Grow My Law Firm

LinkedIn: 5 things you can do right now to make your profile more effective

There is no doubt that your LinkedIn profile is a critical component your professional identity. It ranks at or near the top of search rankings, and it can create interest from potential employers, clients, and customers.

On the other hand, a poor LinkedIn profile can work against you when your competitors make an effort to build complete profiles that truly demonstrate the benefits of hiring them instead of you. 

So what can you do to make yourself attractive on LinkedIn right now?

1. List your inherent professional benefit rather than your job title in your personal branding box under your name:
   This is one of the most common mistakes I see on LinkedIn. Simply listing your job title doesn't help you at all. Okay, you're a Lawyer, Compliance Officer, VP of Lending, Business Analyst, Looking for Full Time Employment, etc. So what? What can you do for me? What is the inherent benefit of hiring you? Tell me what you can do to help my business thrive. This is precious personal branding space. Don't squander it by listing a boring job title.
2. Get 3 recommendations:
   I wrote a blog post that explains why and how recommendations help you on LinkedIn. In a nutshell, since so few people bother to obtain any, they are a point of distinction. You can toot your own horn all day long, but when someone else describes your professional abilities and skills, it substantiates your claims.
3. Update your status:
   When you update your LinkedIn status, a story is posted in the newsfeed of all your connections, so this reminds them of you. Don't use this space for anything that isn't exclusively professional. Use it to educate your connections about the great things that you do an a daily basis, for example, if you're a divorce lawyer, you may write something like, "Just avoided a nasty custody battle by reminding both parties that the kids' best interests are their primary concern."
4. Add sections:
   Most people don't bother adding special sections. This is where you can appropriately list community and charitable involvement, which are not jobs. You can also use sections to add publications, presentations, awards, certifications, etc. And there are special sections designed to help students and recent grads, who have little relevant career experience, to promote courses and projects that are related to the job that they seek.
5. Complete your profile to 100%:
   You must add a photo, 3 past jobs, and receive 3 recommendations to achieve a 100% complete LinkedIn profile. This is achievable for most people, so take the time, make the effort, and complete your profile to display your strongest professional presence. 

Realize that LinkedIn is a double edged sword. While it is a tremendous resource to demonstrate your capabilities, it also provides a venue that makes it easy for prospective employers, clients, and customers to evaluate your competition and compare you against them. Make sure that you're the most attractive option, or your competitors might just edge you out before you have an opportunity to get your foot in the door.

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

 

 

Are you obnoxious or valuable to your LinkedIn community?

This morning, one of my friends, @JasonTurcotte posted on Facebook, "Not a groundbreaking revelation, but frustrated at how much spam there is in @linkedin groups. Not worth participating in most."

That sure did fire me up. As a LinkedIn speaker and trainer, I try really hard to educate people about how to get the most out of their LinkedIn experience. I have demonstrated success getting people into the job they want with a polished profile, and I try to teach people about how to contribute value to their LinkedIn community.

But Jason is right; many, many people use LinkedIn improperly, causing irritation to others.

In Jason's example above, the problem is trying to sell your product or service to an audience that:

1. Doesn't know you
2. Doesn't trust you
3. Hasn't demonstrated a need or desire for what you're selling

Good salespeople know that the above are critical elements of successful sales, so people who attempt commit interruption sales pitches within LinkedIn groups or via its message system are completely off the mark and just plain obnoxious.

Think about why you're on LinkedIn: to sell yourself. Whether your objective is a new job, new clients, or new customers, we're all trying to sell something. The difference, however, is in our tactics.

A good, valuable member of the LinkedIn community gives, gives, gives. They offer advice when someone asks a question within a group. They constructively comment on discussion items. They post relevant articles and blog posts written by themselves and others that will bring value to the group and incite discussion among its members. 

They do not act selfishly, doing such things as posting only their own blog entries, links to their own products and services, and links to their own speaking engagements, while refusing to read additional group content and participate in other group discussions.

A good rule of thumb when considering posting content to a group discussion page is to ask yourself, "Will this help the members of this group, or am I only looking to promote myself, my skills, or my own blog?" If the former is true, post away. If the latter is true, don't bother.

LinkedIn group members aren't stupid. They can tell the difference between someone who is genuine and helpful and someone who is selfish. People buy from people they like, so don't be someone who is unlikable within the LinkedIn community.

