Did the New LinkedIn Wreak Havoc on Your Profile?

Do you think the changes to your new profile are simply cosmetic? Wrong!

Do you think LinkedIn had your personal best interest in mind when they revised how your profile looks or works? Sorry. Think again.

Simply stated, LinkedIn hurt the effectiveness of your profile.

I apologize for being the bearer of this bad news, but I do have some good news. Within 15-20 minutes, you can take these five simple steps to update your new profile so it works just as well as the old one—maybe even better.
.

Five steps to dramatically improve your new LinkedIn profile

Your profile photo is no longer a large square that is placed way over to the left. It's now a smaller circle (so you may need to crop your photo differently), and it's almost centered on the page. This means your photo is catching more people's attention.

This recent article from LinkedIn will help you make the necessary changes: "LinkedIn Profile Photo Tips: Introducing Photo Filters and Editing."

Your Headline is also almost centered and is one of the few sections of your profile that isn't collapsed—which means it has increased importance. This may be the perfect time to revise what I consider to be the most important 120 characters on your profile for search ranking and clarity.

For help with your Headline, download my free, three-page worksheet The Definitive Worksheet to Optimize Your LinkedIn Headline. Be warned that I haven't had time yet to revise the graphics for this worksheet to reflect LinkedIn's new look, but the strategies are still spot on.

Your Intro, a brand new term on LinkedIn (the first approximately 200 characters of your Summary), needs to give the reader your most important information and work in tandem with your 120-character Headline above.

I am partial to including whatever contact information you feel comfortable sharing in your Summary. After that, make the spaces count, because very few people are going to click See more if they haven't found your profile relevant or interesting up to this point. In the past your complete Summary was displayed, but now it's collapsed until the reader clicks See more.

Your first Experience entry is now the only experience entry on your profile that is not collapsed. This means it better be really good because it may be the only one anyone reads.

To improve the Experience entries on your profile, check out Does the LinkedIn Experience Section of Your Profile Impress Anyone?

Again, be warned that the screen shots represent the old profile format.

Your subsequent Experience entries are now collapsed and may no longer be read as frequently as they were with the old profile layout. The critical strategy here is to use all 100 characters of the Experience Title fields to not only display your job title but to also highlight specific skills you used in that job.

The cleanest way to do this is to follow up your title with something like this: (Specializing in ______, ______, ______). Repeat this process for all titles in your Experience section.

In addition to clarity, a further benefit is that the LinkedIn search ranking algorithm gives extra weighting to words included in the Experience Title fields.

It's important to get these profile changes done soon, because you never know how soon the right people will start checking you out.

I want to thank my recent one-on-one LinkedIn consulting client John Schneider for allowing me to showcase some of his updated profile sections.

In the next few weeks I am offering a limited number of one-hour individual LinkedIn consulting sessions for just $175. This is 50% off my regular hourly consulting rate.

Let me help you enhance your profile and develop a winning LinkedIn strategy.

Our one-hour session will be via phone and screen share. Prior to our session, I will analyze your profile and email to you a marked up copy of it. Click here to schedule your session.

Here is the recommendation I received from John after our time together:

"I decided to engage his consulting services to review and make recommendations for my LinkedIn profile and for how I use LinkedIn. Wayne is very generous with the information he shares and provided me with several excellent insights. I immediately started using his recommendations, and I look forward to seeing the results in the upcoming weeks."

I look forward to helping you upgrade your profile and use LinkedIn to exceed your 2017 goals.

The post Did the New LinkedIn Wreak Havoc on Your Profile? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2nDiGGZ

Here is a Hidden LinkedIn Feature I Know You’re Going to Love

When I tell people about this incredible LinkedIn feature, most people say, "I didn't know LinkedIn could do that!" As a matter of fact, I can't even find where LinkedIn has a name for it; so I like to refer to it as the LinkedIn Keyword Treasure Chest.

Let's say you want to research search engine optimization. To access the treasure chest, go to http://ift.tt/2nbE752. If you have multiple words, like search engine optimization, be sure to try it with a space between the words, underscores between the words, and also try abbreviations—for example, http://ift.tt/1FOHuCE. I found that each approach will result in different useful information.
.

What treasure will you find?

If you're interested in search engine optimization—finding a vendor, checking out what your competitors who specialize in SEO are doing, or perhaps looking for a job as an SEO specialist—your treasure hunt will uncover:
.

• Popular articles about SEO that are posted on LinkedIn
  .
• People who have listed SEO as a skill on their profile and the name of the school they attended
  .
• Topics similar to or related to SEO
  .
• Popular SlideShare presentations on SEO
  .
• LinkedIn groups you can join related to SEO
  .
• SEO jobs posted on LinkedIn

The Keyword Treasure Chest feature appears be a bit inconsistent, because the format of the page and the information on the page can vary. However, despite these variations, you can discover some extremely valuable information.
.

