Linked Intelligence

Funny tweet from Frank Abrams:

I’ve been on hiatus from blogging here at Linked Intelligence for a while. It was a combination of factors. First of all, I’ve been crazy busy with other projects. Secondly, I was burned out on trying to deal with all the BS moves by LinkedIn management. Thirdly, there’s the simple matter of ROI — was the time I invested in Linked Intelligence worth the benefit?

But I’ve decided it’s time to revitalize Linked Intelligence. For whatever issues I have with some of the decisions LinkedIn makes, it’s still by far the most useful networking tool both for me personally and for businesspeople, i.e., my clients, generally speaking.

It also seems that a whole new batch of people are discovering it, and thanks to Twitter, a bunch of them are discovering the super-incredibly-useful resource, 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn. Plus, more people have written more cool ideas about how to use LinkedIn, and I want to include them in the compilation.

Finally, there are potentially now more ways to monetize this (hey, just being honest). There are a couple of great products I’ve participated in, such as Jason Alba’s book, I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??, and (finally!) LinkedIn For Dummies. I’ll also soon have available the audio program I did with Joan Stewart on using LinkedIn to support your publicity campaign.

So if you’re new here, welcome. If you’re visiting again, welcome back.

Image Bart Groenhuizen via sxc.hu

If you’re reading this blog, odds are that you’re already somewhat familiar with LinkedIn and other social networking sites. But what I constantly get asked, even from people who have been participating in these sites for a while, is, “How do I use these to generate real business?”

It’s easy enough to set up a profile, make a few connections, join a couple of groups, etc. — the basic mechanics. But actually finding customers, business partners, media opportunities, employees and so on via online networking is as much art as science. It’s not a mechanical activity — you’re still dealing with real people with real feelings, and good virtual interpersonal skills can mean the difference between fantastic success and frustration.

Next Monday, September 22, at 12:00 pm EST, (9 am PST, 10 am MST, 11 am Central, 5 pm London, 6 pm Cairo, 8 pm Dubai, 11 pm Bangkok), I’ll be doing a teleclass with networking expert Diane Darling, author of The Networking Survival Guide and Networking for Career Success, entitled “Maximizing LinkedIn and Other Online Networks”. During the call, Diane and I will discuss:

• How to best use social networking sites - e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Meetup
• How NOT to use them
• Ways to make your invitation stand out
• What if I get asked to help someone I don’t know?
• Why go online? I just call people
• How do you get real business
• Why an online presence is important
• Mistakes that are easily avoidable
• Ways to expand your network without compromising friendships
• Best ways to give referrals
• How to tactfully reject people
• Due diligence to do before forwarding a request

This isn’t a how-to on the basic mechanics of using these sites — this is focused on the hard part: the “soft skills” that will actually make you productive, not just busy.

The cost of the class is $20 for the first 10 people that sign up through this link ($25 after that).  [NOTE: Sorry for the previous problems -- link is fixed and we've kept the price at $20, even though there will be over 100 on the call.] A recording will be available for your review, or for those who can’t attend at the scheduled time.

By the way, for a valuable online networking lesson, watch The Virtual Handshake blog later today for the story of how Diane and I ended up doing this class together.

Looks like the marketing folks over at LinkedIn had the good wisdom to hire Lee and Sachi LeFever to make a LinkedIn video. Enjoy!

I particularly like the emphasis on the idea that using LinkedIn isn’t just about building connections, but about actually getting business done. As LinkedIn expands functionality, expect to see more reinforcement of that concept. More on this in another post.

I also like their use of the map analogy. I’ve used this myself before when talking about how the practice of open linking makes LinkedIn less useful.

I’m a big fan of their videos, particularly those explaining Web 2.0 technologies. If you liked the video above, you might also enjoy:

• Social Networking in Plain English
• Blogs in Plain English
• Wikis in Plain English
• Online Photo Sharing in Plain English
• Social Bookmarking in Plain English
• RSS in Plain English
• Twitter in Plain English

If you like their videos too, Lee and Sachi can be hired for custom work and hi-res versions of their videos can be licensed for commercial or educational use.

Entrepreneurs — looking to grow your business?

Starting this Thursday, June 5, you can learn some of the most current techniques for growing your business in the Escape 9 to 5 Teleseminar Series.

I love what the organizer, Melissa Gerdes, has to say about the series on the registration page:

Why are we doing this? It’s simple. We love our lives and we love helping other people experience the realities of entrepreneurship. So we want to see the wonderful life you create for yourself. (Mostly, we do it because it’s fun.)

The teleseminars will be held on various weekday evenings in the coming weeks, and the first one is…tomorrow! I’ll be doing mine on “Winning on the Social Web” next week. So go ahead and register now so you don’t miss anything.