Now I'm not saying that it's inappropriate to reference your own product or service as a solution to a need identified within a particular discussion item. But don't try to sell anything before you've earned the right to do so by being helpful, developing relationships, and adding value to your LinkedIn community.

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

PodCamp Western MA 4 wrap-up: Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Where else can you get 5 custom social media and/or tech presentations/discussions, lunch, a t-shirt, a cool swag bag, meet new friends, catch up with old ones, and learn more that you expected for just $30?

PodCamp Western MA 4!

What a day it was!

This was my 4th PodCamp Western MA, and I'll admit that I was a bit sceptical that I would learn anything new. I've been at this social media stuff as long as anybody, and I'm a seasoned speaker and trainer. I pretty much expected that I would be there sharing, and reconnecting, but not really learning.

Was I ever wrong!

I started the day at my friend and fellow PodCamp organizer, Morris Partee's Augmented Reality session. Morriss reviewed some of the most popular apps, and I offered one of my own favorites, Historypin. It was a fun session for all and quite enlightening for many of the attendees who didn't understand the potential for things such as NY subway assistance or finding a restaurant by scanning your locale with your smartphone. 

Next up, I went to another friend, Lesley Lambert's Pinterest session. I'm a pretty enthusiastic Pinterest user, so my goal was to support Lesley, and I'm thrilled that she had a packed room full of inquisitive people who wanted to learn how they can use Pinterest personally and to promote their businesses. She successfully drove home the point that Pinterest is a major driver of traffic to blogs and websites, so businesses should take notice. Lesley's slidedeck is here if you'd like to take a look.

After a very tasty lunch I attended a session that I requested, Davd Pakman's Podcasting How-To. David hosts a thriving political podcast that is syndicated on hundreds of radio and cable TV stations, so he knows how to do this right. He started with the basics of equipment and went right trough to promoting your podcast and growing a following. I couldn't tweet out my notes fast enough. If you're interested, his slidedeck is here.

Next up, I co-presented a session about Optimizing Your LinedIn Profile with Christine Parizo. The room was full of a variety of people. Some were seasoned social media users, others were beginners, and some were students. Everybody shared a common desire to improve their profile to position themselves for hire, be it employment or consulting gig. I received several emails, tweets, and LinkedIn messages over the last couple of days from happy people, so I think I did a good job for them.

I wrapped up the day with a session created in true PodCamp spirit. I was standing with Lesley Lambert reviewing the PodCamp session board, and nothing really struck our fancy, so I said to her, "How about if we grab a room and discuss productivity tips and tricks? Let's share ideas about what we're using that is making it easier to do our jobs and get through our days." Lesley grabbed a sticky and posted this on the wall, and 5 minutes later we had about 20 people ready to share ideas. Ron Miller started chatting about how he is using Evernote, and Lesley told us about how she combines Evernote and Dragon dictation to write her blog posts in the car. That flowed into talk of tools to schedule tweets, apps to backup data in the cloud, a cool app that helps your create lists on the fly, and also something to help you keep track of client time and easily invoice. Next we moved into Gmail productivity tips, lots of other things, and we wrapped up with discussion about solving one of a blogger's major challenges, finding royalty free and low cost photos that won't get us into copyright trouble. 

Interestingly, throughout this session, nobody left, but we gained several additional people who came looking for us after reading the tweets that were coming out of our discussion. You see, one of PodCamp's rules is called, the rule of 2 feet. Anybody is free and encouraged to leave any session at any time, and the session leader is not allowed to get hurt feelings. 

I look forward to PodCamp every year, and each year it goes by way too fast! I come away with new acquaintances, fresh ideas, and plenty of inspiration. If you have an opportunity to attend a PodCamp in your area, I recommend that you give it a shot. All of them are different, and in Western MA, our goal is to keep it small, (cap of 150 people,) and create an environment where there is room for spontaneous sessions like the one I described above. Other PodCamps run throughout a whole weekend with all time blocks pre-scheduled. That's fine too, but I think I prefer our format. We do PodCamp pretty well here in little ole Western MA!

 

- Christine Pilch Mancini

 

What's in a name? The name change conundrum in social media.

This may be more interesting to female readers than male ones.

