I’m On LinkedIn – Now What???

LinkedIn Pet Peeve: DO NOT DO A COMPANY PAGE

Another pet peeve. I hear so-called experts get really excited about creating a Company Profile on LinkedIn.

This is a not a strategy for everyone.

Why?

Think about it… what’s the purpose of the Company?

The advocates are suggesting that people will come to your Company page, learn about your company, and then buy something (or something like that).

Everyone else teaches LinkedIn users how to use Companies to do competitive intelligence research, figure out how to network into a company,  sell something to that company, or even steal employees from that company (recruiters would do this).

AS A COMPANY OWNER, I DON’T WANT OT MAKE IT EASIER FOR ANYONE TO DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS.

If I want to learn about a company, I go to Google or that that company’s website… not LinkedIn’s Company section.

If you are a small company, do you really want to make it that easy for your competition to hurt you?

If you are a large company, think of all the “in’s” you are giving to people who will ultimately just distract or disrupt your business.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m not drinking the kool-aid on that one.

Posted in LinkedIn Companies, Pet Peeves | 4 Comments »

LinkedIn Pet Peeve: DO NOT SHOOT FOR 100%

I continually here LinkedIn people saying you need to shoot for 100% completion on your Profile.

I regularly hear this from trainers that work at LinkedIn.  I also hear it from non-LinkedIn employees.

I’m sorry but I don’t agree.

Why?

I think you need to focus on the quality of your Profile.

I’ve seen plenty of 100% complete Profiles that SUCK.

I’d rather see an 80% or 90% complete that knocks my socks off than a 100% Profile that SUCKS.

You can always inch towards the 100% (nothing wrong with GETTING 100%, just don’t FOCUS ON 100%, and have that be more important than the quality of your Profile).

Posted in LinkedIn Profiles, Pet Peeves | No Comments »

Want to Join a LinkedIn Group? Get more than ONE CONNECTION!

As a LinkedIn Group Administrator I have the power to accept or decline access to my Group.

LinkedIn flags certain profiles as a help… here’s a snapshot of three that are flagged:

I rarely take time to check those Profiles out.  I just uncheck the box on the left (which I already did) and then approve the rest.

One person had ONE connection, but I could tell from her Profile that she was real, so I approved her… but the rest… OUT.

You have to look legitimate.  A picture helps.  A headline helps.  A summary helps… work experience helps.  Recommendations help.  Connections help…

If you want others to not even think “is this a spammer,” get serious about your Profile!

Posted in LinkedIn Connections, LinkedIn Groups, LinkedIn Profiles, Using LinkedIn | No Comments »

Social Posting – where to post what you are doing

This is GREAT! Click on the image to see full-size…

This is really, really funny.  But in my experience, so true!

I first looked at it from the top down, but let’s look at it from the bottom up:

Google+ … “Do you want anyone to actually see it?”  If NO, use Google+  Ouch.

Foursquare… “Are you in a bar?”  if YES, use Foursquare Ouch.

LinkedIn… “Is it boring?” If yes, post on LinkedIn.  Ouch.

Facebook and Twitter… “Are you addicted to ‘Likes’?”  Ouch.

I like it… sums it up really well.  Thanks to my buddy Steve for sharing on Facebook…

Posted in social networking, Using LinkedIn | 2 Comments »

Crap: Don’t Send to 200+ People (LinkedIn Answers)

I consider this a bug… I found it a few years back and have always been wary of trying it again… today I tried it, and it failed on me again

How did this happen?

When you ask a question on LinkedIn Answers you can choose to send (email) the question to the Inbox of up to 200 of your first degree contacts.

So that’s what I did – I chose 200 people to send it to.  I chose about 100 people with the last name of “O,” which was easy since it took just one click.  Then, I chose, one-by-one, about 100 people who’s last name started with “P.”

I hit 200. Which is fine.

On the next page it shows me the list of 200 (which I never review), and the actually message it will send, and there is a checkbox that says “send me a copy.”

The problem is that LinkedIn takes the 200 you chose, and adds 1, and now you have 201, and they don’t send anything.

Bleh!

How frustrating.

You can find a link to try to resend to the 200 again, but I am going back to only sending 199… just in case their math messes up again. I don’t have the time to redo this every time.

In summary, only send to 199

Posted in LinkedIn Answers, Using LinkedIn | No Comments »

Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn Founder – learn about the man behind the system

Spend 15 minutes and read this 3-page article about Reid Hoffman.  It’s the best read that I’ve seen on the founder of LinkedIn, his history, etc.

If you are interested in the WHY of LinkedIn, you need to learn about the man who was behind it.

A King of Connections is Tech’s Go-To Guy (New York Times)

Posted in LinkedIn News | No Comments »

LinkedIn Coaching in South Africa

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!!

Posted in LinkedIn Profiles, LinkedIn Training | No Comments »

Job Search: Invite someone to connect on LinkedIn?