Observations and action steps

This may seem like a lot of random information; so let me share some ideas about how you can use this information to advance your business and career.

1.  Skills. Ask yourself, Have I listed all applicable skills in my Skills section?

2.  Presentations. Check out what your competitors are sharing with their audiences, and make sure what you're sharing is equally valuable to your market.

3.  Individuals. Check out the profiles of key individuals on the list. Does this give you any ideas about information you should add to your profile? If the person is a competitor, you may want to change your "Select what others see when you've viewed their profile" setting to anonymous before stalking him/her. Then the person won't know that you've scoped out his/her profile.

4.  Groups. Check them out and consider joining any groups that are relevant to your business or job search. Remember—birds of a feather flock together.

5.  Jobs. If you're a job seeker, this could be the yellow brick road to your very own Oz.

6.  Companies. If you're a salesperson or a job seeker, check out the Company page and see what's going on. Then click the Follow button so you can be informed of future happenings at the company that may give you an inside track to a potential sale or job opportunity.

7.  Articles. Read them and learn, but also take note of the authors and ask yourself, Am I publishing articles like this about my area of expertise—and, if not, why not?

I definitely need to join you in capitalizing on this LinkedIn Keyword Treasure Chest. I need to go beyond my more obvious keywords—LinkedIn, LinkedIn speaker, LinkedIn consultant, LinkedIn consulting, LinkedIn trainer—and keep thinking of new keywords to try, like social selling, sales training, keynote speaker, etc. I have lots to do! How about you?

The post Here is a Hidden LinkedIn Feature I Know You’re Going to Love appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2mdyE8w

Get Results in Just 15 Minutes on the New LinkedIn

Because of all the changes taking place on LinkedIn, people are frequently asking me what they should be doing each day for maximum LinkedIn success. So today I'm going to give you a 15-minute daily to do list.

If you want more help with time management on LinkedIn, you can find many of these daily ideas—along with weekly, monthly and quarterly to do lists—in one of the most popular chapters in my book: Ready...Set...Go: A Six-Week, Two-Hour-Per-Week Roadmap to Results.
.

Your daily 15-minute LinkedIn to do list

These four critical steps should take you no more than 15 minutes—and if completed consistently, they should bring you quantifiable LinkedIn results.

1.  Review Who's Viewed Your Profile and reach out to the people you should be meeting (3 minutes).

Viewing your profile is the equivalent of walking into your store, so be sure to reach out and ask the person how you might be able to help him/her. This feature has some limits, depending on your personal settings and if you're paying for a premium account or not. Check out this article for a full discussion.

2.  Send invitations to join your LinkedIn network, using a custom invitation, to people you met (in person or on the phone) since the last time you sent out outbound invitations (5 minutes).

Making this part of your networking process or routine will help you in many different ways on LinkedIn. To get the inside scoop on adding gas (connections) to your LinkedIn tank, be sure to download a copy of my free article The LinkedIn Connection Conundrum: Who Should be in Your Network. Improving your search ranking on LinkedIn is all about connections, especially the right ones, and people you have already met are spot on.

3.  Review all the important information in your Notifications Tab (4 minutes).

This tab on the new LinkedIn desktop is awesome. It puts all the most relevant information about you and your connections in one convenient place. For a deeper discussion of this feature, check out last week's post.

4.  Take time to review all of your inbound invitations to connect (3 minutes).

That's right—take a little time. Don't just quickly click Accept or Ignore. My suggestion is to first read all the messages that people took the time to write in their connection request and respond accordingly.

Also, look at the profiles of the people you may want to follow up with, looking for areas of commonality or opportunity. Remember—these people took the first step, and it's your job to figure out what the next step should or could be.

Of course, there will be people who attempt to connect with you that are probably spammers and others whom you simply see no reason to have them in your network. Don't hesitate to click Ignore in these cases.

Make sure you find 15 minutes in your day to accomplish these four tasks, because it will undoubtedly lead to new and deeper relationships with people who can significantly impact your professional career.

The post Get Results in Just 15 Minutes on the New LinkedIn appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2maIfQK

You Better Not Miss this Killer Feature on the New LinkedIn

LinkedIn continues to roll out the new desktop user interface, and you're undoubtedly finding things you love and hate about the changes.

I've found a new feature that is sure to help you become more efficient and effective on LinkedIn. It's the Notifications tab.
.

Great information in the Notifications Tab

You'll find a treasure trove of useful information here. Simply click the Notifications tab on your top toolbar, and LinkedIn will give you not only critical information about your connections, but it will give you a heads up about who is acting on your LinkedIn activities.

These are the types of notifications you get:
.

• Who's viewed your profile
  .
  
• Likes and comments on network updates about you
  .
• Activity of your shares, posts, and re-shares, including the ones you've been mentioned in
  .
• Activity on any content that you've interacted with in your LinkedIn Groups
  .
• Views on your profile and endorsements from your connections
  .
• Updates on your network such as job changes, birthdays, and work anniversaries
  .
• Any new followers
  .