When your whole identity is your maiden name, at what cost can you change your name? Will that brand be sacrificed when you get married and want to take your husband's name? That is the dilemma I encountered when I married last year.

I'm not in my 20s, or even my 30 for that matter. As a result,  I have a lot of equity in my name personally and professionally, especially since a lot of my income is generated by the recommendations and referrals that come via the social media sphere.

So when I married, I stressed over what to do with my last name, and thus, my identity.

I ended up adding my husband's name after mine, without a hyphen. That was the best solution for me, and most social media platforms made it pretty easy as well. Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slideshare, YouTube, and Google+ gave me no hassle at all. It was easy to find and configure the change on their respective sites. (Note: I am referring to display names only, not platform usernames. I see no reason to jump through those hoops.)

Twitter, however, was a whole other story. Twitter actually has a character limit on display names, and "Christine Pilch Mancini" exceeds it, so I am unable to change my name there. Yes, it is ridiculous.

Anyway, making the right name decision for me was a whole lot harder than the actual process of changing my name in the social media world. If only it was so easy to do everywhere else...passport, driver's license, bank paperwork, insurance, utilities...

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

Social Media 101: covering the basics in early 2012

I can't tell you how often people ask me what they really should be doing to cover their bases these days from a social media perspective. Often these conversations start something like this:

"Should someone like me really be on Facebook?" with a wrinkled nose," That's not really my thing."

"Not really your thing?" I counter, "What do you mean? Marketing yourself and your company isn't your thing?"

"Oh, then what should I be doing?" is a common follow-up question.

Social media is constantly evolving, and there is no mix that is right in every situation and every company, but what was once the essential 3: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, has expanded to include YouTube, Google+, and Pinterest these days, depending upon what you are selling.

There are plenty of others too, but let's go through the current recommended basic social marketing hexagon, one-by-one.

Facebook:

Everybody should have a personal Facebook account, if for no other reason, to educate your friends and family about what you do. Sure, your cousin and college roommate likely know that you're a lawyer, but can they tell a friend what kind of law you practice and possibly refer business to you? Believe me, all my Facebook connections know exactly what I do, and yes, they do refer business my way.

It's a common and legitimate concern to worry about mixing personal and professional connections and have clients see vacation and family photos, but Facebook has extensive privacy controls that utilize lists, and a single account can satisfy an infinite variety of people in your life by simply controlling what they can and cannot see. If you need assistance setting this up and understanding how to use these controls, I would be happy to help you.

A Facebook Page for your firm is another no-brainer. Anybody can do create one. Facebook offers step-by-step instructions. Just fill out all the requested information completely, upload your logo or photo, post some content, and invite your personal friends to like the page. That's all you have to do to get started, and there are lots of ways you can use that page to market your firm later.

You might also find use for a Facebook Group within your business. This space could be used to collaborate and share information with specific people. Unlike Pages, Groups can be private, where non-members can't see content, or secret, where nobody outside of members even know that the Group exists.

Facebook ads are another possibility. Since Facebook collects lots of information about its users, it is capable of extreme targeting with its advertising. This is not a no-cost option, but it is worth exploring at the right time.

Twitter:

Twitter seems odd and uncomfortable for most users when they first check it out. How can anybody market in 140 character bursts? Well, Twitter is very much about developing relationships, which are likely the lifeblood of your firm, so sign up and start talking to others in your geographic area. Yes, you can discuss your field of expertise a bit, but don't preach, and above all, just be friendly. If you need help getting a feel for Twitter, give me a shout.

LinkedIn:

You're a professional right? Well, a LinkedIn presence is expected for all professionals these days. In fact, LinkedIn is so powerful that often your LinkedIn profile tops your own web profile in search results. Let me also assure you that LinkedIn makes it really easy to find your competitors, so if you're not there when a prospect searches for you, you just might lose business to competitors who do take this platform seriously. Can you afford that risk?

Sign up and go thorough the process of building a 100% complete profile. Be prepared to spend a couple of hours gathering and inputting all of your information, and go way back throughout your entire career and school days. Most everybody in your past is a potential referral source, aren't they? The best way for them to find you is to identify yourself with all of your past jobs and education. Don't skip sections, but do use action words and proper grammar and spelling. This 24/7 web-based resume is not the place for typos and tense issues. If you don't have the time, patience, or inclination to write a proper bio for yourself, I would be happy to help you. In fact, one of my clients currently hears from at least 2 recruiters per week because of the profile that I created for him.