Check out this (slightly edited) email I got from a buddy:

I am looking for a job and want to leverage LinkedIn? If I find someone that works at a company that I would want to work for but I don’t know them, should I invite connect with them? Assuming so but give me some advice on this.

No.

Definitely no.

Too often we get invitations to connect from people we don’t know, and after a connection is made, there is no communication.

Or the communication is “I’m interested in working for your company, here’s my resume.”

That’s what too many job seekers are doing today.

It is impersonal, and close to spammy.

The person on the receiving end is thinking things like:

• Who are you?
• Why should I pay attention to your job search?
• You are one of a hundred who have sent me the same thing…
• So what….

Think about it this way. Sending a LinkedIn invite like that is like going to a network meeting with a receipt book.  Instead of talking to people and establishing a relationship, you just walk up to them and ask them for their credit card, so you can fill out a receipt.

Stupid, right?  No one does that.

Why do you do it on LinkedIn, then?

This happens all the time.

Let’s take the analogy further… once you fill out the receipt, and give it to them (they didn’t give you their credit card, but you tell them to “pay later… not problem!”), you go away.

And they never hear from you again. You don’t deliver whatever it was that they “bought.”  You are just GONE.

You go off and brag about all of your sales that you’ve made.

But they don’t know anything more than that you are a NUT.

See the correlation here?

Before you invite someone to connect, think about your relationship with them, and ask yourself if you want a professional relationship or if you just want a LinkedIn connection, which will likely go nowhere if not founded on a real relationship.

Posted in LinkedIn Connections | 4 Comments »

LinkedIn Spammer: How to get rid of a bad LinkedIn Contact

I got a message from a first degree contact (I accept all invites, since I speak a lot and can’t know or sit down with everyone who invites me) that said this:

Thats Nice hearing back from you Bruce well My name is Angela you knw that Lol , Am single and Searching, with black hair and brown eyes.. My height is 5′ 8″, with a weight of 125 lbs. I am a very caring and generous person. I like to make other people happy; there is nothing more fulfilling than bringing laughter or a smile to someone’s face. I have been told that I have a great sense of humor, but you will have to judge that for yourself. I would describe myself as being rather quiet almost shy when meeting new people, but open up rather quickly once I get to know you.
I am a great listener, I am soft, beautiful and simple Lady , I believe in God and in the soul. I like watching movies, going out for dinner, walk, hold hands, read books about God…Thats all i can say for now, if u really wanna know more about me u can add me on yahoo messenger so we can chart more and get to know better .here is my id ( angelsexy4420@yahoo.com (this was a hyperlink, which I removed) ) Looking forward to hear back from you ., Take care

Yuck.

What do you do?

First, go to their Profile Page, and click on the Flag icon:

Next, fill in this form.  Don’t you love how small that second box is?  Reminds of the complaint forms that don’t have enough room for you to say anything :p

I just did this, and then checked to see if I’m still a first degree contact.  On Twitter, if I report for spam they automatically disconnect me from that profile.  Alas, on LinkedIn we’re still first degree contacts.

I’m expecting LinkedIn to delete that account soon, however I want it out.  So I have to remove the LinkedIn connection manually, which is a PAIN, since I can’t do it from that page…. It takes a few more clicks and some scrolling to REMOVE that contact.  Unfortunately, they don’t give me a chance to say the person is a SPAMMER (like on Twitter).

OH YEAH, this person has 120 OTHER first degree contacts. Probably LIONs :p

Posted in LinkedIn Connections, LinkedIn Spam | 1 Comment »

LinkedIn Summary vs. Short Attention Spans

Brenda Bernstein, a resume writer recently asked me this:

Curious to know more about your 2,000 character summary recommendation in the age of short attention spans.

That’s a great question.

She’s referring to my strong recommendation to use as many of the 2,000 characters in the LinkedIn Summary that you can.

Also, I talk about SHORT messages… short emails, short(er) “elevator pitches,” etc.

So where does this “use it all up” and “go shorter!” meet?

Specifically, on the LinkedIn Summary, this is a place where people have come to learn more about you.  You already have their attention… you don’t need to do the 5 second elevator pitch, especially if they have scrolled down to your LinkedIn Summary.  They’ve seen your Professional Headline, your titles, etc.

The Summary is a place that can stink whether it is long or short, really.  I’ve seen stinky short, long and mid-sized Summaries.

If you have my book or DVD you know ONE goal of the Summary is to engage.

How do you do that?

For most people, you will tell stories.  You can use the PAR format to tell your stories.

The cool thing about stories is that they are more engaging… and will suck the reader in.  Tell multiple stories (multiple PAR statements), and become more engaging.  Do this well and before you know it you’ll wish you had an extra 1,000 characters…

That’s how you use it up, and how you avoid the issues with the short attentions spans.

Make sense?

Posted in LinkedIn Profiles | 1 Comment »