We all know that LinkedIn is the King of B2B social media, but isn’t it frustrating when, no matter what we do, we still can’t generate the sort of leads from LinkedIn that it seems are possible? You’re not alone: Many also struggle with LinkedIn on a daily basis. On the other hand, I have…
What Do I Put in My LinkedIn Profile if I am a College Student?
I get asked a lot about LinkedIn for students use-case scenarios, and although this post is originally based on how I would have responded sometime ago, my college-age niece recently asking me this question reminded me that I should have an answer revised for the times. You can find more details in my podcast, which…
5 Things to Keep in Mind to Use LinkedIn as a Blogging Platform
Blogging is one of the best ways to showcase your expertise and spread the word about your business. It is a great way to connect with your target audience and engage them in what you do, creating strong relationships with them and effectively converting them into loyal customers. If you blog on a website you…
5 Ways You Should Be Maximizing LinkedIn for Business
If you’re overlooking LinkedIn, your business is ignoring the second-largest social network. That’s right, some data suggests that LinkedIn actually has more dedicated users than Twitter. Whether you are seeking introductions to decision makers or more clients for your business, LinkedIn can help you get there, but only if you use it right. Overhaul your LinkedIn…
You’ve Connected on LinkedIn. Now What?
You’ve connected on LinkedIn. Now what? How many of us can honestly say that we even know, let alone have a relationship with, any more than a small fraction of our connections on LinkedIn? I’m ashamed to admit that I do not. I accept your invitation and … that’s it. We’re connected. What a waste….
3 Free Tools to Create an Awesome SlideShare Presentation
Last month I was sharing some Slideshare content ideas including re-packaging screenshots, collecting quotes, curating content and re-using your presentations from events you are visiting. This time let’s share some tools that will help you create a SlideShare presentation in a breeze! First of all, a few words about PowerPoint which I am not including…
How to Use the LinkedIn Publishing Platform
Today I was finally given access to the new LinkedIn publishing platform so that I start blogging with LinkedIn, and as a result published my first post on the new platform in the same day entitled “How Will YOU Use the LinkedIn Publishing Platform?” To all those who have asked me how they can apply…
Professional LinkedIn Profile Tips: A Checklist of 17 Must-Have Items
LinkedIn continues to evolve at a fast pace – but is your profile still stuck in pre-2013 times? I’ve blogged about LinkedIn profile mistakes as well as LinkedIn profile inbound marketing tips. It’s time to provide you all an update aligned with all of LinkedIn’s changes to help you create the perfect professional LinkedIn profile. Consider…
LinkedIn for Realtors: How to Use LinkedIn to Boost Your Real Estate Business
With more than 600 million members across 200 countries, LinkedIn has changed the way real estate professionals do business. Initially viewed as an online resume, LinkedIn is now thought to be the online social site for business professionals to connect, network and engage. This means that LinkedIn for realtors cab bring real business to your real…
8 Ways to Make LinkedIn Endorsements Work for You and Your Network
LinkedIn Endorsements. Nothing in the history of LinkedIn has created so much “buzz” in the online community as this newest feature. For those who know me, you’ll appreciate my perspective: 1) I don’t tend to waste time voicing a positive or negative opinion of the changes – they are what they are, and this is LinkedIn…
8 Creative LinkedIn Profile Tips to Help You Maximize Your LinkedIn Presence
Isn’t it time that you update your LinkedIn Profile? Considering that LinkedIn profiles are the most viewed pages on LinkedIn, and your profile page really is every professional’s starting place to claim and create their own professional brand, you should be regularly reviewing your LinkedIn profile to see how you can optimize it with every…
5 Steps To Connect With People Outside Your Network On LinkedIn
Once you move beyond the generic “add connections” option that LinkedIn has, you might want to specifically search for and increase your connections with people aligned with whatever connection policy you might have. The challenge is that restrictions exist within LinkedIn that may prevent you from inviting others you don’t personally know. You are entitled…
Why I am No Longer One of the LIONs on LinkedIn
Want to buy Facebook fans? Why not buy some Twitter followers to boot? There are companies that you can actually pay money to to achieve this. Now there are companies not only selling LinkedIn connections, but also saying if you use them to create a LinkedIn Group, they will make sure it gets filled with…
LinkedIn Photo Tips: The Why, What and What Happened?
