Building Your Tribe - 6 LinkedIn Success Studies part 2

Maisha Walker


I hope that you have thought of or already found some ways to put last week's list of LinkedIn Strategies for Small Business to good use.
We covered the first of the 6 LinkedIn Strategies that I'll share with you:

• Building a live community
• Business development
• Promoting a blog/branding/building traffic
• Getting work as a freelancer or consultant
• Promoting a product
• Strategies for everyone

Business Development
A piece of advice that I will never forget receiving from an older, wiser mentor of mine who started and ran 2 successful businesses including a luxury goods marketing firm — he has a rolodex of more than 1,000 people who he keeps in touch with on a regular basis. How does he do this? For him it's a simple phone call that usually lasts no more than 5-10 minutes and if appropriate leads to a follow up email and possible work. This very simple technique kept him busy.

One of the simplest ways of using LinkedIn is just as a "modern Rolodex" a list of the people you want to communicate with on a regular basis so that they remember you're out there, what you have to offer, and why they like you. The only tools you need for this is your LinkedIn profile, sending LinkedIn invitations to people you know and an hour per day to make phone calls. One of the biggest challenges for a freelancer or consultant is just making sure people remember you when they need something you offer. These quick check-in calls (with an appropriate time lapse in between) are a great way to just stay on your prospect's radar.

Of course LinkedIn search is also a great tool for this — whether you are searching within your networking or outside of it, using keyword searches on LinkedIn to find people who match your target audience is a great way to "mine the network".

NileGuide, a trip planning website, used LinkedIn to help with a variety of successful "business development" campaigns.

The primary tools? LinkedIn Search & LinkedIn InMail. Here are the 3 ways they used it:

• Fundraising - to identify relevant venture capital firms during their fundraising process
  
• PR - to identify a target list of publications to build awareness of their product, they searched on the publication names, and proactively contacted journalists with whom they had at least a "friend of a friend" connection.
  
• Strategic Partnerships - to contact people in the right departments at target companies with whom they wanted to explore business partnerships in selected industries. Their goal was to find partners who were interested in providing personalized travel guide functionality to their users.

Let's look more closely at how they leveraged LinkedIn for strategic partnerships'�

How NileGuide used LinkedIn to build Strategic Partnerships

1. Identify Companies they identified the top 20 companies to partner with in each of several target sectors within the travel and online media space.
   
2. Identify Contacts they laid out a process to search for people with specific job descriptions in these organizations that aligned with who they believed would either be the key decision maker for a business development partnership, or one rung up or down the ladder.
   
3. Filter Contacts - given the effort invested per contact, the contact list was filtered for both relevance and "closeness" to improve response rates. Contacts had to be at least 3rd level (i.e. a "friend of a friend of a friend"), and they carefully decided whether to reach out to the contact directly using LinkedIn's InMail tool (which requires a paid subscription), or to request an introduction through a mutual contact when the relationship with that mutual contact was strong.

More Tips and Complete Inc. Article

Are You Being Found on LinkedIn for Your Ideal Search Terms?

Des Walsh


On LinkedIn, make it easier to be found for the services you offer
One of the most basic considerations for creating and editing our Professional Profile on LinkedIn is to ensure it is well stocked with the words and phrases we want to be found for – our ideal search terms.
By the way, for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t so far delved into this area much, the jargon term is “keywords”. I have to admit it took me quite a while to figure out that the term “key words and phrases” is more accurate and might be more quickly understood by people who are not search experts. “Coach” can be a keyword: so can “business coach” “sales and marketing coach”, “Chicago business coach”, and so on.
There are a couple of ways we can test for what we might call the “keyword effectiveness” of what we’ve done in setting up our LinkedIn profile.
One process I always recommend in my LinkedIn coaching is to set aside some time to do some searching on LinkedIn ourselves, using those search terms (keywords) we want to be found for, and seeing where our profiles come up in the results. The process is similar to what we might do with Google or other search engines – first page has top ten results etc – but with the difference that if we tweak the words in the profile the differences in ranking can come up pretty well immediately.
This can take some time and I find that it’s more efficient when you don’t have to stop in mid course to do something else. Which is why I suggest that it is something to do on the weekend if you can.
Turn off notifications
To save annoying our network with multiple notifications of changes we make while experimenting, it is a good idea to switch off those notifications before starting – Settings -> Privacy Controls – and then on again when we finish.

