Got LinkedIn

Things are rolling here with the LinkedIn book.  It’s finished for the most part but as some early test readers have let me know there are some typos.  Considering that much of the book was written from 10 at night to 2 AM its to be expected.

With the new book I have launched the new domain www.gotlinkedin.com and all future posts wil be there with the archives from here..  To keep up with new posts the new blog url is www.gotlinkedin.com/linkedinblog.  I’ve changed the look a little but the posts are just as bad as ever.

New Blog Location:   www.gotlinkedin.co/linkedinblog

Last Friday was the North Fulton Chamber expo and as the volunteer coordinator, about 80% of my time was spent doing that as opposed to actually working.  I’m catching up so I will take the short cut of posting the following LinkedOut cartoons instead of an actual post.  Hope you enjoy.

***If you cant read the cartoon text, “hold down your control button and use your mouse scroll wheel to enlarge the page”. 

These cartoons and several others are included in my new eBook, “Got LinkedIn:  From Clueless to Connected in 6 days” which should be released in the next two weeks.  Stay tuned for more info on the book.

Have a great day.

At some point in the next week I will pass 200 connections.  There was a time when I couldn’t imagine having more than 100 connections much less 200.  Many of these people I know and some are people that I crossed paths with at the chamber and would like to get to know.

The separation is simply a matter of have I sat down with each person for an hour or not.  LinkedIn makes it so easy to connect that we often mistake the number of connections we have (the width) with having an effective network (the depth).  It’s important to strive for both, but it will take more work to create depth in your relationships. 

I could add 100 new connections in a day by simply becoming an open networker, but it would take me a couple of months to create depth with 100 connections.

 The way to solve the width/depth division is to connect with those you meet and meet with those you connect.  It’s time to get active.  This will help you build your network and provide value to your connections.  My thought is if you are connected to someone that you would not want to meet with for an hour, than why connect.

Depth Exercise:  Go to your connections on LinkedIn and look at them.  If there is anyone that you have not met with, schedule an appointment.  If you have met with everyone, call those you have not met with in the last 3 or 6 months and schedule a time to have a cup of coffee. 

Have a great day.

This morning I received an email from Guy Havelick with a tale of two workers who were laid off.  Here’s part of his email:

I work for a large corporation. They too often play the musical chairs game with far too few chairs. Recently two good friends, excellent contributors and employees, were caught when the music stopped. One had a great network and found another job immediately. The second was not properly networked and is still struggling to start his own business.

As a good employee, as secure as I can be working for a big company, how can I provide myself a safety net? (One that I would prefer not to be forced to use.) LinkedIn seems like the best social networking tool out there. How can I use LinkedIn to be that safety net? What’s the best way to sell my reputation when I’m not yet in a position to be bought?

The effect of a good network to help you in a job search cannot be underestimated.  There is a hidden job market that you don’t find on monster or other sites.  These positions are filled by word of mouth referrals.  There are times when what you know is important.  Times when who you know is important.  And often it’s a combination of who and what you know that makes the difference.

Gus also poses some questions that I would like to address from a LinkedIn perspective.

1. How can I provide myself a safety net?
   In today’s business climate the only true way to avoid being laid off is to be self-employed.  If you work for someone, there is a degree of uncertainty regardless of your qualifications or value you provide your company.  Your safety net is the ability to land on your feet and find a replacement job as soon as possible.  LinkedIn can be a substantial part of that safety net. LinkedIn helps you build a large network of people who can provide access to hidden jobs and introductions into posted positions.  How valuable is it that you can see a open position at a company and also see how you are connected to the hiring person or to someone who works at the company? 

   You can even request a recommendation to be sent to the hiring person along with your resume.  So the answer to your first question is to build a large network utilizing LinkedIn and face to face networking.
   

2. LinkedIn seems like the best social networking tool out there. How can I use LinkedIn to be that safety net?
   There are many different social networks available, but if I had to choose one it would be LinkedIn.  LinkedIn has kept the focus on business relationships.  I’ve networked in my local chamber for the past two years and I know a lot of people and what they do.  I don’t know their favorite movies or bands and I don’t care. LinkedIn helps you add an extra layer of connectivity to your current relationships and to build relationships where none exists.  People like to help other people; they just need to know how they can help you. 

   The more people you know the more likely you are to find the help you need.  Use LinkedIn to create a network of resources before you need the resource.  You may not know how LinkedIn will benefit you in the future, but if you build your network, you will be ahead of the game when you figure out how it can benefit you.
    

3. What’s the best way to sell my reputation when I’m not yet in a position to be bought?
   To sell anything it must have value to someone who is willing to exchange something for it.  In the case of a job search you are selling yourself and the buyer is paying for it in terms of salary.  Whether or not you realize it you are in a position to be bought, the only question is how tentative that position is.  You have knowledge and skills you have developed that are valuable to a company.  So the question becomes “How can you enhance your marketability and exposure?”. 

