), followed by company blogs (36%). Surprisingly, Twitter came in third at 31%.

Sites like Facebook (17%) were found to be basically useless – and MySpace wasn’t even on the radar.

More nitty-gritty:

- Small business users say they’ve generated 10 to 15% new leads using social media
- Other small business departments joining the social network fray include: Sales – 41%; Product Management – 21%; Engineering – 13%.
- Top 3 most useful social media tactics: Joining industry groups – 25%; Starting conversation threads – 25%; Answer questions, participating in forums – 23%.

If you have the time, and a little know-how, social media can help ramp up a small business.

Look into lead generation on LinkedIn.

Send out some tweets.

Post to a blog.

It’s all about sharing your brand and spreading the word – just make sure to leave out the sales pitch.

No one wants to read that.  No one.

 Tags: business to business marketing, small business blogs, small business linkedin, small business twitter, social media marketing

LinkedIn Groups Become A Little More Useful

April 23rd, 2009 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn | No Comments »

In case you haven’t noticed – LinkedIn Groups just got a makeover. 

And we like it.

Up until last month, managing Groups on LinkedIn didn’t require a whole lot of effort; nor did the feature serve a real purpose.

But after listening to bitter complaints from LinkedIn faithful – the site finally made some dynamic changes to its Groups section.

Now, admins can email group members directly for the sake of sharing announcements and creating discussion threads in which members can comment on automatically.

Furthermore, LinkedIn Group managers can now create a custom news stream they consider relevant for the group by enabling support for importing custom RSS and Atom feeds. Managers can also control whether to enable job discussion capabilities within their group, a feature that allows members to discuss job opportunities without cluttering the main conversation.

It’s good to see LinkedIn taking more cues from our social networking friends, like Facebook.

It’s also nice to see LinkedIn going the distance for its users – even if they are a bit slow on the uptake.

 Tags: linkedin groups, linkedin job discussion, managing linkedin groups

Small Business Networking|A Sure-Fire Solution In A Down Economy

February 20th, 2009 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn, Small Business, Stature Projects, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Even with a comprehensive government stimulus plan in place – we still have a long road to hoe.

Things won’t turn around overnight, and it seems small businesses have caught on to the notion: When the going gets tough – the tough get networking.

I’m not just talking about social networks – I’m talking all networks : Blogs, forums, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

They’re all being used by small businesses to their fullest advantage and  - for some – business couldn’t be better.

Case in point:

The Charlotte Observer recently featured the story of specialty food maker Donya Schweizer.

When Donya had trouble getting her line of gourmet foods off the ground she turned to blogging and social networking.  A quick WordPress setup and her blog was up and running in a day. She then used the power of Facebook and Twitter to kick start a word-of-mouth campaign. 1,300 Twitter followers later, Donya can’t get her chocolate-infused meat rubs out the door fast enough.

Wait.

Chocolate-infused meat rubs?

I digress.

Bottom line –  Web 2.0 platforms have reached a social tipping point. They’ve transformed the way we communicate and how small businesses operate.

In fact, corporate spending on Web 2.0 software – including blogs, social networks, mashups, podcasts, RSS, widgets and wikis – is expected to climb by a whopping 43% annually.

The networking revolution is here and any business that does not take full advantage of it is – well – not doing good business.

 Tags: small business networking, social networking, web 2.0 platforms, wordpress blogs

A New LinkedIn Profile Feature: Tagging?

February 11th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Business, LinkedIn | No Comments »

While the big news out of LinkedIn this week is their big launch in Germany and the membership it will take away from the international business networking powerhouse Xing, I am more intrigued about the impending makeover coming soon to our LinkedIn profile pages.

LinkedIn’s expert follower, Steven Tylock, recently posted about a new LinkedIn feature called profile tagging.

Basically, as Tylock suggests, this tagging feature will give LinkedIn members more control over grouping their connection list.

Tagging – as the name suggests – is a simple word or key phrase used to identify something. In this case, a LinkedIn member would use a tag to identify certain connections in their network.

LinkedIn will kindly give you a few tag suggestions, but you’ll also be encouraged to come up with your own tag names. The possibilities are endless. However, I believe most people will stick to company, professional or social group names (i.e. Stature).

Ultimately, LinkedIn hopes you’ll be able to view your connections according to their designated tag, thus making a search for that certain someone easier than ever before. No more sifting through pages and pages of alphabetical lists.

Managing connection lists, especially for those LIONs who have an exorbitant amount, is not any easy task.

But as Tylock recommends, if you keep your tag lists short and your connections on a need-to-know basis you’ll be golden.

Generally, I’m not one for change – but this is one change LinkedIn members will not be able to live without.

LinkedIn profile tagging, coming soon…

 Tags: business networking, linkedin connections, linkedin lions, linkedin profile, profile tagging