Hi, my name’s Mark.
I’m on LinkedIn and I’m not looking for a new job

If that sounds like an introduction you might make at a “self help” group then maybe that’s not that far off the mark. Certainly, on occasions, I almost feel like I should be apologising for the fact I use LinkedIn in a variety of other ways. A situation not helped by people I meet who aren’t on LinkedIn and who tend to come out with the same reason – “well, why should I join, I’m not looking for a job”.

What does LinkedIn say, then?

Now, I lay much of the blame for this fairly and squarely at LinkedIn’s door – they make a lot of their money from their ‘hiring solutions’ so it’s understandable that they don’t Continue reading

Article Categories: Businesses using LinkedIn, LinkedIn Training, Networking supercharged
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LinkedIn Tip: Get changed in private

Making changes to your profile is key to developing a strong presence on LinkedIn – adding elements and tweaking are useful not just because you are honing the information that you present to people, but also because it makes you more visible to your network.

Automatically, every time you add something to your profile or make a change, then your 1st level contacts are informed via a status update – in general, this is good as it demonstrates to your network that you are active at the same time keeps you ‘front of mind’, even if only in a small way.

However, there may well be times when you’ll want to have a real overhaul of your profile or you want to make certain changes that you would prefer to be made “under the radar” Continue reading

Article Categories: LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Tips, Q & A on LinkedIn, Using LinkedIn
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LinkedIn MasterClass Series at Social Media Week London

Well, Social Media Week is fast approaching again!

For those of you who might be thinking that time has flow and it doesn’t seem a year since the last one … well, you’re right. The annual event has now been brought in line around the world and so will be taking place here, as elsewhere, between 24th and 28th September after its February appearance earlier in the year.

As ever, there will be loads of events around London (as well as 13 other cities around the world) and, having missed out a little in previous events, I have decided to participate as well on this occasion. I have therefore decided to run a series of LinkedIn Masterclass sessions to run throughout the week.

The LinkedIn Masterclass Series is a set of five 90 minute sessions Continue reading

Article Categories: Businesses using LinkedIn, LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Tips, LinkedIn Training, Social media Week
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Want to make an impression on LinkedIn? Just say “Hi!”

Short 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 contact made.

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.

Think about it for a second and imagine you were doing this face to face. Someone has decided to approach you {sends an invite} and extends a hand with a cheery smile and a brief introduction {personalised message}. You shake it warmly in return {accept invitation} and then … Continue reading

Article Categories: B2B Advice for LinkedIn, LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Tips, Networking supercharged
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Boxing clever on LinkedIn with box.net

There are lots of great applications on LinkedIn that we can use to spice up our Personal profile – either to share content we have created elsewhere, to get key information in front of people in various relevant places, or simply to use in a way which helps to develop the goals that we have for our use of LinkedIn.

For me, one of the key ones that I always outline in the LinkedIn courses I run is Box.net. This ranks alongside content from the blog applications and Slideshare.net as a primary route to get your content in front of people in a format which is different to the ‘plain’ text which permeates the rest of your profile … no matter how interesting you have managed to make it! :)

The fact that you can offer Continue reading

Article Categories: B2B Advice for LinkedIn, LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Applications, LinkedIn Tips
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LinkedIn Tip: Saved searches save you time

LinkedIn Tips and AdviceHere’s a quick way to keep up to date with any new people who fit certain profiles you’re interested in, without lifting a finger. Essentially, new business prospects delivered to your inbox every week … automatically. Sounds interesting? Then read on …

When I’m using LinkedIn for targeted business development, perhaps the key element I use is the advanced search function – being able to target the type of person I’m looking to approach using a combination of job title, company, location, industry or any of the other filters that LinkedIn offers is an absolute godsend. That’s also why it always takes up an important slot in the “LinkedIn for Sales” workshops that I run.

Anyway, once I have my targeted search in place Continue reading

Article Categories: LinkedIn Advice, LinkedIn Strategy, LinkedIn Tips, Using LinkedIn
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