linked101.com

We have moved the blog to a new location http://www.linkedintuition.com/blog.

You can also see what we’ve been up to by going to the main page http://www.linkedintuition.com.

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. 

Lately there have been some rumors about discontent at LinkedIn.  Problems with meeting financial goals set by their investors, rumors of managers throwing each other under the bus, lack of how to make LinkedIn profitable, and a host of other concerns.  Could a site with 30+ million users just disappear in the blink of an eye?

If LinkedIn were gone tomorrow, how would that impact you today?  In the future?  I would guess that for a majority of the users it would seem devastating at first, but slowly they would come to relize that while LinkedIn was “cool” and showed “promise”, they never really figured out how to use it.  It would be business as usual in the world of face-to-face networking.

I’ve said it often, LinkedIn is simply a tool to use in your networking arsenal.  By itself it’s nothing more than links on a web page with background information.  The true value is determining how to monetize this collection of information.  Unfortunately most people never moved to the monetization phase.

Fo me, LinkedIn has provided value in my networking, helping me to enhance and expand my network, it has provided new business through connections, and it has provided me with an idea that is still in the germination phase.

What is this idea?  If I have to name it, it would be LinkedIn local with a dash of Plaxo and social networking.  What I’ve done is taken a LinkedIn group to it’s own space to create a community of users locally, and then added some features that LinkedIn does not provide.

The work in progress can be found at www.NorthFultonBG.com.  This is a free membership portal for folks that network in North Fulton county in Georgia, just north of Atlanta.  The main rule of the site is that to be a member you have to live, network, or work in North Fulton. (so if you’re not in the area you’re welcome to visit but you can’t be a member).

The site provides features to the members to help them network locally, including:

1.  The ability for every member to post educational articles about the area of expertise
2.  An Events list and calendar
3.  The ability to post classifieds, ads, and job listings
4.  The ability to view other members information including contact information
5.  A forum to discuss topics
6.  The ability for member to connect or associate themselves with others
7.  Members bio where members can include sontact information and background details

Over the next year I plan to tweak the features to provide more usability.

In the first six weeks of launch we are close to 80 members, with a goal of 1,000 members by the end of 2009.  The interesting thing, and what I sometimes think LinkedIn forgets, is that the success of the site will rest more in the hands of the users than in my efforts.  I am responsible for providing a good user experience and features.  The users, though, will have the ultimate responsibility of creating value through interaction and involvement.

No one in this network will ever have 15,000 2nd degree connections and multi-million 3rd degree connections. but who cares.  Have those millions of connections provided any value relative to there number?  Instead, I believe that a network made up of a 1,000 or so local people will be of more value.

LinkedIn has it’s place at the head of the table and I personally have found value in their network.  I wish them the best and hope they continue to succeed.  I just think that each person has to find a way to take advantage of the opportunities that LinkedIn has created.

My suggestion is that you take control of your experience and create new ways to build value.

TIP:  If you have not done so yet, I suggest that every week or each month you export your connections.  You will find the link to do so at the bottom of the connections page.

In the third installment we discuss building credibility.

LinkedIn is a great opportunity to present yourself.  You can list a summary, details of past work history, your current employment, and other pieces of information.  All of this can present a picture of you but by itself doesn’t convey credibility.

LinkedIn has built in features that help you establish credibility.  All you need to do is a little extra work and credibility is yours to be gained.  Let’s take a look at your credibility opportunities:

1.  A complete profile:  It sounds simple but many people miss the point.  Your goal on LinkedIn is to be found and once found to be seen as relevant.  The more information you present, the more likely you are to be found.

Every word you add is another opportunity to be found.  Let’s take the often overlooked Hobbies and Interests section.  Let’s say you like to outdoor activities such as camping or hiking.  Someone searches on one of these keywords and includes your geographic location and suddenly they find your profile.  You’ve just accomplished your first goal of being found.

What if someone is searching for a CPA and they have three in their network.  Who’s more likely to catch the reviewer’s attention?  The person with a “naked” profile or the person who has taken the time to completely fill out their profile?

2.  Answers:  With the Answers section you have the ability to both ask and answer questions.  Both can have an impact on your credibility

The type of questions you ask will say something about who you are and the level of experience you possess.  They show what you’re interested in.  Don’t ask pointless questions.  You want to focus on asking questions that generate thoughtful responses.  Note:  Questions that are meant to generate a sales response will reflect negatively about you.

Answers is your opportunity to share knowledge and display expertise.  Answer only those questions that you can provide useful information in response.  The top answerer on LinkedIn answered 286 questions this week.  How many thoughtful answers do you think he provided.  This person is trying to build credibility and is destroying his image in the process.

3.  Recommendations:  Another opportunity to give and receive.  The key is to provide only recommendations that are truthful and sincere.  This is not the place to give a recommendation in return just because you received one.

There are different types of recommendations, but the most relevant is one given by a client.  These help you standing in the Service Providers section of the Companies category.

LinkedIn provides the ability to request a recommendation.  There are differences of opinions about whether this is a positive or negative.  My thoughts are that if you did a great job serving a client then you should feel comfortable requesting a recommendation.  Just make sure that in your request you state that you are asking based on your work for the client and that the person should not feel obligated to provide one.

Focus on the three areas above and you will be well on your way to building credibility.  A final benefit to participating in Answers and providing Recommendations is that each time you do, there is a link to your profile generated.  People will visit your profile based on these links.

Until next time, you’ve got some work to do.