Category Archives: Networking supercharged

Remember to say “Hello!”

August 19, 2011 by ,

Say hello on LinkedInShort and sweet today and, at the same time, one of the most powerful things you can do on LinkedIn.

You receive an invitation to connect and press the “Accept” button. Another connection made. But should you leave it at that? I say no. At that moment, perhaps more than any other, you have the perfect opportunity to develop that potential relationship easily and immediately by writing back and getting the conversation going right there and then.

Let’s face it – if you were at a face to face networking event and you’ve just gone through the “preliminaries” of introducing yourselves, would you just leave it at that? It would seem unusual to do so … maybe counterproductive even, almost giving off the message that well I now know the minimum about you and that’s all I want. (more…)

Article Categories: LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Tips, Networking supercharged
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What is Openlink on LinkedIn? Now Open Profile …

June 24, 2011 by ,

Openlink - LinkedIn Openlink NetworkYou may have seen a much smaller version of the symbol to the right on some people’s profiles next to their name and, generally, next to a Premium account symbol too. While it’s not that obvious, what it signifies is that the member is part of the OpenLink network on LinkedIn.

{As from May 2014, LinkedIn appears to have renamed Openlink as Open Profile (that’s Open Profile as 2 words it seems) which is actually a sensible move, I would suggest, as Open Profile would appear to better communicate the real benefits of the function … as you will hopefully discover below}

OpenLink (now Open Profile) is something that is available exclusively to Premium account holders and indeed, in my opinion, is a key benefit of these paid for business accounts. Essentially, it lets people who are members to find and get in contact with other professionals who are interested in meeting new people. It also opens up the ability for anyone to contact you and makes certain that anyone can see your full details in the search results, whether the searcher is part of your network or not. Let me explain …

(more…)

Article Categories: Businesses using LinkedIn, LinkedIn Strategy, Networking supercharged, Using LinkedIn
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Strengthen your network – connect your connections!

April 27, 2011 by ,

LinkedIn - Connecting People on LinkedInWhatever our endgame is when it comes to LinkedIn – developing new business, finding a job, creating a community etc. – extending our network and creating new contacts is a key part of that. In most cases, this usually means us focussing on increasing our own connections – however, there’s more to it than that.

There’s also a huge amount of value to be had from taking a more proactive approach to strengthening the network around us – in particular, being able to put two of our direct connections in touch with each other when we believe they would benefit from connecting.

LinkedIn gives us a few different ways to do just this and, in an ideal world, we should be looking carefully at doing this – some might even consider this to be the very essence of good (more…)

Article Categories: LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Tips, Networking supercharged
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LinkedIn Search Updates – this is really powerful!

February 2, 2011 by ,

LinkedIn Signal - site update[Update: as of 29th July 2013, LinkedIn has removed the LinkedIn Signal functionality from the site. A real pity because of its immense utility – if there are any ways to find the information it used to provide then I will report back here.

Update 2: You can now once again see Updates but only from individuals rather than be able to search teh site in its entirety. There is a post about this on this site here.]

LinkedIn have added another feature today, LinkedIn Search Updates, that will help you to reach out a just that little bit further into the 90m people that are currently members of the site by giving you the ability to search what they are writing about and sharing with others on LinkedIn. And it can be incredibly powerful!

If you were aware of LinkedIn Signal announced last year, then this is it … or at least the first incarnation. It comes in the form of a rather innocent looking Search box that sits on your homepage just above the Updates that appear there – however, this is actually quite a revolution (and revelation) because of the access it now gives you to what’s being said across the whole of the LinkedIn network, rather than (more…)

Article Categories: LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn News, LinkedIn Site Changes, Networking supercharged, Using LinkedIn
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Personalise your LinkedIn invite

January 21, 2011 by ,

Bad Networker - Personalise LinkedIn InvitesImagine the scene, if you would.

You’re at a networking event, chatting casually to some people you’ve just met and a couple of old acquaintances – generally getting to know them, relaxing into the evening while still trying to place where you met that person who said hello earlier as you first walked in.

Suddenly the door to your left is flung wide open and in rushes a rather manic looking figure clutching a big bundle of business cards. Racing around the room, this figure thrusts a business card into everyone’s hands, not saying a word and not even making eye contact. You glance down and see the card bears his name (which you don’t recognise) and an invitation to join “his network”.

Before anyone can utter a sound or offer a welcoming hand, he exits stage right (as they say) with the air of someone who considers himself to be an accomplished networker, leaving in his wake a trail of business cards and bemused onlookers. (more…)

Article Categories: LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Tips, Networking supercharged, Using LinkedIn
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New LinkedIn figures announced for the UK

December 9, 2010 by ,

Linkedin Stats - 5m UK usersSo much for the growth of LinkedIn slowing! While figures released last week show that the network has reached some 85 million members worldwide, today LinkedIn has announced that, in the UK alone, there are now 5m users.

That is impressive, particularly when you consider that the 4 million mark was only passed in June of this year, meaning that it has added the last million in under 6 months. In addition, there are now over 20 million users across the whole of Europe, making it an important networking place for businesses looking to connect locally, nationally and internationally!

It’s certainly true that some of the growth will have come about from (more…)

Article Categories: LinkedIn News, Networking supercharged
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