YouTube:

YouTube is a no-brainer for professional service firms that want to position their lawyers, accountants, etc., as qualified and knowledgeable experts in their fields. Grab your iPhone, Andriod phone, Flip, Kodak Zi8, etc, light yourself, get an inexpensive lavaliere microphone, and start talking. Do a few takes if you need to and edit to whatever degree you are able. Or hire someone to do this for you. It may be a bit pricey to hire a professional videographer, but there are also plenty of multimedia college grads who are unemployed and/or need to build a resume. They would likely work very reasonably. Have them come in and shoot a dozen videos at a time that they can take back to their studio and edit for you. Then use your videos on your blog and website in addition to YouTube.

Google+:

I must admit that I am still not a big G+ fan. I find it somewhat redundant and can't break the feeling that it's just another social media that I have to check, so I neglect my account. There is one feature that I use regularly though, Hangouts. Hangouts allow up to 10 people to videoconference, unlike Skype, which only allows multiple parties to videoconference within the paid model. I am currently working with a group of 4 others planning PodCamp Western MA 4, and we haven't had a single in-person meeting. All planning is being conducted within a private Facebook Group and weekly Hangouts.

There are a couple additional nice features that are worth mentioning. On Google+, updates are editable. How many times have you posted on Facebook and wished you could change something retroactively? Google + is also integrated with many of Google's other products. I especially like its integration with its Picassa free photo app. And I love that all of the photos I take on my Android phone are automatically uploaded to my G+ account. That's free automatic photo backup! If you have additional favorite features of Google+, please add them in the comments below.

Pinterest:

This blog covers marketing for essentially professional service firms, but I do plenty of marketing for other kinds of companies that have products to sell. And, let's face it, your service is your product. The true marketing potential of Pinterest is still being discovered and tested, and its core strength is in its visual advantage, so its value to you may not be as readily apparent as the above tactics, however; I like Pinterest because it displays the human side of me and helps people get to know me, so they feel better about reaching out to me. Remember too that Pinterest will climb in search engine rankings as it becomes more popular, so it will help you to populate that critical first page of search results with your own content.

In closing, it is important for you to understand that there is no cookie cutter social media strategy that suits everybody. However, the above includes what I am finding especially useful in my own and my clients' social media toolbox lately. What are you using that I haven't mentioned?

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

 

Photo credit: Best Design Options

When does working your LinkedIn network cross the line into abusing your network?

I had an interesting discourse with one of my LinkedIn connections this morning. He messaged his connections, asking for a critique of his new website. Since this is one of my paid services, I emailed him asking if he wanted a quote. He emailed me back, obviously indignant, and said that he didn't know that's what I do, and he was simply working his network, and asking for advice, which he certainly didn't expect to pay for. The key, however, is that this man and I are strangers, so he didn't know anything about some of the people he was asking for free help.

He was abusing his network.

So, what is appropriate conduct on LinkedIn, and what crosses the line?

Is LinkedIn really any different than real-life? Would this man stand up in a restaurant, interrupt everybody's lunch, and ask that they stop eating and review his website as a favor to him? Yes, that's an extreme example meant to emphasize the rudeness of the request. It's one thing to ask friends for help. Most people are generous about helping those in their personal lives. But strangers? This isn't courteously holding a door open for someone behind you, it's asking someone to take time out of their day, do work, and make a report back. That absolutely crosses the line into inappropriate behavior.

Now, let's discuss the delivery method, the LinkedIn message system. LinkedIn members generally do not expect to be interrupted by irrelevant communications from their connections. This is not the first time that this particular gentleman messaged me. The last message, a few days prior, was a sales pitch for his product. Again, misfire. Nobody wants to be sold something that they don't want from someone they don't know on LinkedIn.

Make no mistake...everybody is on LinkedIn to sell something...their expertise, their service, their products...

LinkedIn is a wonderful personal marketing tool. However, some people don't seem to understand that this is not the place to push anything. LinkedIn, and social media in general, is about subtly positioning yourself as an expert and being helpful.