   There are several ways to do so on LinkedIn.  I took a look at your profile and here are some suggestions: 

• Expand your profile.  You have a somewhat naked profile.  You currently list some previous employment positions but you need to add some details.  These details create use keywords that will help you appear in more search results.You should also personalize your summary.  Don’t just reiterate your qualifications.  Make it a personal statement that says who you are, how you help people and how they can help you.Add in your hobbies and interests.  They are another way to increase the searches you appear in.
• You need to try to build some recommendations…received and given.  Many jobs on LinkedIn request that person’s applying have a minimum number of recommendations.  You should strive to have at least 10 recommendations.  You can request these from your current contacts.  Often providing recommendations is a great way to generate reciprocal recommendations.  Don’t give a recommendation to simply receive one, but it is a positive byproduct of giving referrals. 
  
•  Ask and Answer Questions.  I can see that you have answered two questions and that is a start.  Take it up a notch.  Try to answer at least one question a week.  This is where you can build additional credibility.  Answer any question, but those related to your specific field are of most importance.  Provide well thought out answers with details to make your point.  Remember to spell check your answer before posting.Also try to post a question periodically to tap into the knowledge base of LinkedIn users.  Remember each question and answer provides a link back to your profile.
  
• Add more connections.  As your network grows your reach does as well.  This will help you see more people when you conduct searches, make it more likely you have someone in your network if you ever have to respond to a job post, allow more opportunities to give and receive recommendations. 
  
  There are additional things you can do to build your brand but for  now this is a good start.
  
  Good Luck Guy.

In the last couple of weeks I have not been as active posting online.  I’ve been knee deep into writing my LinkedIn book, “Got LinkedIn:  From Clueless to Connected in 6 Days”. 

Currently I have finished the rough draft and it sits right at 100 pages.  With revisions and the addition of more stories it may get as high as 120 pages.  I hope to have the final version completed by the 29^th which for those of you in the Atlanta area, is the Lunch and Learn date at the North Fulton chamber where I will be part of a panel discussing social media. 

I have no clue how I’m going to distribute it or what the pricing will be.  Hopefully some of the connections I’ve made that have experience in this area will feel pity on me and make some suggestions. The most likely scenario is that I develop an affiliate distribution system. 


I’ve worked on commissions for the past seven years so I understand the value of earning income based on time and effort.  I’ll hopefully be able to set the affiliate commissions in the 33% range.  As far as the price of the book my initial thought is to keep it well under $20.  I want to make sure that the book is priced well enough for those who are interested in it, but at the same time allow the affiliates to make a reasonable commission.


This post started as the intro to a post about jobs and an email I received, but I think I’ll just end this one and start a new post.

As some of you are aware, I am attempting to write a LinkedIn ebook.  The tentative title is Got LinkedIn:  From Clueless to Connected in 6 days.  Why 6 days instead of 7?  The seventh day is a day of rest.

 This originally started with me trying to come up with a guide for some of my connections to help them get started on LinkedIn.  What I thought would be 2 or 3 pages currently is around 43.  I estimate that when I’m done it will be in the neighborhood of 80 to 100 pages.  If you’ve never tried to write 80 pages on a subject, don’t start now.

Anyway, in doing research for the book I came across a blog called the LinkedIn User Manual.  The writing is definitely on a higher level than you get here.  I would say text book verses Reader’s Digest would be a fair comparison.

There is a lot of information so take your time and see if you can learn something new about LinkedIn.

In closing, remember that there really is only one reason to be on LinkedIn–to make money.

Sure it can help expand your network, it can help you learn some interesting information through LinkedIn answers, and you can share knowledge vice-versa, but in the end it’s all about the Benjamins.

And that’s ok.  Because in the end, if you get to meet some interesting people, learn some new nuggets of knowledge, help your fellow humans…and make money.  Well that’s pretty cool.

Have a great week.

I was keeping up with the few LinkedIn bloggers and came across a post on BitStrips posted by Scott Allen in his Virtual Handshake blog. 

“Simply put, Bitstrips is a Web 2.0 application for creating comic strips. It enables people like me who have no artistic talent, but occasionally observe or think of something funny, to have a nicely-rendered visual expression of it. But what makes it really compelling is the social aspect of it.”

Full Post

Of course it being late on a Friday, I decided to check it out.  Here are the first three I came up with.  Not sure they’re funny to anyone else, but who wants to read about LinkedIn on a Friday anyway. (Most readers of this blog attend the North Fulton Chamber and these are inside jokes.  For those of you reading who don’t attend the chamber, these won’t mean much.) 

Now Mr. Dunn makes an appearance.

And maybe I should slow down talking about LinkedIn.

***If you cant read the cartoon text, “hold down your control button and use your mouse scroll wheel to enlarge the page”.  If that makes no sense to you, the cartoons weren’t that funny anyway.

Have a great weekend.

