Linked Intelligence

Tips from the LinkedIn Rockstars: Top Ten Annoying Behaviors of People on LinkedIn- Number 8

Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Diva — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:28:19 +0000

A few months back I was contacted on Skype by a new connection. Almost immediately into the conversation, he asked me to help him and his company, an “SEO, SMO, and Web Development Company”. However, he could not tell me what exactly he wanted, or in what way his company could help me and my work.

I asked him as politely as I could to get back to me when he had some idea of who I was and what I did, and how his company could help me. Partnerships are a two way street. You don’t just walk up to someone and ask them to do something for you without some way that you will be able to help them in return. Before you approach a client, know their own business goals, and be able to present a proposition that will help them be achieved. Be prepared to tell them about your work; don’t just expect them to visit links you send them to find out for themselves.

I have seen this behavior all over social media. I have heard people refer to them as social media spammers. Please, before you approach a potential client, be prepared to have a conversation about how you might work together.

Tips from the LinkedIn Rockstars: Top Ten Annoying Behaviors by People on LinkedIn- Number 9

Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Diva — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:30:57 +0000

I recently received an email from a stranger asking me to send them a LinkedIn invitation. This is a complete breach of online etiquette, and creates a problem where there is none.

When you join LinkedIn, you get 3,000 initial invites. (If you send them often to people you don’t actually know, and they indicate in their response they don’t know you, you may find yourself having to enter email addresses to send out your invites. You can get this restriction removed by contacting customer_service@cs.linkedin.com.)

If you manage to burn through your initial 3,000 invites, you can contact LinkedIn and ask for more every thirty days! There is no reason that requires asking someone else to send you an invite. In the real world, this could be seen as the equivalent of asking someone you don’t know to buy you a cup of coffee.

Also, as an aside, the person who sent me this email sent it to a large number of people. How do I know? They included everyone’s email address in the ‘to’ box! Please, please, please use the ‘blind carbon copy’ (bcc) feature when sending out mass emails to protect the privacy of those involved. It will be appreciated.

Tips from the LinkedIn Rockstars: Top Ten Annoying Behaviors of People on LinkedIn – Number 10

Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Diva — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:41 +0000

Let’s do this in reverse order. It is so frustrating when you receive an invitation from someone who is building a network purely as a numbers game. They are just burning through their initial limited supply of invitations (3,000) and responding to a message like this is like flocking to the Firesale announcement of local stores “Going out of business!”

There is not anything wrong with building a large, open network on LinkedIn. My partner and I have both already hit the 30,000 mark, then went back and deleted the profiles that seemed faked so we could accept more people. The key is, if you’re building this type of network on LinkedIn, do it with the understanding that you’re connecting to people, not numbers.

Building a network of that size is not about hitting numbers to brag about; it’s about connecting with people around the country, and around the world, that you can collaborate with and reach out to on a scale that simply wasn’t possible before LinkedIn.

The Magic is in the Mix!

Jan Wallen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:40:07 +0000

Last week I had the opportunity to speak at the MeetUp group, NSA-NYC (National Speakers Association, New York City chapter), about LinkedIn and how to get more speaking engagements using LinkedIn. A number of questions arose about where do you start, and where does LinkedIn fit in with the rest of your marketing? And how do you have enough time in your day for social media?

Since I started using LinkedIn more and more after writing my book, I find I spend less time and get more real results when I cluster my time and do similar networking and marketing activities at the same times each week. In doing so, I’ve streamlined the way I work, and really focus.

The Magic is in the Mix. Whether you want speaking engagements, new clients, more face-to-face meetings, or referrals and introductions from LinkedIn, always ask yourself this question every week, “What is the one thing that will make the most difference for my business this week?” Then focus on that all week – in your online networking, in person meetings, phone calls, writing and everything else you do. There is no one ‘Silver Bullet”. The Magic is in the Mix. Continue to use every marketing avenue that you currently use, and stay focused.

Cluster your time. Before LinkedIn, I woke up and read the newspaper with my morning cup of coffee. Now I wake up, scan the newspaper, scan LinkedIn – the updates and news, and spend 15 minutes catching up with people in my network, setting meetings with them, and updating them on things that will advance their networking, sales and businesses. I check e-mail twice a day – in the morning and the afternoon. I asked people to call me if they want to reach me in between times.

For more information about the MeetUp and more tips, check out my post on LinkedIn for Sales, and as always – Success to you!

Tip From the LinkedIn Rockstars: Using Recommendations

Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Diva — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0000

One of the most important aspects of LinkedIn are the recommendations.

Think about it: Why do you ever choose one thing over another? Chances are, it was recommended to you. There are people who abuse the system, who ‘stuff the ballet box’ you might say, which is why it is important to get recommendations with substance from someone who has interacted with you personally, worked with you on a project, or the best would be a customer.

You don’t want to have all your recommendations from one work experience, it is best to spread them out over your credentials. But how do you go back and ask people from the past for recommendations? Start by thinking of people you have worked with that you can recommend, who can legitimately recommend you back. When you receive a recommendation, you are given the option to return the favor, and many people do.