LinkedIn is about getting to know people, developing and enhancing relationships, and earning trust and respect.

Only then have you earned the right to sell, and even then, it's usually when someone makes an inquiry about what you have to offer. Interrupting and disrespecting people is not the way to be successful on LinkedIn any more than in the real world.

 

- Christine Pilch

Cross-promoting your content: working smarter instead of harder

My clients would probably tell you that I'm a bit of a broken record when it comes to re-purposing content. I'm always saying things like, "Cut some blog posts out of that article," or, "Let me see where else I can get that published for you." To me, re-utilizing content is working smart.

If you've done the work and created a great piece, why not post it everywhere you can and repackage it for cross-promotion? If you've retained the copyright on your work, there is nothing stopping you from having the piece republished within another venue, chopping it up for multiple blog posts, and producing a video about the topic.

But don't stop there. Publish a link to your work on your Facebook Page and personal profile, on your LinkedIn profile, on Twitter, and within appropriate LinkedIn groups. Upload your presentations to SlideShare and LinkedIn, and upload your videos to YouTube and LinkedIn. If you find all of this too cumbersome, utilize a free, multi-platform posting tool, like Shareaholic, TweetDeck or Hootsuite, where you can post to multiple destinations with a single action. But be careful though, as it is not necessarily appropriate to post all content everywhere.

I also caution you to carefully consider using article farm sites, as I'm reading lately that these sites actually work against your search rank because links from them are considered bad.

So, the next time you create a great piece of content, add it to your blog or website, and then make sure you spread it around the web. Over the following few days, carefully review the statistics of where your inbound traffic is coming from. The results just might surprise you.

- Christine Pilch

Photo credit: Mac Users Guide

LinkedIn privacy threat and Facebook notifications: changes you should make

 

 

LinkedIn recently opted you into letting them use your name and photo in advertising, but you can change that. This video will show you how. In addition, Facebook recently changed their account settings infrastructure. In this video you'll hear a few tips about key settings you should pay attention to. Christine Pilch, Grow My Company, 413.537.2474, Christine@GrowMyCo.com

© 2011, Christine Pilch, Grow My Company. This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

 

Common LinkedIn don'ts - avoiding mistakes that just might hurt you

LinkedIn has become pretty mainstream over the past couple of years. It has grown way past the point when it was mostly just social media early adopters. Today it's pretty much expected that professionals maintain a presence there, and if that's not enough of an incentive to take LinkedIn seriously, try Googling your name. You'll likely find your LinkedIn profile near the top of the results. 

Despite the huge popularity of LinkedIn, many people take a lackadaisical view of the network. They display incomplete profiles, neglect to upload a picture, and let invitations pile up in their inboxes. These mistakes should be obvious to everybody, but there are a few additional things people do that can really hurt their reputation within the network. Are you doing any of these things?

1) Unprofessional status updates

LinkedIn is a professional network, not a social one. People here don't generally care to read about your non-professional activities. Everything you post on LinkedIn should be carefully crafted to get you into the job you want or bring business through the door. If you want more information about how status updates among LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter differ, here's a video I did about this topic.

2) Using a logo or random image as your photo

LinkedIn is a professional network, and people should see you here as they see you in your day-to-day professional life. Bankers and lawyers should be in a jacket and tie, law enforcement should be in uniform, and chefs should be in their coats if that's how people see them in their professional lives. It is not appropriate to use a photo of you in a baseball cap unless you're a baseball player, or a photo of you on the beach unless you're a lifeguard.

One more thing, although you may be tempted to use your logo, it is against LinkedIn terms of service to represent yourself with anything other than a photo of you. The user agreement states that "...your profile photo should be a photograph of yourself and not a cartoon, symbol, drawing or any other content." Yes, others get away with this, but do you want to be the one that LinkedIn makes an example of by removing your profile?

3) Spamming other members

This is a real pet peeve of mine and many other members. We are all here to network, but nobody wants to be harassed by your sales message on LinkedIn. It is not okay to spam your connections or fellow group members with pitches for your product or service via the LinkedIn message system or through group discussion boards. Remember that spam is unwanted and unsolicited messages, so if you send out these kinds of messages or post them on discussion boards, you are a spammer. There are plenty of other ways to position yourself as an authority and let people know what you have to offer on LinkedIn without spamming others. 

