LEFT OUT OF LINKEDIN?

http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmford

Robert Ford

mail@robertford.us

+1 302-345-2303

fordrm

LEFT OUT OF LINKEDIN?

- Background- How do I get started?- How do I kick it up a notch?

AN INTRODUCTION TO LINKEDIN

Founded in Reid Hoffman’s living room in 2002 and officially launched in May 2003

Mission: Connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. When you join LinkedIn, you get access to people, jobs, news, updates, and insights that help you be great at what you do.

WHAT IS LINKEDIN?

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with 200 million members in 200 countries and territories around the globe.

WHAT CAN YOU USE IT FOR?

[Source: LinkedIn]

Through your network you can:

• Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended

• Be found for business opportunities

• Get introduced to other professionals through the people you know

• Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals

• Post and distribute job listings & search for great jobs

• Find high-quality passive candidates

WHAT CAN YOU USE IT FOR?

[Source: "I'm On LinkedIn: Now What?”, Jason Alba]

Through your network, you have the:

1) Ability to be known and enhance your personal brand

2) Ability to be found by recruiters or other hiring authorities

3) Ability to find others and make important connections

4) Opportunity to learn and share

5) Ability to connect with group members

6) Opportunity to show you are plugged in to current technology

APPRENTICE TO JOURNEYMAN

Creating a profile

Custom URL

100% Profile Completeness

Making Connections

Groups & Associations

Recommendations

Endorsements

Upload a picture (please, nothing cute)

Edit “Basic Information”

Use industry keywords in your headline

Write a thoughtful summary that describes how you can help your target audience (clients, etc.)

LINKEDIN PROFILE BASICS

Make sure youadd a photo (and SMILE)

Edit URL (help search

engines find you)

Summary(NOT RESUME)

SETTING YOUR PROFILE

If you’vehad a non-traditional

career, this can make it easier for others to follow

Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.

Your current position Two past positions Your education Your profile summary A profile photo Your specialties At least three recommendations

LINKEDIN PROFILE

Your profile should be a rich description of your skills, interests and career history.

Complete your profile Helps you find and be found by former (and future)

colleagues, clients, and partners

Add Connections Current and past co-workers Respected clients Business partners Trusted suppliers and vendors

Use your network Find jobs Find people Find business opportunities

WHAT’S NEXT?

EDITING YOUR CUSTOM URL

KNOW THYSELF (ONLINE)

vanity searching

Ego-surfing

Googlingyourself

Ego-searching

Ego-googling

Auto-googling

Self-googling

Think about how quickly you google others. That’s happening to you. Make sure that what they find is what you’d like them to seeThink about how quickly you google others. That’s happening to you. Make sure that what they find is what you’d like them to see

HAVE YOU GOOGLED YOURSELF LATELY?

I did not kill Jesse

James

I’m not a Canadian politician

I’m not a sports

broadcaster

I haven’t committed any

ethics violations

HAVE YOU GOOGLED YOURSELF LATELY?

#3 and #4 –

getting better!

HAVE YOU GOOGLED YOURSELF LATELY?

=

PARTIALLY COMPLETED PROFILE

COMPLETE PROFILE = CONSUMATE BUSINESS

PROFESSIONAL

=

Contacts + Invitations = Connections

LINKEDIN CONNECTIONS

You make new connections by:

• Inviting ContactsManually entering names & emails.

• Importing ContactsLoad webmail address books (MSN, AOL, YAHOO, GMAIL) or extract / upload address book (.csv, .txt, or .vcf files).

• ColleaguesFind past or present co-workers, based on employment history.

• ClassmatesFind past or present classmates, based on education history.

LinkedIn groups are a great way to make connections with peers and position yourself as a leader in your industry.

Above all, be yourself. Be true to your personal brand.

People hire and do business with people, not manufactured personalities.

LINKED GROUPS

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Recommendations can help your causeRecruiters and hiring managers do read recommendations, treating them like references

• Reach out personally when you ask for a recommendationDo not use LinkedIn recommendation request, unless you have already had an exchange with the person you’re asking.

• Only ask those who truly know your work

• Help the writer outJog their memory verbally, or in a note, or even offer to draft the recommendation yourself.

•  Specificity is bestIdeally, recommendations should describe exactly what the person did, including the outcome of the project. 

• Get a range of recommendationsIt’s best to have recommendations from a boss, a colleague and a subordinate, to give readers a sense of how you work at all levels.

ENDORSEMENTS

• Considered by many as ‘recommendations lite’.

• Only 1st level connections can endorse you.

• Endorsements can be rejected or hidden.

• Interesting 360 degree feedback on how you’re perceived by your network.

• If you want to use endorsements, you first need to build a concise and direct list of your skills.

LINKEDIN GROUND RULES

Do try to connect with those you know.

Don’t try to connect with just anyone (spam & IDK).

Do join groups.

Don’t spam groups with tons of offers, etc.