What to do with the Notifications Tab information

LinkedIn gives you suggested next steps of activity based on the type of notification, like "say congrats," "say happy birthday," "say thanks," etc. However, if you think interacting with the person could lead to an opportunity for you, then write a personal message, send an email, or make a phone call to him/her.

Remember—the person is probably getting the standard LinkedIn-prompted response from lots of other folks, and although that's a nice gesture, you have an opportunity to nurture the relationship in a much more meaningful way.

This new feature on LinkedIn is precisely one of the reasons we joined a site like LinkedIn in the first place—to keep track of what's going on with people in our network.

So, I strongly encourage you to budget some time daily (about five minutes) to stay on top of this important, time-sensitive information and interact, reach out, and get in front of the people in order to take your relationships to the next level.

The post You Better Not Miss this Killer Feature on the New LinkedIn appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2mx1h1o

How to do Advanced People Search on the New LinkedIn

More people are receiving the new LinkedIn desktop interface each week. I've had it for about a month now, and every day I'm learning more about where things are and how they work.

One feature that's changed fairly significantly is the search function—which I've always considered to be one of the most important LinkedIn features, particularly when you're trying to find a specific type or category of people.

Today I'm going to show you how to fill a virtual room with your perfect prospects and, once you find them, use their LinkedIn profile to figure out the best way to meet them.

But if you have yet to migrate to the new interface, don't worry—I'll also show you how to accomplish this with the old interface.
.

Generating a highly targeted prospect list

Let's say you want to find the current managers of purchasing, procurement, etc. at three of the largest manufacturers in the Milwaukee area: Generac, Rockwell Automation, and SC Johnson.

With the new interface
.

• Enter manager AND (purchasing OR procurement OR "supply chain" OR buyer) in the large white search box on the left-hand side of your top toolbar.
  .
• Click the People tab from the choices that appear just below the white search box.
  .
• Choose Current companies. Then click + Add and enter generac in the Type a company name box.
  .
• A drop-down list will then include all companies that have included the word Generac in their company name on their company page. When you choose the one you're interested in, LinkedIn will reduce the list to only people from that company who meet your search criteria. Repeat these steps for Rockwell and SC Johnson.
  .
• If you want to reduce the list to just those people who are in the greater Milwaukee area, click Locations, +Add, enter milwaukee, and then choose Greater Milwaukee Area from the drop-down list.

With the old interface
.

• Click Advanced next to the large white search box on your top toolbar.
  .
• On the top left, choose People from the list of search options.
  .
• Check all four boxes in the Relationship criteria list.
  .
• Enter manager AND (purchasing OR procurement OR "supply chain" OR buyer) in the Title box, and select Current in the following box.
  .
• Type generac OR rockwell OR "sc johnson" in the Company box, and select Current in the following box.
  .
• Select a range of 50 miles from postal code 53202.
  .
• Click the blue Search button.

Regardless of which interface you're on, you'll then see a list of your perfect prospects.

Be sure to check out their full profiles and see who in your network can introduce you to them. Also, look for conversation starters; e.g., similar interests, previous employers, schools attended, LinkedIn groups, community service involvement, etc. Then send a customized LinkedIn invitation to connect, an InMail if you have a premium account, or just call the general business phone number and ask to speak to the person.

Whether you have the old or new interface, if you follow these simple steps, you'll be able to use LinkedIn to find the perfect prospects and grow your business.

The post How to do Advanced People Search on the New LinkedIn appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2lYGCns

Are You Prepared for Your New LinkedIn Profile?

Quite a few people (including me) have received the new LinkedIn desktop interface, and soon everyone will have it. You can't opt out.

After working with it for almost three weeks, I'm ready to share with you some of the more critical profile strategies. Ironically, these strategies haven't changed all that much. Therefore, I'm going to share an article about strategies that I wrote a while back and then add in italics some strategies for using the new interface. So, whether you have the old or new interface, there will be plenty of helpful information for you .

____________________________________________

Your LinkedIn profile should be like a resume on steroids. In other words, you should go way beyond your one- or two-page traditional resume. You'll want to share lots of relevant information about yourself and your company, and it should be especially compelling to your target audience.

I suggest you start with the most important sections of your profile. If you can't answer "yes" to all of the questions below, get busy and beef up your profile with the help of the resources I've provided.
.

Top 5 LinkedIn Profile Sections

1.  Photo. LinkedIn's research says your profile will be viewed 14 times more frequently if you have a photo. Some people will not even connect with a person who doesn't have a photo.
.

• Do you currently look like the person in your photo?
• Is your photo a head shot?
• Are you smiling?
• Are you dressed in your typical workplace attire?

For a more detailed look at the best practices for LinkedIn photos, read "A Professional Photographer's Guide to Getting the Right LinkedIn Profile Photo."

