Check this out… an invitation I got today:

I would say this is a MAJOR win for LinkedIn… not only are people in (South) Africa signing on, and using it, but they are needing help, and Bruce seems to be the guy to help.

His  LinkedIn profile looks great.

His website looks great.

His Twitter presence is great.

I’m impressed, and encouraged!!

I recently found a LinkedIn blog that is … well, nothing short of amazing.

The Boolean Black Belt blog, by Glen Cathey, is so awesome I really don’t know what to say about it. Here’s Glen’s short bio, on Twitter:

Glen is one of those heavy thinkers.  His blog posts are typically long, and very indepth.  His examples seem to be complete.  He doesn’t write to the average user … he writes to the super-user.  It isn’t for everyone but if you want really, really indepth LinkedIn info, that’s your guy.

Glen talks about how to use LinkedIn to get the very, very most out of it.  He also shares various tidbits of news (like another no-longer-free feature, which he wrote about in June 2010).

Awesome, awesome resource… you can learn more here.

Wednesday I finished recording the videos for the second edition of the LinkedIn DVD.  It’s now at the video editing shop. I hope to have my DVDs in hand when I go to to a conference at the end of April… and ship out all the pre-orders before I head out.

Here are the sections of the LinkedIn DVD:

• Introduction – including some concepts and terminology to help you get more out of the DVD and your LinkedIn strategy.
• Home Page – so easy to overlook but usually opportunity to get value. I show you how.
• Profile: Above the Fold – First impression? Are you findable?  Is your Profile turning people off?  This section is quite valuable.
• Profile: Summary – so many summaries are INSUFFICIENT or BORING.  I tell you how to fix that.
• Profile: Below the Fold – More opportunity to brand yourself and increase the chance of being found, but so many people miss the opportunities.
• Profile: Applications – More than the 2 I usually talk about – what Apps are important and why.
• Profile: Add a Video - Step-by-step visual of how to get a video on your Profile (like you can see on my profile, or on Walter Akana’s Profile – you have to be logged in and click on the FULL PROFILE to see the video).
• Companies – GOLD!  There’s GOLD in LinkedIn Companies.  Learn why.
• Groups – Groups are powerful but misleading… learn what the value is, what to do, and what NOT to do.
• Jobs - I wish there was more value here… nonetheless, LinkedIn Jobs still provides an opportunity you don’t get elsewhere.  Learn what’s important here.
• Advanced People Search – If you aren’t using the advanced people search you aren’t using LinkedIn.  Don’t just get an account, look for key contacts!
• Communicating with Others – once you find a key contact, how do you communicate with them?  Here are the mechanisms and my formula for what communications should include.
• Recommendations – How to get them, how to give them.  What makes Recommendations valuable.
• Answers: Asking Questions – DO THIS.  Regularly.  Learn how to do it the right way and not become NOISE to your network.
• Answers: Answering Questions – Less commitment but still valuable.  You should be expert in something – prove it.
• Manage Your Settings – There are a few settings and such in here that you should know about.
• Browse Connections – Have you used this feature to strategically find more key contacts?  If not, you need to.
• BONUS: Now, 10 Things to Do – now that you’ve watched the DVD here are 10 actionable things you can do TODAY.
• BONUS: 20 Questions – 20 frequently asked questions, in a speed-answering session.  This was fun to do
• BONUS: Export Contacts – You should export your contacts… read this if you don’t know why.
• BONUS: Cleaning the Export – once you export your contacts you should clean up the file because, well, it’s a mess.  Here’s what you do to clean it up.
• BONUS: Importing to JibberJobber – You are a job seeker – you should be on JibberJobber… here’s what you can do with the imported file.

Have you gotten yours yet? Get it here.

LinkedIn made some big interface changes, and I have to change the LinkedIn for Job Seekers. I was going to start recording the next version in March but I think it’s time to start it now.

Starting today I’m cutting the DVD price in half (if you purchased it for full price in the last 30 days you can take advantage of any of the specials below).

The new price for the Version I LinkedIn DVD is $25 + S&H.

Here are the bundle options:

• and/or  Add the book for $19.95 (no additional S&H)
• and/or  Add the Version II LinkedIn DVD (should ship in April) for $25 (no additional S&H)
• and/or  Add 6 months of premium JibberJobber ($25)

Or get all of this, which has a list price of $175 for only $89.  If you do all of the options above it would be $95 + S&H, so the complete bundle is a good savings.

Click here to purchase, and please tell your networks about this.  This offer is good while the Version I DVDs last.

I think there is still a lot of head-scratching going on with LinkedIn – you know you should be there, you might even get more business from being on LinkedIn, but what in the world do you do once you get there?

That is why I wrote my first book, I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? (now in the second edition).  If you are a book person, that’s where I’d start.  You can get the book for about $20, or the ebook for $11.95.

I also have a terrific DVD tutorial where I walk you through many LinkedIn features - you get a sense for what you should be doing, why you should be doing, and what you can ignore.  Check out LinkedIn for Job Seekers, which is currently $49.95.

LinkedIn also has some great resources (which weren’t available when I wrote my book), including their blog (with news and how to’s), their Twitter account, and their growing Help pages.

Oh yeah, this LinkedIn blog has a bunch of posts on how-to, when-to, why-to, etc.  Have you gone through past posts?

That’s where I’d start… feel free to leave a comment if you have other LinkedIn resources.

Yesterday’s webinar was awesome – over 230 people were on the call, which is a lot more than I thought would have ever signed up.  Thanks to everyone for taking time to come, and sorry for not being able to answer ALL of the questions (there were about 70 that I didn’t get to because of time).

Here are some of the links I mentioned yesterday:

Deb Dib’s article with awesome Profiles

Link to the LinkedIn ebook (for 11.95, as opposed to the paperback which will include S&H)

Link to my LinkedIn for Job Seekers DVD

Link to Emurse, which I highly recommend

Link to JibberJobber, to organize your job search (note, it’s not JibberJabber :p)

Link to my March 25th presentation for Experts Connection… LinkedIn and Facebook for the Executive Job Search

What else am I missing?