LinkedIn, like any other social media channel, is a social networking platform. This means that people are networking with each other while revealing who they are and what they do. LinkedIn reminds you to do this when you log in by making sure your profile is 100% complete. Part of getting to 100% completion is…
LinkedIn Account Restricted? Here’s Why. Hint: You May Have Been Too Active on LinkedIn!
Is your LinkedIn account restricted? You’re not alone – a look through the comments of this post will give you an idea as to the issues that others like you are facing. Feel free to read through this article, then pay close attention to the comments to see if there is someone similar to you…
How Can I Merge Two LinkedIn Accounts into One?
LinkedIn has been around for many years now, and maybe some of you created an account in the early days of 2004 like I did and just forgot about it, including the password. Then, later on you created a second account. Or maybe you used your business email as your primary email address and no…
How Should I Deal with a LinkedIn Recommendation Request I Don’t Want to Give?
If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will soon: the dreaded request for a LinkedIn Recommendation from a former co-worker or employee that you may not want to give one to. Why? Well, every time you make a recommendation, it appears on your LinkedIn profile and becomes part of your LinkedIn Brand. Perhaps you…
What is LinkedIn and Why Should You Join?
I attended a great local networking event last night in my local Orange County, California. There were many people who I had communicated with on Twitter and finally had the chance to meet…the feeling was almost like seeing long lost friends! I will save Tweetups for another blog post, because what interested me last night were…
LinkedIn Profile Tips: The 10 Mistakes You Want to Avoid and Why
LinkedIn Profile Tips. A lot of people tell you what you should be doing, but what about what you shouldn’t be doing? LinkedIn is the place to not only find others but also to be found. And that is why you need a profile that not only helps you get found but also will entice…
Writing a LinkedIn Recommendation? Read This First!
Writing a LinkedIn recommendation? Will you write me one? Come on, I don’t really want you to write me one, but there has been unprecedented chatter about LinkedIn recommendations in blogging circles these days. And I want to put everything in perspective to confirm whether or not LinkedIn recommendations really have value. It was Jeremiah Owyang…
20 LinkedIn LIONs & Super Connectors You MUST Connect With!
There are many resources on the web for finding people to follow on Twitter. Just do a search for any particular type of person you want to follow (student entrepreneurs? job seeker advice? etc.) and chances are you will find a list. But why none for who to connect with on LinkedIn? Well, just as…
LinkedIn Networking: 3 Ways to Find Great People to Connect With & Meet on LinkedIn
After networking with several great people over the last several days, which have in essence been conversations that seem more like a veritable cross-breeding of ideas, I believe that more and more people are starting to see the potential value of meeting new people on LinkedIn. Now, just because you are open to doing this…
LinkedIn Introductions: How Do I Ask for One?
LinkedIn Introductions are an integral part of the social networking platform. After all, LinkedIn has given us the ability to search for someone and see how we are connected to them, and it is with this information that we can request an Introduction from our connection just as we request a referral from a friend…
LinkedIn for Business Tips: How Should I Sell to My Connections?
As more businesses realize what is LinkedIn and the potential for finding new business on LinkedIn, I am amazed as to how companies are starting to look at social media as if it gives them the right to cold call and send what I would consider spam to anyone and everyone in LinkedIn. I wanted…
LinkedIn Branding Tips: Should I Indicate on My LinkedIn Profile Status Update That I am Unemployed?
Before I event start answering this question on LinkedIn branding and offer you some personal branding tips, I will tell you that I am going out on a limb on this one. I am going against what a lot of people are actually doing. You may think that I am crazy or just wrong, but…
LinkedIn Group Etiquette: What are the Rules?
I have seen a growing interest in LinkedIn Groups from my networking contacts and LinkedIn connections recently, and in addition to the common questions of How to Find Groups on LinkedIn to Join? and How to Use LinkedIn Groups Effectively?, there is a growing interest as to what the proper etiquette and best practices should be…
My LinkedIn Profile: Does My Employer Own It?