Your profile photo on the new interface is a circle instead of a square. If your current photo looks a little tacky because the size or cropping isn't quite right, replace it with a new photo. 

2.  Headline. These are the most important 120 characters in your profile. If you don't edit this yourself, LinkedIn will grab your current job title and company until you take the time to write a dynamic 120-character explanation of who you are and where you're trying to go.
.

• Does your headline clearly state your current business or explain why you're actually on LinkedIn?
• Does your headline include a few of your most important keywords?
• Does your headline encourage people in your target market to want to read more about you?

For additional help with your headline, download my free worksheet "The Definitive Worksheet to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Headline."

Your headline on the new interface is much more prominent because it's centered below your photo. Therefore, it's time to revisit the questions above and make adjustments to this important profile section.

3.  Summary. This section is your virtual cup of coffee with your readers or the cover letter for your job application. You have 2,000 characters to summarize the best stuff on your profile and clearly tell readers where you're trying to go and how they might be able to be part of your journey.
.

• Is your Summary written in the first person?
• Does the first paragraph of your Summary clearly tell people why you're on LinkedIn?
• Does your Summary include several of your most important keywords?
• Does your Summary include at least one call to action for the reader?

For more guidance on improving your Summary, be sure to read Chapter 7 of my book, "The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success."

On the new interface, only a small portion of your Summary is visible until the reader selects "See more." Thus, it's critically important that the first approximately 210 characters (with spaces) is your very best information. 

I use some of this critical space for my contact information. If you want to make it easy for others to get ahold of you, even if you're not connected on LinkedIn, you'll want to put your contact info here, too.

If you're a job seeker, you'll find it helpful to write a few sentences that clearly show you're looking for a job and the skills and experiences you could bring to the next company you work for. Include information that will move people in your target audience to click "See more." 

4.  Current Experience - (Job) Title. You're missing a big opportunity if you simply put your official title here. Maximize the 100 characters LinkedIn allows in this section. LinkedIn's search ranking algorithm gives extra weight to the words in your job titles, and the extra words will increase clarity as well.
.

• Are your most important keywords in your current job title?
• If you're a salesperson, did you include a few of your products and services?

For additional examples of good job titles, check out my LinkedIn profile.

Despite the updated look of the new interface, the strategy for creating your first current job title entry hasn't changed. However, you may want to increase the information you share in all other job title entries, because none of the detailed job descriptions are visible (other than the first one) until the viewer chooses to "See description." 

5.  Current Experience - (Job) Description. This section has a 2,000-character limit and should include specifics about your individual position (use keywords) and additional information about the company you work for so the reader clearly understands both of these important points.
.

• Have you included a detailed listing or discussion of your specific job duties and responsibilities and used your most important keywords?
• Have you included specific awards, honors or recognition you have received?
• Did you describe the promotions you've received?
• Have you gotten two recommendations for this job?

For more helpful tips, check out "Does the Experience Section of Your LinkedIn Profile Impress Anyone?"

As mentioned above, on the new interface only your first current job description entry is displayed in it's entirety without additional clicking. All the subsequent job descriptions are collapsed until the reader clicks "See description." Therefore, I strongly encourage you to use all 2,000 characters on your first job description to clearly and completely tell your story and your company's story, with the intention of moving your target audience to action.

Make good use of these five important LinkedIn profile sections, and you'll get more exposure than even a top-notch resume can garner.

The post Are You Prepared for Your New LinkedIn Profile? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2lEAKzo

Do You Have This Important LinkedIn Setting Right?

One of the best LinkedIn features often overlooked for business development purposes is the People Also Viewed box, which is in the right column of your profile. This tells you who else people are looking at besides you—and it's probably people who have similar characteristics to you.

Now, LinkedIn doesn't share exactly how it works (other than this interview with a former LinkedIn employee), and you have no control over who appears on your profile. However, below I'll show you how you can take it off your profile if you don't want it there.
.

How to capitalize on this great prospecting tool

If you look at a client's or prospective client's profile and scroll down to People Also Viewed, the list could be a target list of people very similar to the person whose profile you are viewing.

I suggest you check this list out often on your clients' and prospective clients' profiles, and add some of these names to your master prospect list. And, hey, why not try to connect with the ones you are not connected with using a customized invitation to connect.  

Now, it's great to look at who's viewing other people's profiles, but you should decide whether you want People Also Viewed to show up on your profile. The default setting will put the list on your profile.

Personally, since I was tired of my competitors showing up on my profile, I unchecked the box. I feel pretty good about my decision because it doesn't stop me from seeing the People Also Viewed list on other people's profiles (unless they've also unchecked the box). And if my competitors haven't unchecked the box, I can still show up in the People Also Viewed list on their profiles.

It seems like a no-brainer to me. If you'd like to remove the People Also Viewed list from your profile, click here to learn how to change your setting.

