I Don’t Care About You (let me prove it)
May 13th, 2008
All it takes to be different… to show you care… is one simple line. It’s not much, is it?
LinkedIn: Mass Mailing List or Stack of Business Cards??
April 26th, 2008I was checking MLPF messages this morning and saw this snippet:
…I don’t look at my LinkedIn network as a mass mailing list…
Very interesting statement. Sometimes I wonder if people think I do look at LinkedIn as a mass mailing list, based on my presentations on getting real value out of LinkedIn as a business or professional tool (some call it a social network).
In fact, in my LinkedIn summary I have this language:
********** If you want to connect with me then I will add you to my business newsletter. I send it out once a month and it lets you know what’s going on in my life (I spend from 10 - 14 hours a day working, so this is what’s going on. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GET IT, DON’T CONNECT WITH ME. **********************
The problem with not communicating “appropriately” with your contacts is that … well, then your list of contacts ends up like that stack of business cards in your drawer. You know, the one you do nothing with? So there’s got to be some happy place inbetween not newslettering them all and not doing nothing with them.
Are you proactively working on nurturing “intimate relationships” with your professional contacts? Not superficial, not “gimme gimme gimme,” but really nurturing individual, intimate relationships?
Questions about LinkedIn Answers Answered on Answers
April 15th, 2008How’s that for a cool title?
A few weeks ago I presented the following question on LinkedIn Answers:
What’s the best use you’ve seen of the Answers feature on LinkedIn?
I’ve seen a lot of value from Answers on LinkedIn - please share what value you’ve seen for yourself or for others.
There were 14 responses - excellent stuff - from “I get mentoring” to “I find new network contacts” to “marketing” to … the list is great, it’s definitely worth clicking over to check out.
Showing up as a Service Provider
April 2nd, 2008I’m not sure of this (I haven’t tested it), so you might have to experiment with some of your favorite clients (or non-client contacts). But when someone recommends you make sure they choose the second option, with you as a service provider, like this:
It should be as easy as that. Why? Well, according to the note at the bottom of the Service Providers page we read:
How do I get listed in this directory?
To be listed in this directory, simply ask your clients to write a recommendation on your behalf. Request a recommendation.
Note, I don’t recommend that you use the Request a recommendation link! I don’t like it, and I don’t like getting recommendation requests that way!
Also, at the top of any page drop down on the Service Provider option, and you see this:
So I’m guessing it’s as simple as someone just recommending you… but make sure they choose “service provider!”
Finding The Motherload of LinkedIn Groups
April 1st, 2008I’m still trying to figure out the real value of LinkedIn Groups, as a group member. Right now I have 313 members of the JibberJobber Career Management group on LinkedIn, and some of them have asked the “now what” or “so what” question.
I told them I don’t know :p I sent an e-mail to Mario Sundar at LinkedIn, but he hasn’t replied to me yet. If anyone can tell me why they should join a group, beyond getting access to search on other group members, I’d love to hear it.
For now, if you are curious, and are interested in having that type of broad reach to non-first-degree contacts, here’s the motherload listing of LinkedIn groups. Super thanks to Heather Gardner for sharing this list with me!
Note, I have no idea who is behind it, and I’m sure it’s not complete. But it’s a pretty good place to start.
If you have a particular interest in a certain group just go to that page and hit Ctrl-F to do a search within that page.
What To Do With A Maiden Name On Your LinkedIn Profile
March 24th, 2008
In my LinkedIn presentations that I give I’m frequently asked what to do about maiden names on a LinkedIn profile. My East Coast buddy Thomas E. Kenny forwarded me a response he got from one of his contacts, which she got from LinkedIn customer support, regarding the very question. Here’s what they recommend:
Please select the Account & Settings link in the upper right hand corner of the homepage. Go to the Settings section and select Name Edit. The first name field should include your maiden name in parentheses. Example: Firstname (Maiden) Lastname.
It makes sense as an easy workaround for now. My only concern has to do with LinkedIn allegedly changing people’s profile information without consent or notice. If indeed they do that, I’m guessing they do it based on various search criteria, and perhaps having a parenthesis in your name field would trigger that.
So, I’d recommend you do it, but keep an eye on it to see if it somehow disappears 
LinkedIn Book May Become A Best Seller
March 20th, 2008I’m not sure what the real definition of “best seller” is, but maybe we are on our way? I got an e-mail from Mitchell Levy, my publisher, a few weeks ago, saying we hit a new record. Check this out:
That’s pretty cool! What that means is that during that short period of time (two hours?), my book was almost in the top 2,000 of all books sold on Amazon.com. And, much to my delight, it was the #3 book in the Job Hunting category. The other two books were by the same author, you may have heard of Dick Bowles, the Parachute guy?
I’m flattered. And, I thank YOU.
Oh yeah, I should mention, it wasn’t long before it went back above 10,000
Removing Connections
March 17th, 2008There are a bunch of reasons to remove someone as a LinkedIn connection. It’s actually pretty easy to do… but the question I get about removing connections the most is “will they know?” For some reason we don’t want to offend our connection, we’d rather do disconnect without them knowing :p
Rest assured, as far as I know, they won’t find out unless they figure it out on their own. Here’s how you do it:
Step One: Click on Contacts from the left menu area.
Step 2: (this is where you say (duh!) Click on Remove Connections on the far right of that screen (above your list of connections).
Step 3: From there it’s self-explanatory - just check the names you want to remove and on the right is a button to remove them.
Disconnect! Declutter! Empower yourself!
Writing Better Recommendations
March 14th, 2008
I got a before and after of a recommendation from one of my online buddies (I changed the name). Check out the difference:
Before:
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Jason for the past 3 years. Jason is smart, insightful and has a great sense of humor. He’s someone that you would enjoy working with. I highly recommend him.”
After:
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Jason for the past 3 years through our volunteer work at a not-for-profit organization. Jason is smart, insightful and has a great sense of humor. I enjoy working with him on the various projects we take on, and I believe the skills he brings to bear for this organization can easily be translated to a work environment. I highly recommend him.”
There is a huge difference between the two! I encourage you to think about recommendations as mini-letters-of-recommendation. What you write here is not the same you would write on a Facebook wall (which is something like “hey, great to see you here! You rock! It was awesome seeing you at the party last night!”). This is something that contributes to a professional brand.
A key to writing better recommendations on LinkedIn? BE SPECIFIC. The more general you are, the weaker it is.
What’s the best way to get recommendations? How many do you have on your profile?
Breaking News - No More Personal Plus Upgrade
March 10th, 2008Is this breaking news, or “broken news?”
In the book I recommended the $60/year upgrade for those who needed to upgrade… but apparently the offer is off the table. I’ve found out from the MyLinkedInPowerForum group that the link doesn’t work anymore. Actually, I kind of noticed when I was on a webinar last week (after the new redesign was released) and I couldn’t find the link.
Anyway, no big deal, imho that upgrade didn’t offer much anyway.