These are my top 3 LinkedIn mistakes. What else do you see people doing on LinkedIn that hurts their professional reputation?

 

 - Christine Pilch

Photo credit: roger4336

Disconnecting on LinkedIn: How and Why

 

 

Sometimes a LinkedIn connection doesn't work out and you want to disconnect. It's not difficult, but LinkedIn doesn't put that functionality where you might expect to find it. This video discusses why you might decide it's not in your best interests to be connected with someone and how to sever that connection. Christine Pilch, 413.537.2474, Christine@GrowMyCo.com

© 2011, Christine Pilch, Grow My Company. This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Friday Favorites: 5.20.11

Here are 5 of my favorite or most helpful things I read on the web this week:

1. 10 Best Tips for Creating a Mobile Site:
   Are you thinking about mobile marketing yet? If not, you're a little behind the curve because smartphone use and mobile traffic are growing daily. This article offers a brief, plain English overview of best practice for developing a mobile site.
2. The Most Complete Twitter Application List Available - 2011 Edition:
   No explanation needed here. This list rocks! You might want to bookmark it.
3. 5 LinkedIn 'Must-Haves':
   LinkedIn has developed into a serious business tool, and this article offers solid tips about getting as much as you can out of the application.
4. New Facebook Promotions Guidelines:
   This is certainly not the most exciting item on this list, but it may be the most important. Facebook is serious about reducing their own liability, and a lot of the things people ordinarily do when they run a promotion on their Fan Page is actually against Facebook's terms of service. Read these guidelines and respect them, or you just might find your Page disappear one day. Remember that this is a free platform and Facebook can do whatever it wants, leaving you with little to no recourse.
5. How to Build a Free Social Media Monitoring Dashboard:
   Yes, you can track your social media activity without spending big bucks with expensive monitoring services. Here's a step-by-step guide for all you do-it-yourselfers. 

Well, that's it for this week!

- Christine Pilch

LinkedIn: Why should I bother?

Now and then I hear someone say something like, "I'm on LinkedIn just because someone sent me an invitation. I don't use it though." That always makes me shake my head in amazement about the potential opportunities they may be missing.

Google yourself. Sure, right now. If you're on LinkedIn, your profile is likely one of the first entries, probably the first one. That's how important your LinkedIn profile is. And don't kid yourself, people Google people all the time, especially if you're looking for a job or you offer some sort of service. So it really doesn't make much sense these days to ignore LinkedIn.

In addition, this high-test version of your resume is available for the whole world to see 24/7, so it's a good idea to spend a few hours polishing all the details. Simply listing your title and company tells people that you don't much care what information is out there about you and you don't take seriously what is arguably the single most significant professional online networking tool available today.

Still think you don't need it? What if you're a lawyer? Do you really think that prospects and clients don't check you out online? Consider an employer that is looking to recruit for a plumb, new position. If your profile doesn't demonstrate all the wonderful things you bring to the table, that opportunity may just pass you by in favor of someone whose skills looks more attractive. And don't fool yourself, employers search for qualified candidates to fill openings on LinkedIn all the time.

Here are a few of the most important reasons that you can't afford to neglect LinkedIn:

Builds your network - LinkedIn provides an opportunity like never before to meet and collaborate with people who you would likely not meet any other way. The talent pool available to question, poll, and request advice from is almost overwhelming. LinkedIn's 3-tiered network gives you access to your connections' connections whenever you search for someone with particular skills, and the reverse is also true, so a strong LinkedIn presence can get you noticed when a friend's friend is searching for someone who does exactly what you offer.

Demonstrates your capabilities - This is not the place to be humble. A strong LinkedIn profile can lead to jobs, project work, speaking engagements, and new vendor relationships.

Displays public references - This is an opportunity to prove that you are actually capable of all the wonderful things you claim on your profile. These credibility boosters are also instantly accessible references for a potential employer to read, which may give you an added push to the top of the applicant pile.

Personal branding - You already have a brand, which is how people feel about you. It's the public's sum total of all their experiences with you. LinkedIn provides a terrific opportunity to bring your brand online, reinforcing what people already think of you professionally and revealing it to an expanded network.