Over time, if more and more people do what I'm suggesting, this feature will become less helpful. But, trust me, LinkedIn will probably change something before we get to that point. Take advantage of it while you can.

If you want to learn more simple ways to find new customers and grow your bottom line, sign up to attend one of my LinkedIn Extravaganza training workshops that are open to the public.

To get more details and check out the locations and dates, click here: http://ift.tt/1ylI0Vu

The post Do You Have This Important LinkedIn Setting Right? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2l83Yd8

Are you Annoying People with your LinkedIn Updates?

Do you share unprofessional, "Facebook-like" information on LinkedIn? I hear from people each and every week who are frustrated with the information people are sharing on LinkedIn. 

So, what's the #1 LinkedIn rule of thumb relating to status updates that I wish everyone followed?

I call it the 6/3/1 Rule.

Simply put, for every ten status updates you share on LinkedIn (no matter over what time frame those posts take place), follow this rule:

Six should be great educational information for your intended audience that you didn't write. This is the stuff you've read from others that resonated with you in your area of expertise. It could be information (blogs, videos, LinkedIn posts and updates, etc.) from other noncompetitive experts in your industry associations or others you respect in your field or industry.

Three should be great educational information for your intended audience that you or your company authored or created. It could be blog posts, articles, videos, checklists, white papers, customer testimonials, "how to" information, product comparisons, or other research that you believe will help your audience.

One can be flat-out promotional, attempting to sell your goods or services.

If you follow this rule, you'll be sharing great customer-focused information 90% of the time and directly promoting only 10% of the time.

I work really hard to adhere to this rule out of respect for my network. (And, by the way, if you're not part of my network, you should be!) Then when my network sees a post about the newest edition of my book, my upcoming classes, or my LinkedIn consulting, they will probably say, This post doesn't bother me since most of the time Wayne shares great educational information about LinkedIn, and, after all, a guy's gotta make a living.

Using status updates correctly, no matter what social media site you're on, is one of the foundational principles everyone needs to understand in order to be successful in the new digital marketing world—and the 6/3/1 Rule is particularly important on LinkedIn because it's meant to be a purely professional site.

If you want more concrete examples, I highly recommend Gary Vaynerchuk's book "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World." He provides lots of specific examples of how to share social media updates correctly. Although he doesn't specifically mention LinkedIn, many of the concepts are applicable.

The post Are you Annoying People with your LinkedIn Updates? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2kgrVOo

Is Your LinkedIn Account in the Top 1%?

I do many LinkedIn profile critiques each week for my clients, and they really look forward to receiving my overall grade along with the specific areas I feel they can improve.

I also tell them how they can get a grade directly from LinkedIn. This grading system, the LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI), was previously only available to LinkedIn's largest corporate users, but now all LinkedIn users can access their SSI. In addition to your profile, it takes into account the activities you engage in each time you log into LinkedIn. 

Don't be turned off by the word "selling" just because you're not a salesperson. Let's face it—everyone is selling something. If you're not selling products or services, you're selling yourself or your organization every day. And with the rise of social media, this has never been more true.

Get your score by simply clicking the white Get Your Score free button on this page: http://bit.ly/LISSIndex
.

What's your score?

Yes, 100 is a perfect score, and I doubt anyone has achieved that score other than maybe Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) or Jeff Weiner (current CEO of LinkedIn). But be sure to look past just the raw score and see how you rank in your industry and your network, both in total and in each of the four scoring categories (maximum of 25 points for each category). Also, take note of the trend line for your score. These spots are where the information gets particularly helpful for you personally.
.

What is SSI and why should you care?

LinkedIn came up with SSI to score sales professionals and their company teams and track improvement and results, thus proving the ROI from upgrading to their most expensive premium sales upgrade called Sales Navigator. So, of course LinkedIn has a motive for spending time and effort to generate this information. They're hoping companies will upgrade all their salespeople to Sales Navigator.

However, now all users can learn and improve by tracking their Social Selling Index (SSI), and it's easy to set goals after you receive your score from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn surveyed over 5,000 sales professionals, and they've shared the following fairly significant results that demonstrate the importance of becoming an SSI leader:
.

• SSI leaders create 45% more opportunities per quarter than SSI laggards
• SSI leaders are 51% more likely to hit quota than SSI laggards
• 78% of social sellers outsell peers who don't use social media

How does LinkedIn determine your SSI score?

Your SSI score is based on what LinkedIn refers to as "The Four Pillars of Social." 

1. Establish your professional brand. Complete your profile with the customer in mind. Become a thought leader by publishing meaningful posts.

2. Find the right people. Identify better prospects in less time using efficient search and research tools.

3. Engage with insights. Discover and share conversation-worthy updates to create and grow relationships.

4. Build relationships. Strengthen your network by connecting and establishing trust with decision makers.

You can view LinkedIn's SlideShare presentations with additional insights on how to improve your score in these four areas. I would highly recommend you take the time to click through these presentations, especially the ones related to the areas where your SSI results indicate you have the most work to do.

