I’m On LinkedIn - Now What???

Websites: Don’t be generic

Check this out:

This is what I see on a guy’s profile this morning. I chuckle as I think about the hundreds of people who have heard me speak this year about the simple, low-hanging-fruit opportunities to make your profile look more “on purpose.”

No really, there’s nothing WRONG with leaving it like this, which is what LinkedIn unknowingly encourages you to do. But think about it - as your view, as your visitor, you aren’t making this any easier for me (and it’s all about me, right?).

What if this person would put the name of the website there, instead of the generic term “My Company?” Take an extra 60 seconds today to customize your website text… it’s uber-easy, and it makes your profile look more “on purpose.” All you do is choose “other” in the drop down box, instead of “My Company.”

I would show you some examples of what it *could* look like, but LinkedIn is …. um, down right now :p

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

The Value of LinkedIn Groups for Group Members

I posted Group Pontification back in March, when I stated I was going to do an experiment. My JibberJobber - Career Management Group on LinkedIn now has 476 members, with very little marketing. I’m not suggesting that you can have a group with hundreds of members with “very little marketing,” but I really haven’t pushed the Group.

I’ll write a third post to wrap the Groups idea up, focusing on the value of LinkedIn Groups for the group owner… for now let’s talk about the value of Groups for people who become members.

The value of Groups is quite elusive, so if you don’t “get it,” you aren’t alone. Let me list the things I have been able to determine:

1. Expanded search capability. In the Advanced Search section of LinkedIn, you can choose to limit or include other Group members in a search. I haven’t played around with this but they way they write it, it seems you can’t include your network AND Group members, rather either or.
2. Expanded findability factory. Turn #1 around, and the idea that “those people” who are searching for “you,” in various capacities (employee, employer, vendor, customer, partner, etc.) will have a better chance of finding you if you are both members of the same Group.
3. Ability to browse through other Group members. Supposedly these are people who we will have something in common with … although I would guess that’s true less than 50% of the time.
4. Ability to inMail other Group members. This may be one of the most valuable reasons to be in a Group. I tried to inMail someone at a second degree from me and got the “upgrade now” screen… and then I tried to inMail someone who was a second or third degree but a member of a Group I’m in, and was able to do it. Wow, this is a huge compelling reason to join as many Groups as you can, if you have a proactive LinkedIn strategy!

So what am I missing? Some of these might seem trivial (like #3), but really, being a member of a group increases your ability to find and be found, and communicate with other Group members. Not too shabby.

I’ve seen LinkedIn Groups get slammed because it doesn’t have richer communication functionality, like that you’d find in a Facebook Group… but within the LinkedIn world, I think three of these four benefits are quite compelling.

And it’s why you’ll find people who are in a TON of Groups.

Some gems on LinkedIn Groups throughout the blogosphere:

1. Expand Your Network with LinkedIn Groups - by Scott Allen himself, check out the comments which are rich with info
2. [MyJobTIGER] Top Advantages Of Joining Groups On MyLinkingPowerForum.com - I think this is a splog but it’s a post that Vincent Wright wrote which is very good
3. Get Linkedin To Groups! - Rocky VanBrimmer from Central Ohio Network
4. LinkedIn Review #3: How to Use Groups - Bill Branstetter’s recruiter perspective on how to use Groups on his Recruiter Resources Review blog
5. Using LinkedIn Groups - Mike Mueller on Lenderama (which is not a llama)

and here’s an official LinkedIn blog post about Groups:

What’s new in LinkedIn Groups? Learn more (Sept 21, 2007, by Ben Guthrie)

What am I missing? Next post in this series is the value of LinkedIn Groups for the Group owner.

Looking for more info on LinkedIn?  Check out my book!

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

I Don’t Care About You (let me prove it)

All it takes to be different… to show you care… is one simple line.  It’s not much, is it?

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

LinkedIn: Mass Mailing List or Stack of Business Cards??

I 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?

Posted in Using LinkedIn | 6 Comments »

Questions about LinkedIn Answers Answered on Answers

How’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.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Showing up as a Service Provider

I’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!”

Posted in Using LinkedIn | 2 Comments »

Finding The Motherload of LinkedIn Groups

I’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!

LinkedIn Groups Directory

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.

Posted in Using LinkedIn | 5 Comments »

What To Do With A Maiden Name On Your LinkedIn Profile

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

Posted in Using LinkedIn | 6 Comments »

LinkedIn Book May Become A Best Seller

I’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

Posted in Book Experience | 3 Comments »

Removing Connections

There 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!

Posted in Using LinkedIn | 12 Comments »