The testing process

The basic procedure I use for testing is as follows:
First set up a simple system for recording your changes and the results. I use a notepad like a legal pad, or (paper) notebook, and keep a running score, with times. You could use a spreadsheet if you prefer.
Before making any change, search for your preferred term under People (top right corner of your LinkedIn page), leaving the Relevance filter untouched. Search through the results and see where you come up in your network. As for Google, the ideal is to be in the top three, preferably number one, but the top ten is good too. Each page of results, as for Google, has ten results.
On your notepad or spreadsheet record where you come, which may be zero at this stage, and the time.
Then add in the search term you want to be found for. When you start to make changes, at first change one element at a time (later you can make a few changes at a time) and then test the result. I usually start with the Professional Headline (just under your name on your profile).
For example, if you want to be found for the term “Business Strategist”, put that in your Professional Headline (without the quotation marks).
What I do then, having done a global search and recorded the result, is search with a location filter – Advanced Search, left hand sidebar – usually by country first, and sometimes then by a more specific location. (You can of course use other filters with, or besides, the location one.)
And then note those results.
Then make some more changes and test each of those. I usually go from the Professional Headline to the Summary, then to other elements of the profile.

What if you keep getting a zero result? - More Advice and Complete Article

Four SEO Tips to Help Employers Find You on LinkedIn!

LinkedIn can connect you with large numbers of companies and open positions as long as you cater your profile to the ways employers search for you. By following our SEO tips for improving your profile, you will be able to maximize your ranking within employer searches and land interviews for great jobs!

This year, LinkedIn hit the 187 million member marker and its membership is continuing to rise. With that quantity of potential job seekers in one place, you can bet that employers and recruiters have their eyes on this professional social site! They’re proactively searching for top talent and have taken to sourcing their next hire from the ranks of LinkedIn members. You may ask yourself, “How can I get employers to find me? How can I get my LinkedIn profile to send positive, rippling waves beyond my initial efforts?” The answer is to implement search engine optimization tactics into your profile. Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a way to increase your visibility in search engine results by tailoring your content or phrasing to stand out in search parameters. By following the four SEO tactics below, you’ll be able to attract the attention of employers as you continue your own job search.

1.) Keywords: Integrating keywords or buzzwords into the body of your resume is an axiom of resume writing that is equally important to your LinkedIn profile. Most employers and recruiters only skim your profile for about 6 seconds before deciding whether you’re worth more than a perfunctory glance. With that in mind and millions of users, LinkedIn has resorted to a ranking system which hikes or drops down the results page users show up based upon their keyword usage.

To ensure your resume is read by the right people, you need to make sure your profile’s headline, current position, previous position, summary, & skills sections are reasonably seasoned with your chosen keywords. Every sentence should read naturally and employers should never perceive flagrant stacking or bombing of your profile with poorly placed keywords. If they notice a clunky repetition of your magic word, you’ll probably be overlooked as a candidate. Not only that but if you repeat, for example, “search engine optimization” 4,000 times ad nauseam throughout your profile, the good people at LinkedIn will eventually shutdown your profile. So, keep things professional and you’ll still see good results.

2.) List Previous Jobs: When writing a traditional resume the rule of thumb is to limit your list of previous positions to three. Your LinkedIn profile, however, is more SEO friendly when you list around two decades of your professional employment history. There are a few reasons for this. First, if an employer or recruiter is dead set on hiring someone from one of your former companies, you’ll pop up in their search results. Second, by listing a multitude of previous jobs, you can connect with old coworkers, which will broaden your network and increase your outreach ability. That way, even if none of your primary connections are looking to hire, chances are good that someone in your secondary or tertiary list of connections will be on the hunt for someone like you. Best of all, you don’t even have to know about these people for them to find out about you!

Tips 3,4, and Complete Article

How To Reach Out To Recruiters Using LinkedIn

By Laura Smith-Proulx

Planning to reach out to recruiters during your job search, but don’t know how to approach them?
You’re in luck. It’s easier than ever to find recruiters who specialize in your field by using LinkedIn—and even better, they’re often receptive to your queries from the site.

Here are some tips for finding potential recruiter contacts on LinkedIn, as well as the results of an informal recruiter survey conducted on LinkedIn that sheds some light on best practices for approaching these new contacts.

Locating Recruiters In Your Field

The Advanced People Search function, accessible from the Search bar at the top right of most LinkedIn pages, is one of the best tools for job seekers trying to find key contacts. To use the search capability, select People from the dropdown next to the Search box, then click on Advanced.

From the Advanced People Search menu, here’s where you’ll want to perform a simple query on Keywords. For example, a search on “recruiter technology” turned up thousands of names for IT recruiters.

Of course, you can expect to refine your keywords, perhaps adding in an area of specialty to help hone in on the recruiters who seek candidates at your career level.

Sending An Introductory Message

After identifying a pool of key recruiter contacts, you’ll need to craft an introduction that is succinct, professional, and related to your area of specialty – keeping in mind that this note should be tuned specifically to each of your new contacts.