I am in total agreement with LinkedIn that these are the four critical elements for getting results from all your social media channels—and not just for selling purposes but also for growing your brand, improving your business and personal marketing, and finding your next great job.

I think we should give LinkedIn a big "high five" for providing this free tool, and so if I were you I would get started right away benchmarking your score.

And just in case you're wondering, my SSI is currently 95, and I rank in the top 1% of my industry and network—but I won't be happy until I get to 100.

If you'd like to discuss how I can help you and your organization get your SSI numbers up and improve your LinkedIn results, drop me an email at wayne@powerformula.net. I'd love to help you work toward a perfect score—and make more money, too.

The post Is Your LinkedIn Account in the Top 1%? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2jFe8hq

How Will You Rank on the New LinkedIn?

Some people have told me they've received the new and improved(?) LinkedIn desktop interface. I personally don't have it yet, but I've been able to check out how it looks and works by looking over the shoulder of some of my friends who have it. 

I'm going to withhold my full, detailed review of the changes until I have it myself, but based on my review thus far, including your most important keywords on your profile continues to be a very important strategy. LinkedIn's search algorithm rewards you for including your critical keywords in multiple places and especially in particular spots—and who doesn't want to come up higher in the search rankings!

Follow these simple guidelines to improve your ranking on both the old and new desktop interfaces.
.

What are your most important keywords?

Simply put, your keywords are the words that you think someone would use to search for you online, regardless of whether it's a general internet search site like Google, Bing, etc., a job search site like Career Builders or Monster, or a professional networking site like LinkedIn.

Depending on your objective for using LinkedIn, it could include words that describe you professionally, categories or brand names of the products and services you and your company provide, software you use proficiently, and so on.

My Keyword Worksheet (below) will help you identify the best words to include on your profile.
.

Where should you put keywords on your LinkedIn profile?

The simple answer is everywhere you can—and the more times the better—but be sure your profile remains easy to read. Just listing a particular keyword over and over, with commas in between, will not only be hard to read but potentially confusing to the reader. In addition, LinkedIn has warned that this type of  "keyword stuffing" will not be tolerated—and you sure don't want them to penalize you by moving you down the search results list.

I've learned from working extensively with my LinkedIn clients over many years that there are three spots on your profile where you definitely want to include your most important keywords—your Headline, Job Experience Titles, and the Skills section.

To learn how to most effectively include keywords in these three sections, take a look at one of my client's profile—Scott Owens, managing director of BluTinuity, a firm specializing in business continuity and disaster recovery.
.
.

Headline

 .

Experience Job Titles

.

Skills

Trust me on this one. Whether someone is searching with the old or new version of LinkedIn, if you follow this keyword strategy, you'll come up significantly higher in the search ranking, just like my client Scott Owens.

To identify your most important keywords, review or download my Keyword Worksheet below.

 

Download (PDF, 527KB)

The post How Will You Rank on the New LinkedIn? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2ixdd41

Is This the Right Time to Get Off LinkedIn?

"We need to shed a few social pounds and stop trying to add more social media networks to our repertoire. Instead, let's get better where we already exist. Social media isn't about how many places you can be. It's about being amazing where you are."
--Scott Stratten, "The Book of Business Awesome"

I agree with Scott, but I prefer to put it this way:

If you don't have a strategy and purpose for being on LinkedIn, shut your account down. Save the time, hassle, and possible embarrassment. It's potentially embarrassing because a lackluster profile and little or no activity makes it pretty clear you either don't know what you're doing or have no specific reason for being on LinkedIn.
.

Is LinkedIn worth the time and effort?

Your answers to these ten questions should help you decide whether it's worth spending your time on LinkedIn or if this is a place where you can shed a few social pounds.

1. Have you used LinkedIn to begin a new relationship with someone that's led to good things?

2. Do you look forward to jumping on the site?

3. Have you updated your profile in the past year or so?

4. Do you speak fondly of your LinkedIn experience when asked by others?

5. Do you look forward to hearing people talk about their LinkedIn success?

6. Have people in your company or industry been sharing LinkedIn success stories?

7. Have you logged onto your LinkedIn account in the last week?

8. Does your profile clearly state your business purpose for being on LinkedIn?

9. Have you recently invited someone to join your network?

10. Rather than grumble and complain when LinkedIn makes changes to the site, do you look for new ways to use LinkedIn to advance your business or career?

If you found yourself answering "No" to most of these questions, maybe it's time to reevaluate your reasons for being on LinkedIn and either become amazing, as Scott suggested in his book, or close your account and spend your time more productively.

Believe me, I am the last person who wants you to exit the LinkedIn door, because if everyone jumps ship, who would read my Sunday afternoon emails?

But time is precious, and I think you might be able to find a more enjoyable and productive way to brand and market yourself and your business as well as do research or communicate and network with others.