The following story of LinkedIn account ownership is a true one, and as with my other blog posts, I am hoping to get your feedback as to what the “right” answer to this question should be. Imagine that you began a job as a recruiter. Part of your job is, obviously, building out a network….
LinkedIn Profile Name: Should I Use My Personal or Company Name on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn, as you already know, is a social networking platform for professionals. It is no secret, then, that there is business to be found on LinkedIn for companies of many sizes and industries. If you are a small business owner, you may be confused as to whether you should use your company name or personal…
LinkedIn for Lawyers 101
I have had the opportunity to engage with many lawyers recently, both in person as well as online through LinkedIn, and the sudden interest in social media that they seem to have has been surprising to me. I had always envisioned the legal profession as more of an old-school, conservative group of people that would…
How Do I Set Up a Company Profile on LinkedIn?
I recently did a Twitter Chat for #smbiz on tips for utilizing LinkedIn for business. Since then I have been contacted by small businesses looking for advice on what is LinkedIn and how to fully utilize the social network. I decided to answer this particular question on my blog because it did not come up…
Two Easy Ways to Disconnect and Delete a LinkedIn Connection
On Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, it is very easy to “unfriend” someone. For some reason it is very difficult to figure out how to delete connections on LinkedIn. If you think about it, LinkedIn was originally intended to be a social network for professionals who only connected with people they know and trust….
How Do I Send a Complaint to LinkedIn?
Social media changes a lot. Some functionality is here today gone tomorrow. Your LinkedIn account might face restrictions today but I might never. Below is an incident detailing one of those incidents that happened to me several years ago but serves as an example of the never-ending changes that occur in social, and why you…
Can You Sell Your LinkedIn Account?
The timing of my blog posts concerning monetizing your LinkedIn connections has to be coincidental, but yesterday, for the first time, I received an email (which was probably sent out to all of this person’s LinkedIn connections) which was an offering, in essence, to sell his LinkedIn account. He explained how he was getting out…
LinkedIn Question: How to Contact 2nd and 3rd Degree Connections All at Once?
Just got this question from a new member of my LinkedIn network today about how to contact someone on LinkedIn, so I thought I would share my answer with everyone. If you have something you want to tell everyone, or something that you want to sell, it makes sense that you want to go beyond…
7 Reasons Why Every Professional Should Be on LinkedIn
If you are reading this you hopefully already have a presence on LinkedIn, but maybe you are not as active as you should be. Confused as to why you need to join and use LinkedIn? Well, if you are a professional, there are many reasons why you at least need to join LinkedIn and should…
How Many LinkedIn Groups Can I Join?
Back in August 4, 2009, LinkedIn for the first time placed a restriction on the number of LinkedIn Groups once can join. The official E-Mail that I received at the time looked like this: “We are in the process of adding new functionality to enhance the experience of Groups, including the recent release of a searchable…
HOW TO: Connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn
I recently got asked this question about how to connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn, and because I had a little trouble doing so myself, I thought I would let anyone know who wants to get connected with him on LinkedIn how I did so. Whether you agree with Barack Obama’s policies or not, according…
What is a LinkedIn IDK? And Why Should I Care?
Have you had the experience recently where you were asked to enter your email address in order to send a LinkedIn invite to someone? You might have received too many LinkedIn IDKs. So, what is an IDK exactly? When you invite someone to connect with you on LinkedIn or receive an invite from someone, the…
What is a LinkedIn LION?
What is a LinkedIn LION? LION, in the LinkedIn world, stands for Linked In Open Networker. LIONs are basically open to networking with people that they have never met before, and they are important in the fact that they bridge networks of closed people. If we all follow the standard rule of LinkedIn and say…
How to Build My Network on LinkedIn? Here’s 15 Ways to Grow Your LinkedIn Network
‘ Who to connect with on LinkedIn in order to build a network is a question I often get asked. Every time someone invites me to connect with them, I always send out a reply thanking them and also asking them to contact me should they ever need any help with LinkedIn. I have had…