Since I just wrote a post about LinkedIn Answers, I thought I would post part of a blog post I found for two reasons:

1.  It shows how someone used a LinkedIn question to gain valuable information;
2.  The answers is pretty relevant to finding relevance in connecting on LinkedIn.

The question was asked by Jill Konrath
Question: As a seller, how do you use LinkedIn to increase your sales?

Explanation: I’m writing an article for my Selling to Big Companies newsletter on this topic. I’d like to include specific examples to help my readers learn how they can leverage this tool. Since I’m a bit of a technophobe, my experience with Linked In is rather limited. If you can tell me how you’ve used LinkedIn to open doors, create opportunities and grow your business, I’d really appreciate it.

Social media guru Scott Allen, coauthor of The Virtual Handshake and managing director at Link to Your World, was the first to respond. Here are his invaluable suggestions:
_____

LinkedIn can be used to support the entire sales lifecycle: lead generation, sales acceleration and solution delivery. Let’s look at each of these pieces:

Lead Generation
Find and be found. Search by title and industry for the ideal contacts at your ideal customers. Search by title and company name for specific target customers. Be sure your profile is complete and contains the appropriate keywords for your business so that people looking for your solution will find you. Endorsements/recommendations count for a lot – get them from people who have actually been your clients if at all possible.

Sales Acceleration
Search for people in your prospect’s company who are not closely involved in your deal - preferably 2nd degree contacts, not 3rd degree. Ask for an informational interview. This is where strong, trusted relationships count for a lot - “light linking” breaks down here.

Ask your interview subject about the priorities that are going on at the company — what are the high-level factors that might be influencing the buying process. Be completely open/transparent. If you have a good solution and a really good referral to a true “friend of a friend”, you will very likely find an internal champion in that person. This is the #1 technique that LinkedIn supports better than any other tool.

Solution Delivery
Quite often, especially for small businesses, you can’t do it all yourself. LinkedIn is invaluable for finding partners with particular skill sets who can help you deliver the total solution. In addition to searching, you can post questions asking about the solution area you need expertise in and use that as a way to attract potential partners.

Read the complete post

This past week saw the introduction of a slew of feature enhancements that I’d like to cover briefly. In addition, stay tuned to news on a few of our partnerships and “LinkedIn News” feature updates, both of which you’ll hear more about in the coming weeks. Here are the updates on the following couple of features:

Read the full post

 This is a feature post on LinkedIn’s official blog.  The update is written by Chris Richman posted on March 15.

Unlike MySpace and Facebook, LinkedIn provides few opportunities to interact online.  The primary purpose is to use LinkedIn to connect online, but to build a more in depth relationship you have to take it offline.

There are several ways to interact online and the Answers section is one of the best.  The answers section is a place to build your brand and strut your stuff.  Be careful how you answer, 20 million people could be watching.

Many message boards are full of people making caustic remarks to one another.  When I go to my favorite LSU message board (quick shout out - www.tigerdroppings.com) I’m amazed at how people communicate with one another.  Rather than ignore a comment or point of view people feel the need to post a degrading reply.  I think the anonymity of the format allows this, since no one uses their real name and posters are spread out through the country.

Posting similar remarks on LinkedIn would come back to haunt you.  Everything you type or post in LinkedIn adds or subtracts from your brand.  So when you answer a question on LinkedIn make sure you know what you’re talking about.  No one will necessarily call you out on a false or wrong answer, but they will notice.

When you answer a question, the answer links back to your profile and people viewing your profile can view the questions you asked or answered.  You do have the option of not showing answers and questions on your profile, but I see no purpose in excluding this information.

The Holy Grail of Answers is to get your answer selected as the Best Answer provided.  Often there are multiple answers so when your answer is selected as the best it means you really helped the person.  And it reflects well on your profile.

Questions can be helpful as well.  You can gauge what others think or recommend, gaining valuable insight.  Also, once again you get a link back to your profile.

The simple math is that the more links to your profile, the more likelihood that more people will view your profile. 

The answers section is about helping others and building your brand.  It’s a way to interact with your network and every other LinkedIn member.  Imagine some one looking for health insurance has just viewed several of my answers to questions about health insurance.  Some of these were tagged as the best answer.  Am I “More” or “Less Likely” to be seen favorably by the reader?  If they plan on speaking with an agent I’m likely to get a connection request.  My answers have established credibility and improved my brand.

Share your knowledge.  Generate conversations.  Build your brand.  LinkedIn Answers helps you do all three.

I would like to see LinkedIn tweak the section to include more categories.  When I want to see what insurance questions are out there I need to search “insurance” as a key word rather than as a category.  This means that any post that includes the word insurance pops up.  Not very efficient.

And my main pet peeve is that when you search, it returns the results based on relevance.  There is an option to select by Date, and that would be a better option for folks who regularly answer questions.  It makes it easier to see the most recent questions and answer those that you can offer assistance.

That’s it for now.