However, if you're ready to develop a strategy for becoming amazing and making 2017 your best year ever, pick up a copy of the new edition of my book, attend one of my upcoming LinkedIn training classes, enroll your company in my next LinkedIn & Inbound Marketing Sales Acceleration Playbook event, or set up a one-on-one consulting call with me.

The post Is This the Right Time to Get Off LinkedIn? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2iQvzeS

What Was Your Score on the LinkedIn Scorecard?

Happy New Year!

Are you hoping 2017 will be your best year ever? Well, I'm going to help you use LinkedIn to get phenomenal results.

In about five minutes, my LinkedIn Success Scorecard: How do you measure up? below will show you how you stack up and how some easy profile tweaks and basic strategies will catapult you to success in your business and career.

Here are a few of the 20 simple multiple choice questions:
.

• Does your current job title entry include your most important keywords?
  .
• Have you clearly identified your LinkedIn connection strategy (what kind of people you want to connect with and how you’re going to find them)?
  .
• When someone in your target audience sends you an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, do you send a thank-you note that includes information about how you could help him/her?

Once you make these changes and get your strategies in place, you'll be ready to crush your business and career goals for 2017 and beyond.

If you need help making these changes or developing your strategy, refer to my book or use keywords to search my blog—or contact me for a one-on-one LinkedIn coaching session.

Happy new year! I hope it truly is your best year ever.

 

Download (PDF, 304KB)

The post What Was Your Score on the LinkedIn Scorecard? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2iR0v1m

This is Your Chance to Get Your LinkedIn Questions Answered

My inbox exploded last week after regulators approved the Microsoft acquisition of LinkedIn, which will close very soon, and some people received the new LinkedIn desktop redesign.

I'll do my best to address the concerns and questions just as soon as I receive the new profile and formulate some strategies to help you take full advantage of all this potential.

In the meantime, if you have any burning LinkedIn questions you'd like to ask me, be sure to join me for a free webinar this Wednesday, December 21, at noon CT—and no worries if you can't attend the live event. I'll be sharing a link so you can view the webinar on your own schedule.

My co-host will be Jeff Coon from Stream Creative (a Hubspot Platinum Partner), and he'll be fielding questions about inbound marketing. We have a list of some popular questions, and we'll take others from the audience on Wednesday.

You can register here:  http://bit.ly/LightRound
.

How big should your LinkedIn network be?

I anticipate questions about LinkedIn network size and makeup. In other words, is it better to have an enormous LinkedIn network that includes hordes of strangers or a smaller but tight-knit network of people you know and trust. After all, this is the starting point for everything you do on LinkedIn.

But whatever the current state of your connection strategy—nonexistent, incomplete or clearly defined—you need to be aware of the advantages and dangers of your decision.

Read or download my article below, The LinkedIn Connection Conundrum: Who Should be in Your Network, and find out:
.

• The benefits and dangers of each approach
• What other people are doing and why
• Why you may change your strategy in the future

Get your strategy in place, and be on your way to growing a powerful network that will provide new opportunities you can turn into revenue.

 

Download (PDF, 344KB)

The post This is Your Chance to Get Your LinkedIn Questions Answered appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2hXAl8s

Are You Ignoring the Right People on LinkedIn?

If you owned a retail store and a potential buyer entered your front door, would you ignore him or her? Of course not. Well, that's what many people are doing on LinkedIn, and then they wonder why they aren't getting any quantifiable results from using the site.

Think of your LinkedIn profile as your retail store. As with most retail stores, there's lots of competition for potential buyers and many different ways that people find out about your store before they waltz in the front door.

But once they choose to visit, are you reaching out and saying, "Hi, thanks for visiting; how can I help you?" Trust me on this one—from my experience, most people aren't doing this.
.

How to welcome people to your "LinkedIn store"

There are two easy ways to recognize potential customers or connections—Who's Viewed Your Profile and your inbound invitations to connect.

Now, if you're not specifically in sales and are about to stop reading, please reconsider, because let's face it—we're all selling something. If you're not selling products or services, you're selling yourself or your organization every day. If you didn't have something to sell, you probably wouldn't be using LinkedIn.

Here are my best practices for recognizing and approaching potential buyers, particularly those who are in your target market.
.

Who's Viewed Your Profile

View this list often, because if you're using the free account, you can only see the last five people who checked you out—and then only the information they've chosen to share with you.

However, if you're using the Google Chrome browser, here's a trick that will help you see the full list even though you don't have a premium account. Simply download this free special extension.

If their headline looks interesting, click through to view their full profile and ask yourself this question: Is there any information here (job experience, education entries, people you have in common, interests, etc.) that resonates with me or would help me to have an interesting conversation with them?" If the answer is "yes," invite them to join your network by using a five-star invitation.
.

Inbound Invitations to Connect

Don't be too quick to hit the Ignore button here—even if you've never met the person. You don't know why they "walked into your store," so it's worth your time to figure out who they are and how you might be able to help them.