As one person noted in a survey from LinkedIn on recruiter queries, many recruiters are “very receptive” to receiving a note from a candidate, especially one whose experience and career level aligns with their particular area of specialty. Be aware, however, that this note must explain the purpose of your query.

Another recruiting manager noted that a “good approach” includes an explanation of your reasons for the contact and what you’re seeking. It’s not enough to ask if the recruiter is seeking candidates with your background!

Here’s a script for reaching out to a recruiter:
“As an IT auditor engaged in a search for new positions within the Chicago area, I am interested in finding out more about the positions you source. I’ve recently completed an assignment with Ernst & Young, and my intent is to build relationships within the banking community. I welcome any suggestions you might have for me, and as I maintain contact with colleagues in the auditing field, I can also help refer candidates to you. Thank you for your time.”

In this contact, you’ll want to be specific about your skills and fitness for your career goal, allowing the recruiter to see how your qualifications apply to this job type. To put it another way, your message needs to resemble a cover letter.

Often, this first note stimulates dialogue that allows the recruiter to point out job listings from a corporate websites, or to add the job seeker to an internal recruiting database. In addition, some recruiters will help you follow their current sourcing requirements by directing you to their primary method of streaming new job postings (such as a Twitter or RSS feed).

Maintaining Contact - More Advice and Complete Careerealism Article

Here's Something You'll Never Read on LinkedIn: Why Networking Won't Save You

Paul B. Brown


We are convinced that people in the 30s, 40s and early 50s have their heads in the sand, when it comes to whether their jobs—or their very industries—are going to survive.

We aren’t being critical. Just stating a totally understandable reality.

No one wants to face the fact that they could be unemployed, especially if the cause of that unemployment is through no fault of their own. And so they look at the radical changes that have come to industries as diverse as publishing and pay phones and say “those are the exceptions.”

But odds are they are not. You’d be hard pressed to find an industry that is not going through massive change. (Been to a record store lately? Drop off any photos to be processed? Read an afternoon paper [or been able to find a local morning one if you live in a small city]?  Bought a printed map? Placed a call from your hotel room—through the hotel’s phone system? Ordered a set of encyclopedias?  Rented a movie from a stand-alone video store like Blockbuster? Probably not.)


So, what you should do?

Well, we have talk in the past about others options, such as putting in 1,000 hours now to prepare for next job and starting something on the side today that could lead you to your next career.
Here, let us spend a few minutes on what you shouldn’t over-invest in.

There has been a growing school of thought, which probably dates back to the wonderful Harvey MacKay books (Swim with the Sharks; Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty) that if your network is large enough, you’ll be able to rely on it to get out of any situation—including pending unemployment.  Indeed, a full 25% of the recent best seller (and otherwise very good book) the Start Up of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, a work designed to help you navigate your career, is devoted to explaining how networking is vital to your future.

I am here to tell you it ain’t necessarily so. (My co-authors Len and Charlie don’t share my feelings on this. So, direct all the negative comments to me, please.)

Why isn’t networking THE answer? Let me give you four reasons.

1.   You might not be good at it.  I was talking to a 50-something friend about how networking is supposedly the best route to take when you are in search of a job and he gave us a response we love.  “If that is the case, I will retire now. I suck at networking. I hate to do it. And I won’t do it.”

2, The people you know may be gone.  If you haven’t done any networking in a while, you may discover that you know a lot fewer people than you think. People have the bad grace of dying, retiring or moving onto fields where they can’t be of very much help.

More Tips and Complete Forbes Article

Smart Ways to Find Jobs Using LinkedIn

Today jobs are limited and we have to face cut-throat competition to find reasonable jobs. Thanks to social networking website that has made this thing easy and now people can find out their jobs without any difficulty, i.e. LinkedIn. As we know, many fortune 100 companies are using LinkedIn to recruit employees. You can create resumes and connect with professionals around the globe. You should follow a few steps to increase chances of getting a job through LinkedIn.

Unique Profile:
You need to build a profile efficiently and keep it updated with the passage of time. The potential employer always looks and screen out various profiles of professionals. So try to make sure that your profiles look good and comprehensible. LinkedIn allows members to update their profile, create a resume, and connect with their class fellows and colleagues. It provides opportunities to expand the network. You can be a part of various groups over LinkedIn and actively participate in their discussion section. Look forward to know the requirements of an employer and make necessary adjustments accordingly. Add accurate information, experience and achievement and planned contact information. For instance, if you are looking for a job of sales manager, then add your experience of marketing and sales in your profile so that it can be searched easily.