If you do receive a bad recommendation, you can always ask for a rewrite. When a LinkedIn recommendation is posted, it creates a link between the two profiles. If you ask someone to rewrite a fluff piece, or something with many typos, you are actually doing them a favor so their writing does not reflect badly on them.

When You'd Like To Leave LinkedIn

Steven Tylock — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:31 +0000

Yes, it’s almost sacrilegious – but there are people who’ve tried LinkedIn and decided it wasn’t for them.

I give them kudos over the people that haven’t tried LinkedIn. (or worse – who are waiting to lose their job before they “bother”…)

But this group can be vocal – they want out, and they want out now.

So I’ve written about the subject – several times.

Can we just say goodby?

Apparently not very easily…

It seems LinkedIn may have not followed through on its side of things – by continuing to send emails of different sorts.

And think about it – friends still know the hopefully ex-member, and when they send invitations to connect, what’s LinkedIn to do?

So start here when you’d like LinkedIn to stop bothering you;-)

Understand the system first

If you take the time to read my articles, you might find out that I’m actually trying to make sure users don’t want to leave for reasons that shouldn’t exist.

The most common is the “all those annoying emails” – and the response is that each LinkedIn user can effectively control how different types of messages come through. (If they only knew how to) So let’s start with education about how that all works so users can make informed choices.

But you probably get that already…

To your continued success,

steve

Tip from the LinkedIn Rockstars: Using YouTube with LinkedIn

Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Diva — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:30:43 +0000

Embedding videos on your LinkedIn profile is something you should definitely play around with. Videos allow you to build up personal relationships with potential clients and customers early on. When you connect with someone through video, they are used to seeing you on the screen, which helps increase your click through rate!

When you put a YouTube video in your status, it automatically pulls in the assigned picture from the video, as well as the text describing the video. You can edit the text by clicking the little blue ‘edit’ button. Mike and I edit ours so it ties in well with the rest of the status. People can then play your video right there on LinkedIn. What an engaging way to bring people to your profile!

You can also post videos on your company pages. If you post a video in the section about your products and services, it will even push down the regular page advertising, allowing your company to have more premium space!

LinkedIn offers some great ways to get creative with YouTube. Videos are attractive and enticing, and definitely help you stand out from the crowd.

LinkedIn Live Training Starts January 17

Scott Allen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:30:57 +0000

Are you getting the most out of LinkedIn? Is it an integral part of your marketing strategy?

When leveraged effectively, you can use LinkedIn to:

Fill your inbox with inquiries from your target market, everyday.
Identify and connect to new lead sources.
Develop a community of thousands that all look up to you or your company as the authority in your niche.
Increase your visibility and improve your connect-ability.
Gain valuable insights from your target market that will tell you what they want and then pay for it.
Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks.
Establish deep trust and credibility in your industry.
Recruit top talent to your organization.
Get top search engine rankings.

Linked Strategies, who provided the LinkedIn profile makeovers we’re in the middle of conducting, is starting the next session of their LinkedIn Live Training on Tuesday, January 17. There’s WAY too much included for me to cover it all here, but in summary:

8 live training sessions on using LinkedIn effectively (also recorded in case you miss one or start late)
5 bonus sessions covering YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, blogging and personal branding
Linked Strategies All Access Pass, which gives you instant access to all their ebooks, workbooks, training videos and master courses (dozens of hours of training)
40 hours of direct access to a pre-screened virtual assistant ready to implement all your new strategies (this alone is worth the price of the course!)
30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee

And as an added bonus, the first 100 people who sign up through Linked Intelligence will also receive a half-hour LinkedIn profile review session as part of the package. It’s not cheap, but it’s an incredible value at $997, which is $500 off the regular price. How many new customers would it take you to make that back? If the answer is “several hundred”, then maybe this program isn’t for you (but you might know someone it is a fit for, and we’d greatly appreciate the referral). If your answer is “one or two or a few”, this is a no-brainer.

If you read this after the 17th, not to worry — the live sessions are all being recorded, so you can start at any time.

Learn more or register now

What to Do If Your LinkedIn Account Gets Hacked

Scott Allen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:35:55 +0000

From an email from LinkedIn Customer Service to someone whose account had been hacked:

Option 2: Regain access to the account by signing the following affidavit of identity before a Notary Public. Once notarized, this form can be faxed back to me or scanned and attached in your response to this message. Once received, I will submit the form to our Privacy Team to begin the account recovery process.

Affidavit of Identity:
http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3629

via Jason Alba

Image: marc kjerland

LinkedIn Profile Makeover Week Winner #5 – Michelle Gilstrap

Scott Allen — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:46:35 +0000

Congratulations to Michelle Gilstrap, Executive Director at Universal City North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and winner of our fifth and final free LinkedIn profile makeover.

Michelle’s LinkedIn profile has a long list of experience, recommendations and group memberships — so long that it maxed out the nifty plugin I was using to capture a screenshot of the whole web page! I got most of it, though – you can see the “Before” below. We’re going to make Nate at Linked Strategies really work for this one!