It's best to view your inbound invitations from your Pending Invitations page rather than your mobile device, because you'll have access to a lot more information about the person. On your phone you won't be able to see what people you have in common nor can you respond to a message without inviting the person to join your network. Messages are also truncated, so you may miss something important if you don't take the time to read the full message.

My article Is Opportunity Knocking at Your LinkedIn Door? will help you understand who to connect with and give you some examples of simple ways to respond when the right person has walked into your store.

If you start executing these best practices, I'm confident you'll begin to quickly identify the hottest prospects and reach out in a way that will improve your chances of success.

The post Are You Ignoring the Right People on LinkedIn? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2hmD0cW

Are You Guilty of Making These Risky LinkedIn Mistakes?

The last two times I collaborated with Cheryl Snapp Conner, a Forbes and Inc. Magazine contributor and creator of Content University, the articles received nearly 600k and 400k views. Last week she asked me, "What are the biggest mistakes people are still making on LinkedIn?"

I shared with her the LinkedIn mistakes I see all too frequently as I work with people through my LinkedIn consulting and speaking business.

You won't want to miss her outstanding Inc. Magazine article Are You Guilty of These 7 LinkedIn Mistakes?  In a very direct but humorous way, she addresses these seven mistakes you never want to make:

1. Forgetting to de-select the "Notify your network" alternative.

2. Fudging the facts on your profile; then attempting to keep it a secret by blocking your boss.

3. Leaving UFOs (Unintentionally Funny Occurrences) in your profile.

4. You forget that a LinkedIn DM to multiple recipients is, essentially, a group text.

5. Under Jobs>Preferences>Let recruiters know you're open to new opportunities, you check "Yes" without thinking.

6. You fail to list your most important current job first.

7. You forget to include your business email and phone number in the Advice for Contacting space.

Failing to read Cheryl's article could result in embarrassment, lost business, or possibly even a pink slip when your boss finds out you're looking for a new job. Read the full article here.

The post Are You Guilty of Making These Risky LinkedIn Mistakes? appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2gCzLiX

Give Your Favorite Nonprofit a Reason to be Thankful for You

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just saying that makes me hungry. I can't wait for turkey, mashed potatoes, and, of course, pumpkin pie with a generous portion of whipped cream.

But in addition to hungry, the word "thanksgiving" makes me think of how thankful I am for all the people who have helped me throughout my life—and this includes you! Thank you for faithfully reading and sharing my weekly LinkedIn tips.

So, in sticking with the thanksgiving/gratitude theme, I thought I would highlight some of the specific LinkedIn features and tools you can use to show your gratitude to those nonprofit organizations that are important to you.

These features are grouped by expected time commitment, from good (takes just seconds; one turkey drumstick ) to best (takes about ten minutes; three turkey drumsticks). These actions will give your friends some LinkedIn love that will increase their exposure on the LinkedIn site but may also lead to your next great opportunity.
.

Good  

.

• Follow the organization's company page.
  .
• "Like" one of the organization's company page status updates.
  .
• Connect with key people on the organization's staff.
  .
• "Like" a status update or published post made by a staff member about the organization.
  .

Better

.

• Add to your profile the special section Volunteer Experience & Causes and include not only detail about the nonprofit but promote the general cause as well.
  .
• Engage in a conversation posted in a LinkedIn group by a staff member about an upcoming event or activity.
  .
• Comment on one of the individual status updates or published posts from the staff.
  .
•  Comment on one of the organization's company page status updates.
  .
• Share with your network some of the organization's status updates that highlight upcoming events or volunteer activities.
  .

Best   

.

• In the Experience section of your profile, list as a current job your title and/or involvement along with the name of the organization. You then have 2,000 characters to explain the organization's mission, accomplishments, and needs.
  .
• Add media to your profile to highlight their mission and programs. Include video, slide presentations or documents. This screen shot shows an example of how I've done this on my profile.
  .
• Use one of the three websites LinkedIn allows you to list on your profile for a hyperlink directly to the organization's website.
  .

• Include in your Summary section a special paragraph to describe why this organization is important to you.
  .
• Use the LinkedIn Advanced Search function to find out who in your network knows people at the significant foundations and companies in your marketplace. Then facilitate an introduction to the staff of the nonprofit organization.
  .
• Share a status update, publish a post, or start a conversation in your LinkedIn groups to:

- Publicize an event
- Recruit volunteers
- Share results and accomplishments
- Find donors, volunteers, employees, suppliers, and/or vendors for the organization

These actions will give your favorite nonprofit some LinkedIn love that will increase their exposure—and it may help you as well. People will see your passion for organizations in your community and around the world, and people love doing business with people who help others.

The post Give Your Favorite Nonprofit a Reason to be Thankful for You appeared first on Wayne Breitbarth.

from Wayne Breitbarth http://ift.tt/2eRtBfb