Build Network:
Establish a good network of connections of the familiar people. It may include friends as well as professional managers, where you worked earlier. Additionally, you can search the connections of your friends and colleagues like their company and colleagues. You can send request them as well. This will surely be a valuable add up in your network. Spend some time every day to check any latest update.


Search Employer:
LinkedIn has provided a number of valuable services to its members. One of them is job section. The members of the LinkedIn can search latest jobs posted by the employer through job section. Look for the updates daily because numerous numbers of jobs are posted daily. Read the description of the job whether you qualify for the job or not. If you are meeting the required criteria, then apply for the job without any delay.

More Tips and Complete Article


An article by The Recruitment Guru – Dougles Chan. Author of Financial Success in Recruitment Industry & Job Seekers Power Manual. Creator of C-Marketing, V-Marketing, T-Marketing, Market Tumour, and the exclusive training program Recruitment Apprentice.

The 99 LinkedIn Mistakes Job Seekers Make

I have used LinkedIn since 2004 to help job seekers and grow my own career. In support of my newest book, From Linked Out to LinkedIn: Unlocking the power for career success in 2013, I have seen people make some mistakes in how they are using the site. Here are the 99 that stand out to me:

1.       Signing up and never going back to the site.

2.       Signing up more than once and creating multiple accounts.

3.       Not creating a profile that includes more than a name and an industry.

4.       Not including any work experience.

5.       Not including all of your work experience.

6.       Including your work experience but not including descriptions for every job.

7.       Focusing on job duties as opposed to accomplishments.

8.       Misspelling names of previous employers.

9.       Adding the same company over and over to your profile.

10.   Not listing any education.

11.   Listing only your most recent degree in your profile.

12.   Listing only your Bachelors degree and not including your masters/doctoral degree.

13.   Leaving your profile headline blank.

Mistakes 14 - 99 and complete article

LinkedIn Headlines that Entice

by Hannah Morgan


Did you know you can customize your LinkedIn headline? By default LinkedIn places your current job title in there, but it can be so much more! If you want to watch an excellent, quick video on how to change your LinkedIn headline, Laura Roeder has a tutorial for you How to Change Your LinkedIn Profile Headline
Here are some examples of headlines I think are unique and show value.  They are conservative, yet still have impact!
If you are wondering where I found them, I searched a group I belong to on LinkedIn.  Yes, you can search groups you belong to by key word, company, etc without needing a paid subscription to LinkedIn.

Headlines with Impact

And without further delay, here are the eye catching, make me want to learn more headlines


You know who does an amazing job of critiquing headlines?  Jason Alba.  For a while, he was critiquing LinkedIn headlines on his site for free.  He is no longer doing that, BUT, if you read through some of his critiques, you can read his logic and this might help you with your questions! You’ve got to love the title of his post: “LinkedIn Professional Headline: yours probably sucks”

Announcing You Are Looking?

And have you wondered how to say you are looking for a new job? Here are some examples:

See the examples and read the complete article

Linking Out: Why Customization is the Key to the New LinkedIn

By Derek Smith

When it comes to LinkedIn, customization is what will help you stand out from the pack. LinkedIn rolled out a profile redesign in October that gives you a range of new options for customizing your personal profile. Some of these custom options include individual skill listings, network visualization, section listings, projects, publications, test scores, patents, courses and volunteering. This post will explain how to make the most of these new profile opportunities.

Network Visualization

LinkedIn made all kinds of changes in 2012 as it strove to exert its presence amidst the competitive landscape of social networks. One of these changes was a new look for company pages that allows companies to stand out much as the profile changes allow individuals to stand out.

Personal customization options on the new look LinkedIn can help you unleash new opportunities by showing off your unique skill set. On the right column of your profile (right below the Profile Strength indicator) is what you might call network visualization: a set of circles that shows your digital influence, with each circle representing one company where you have a high number of connections (the circle in the center is likely where you currently work).

See small circles that should be larger? This can give you a sense of where you might want to seek additional connections. Click “See More People You May Know at These Companies” for a list of other people you might know. You can also filter your visualization circles by Company, School, Location or Industry to get a sense at a glance of the composition of your existing connections.

Follow the Leaders (and then become one)

Another cool aspect of the LinkedIn redesign is the ability to follow thought leaders like Richard Branson, Pete Cashmore and T. Boone Pickens in a manner similar to how you can follow thought leaders in Twitter. Thought leader posts have been a big hit with LinkedIn’s 187 million global users in recent months.

But following thought leaders is just the start. Find relevant thought leaders in your industry, follow their posts, learn from their example and then start exploring how their insights apply to your own work. Don’t be afraid to share your own insights with LinkedIn updates, engage in group discussions and discuss interesting posts that you see in LinkedIn or other social networks.

More tips and complete B2C article