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If you’re a small business or a sales person you’re not selling a product or service, you’re selling yourself.  For many, the thought of self-promotion just isn’t one that they are comfortable with.  LinkedIn can help you with your discomfort.

Recommendations can serve as an effective alternative to selling yourself.  They are an opportunity to let others toot your horn.  On LinkedIn there are four types of recommendations:

1. Colleague:  Worked at the same company
2. Service Provider:  Hired the person
3. Business Partner:  Worked together but not as a client or colleague
4. Student:  Fellow student or teacher

Let me start by saying any recommendation is better than no recommendation.  That being said, the recommendation that really stands out is one from a client.  I’ll talk more about this in a second.

Out of curiosity I took a look at 10 of my connections to see how they were doing with recommendations.  These folks all had between 146 and 357 connections, and here is what I found:

• Colleague Recommendations:  15
• Service Provider:  18
• Business Partner:  23
• Student:  1

That’s 57 recommendations among folks that had a combined 2,747 connections.  I normally recommend that you try to have at least 10 recommendations, so this group is about 43 short. 

These are not new LinkedIn users.  They’re people that have been members for longer than a year, and each is very good at what they do.  The only explanation for the low number of recommendations is that they’re likely not asking for them from the client’s who are on LinkedIn.

The best time to ask is when you’ve completed work for a client and they are happy.  You’re also on the top of their mind.  The next time you work with a client see if they’re on LinkedIn.  If they are, connect to them and then ask for the recommendation.  If you did a great job they’ll be happy to submit the recommendation.  Let them toot your horn.

Finally, recommendations from clients also help you get listed in the LinkedIn Service Provider directory.  It’s not the most used LinkedIn feature but it never hurts to be listed as number one.

Don’t forget to share the love as well.  If a fellow LinkedIn member has provided you great service or simply went out of their way to help you, give them a recommendation.  Don’t keep them a secret.
One of the added benefits to providing a recommendation is that you create a link on the recommended person’s profile page to your profile.  People will often look to see who provided the recommendation.  This is just another way to draw traffic to your profile.

Until next time, connect away.

LinkedIn, if you think about it, is simply an offline idea implemented in an online manner.  It takes advantage of the ease of communicating and interacting that the internet provides. 

LinkedIn hasn’t changed or replaced the old way of networking.  It’s just added a new dynamic to the mix.  It’s made it easier to network with more people in less time.  It’s expanded the typical network geographic restrictions.  And it’s opened up new opportunities to showcase your business or yourself.

In the end there is only one you or one business.  There’s just a new opportunity to build your brand.  In my chamber I’ve attended over 90% of the alliance meeting over the past three years.  Each meeting I have 60 seconds to get my message across.  In addition I try to meet face to face with as many people as possible. 

So understanding the offline opportunity, I have 60 seconds to brand myself to 40 or 50 people and about 30 minutes to do so in a one-on-one setting.

LinkedIn helps me super size that effort.  On LinkedIn my message is available 24/7 for as long as the profile visitor is interested.  I can present myself in a number of ways.  How good of a job that I do will determine whether I have a sticky or slick profile.  Sticky = stay.  Slick = go.

You want your profile to be sticky so that people will stay for a while and come back to your profile.  A sticky profile stays with your visitor after they have left.

So what are some components of a sticky profile?

1.  You must have a well written and engaging summary
2.  You must provide details about who you are and where you’ve been
3.  There should be a reason for the person to return

How to get a sticky profile:

1.  Have a well written and engaging summary
2.  Provide a complete profile…past jobs, experiences, educational back ground, and interests
3.  Defined URL’s (shows website address not just “Website” for your URL’s) 
4.  A personalized URL (not the standard public profile URL)
5.  Incorporate your blog **one of the new LinkedIn Apps
6.  Post documents and presentations **more of the new LinkedIn Apps
7.  At least 10 recommendations (received)
8.  At least 15 recommendations (given)
9.  Answered questions (answers chosen as the best are even better)
10. Add interesting Polls to your profile  **another new LinkedIn App

Doing some or all of these things will help you begin building your online brand.  Many of these are part of the Credibility building process as well.  When your offline connections look up your LinkedIn profile (and they will), they be able to see all of the things you didn’t have time to tell them in your 60 second spot or in the 30 minutes you met face to face.  And you won’t have to be the one to tell them.  Your profile does the work for you.

Eventually your offline and your online brands will converge to simply being your brand.  Remember to keep it fresh and interesting.  Give them a reason to come back.