Increases traffic to your website and blog - LinkedIn provides many opportunities to drive traffic to your website and blog. You can start by adding links within your profile, but don't forget about adding them to your signature whenever you post a comment to a discussion item within a group or answer a question. You can also post a link to a new blog post as a status update and within relevant groups. In addition, you can add links to your website and blog from your company's profile, and you can use the companies component to add exclusive offers that link to custom landing pages on your website or blog.

Positions you as an expert - LinkedIn provides opportunities to demonstrate your expertise in ways that don't make you appear as a pompous, egotistic fool. By answering questions, contributing to discussions, and always being helpful and friendly, you can raise your professional credibility and stature. This can lead to media interviews and other opportunities.

LinkedIn is the professional standard of online networking. If you're a professional, people expect you to be there these days, so you might as well take advantage of the potential to promote yourself.

 

- Christine Pilch

LinkedIn recommendations: why they really do make a difference!

Your LinkedIn profile is available 24/7 for the whole world to review. It provides an opportunity to put your best foot forward and reveal all the wonderful things that you can do for a prospective employer or client.

Unfortunately, far too many people don't bother to complete their LinkedIn profiles. One step required to reach 100% completion is to obtain 3 recommendations.

There are several reasons to get recommendations on your LinkedIn profile:

Helps substantiate all the wonderful things you're claiming about yourself: It's one thing to claim that you can do something, but it's better to have others say it for you. That provides the proof that you are indeed capable of what you say you can do.

Proves that you're good enough for people to put their own reputation on the line: Most people greatly value their professional reputations, so when someone recommends you on LinkedIn, they are actually sticking their neck out and stating that they believe in your value.

Recommendations are often a point of distinction, since most people on LinkedIn don't bother: If someone is evaluating you against another candidate who looks similar on paper, and you have plenty of strong, creative, and well-written endorsements on your profile, that might be enough to open a door for you.

Here are some tips for LinkedIn recommendations:

Only recommend and request recommendations from people you have worked with extensively and know well. These people should be very familiar with your skills and you with theirs. It's okay to refuse a request for a recommendation, and I have done it several times with casual social media friends. Since your word is at stake, make sure that you have a solid basis to make a recommendation.

Don't use the stock invitation requst form message. You're asking someone to do you a favor, and it will take a bit of effort on their part, so don't you think this deserves a personal, custom request?

You can write the recommendation yourself and suggest they use it. If you want to make it easy on someone, go ahead and draft a suggested recommendation. People often appreciate the assistance, and you get the added benefit of creating something that best suits your needs. 

Strive for variety and balance. If you've been working for a while and have had several jobs, try to get recommendations from a few different ones. Chances are you applied your skills differently in each one, and your peers and former bosses can speak to a variety of your talents. Beware having cookie-cutter recommendations that all read the same on your LinkedIn profile. That seems fishy to prospective employers and clients, and it isn't really all that helpful.

Use your charity and community work. If you've done a great job in a volunteer capacity, and you're connected to someone you worked with within that organization, they may be able to offer insight into a different aspect of your personality, so don't overlook these opportunities to shine through a different kind of recommendation.

Reciprocal recommendations are fine if appropriate, but don't feel that is required. For example, several people who have attended my speaking engagements have recommended me, but I can't reciprocate because although they greatly benefitted from my work, I am not familiar with theirs. Our relationships don't run parallel. It also looks suspicious if every recommendation on your LinkedIn profile goes both ways, so try to resist that.

 

- Christine Pilch

Friday Favorites: 4.8.11

Here are 5 of my favorite or most helpful things I read on the web this week:

1. 11 Pro Tips for Better Business Blogging: This is a quick, easy read full of good advice.
2. How To Avoid and Prevent Facebook Spam: It's not just beginners who get caught up in these traps. This article provides a great overview and refresher.
3. Drive Traffic to Your Blog With LinkedIn: The info here not only pertains to your blog, but also also your online identity in general.
4. How to Improve Engagement on Your Brand’s Facebook Page: The statistics here are very helpful when considering such things as what day to post for particular industries.
5. Top 5 Slideshare Marketing Tips: In my opinion, Slideshare is a hidden gem of social media. It carries a strong Google ranking and provides another venue for your presentations and videos to get them seen. It also intergates nicely with LinkedIn.

Well, that's it for this week!

- Christine Pilch