Do post useful and interesting articles (appropriate for that group).

Don’t mention your cousin’s boozy birthday bash.

CONNECTING VIA GROUPS

SEARCH: TIME TO GET GRANULAR

Search for friends

Search by keyword

Search by name

Get local

Granular‘slice & dice’

WHAT CAN YOU USE IT FOR?

Complete and update your profile (think of it as your online resume) Highlight your experience in the professional summary Include all keywords and skills from your resume, for better

searching Let people know what you’re looking for through the Contact

Settings (e.g. career opportunities, consulting offers, new ventures, job inquiries, reference requests, etc.)

Use Links to point to your web site, blog, etc. Make your profile public Use status field - it acts as a tickler to your network, keeping

them informed of what you’re up to.

LINKEDIN AND YOUR JOB SEARCH

Update your profile regularly, so your information is up-to-date.

Search for jobs on LinkedIn Check both tabs (‘LinkedIn’ & ‘The Web’)

Research, research, research! Company Job Poster Current Employees Former Employees

Use Browser Toolbar (IE / Firefox) Quick search from anywhere Direct access to LinkedIn See your inside connections at any hiring company

LINKEDIN AND YOUR JOB SEARCH

• Look for (and give) referrals• Builds credibility• Provides insight into experience / character

LINKEDIN AND YOUR JOB SEARCH

Personal Branding• “Just as a brand represents others perceptions of a

product, a personal brand is others' collective view of you.”

• “A personal brand is the summation of the strengths that you exhibit and the commitment to certain aspects of your job/life.”

• “Personal branding is the conscious and systematic process where people and their careers are effectively marketed as brands in virtue of their competences, distinctive personality traits, abilit ies and skill sets, with the goal of promoting and building a solid reputation and a well-gained prestige”

LINKEDIN AND PERSONAL BRANDING

[Source: LinkedIn Answers]

PERSONAL BRANDING TOOLKIT

• LinkedIn Profile• Web page / portfolio• Blogs• LinkedIn Groups• The Brand Called You• Personal Branding

“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” [Source: Tom Peters]

Any Questions?

Q & A

Use the search function.   Don’t interrupt the group’s conversation fl ow by asking questions that search can answer.

Get to know the lay of the land.  As they say, fools rush in. Take t ime to understand the group dynamics.

Find and develop internal champions.   I t ’s always good to have people in your corner. They’re your cheerleaders and you theirs. Support them and they’ l l be there when you need them.

Don’t tick off the moderator or group admin.  Know which side of the bread your butter is on. I f there are any misgivings, err on the side of being professional and cordial .

Know when to move on.  As with most things in l i fe, sometimes we outgrow things.  Keep your goals in s ight and regularly re-evaluate i f the group is meeting those needs.

Understand the medium.  Emai l and onl ine posting do not aff ord you the benefi t of tone and infl ection. Take this into account when posting to groups.

HOW TO NAVIGATE GROUPS

Stop, read and understand.  Pay attention to how others communicate with the group. Is there a particular format that you need to follow?

LinkedIn groups are not Facebook.  Don’t leave cute private messages or requests to chat unless you really have a real reason to connect

Lurk. Silence is golden. Sit for a l ittle while and watch the activity.

Get to know the key infl uencers.  You need to know who the centers of infl uence are and to the extent that their work or personality resonates with you – get to know them.

Your signature shouldn’t be longer than your posts.  Your name, email address, phone number and web site address are PLENTY. If people want the long story, they can visit your web site.

HOW TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Be a giver.   Don’t just visit the group to ask for help. Assisting others to fi nd solutions bui lds goodwil l . Bui ld this kind of networking into your annual marketing “spend”.

Dig your well before you’re thirsty.  Lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency for others. 

Share your resources. No one l ikes an information hog.

Always have your manners ‘on’.  You never know who’s lurking and watching to see how you handle yourself.  How you do anything is how you do everything.

Be scarce. I f you’re always avai lable, when do you work?  The assumption is that people who are not always avai lable are important.  This may or may not be true but, impressions are impressions.

HOW TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Know when to take it off -line.   Don’t bog down the rest of the group with personal exchanges.

Don’t be desperate. There’s a fi ne line between seeking referrals and trolling for dollars. Learn the diff erence.

Don’t blatantly self-promote. Many LinkedIn groups have rules against this

Don’t fl ame or curse.   It really is OK (and preferable) to agree to disagree.

Never ask people whom you don’t know to refer clients to you or to recommend you.  It’s desperate, tacky and a waste of a perfectly good opportunity to connect.

HOW TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Learn how to connect with people. Really connect. Be genuine. If you don’t have anything authentic to share, wait for a time when you do.

Don’t cross-post. If you post a message in one group, don’t post it in other similar groups

Create a contribution schedule. You want to be scarce but you also want to appear available and helpful.

Be clear.  Remember, the people reading your message do not have the benefit of knowing the back story of your post.

HOW TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION