42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedInE-mail: info@superstarpress.com

By Chris Mucciowith David Burns

and Peggy Murrah20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210Cupertino, CA 95014

ii

Copyright 2009 by Chris Muccio with David Burnsand Peggy Murrah

All rights reserved. No patent liability is assumed withrespect to the use of the information contained herein.Although every precaution has been taken in thepreparation of this book, the publisher and authorassume no responsibility for errors or omissions.Neither is any liability assumed for damages resultingfrom the use of the information contained herein.

First Printing: January 2009Paperback ISBN: 978-1-60773-018-7 (1-60773-018-9)Place of Publication: Silicon Valley, California, USALibrary of Congress Number: 2008940965

eBook ISBN: 978-1-60773-019-4 (1-60773-019-7)

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to betrademarks or service marks have been appropriatelycapitalized. Super Star Press cannot attest to theaccuracy of this information. Use of a term in this bookshould not be regarded as affecting the validity of anytrademark or service mark.

iii

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book ascomplete and as accurate as possible, but no warrantyof fitness is implied. The information provided is on an"as is" basis. The author, contributors, and publishershall have neither liability nor responsibility to anyperson or entity with respect to any loss or damagesarising from the information contained in the book. As ofthe time of this printing, none of the Authors has anyformal business relationship with LinkedIn. LinkedInhas not endorsed this book.

If you do not wish to be bound by the above, you mayreturn this book to the publisher for a full refund.

iv

Praise For This Book!

"Reading this book will give you a solid foundation foryour LinkedIn strategy!" Jason Alba, CEO of JibberJobber.com and authorof 'I'm on LinkedInNow What???'

"Peggy, Chris, and David have created an easy-to-readand implement guide to LinkedIn that really does the jobof getting you connected fast. In the social networkingjungle, this is one of the best guides you'll findfor asite that reaches YOUR people!"Suzanne Falter-Barns, http://www.getknownnow.com

"'42 Rules to 24 Hour Success on LinkedIn' providesstraightforward, common sense advice on how to getthe most out of LinkedInthe most popular socialnetworking site for busy professionals. In this compactbook, Chris, David, and Peggy show you what to do toleverage the power of social networking on LinkedIn.And they do it in an easy to use, enjoyable read. If youwant to build a network of likeminded professionals, youneed to be on LinkedIn. If you're on LinkedIn you needto read 42 Rules to 24 Hour Success on LinkedIn."Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy, Bestsellingauthor of 'Straight Talk for Success'

v"These 42 Rules provide entrepreneurs, corporationsand job seekers with gems of advice and are the perfectresource to make sense of how you can generatesuccess with LinkedIn. For new users, it provides aterrific overview and for experienced users, it is a greatreminder of the things you may know intuitively but mayhave forgotten in the rush of our hectic schedules."Michael Port, author of 'Book Yourself Solid & TheContrarian Effect'

"The book is a very practical, yet easy and fun read. Itis impressive in its clarity presenting the variousaspects for generating 24-Hour success on LinkedInwithout the typical hype. You will come awayunderstanding the core business principles driving yourLinkedIn success."Mitch Meyerson, Founder of Guerrilla MarketingCoaching and author of 'Mastering OnlineMarketing'http://www.MitchMeyerson.com

"From a business perspective, social networking ischanging every day with new technology, tools andstrategies. With so many options at our fingertips, usersare challenged simply trying to determine where tobegin and how to effectively use these tools. Given thisbewildering landscape, the book '42 Rules for 24-HourSuccess on LinkedIn' ties it all together quite simply and

vi

provides excellent practical tips and advice as how toeffectively embrace this change."J. John Simione, Senior Vice President, MARSH,http://www.marsh.com

"As an Executive providing counseling to hundreds ofdisplaced employees annually, I am always looking fornew ways to provide job seekers with leading edgetools to help make their searches more effective. Thisbook nails it! It is a user-friendly roadmap forunderstanding the power of LinkedIn and helps movereaders successfully along the path of their choosing. Ihighly recommend this to both clients and businesses!"David Bennington, Vice President-ConsultingServices, Right Management

"Amazing! In this timely and cutting-edge book, theauthors share their secrets to increasing your ROI onyour online networking efforts. They give an abundanceof tips and strategies to develop relationships usingLinkedIn. Learn how to automate and leveragerelationships through Social Fusion. I stronglyrecommend this book to anyone that wants to increasetheir sales results. If you want to build visibility anddevelop profitable relationships, read this book!"Rick S. Cooper, MBA, The Sales Results Expert,http://www.rickscooper.com

vii

"LinkedIn has quickly emerged as a powerfulnetworking tool, and "42 Rules" is a terrific actionableguide to help the savvy professional leverage LinkedIneffectively. The Rules provide a strategic frameworkthat enables the user to quickly build their LinkedInnetwork, and more importantly, use that network todrive their LinkedIn "brand" to deliver results,opportunities, and action." Alex Sevilla, Assistant Dean & Director of MBAPrograms; The University of Florida

viii

Publisher

Mitchell Levyhttp://superstarpress.com/

Executive Editor

Laura Lowellhttp://42rules.com/

Cover Designer

Cate Calsonhttp://calsongraphics.com/

Layout

Teclarityhttp://teclarity.com/

C o n t e n t s

Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Section I Setting Up Your Foundation . . . . 4

Rule 1 Rules are Meant to be Broken . . . . . . .6

Rule 2 Answer the Most Important Questions First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Rule 3 Get LinkedIn or Get Left Out? . . . . . .14

Rule 4 Consider the ROI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Rule 5 Optimize Your Activities. . . . . . . . . . .22

Rule 6 Overcome the Overwhelm . . . . . . . . .26

Section II What LinkedIn Offers . . . . . . . . . 30

Rule 7 Success Starts With a Clear Understanding of Your Goal . . . . . . .32

Rule 8 Communicate Constantly Without Being Annoying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3642 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn ix

Rule 9 It's Never Too Early to Build x Contents

Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Rule 10 Focus on Career Development . . . . .44

Rule 11 Be Smart When Applying for Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Rule 12 It's More Than a Job Posting . . . . . . .52

Rule 13 Precision is the Key to Business Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Rule 14 Find and Be Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Rule 15 Think Outside the Box . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Section III The LinkedIn Profile . . . . . . . . . . 68

Rule 16 Understand Your LinkedIn Profile. . .70

Rule 17 Give Yourself a Fast, Powerful Makeover! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Rule 18 You Are Your Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Rule 19 Promote Your Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Rule 20 Personalize Your Profile. . . . . . . . . . .88

Section IV Building Your Network . . . . . . . . 92

Rule 21 Lay the Foundation for Your42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn xi

Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Rule 22 Use Invitations to Connect. . . . . . . . .98

Rule 23 Understand Invitation Etiquette. . . .102

Rule 24 Add People to Your Network . . . . . .106

Rule 25 Don't Abuse Introductions and InMails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Rule 26 Manage Your Connections. . . . . . . .114

Section V Recommendations and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Rule 27 Manage Your Recommendations . .120

Rule 28 Make Recommendations . . . . . . . . .124

Rule 29 Ask a Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Rule 30 Answer a Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Section VI Learning the "How-To" forOther LinkedIn Functions. . . . . 136

Rule 31 Manage Your Account . . . . . . . . . . .138

Rule 32 Get Serious About Search . . . . . . . .142

Rule 33 Think About Upgrading . . . . . . . . . .146xii Contents

Rule 34 Manage Your Settings . . . . . . . . . . .150

Rule 35 Create Your Own LinkedInGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Rule 36 Companies Can Play Too. . . . . . . . .160

Rule 37 Share, Share, Share . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Rule 38 Connect with Your ExistingTools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Section VII LinkedInThe ExpandedPerspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Rule 39 Separate Professional from Personal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Rule 40 It Changes the Way We DoThings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Rule 41 Beware of Addictive Behavior . . . . .182

Rule 42 These Are Our Rules, What Are Yours?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Appendix A Fast FactsInteresting Tidbits about LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Appendix B The Crystal Ball What Might42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn xiii

LinkedIn do in the Future?. . . . . . . .192

Appendix C 42 Things You Can Do with LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196

Appendix D 42 Rules In ActionProducts & Services to Help You . . . . . . . . . . . .202

Author About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206

Your Rules Write Your Own Rules . . . . . . . . . . . .208

Books Other Happy About Books . . . . . . . . .212

xiv Contents

I n t r o

We all continue to hear the samephrases over and over againI'm toooverwhelmed, I'm too busy, I can't putmy full attention to that, etc. To behonest, if you ask my family, I am rightin there with the "time challenged"too. It seemed that increasingbusiness success and finding moretime went hand in hand or so Ithought. One day, when I met mybuddy Pete at a coffee shop, he talkedabout a certain type of success anddescribed it in rather simple terms. Hedescribed a little kid, sitting on a dockwith his fishing rod in the water. Thekid fishes for some time, but nothinghappens. So at some point, he getsbored, decides to lay back and takesa nap while leaving his baited hook inthe water. When he wakes up, heexcitedly finds that he hooked a fishwhile he was sleeping. The reasonwhy he was successful without havingto be actively engaged was prettystraightforward. He prepared himself42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn 1

for success by doing the simple thingsbaiting the2 Intro

hook and putting the hook in the water.

I think that is a great metaphor for this book andsocial networking. This book is not about achievingsuccess in 24 hours, rather it is about doing thesimple things that set you up for the opportunity toachieve success 24 hours a day. social networkingoccurs globally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Iknow that I have arisen on multiple occasions tofind that people I used to work with from outsidethe USA had found my profile and were interestedin reconnecting with me. Now that is what LinkedInis about; a place to find people and a place to befound. It's all about leveraging a communicationtool and it is up to you to determine how you willuse this communication platform to create yoursuccess. This might range from the simpleconnecting with people you've lost contact with, tofinding a new job, to finding new talentedindividuals to add to your business, to creating anew revenue channel.

Given the tough economic times and the hype ofsocial media, social networking and of course,LinkedIn, there is a certain curiosity about thisbusiness potential that seems to be only lightlyaddressed. Since LinkedIn or any social network isa 24-Hour tool, to most effectively position yourselfto achieve your success any time of the day ornight, you need to be like the little kid who took anap while fishing. You need to "bait your hook andput it in the water" and, to help you, we offer you

our 42 rules. As there are a variety of users with a42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn 3

variety of ideas for their success, some of the ruleswe offer may apply to you while others may not.These are by no means the only rules, so feel freeto share them, discuss them, refine them andcreate new ones. Most importantly, please keep inmind the most basic rule-simple preparation, justlike our little fisherman learned, enhances yourchances for 24-Hour success!

4 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Section ISetting Up Your Foundation

GOAL: Create a clear understandingfor why you are using LinkedIn, socialnetworking and social media. Supportit with a thoughtful strategy and a com-mitment of time.

Section I: Setting Up Your Foundation 5

inomp

Tcra6teract, share stories and be partf a community. This type of useright be using LinkedIn for

ersonal and social development.

hen there are the people whoreate their own income. This cannge from the one-person inde-R u l e

1 Rules are Meant to be BrokenWhat makesus different,

makesLinkedIn

great!

Who is the typical LinkedIn user? Ifyou go by demographics, then it isa 41-year-old who has a householdincome of $109,000. However thatdoesn't tell the whole story.LinkedIn claims a membership thatis growing at a rate of 30 people perminute, yet there really is not atypical "user." If you look around,you will find people who work soloand use LinkedIn as the proverbialoffice water coolera place to go to 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

pendent consultant to the

managing partner of a consulting practice, from theChapter 1: Rules are Meant to be Broken 7

small business owner to the commissioned salesprofessional. It includes everyone who generateshis or her own income streams. Yes, theyencounter a significant amount of risk, but theyalso tend to lean to an entrepreneurial way ofthinking as they prospect for new, efficient andeffective ways to generate revenue streams. Theirinterest generally lies in business development.

Shifting the risk profile, you also shift the perspec-tive of the user to those who prefer the stability ofa steady income. This can include anyone from thejob seeker to the professional looking to manage acareer path. While these people may have entre-preneurial inclinations, their income stream is notdependent on generating new sales. Instead it isdependent on their ability to manage, lead, work ingroups, build relationships and generally help theiremployer in an effective manner. Any dollar theyadd to the business, they generally don't see.While they may understand that communication onLinkedIn can drive additional revenue, it is not theirpriority for participating on LinkedIn. Their priorityis to stay plugged into a professional network thatcan help them leverage their career development.

What makes us different, makes LinkedIn great!The one commonality is that all these users arelooking for some sort of development and benefitfrom LinkedIn yet, clearly, benefiting from LinkedInmeans something different to almost every person.

As you read through this book, our rules take an8 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

approach that does not try to be everything toeveryone. Instead, we follow a natural strategicdevelopment process where concepts build uponthemselves. Not all the rules are going to apply toeach type of user and, even for those that do, theremay be a variety of ways to achieve similar results.So while we don't advocate going against the net-iquette and norms established throughout socialmedia, we do expect that you will use the rules asa flexible guide and bend or even break them if yousee more effective ways to achieve a particulargoal.

To further increase the effectiveness of this bookfor you, we have created a free downloadableworkbook that you can find athttp://www.LinkToProsper.com/24hoursuccess.This workbook is a stand-alone resource as well asa companion for these 42 rules. You will find a widerange of tips, questions, comments, etc. that willhelp you support your 24-Hour success!

Chapter 1: Rules are Meant to be Broken 9

tebaeLb"u10mplative silence. So we try toreak the uneasy silence by askingnother question, "What was yourncouragement to register oninkedIn?" and with that usually aig smile appears and they say,Oh, I received an invitation to signp." To which our reply is, "That'sR u l e

2 Answer the Most Important Questions First LinkedIn is acommunica-

tion tool. It isa place to findpeople and be

found.

Let's start with a question, Why areyou on LinkedIn?

On the surface, this seems to be asimple question: only five wordsand none were more than 10 letterslong. But it seems that wheneverwe ask that question, we're askingsomething on par with an existentialquestion like, "What is the meaningof life?" because the response weget nine times out of ten is a con- 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

great, what are your goals for being

registered on LinkedIn?" This time the responsesChapter 2: Answer the Most Important Questions First 11

range from that contemplative silence to the ambi-tious, "Gain more clients."

LinkedIn is a place for business professionals tobe "found" and "to find" people. It is a vehicle tocommunicate. It is a tool to use with your business,in your career management, your education, yoursocial endeavors and probably a whole lot more.Yes, you can turn contacts into clients and yes, youcan turn prospects into customers but by itself,LinkedIn is not a magic elixir.

In simple terms, LinkedIn is a conduit; it is a con-nector. The people who receive the greatestresults understand this and use LinkedIn accord-ingly. If you asked some of the people who haveachieved successes with LinkedIn how they woulddefine one formula for LinkedIn success, it wouldbe similar to the following:

12 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

So as we begin this book, we pose some questionsfor you to think about.

Why are you on LinkedIn? Do you understandhow you can most effectively benefit from it?

What are you looking to achieve withLinkedIn? Are your goals realistic? Have youcreated a strategy and supported it withrealistic action items?

LinkedIn

+

Strategy/Action Plan

+

Initiation = LinkedIn Success

+

Allocated Time

+

Execution

How are you showing initiative? You areChapter 2: Answer the Most Important Questions First 13

reading these rules, so that indicates that youhave the drive and commitment to learn. Whatelse are you doing to enhance your ability toachieve the goals you've established onLinkedIn? For instance, if you are on it tonetwork, are you networking? What have youbeen doing to build relationships?

How much time are you fitting into yourschedule to properly participate and executeon your strategy? Unfortunately, this is not thefield of dreams (i.e. build it and they willcome). Without allocating time in your busyschedule to work your action plan, you mayend up more like a billboard in a jungle, brightand shiny but not seen by many people.

To reiterate, success on LinkedIn is not likerubbing the magic lantern and having the genie im-mediately appear. 24-Hour success should notimply immediate gratification. What 24-Hoursuccess implies is literally setting yourself up forsuccess by doing all the "right" things that willeventually help you succeed. In the wired world welive in, success can occur during the middle of thebusiness day, when you are sitting in front of yourcomputer or while you are sleeping in bed.

InnassLa14 typical day-to-day, face-to-faceetworking, when people are askedbout their usage of LinkedIn, iteems that most people share theame experience. They sign up forinkedIn, gather some contacts,nd search out people they mayR u l e

3 Get LinkedIn or Get Left Out?Success is

not based onwhat you

know, butrather, whoyou know.

The old clich is that success is notbased on what you know, butrather, who you know. Understand-ing your online identity is critical tocreating success, and LinkedIn iscurrently one of the more powerfultools that can help you. Thechallenge is how to learn the mosteffective ways to use LinkedInwithout wasting time navigating thehelp functions, the online forums orGoogling the gurus. 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

know from schools, prior employ-

ers, or from professional associations. OnceChapter 3: Get LinkedIn or Get Left Out? 15

they've tapped that out, they are lost as to what todo next or how to realize any benefit from being onLinkedIn.

As successful professionals, your time is valuableand what you choose to focus on must provide youwith an effective result. Therefore, as you beginreading this book, let's start off with some quickand immediate tips to help you dramaticallyimprove your understanding of the LinkedIn expe-rience and build your base of useful contacts.

Focus on Relationship Building

The cornerstone for your success starts withensuring your understanding of what successfulnetworking really means. It is not the sleazyconcept of dropping off a business card and thenracing to someone else to repeat the process overand over again. That type of person merely wantsyou to hear about them. They could care lessabout spending time to get to know you. Prettyshallow, right? Why would you do business withsomeone who doesn't care about you? If that isyour idea of networking, don't even bother withLinkedIn.

Networking is about building relationships andgetting to know the other person and how youmight be able to contribute to their success. Suc-cessful networkers build their own credibility

through their actions, which in turn builds a comfort16 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

level with the other party. This increased level ofcomfort leads to a stronger relationship. So, wouldyou rather have business dealings with someonewho is shallow or someone you've developed a re-lationship with? Relationship building should bethe focus of your perspective and participation inLinkedIn.

Commit Time Weekly to Participate

This sounds like the most basic concept, but it isvery important to adhere to it. Unfortunately manypeople join and collect contacts but invest no timeor energy networking, so they gain nothing fromthe site. This is a clear example of reaping whatyou have sowed. Remember LinkedIn is just a toolto connect and open doors, but it still takes work onyour part. Set aside at least an hour or so eachweek to invest in building your network.

Seek and Give Recommendations

One of the hardest things some people find is toadequately "brag" about their accomplishments.Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, youhave probably compiled an impressive list ofcareer successes. Having someone else"promote" your accomplishments is a very

powerful tool. It builds your reputation andChapter 3: Get LinkedIn or Get Left Out? 17

strengthens relationships as well as increases thevalue of your network to everyone connected to it.

LinkedIn offers Recommendations, which is afunction that allows someone else to describe youand promote you to the world. Request recommen-dations from people who know you well and willbest describe your strengths, achievements, etc.On the flip side, make sure you spread the recog-nition of people you know and recommend them.Remember, relationship building is a two-waystreet.

"mscha$v18benefit" derived from an invest-ent. For instance, assume your

ocial networking investmentonsists of spending fiveours/week on LinkedIn. Now, let'sssume your time is worth200/hour. Across a year, your in-estment is roughly $50,000! SoR u l e

4 Consider the ROI Measuring

your ROI fromsocial

networking isdifficult. The

most effectiveway to

measure ROIis to measurethe tangibles.

As these rules begin to increaseyour "knowledge portfolio," let'stake a quick look at how you mightconsider measuring Return on In-vestment (ROI) for your online net-working efforts. LinkedIn, of course,is the main professional social net-working site but by no means theonly one on the internet.

ROI is a common measurementthat evaluates the amount of 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

is it worth your time?

Well this is where it gets gray. The problem isChapter 4: Consider the ROI 19

that when it comes to measuring the ROI, returnsare not direct and immediate. Thus the bigquestion is how do you properly measure areturn from your activities?

Let's try to attack it from a financial analyst's stand-point. They are interested in annualized results (i.e.results that occur across a 12-month period). Forexample, assume in an average week, you connectwith ten new people in addition to following up with20 existing contacts. Thus, by the end of the year,you can directly attribute say, $30,000 of sales toyour networking. Mathematically, for all your effort,your return looks like this(($30,000$50,000)/$50,000) = -40%. Clearly anegative return of 40% is an outright failure, right?As Lee Corso (from ESPN's College Gameday)likes to say, "Not so fast, my friend." Why? Let'stake a closer look.

First, while you have directly connected andfollowed up with people, you have undoubtedlyalso connected with an untold amount of people in-directly (friends of your connections, people whosaw your communications, but didn't communicatedirectly with you, etc.). There is no way to calculatewhat benefits these returned. At the very least, onenon-tangible benefit is establishing brandawareness for yourself. A more tangible butun-measurable benefit is that these "passive con-

nections" more than likely contributed to your sales20 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

as well. Either way, this benefit is missing & can'tbe calculated but it is still a benefit.

Second, the time it takes to build customer rela-tionships varies. For some the time is immediate,while others need to work through their "marketingfunnel," which may take a year or longer. Thus allthose "long-termers" who take more than 12months to show results (based on the calculationparameters above) are not captured either butthey too provide benefits.

The point is clear, or in this case, sort of a foggygray, that measuring your ROI from social network-ing is difficult. So, short of giving away a free car toeveryone to encourage a direct response, is thereanything one can look at to determine if they aregetting the "Bang for their social networkingbuck?"

Perhaps the most effective way to measure an ROImost tangibly is to measure the following:

Web Traffic Measure it & look for web trafficgrowth.

New Links Focus on the number of new linksyour website/blog, etc. receives. Dependingon the quality of these links, you should seeyour search engine ranking improve modestly.

Growth in your Opt-in Lists Two things hereChapter 4: Consider the ROI 21

look at "total" growth as well as observe thegrowth trend from month to month. Expect in-creasing amounts of opt-ins, the longer youcontinue using effective tactics.

Credibility Components Expect an increasein the number of "authoritative elements" inyour "profile"on LinkedIn, this could include:recommendations, questions answered, bestanswer, etc.

Occam's Razor states "all other things beingequal, the simplest solution is the best." Howeverin this case, that doesn't fit. The simplest solutionto measuring the ROI in social networking may bemisleading. The astute social networker willinclude the above elements to provide the mosteffective measurement from the benefits of yoursocial networking endeavors.

LtoRshtigv22et's narrow our focus for this rule LinkedIn. In Rule 4, we looked ateturn on Investment from yourocial networking activities, andere we look at optimizing your ac-vities. With millions of users androwing daily, LinkedIn offers aariety of opportunities to quicklyR u l e

5 Optimize Your Activities Social media

will changeyour

business;catch up or

catch youlater.

Business Week had a greatheadline with a recent article,"Social Media Will Change YourBusiness, Catch Up or Catch youLater." It's a great headline in that itis both catchy and true! We knowsome of the more famous elementsof social mediaLinkedIn,Facebook, YouTube, Digg, Techno-rati, and of course, there areliterally hundreds more. 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

connect with a vast audience to

enhance the potential for your career and businessChapter 5: Optimize Your Activities 23

success. So how does one go about being "opti-mized?"

Simply put, social media optimization is doing whatyou need to be doing everyday with your interac-tions within your social marketing spheres. Simpleconcept...but it demands a lot of time and a lot ofeffort. To help, we will highlight four things youneed to know to optimize and grow!

People base their buying decisions on experiences other people have had

Social marketing sites have become the new main-stream media of the marketing age. Your presenceallows you to interact with your customers and helpenhance their experiences with you. Keep in mindthat more and more searches are being refined tobe searches based on experiences. Since yourcustomers are going to talk about their experienc-es, make sure you provide them with somethingpositive to talk about.

Social media offers effective low-cost ways to market your business

Social media helps you start the conversation withpeople who may be looking at you. You can getyour message out to millions of people at a time at

a very low cost or even for free. For instance, you24 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

can post a video on YouTube and provide a link toit on LinkedIn or link your blog to your LinkedInprofile or answer consumer questions throughLinkedIn Answers or the list is limited only byyour creativity.

Grow your audience using the "CAP" Approach

With millions of users on LinkedIn, how can youbegin to transition from being a "billboard in ajungle" to being "a LinkedIn magnet?" One waywould be to follow the CAP approach.

C = Content People want new, they want unique,they want original, but what they don't want isboring. However LinkedIn provides a fairly boringstandardized format, so it is up to you to use it cre-atively. Here are a couple of ideas: describeyourself in a manner that is clear, descriptive andinteresting, use video links in your profile, and par-ticipate in group forums. Be as original as you canbe.

A = Awareness Make yourself known to searchengines, RSS aggregators, listings, socialnetworks, and fellow bloggers. Publish your URLappropriately when you post. The more times youarticulate your message to more people, the morelikely you are to find people who are interested inwhat you have to say.

P = Participate with Passion ParticipateChapter 5: Optimize Your Activities 25

properly. If you don't, you can expect to becomeexactly like the "movie of the week," hot for a shorttime and then totally forgotten.

Leverage External Resources

Optimization can be very time consuming. Themost common tasks are the most time consuming.Look for ways to outsource this.

If you need a recommendation for a VirtualAssistant (VA), try http://www.peggymurrah.com.They've offered VA services since 1999, which isancient in internet years, and have been providingquality services ever since.

fegp

snpb26eling of being overwhelmed, anduide you through the "participationuzzle."

ocial networking opens up a wholeew level of contact with your pros-ects, your customers, yourusiness partners and your em-R u l e

6 Overcome the Overwhelm Many people

are strugglingto understand

where tobegin and just

as many aresimply trying

to find outhow to

properlyparticipate.

By now, based on the hype, we areall somewhat aware of the potentialthat Web 2.0/Social Networks canoffer you. However, after speakingto various groups of people, twothings are becoming very apparent;many people are struggling to un-derstand where to begin and just asmany are simply trying to find outhow to properly participate. In thisrule, we will offer you "quick-start"guidance to help minimize your 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

ployees. The elegance of social

networking is the way it enables constant yetChapter 6: Overcome the Overwhelm 27

non-intrusive communication regarding literallyanything your business needs to communicateabout. So the benefits are clear, yet many of us arestruggling to come to terms with the following:

ISSUE - Not Sure How to Participate / Afraid ofBeing Blackballed There are many nuances toparticipating on various social networking sites,and they too seem to change daily. Most of thesesites are communities where people have investedlong hours into participating. You may even say,they've invested part of their lives into these sites.Given these investments, they don't take it lightly ifsomeone jumps in and doesn't properly partici-pate.

QUICK START GUIDANCE Netiquette isimportant here. We advocate taking some time toget the lay of the land. Read through the FAQs,check out the "power users" and use the searchengine to read up on what others say about thesite.

ISSUE - Trying to Figure Out How to GetPositive Attention Getting attention is probablythe most important thing you can do in this Web 2.0world and also the most competitive. Not only areyou competing for attention from the social mediaworld, but you are competing with the offline worldas well. We've already estimated that there arehundreds, if not thousands, of sites out there withthousands of users on each site. In addition to that,

there are 225 billion pages of editorial content28 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

pumped out every year. Given this, how valuable isattention? Think of Paris Hilton. What exactly doesshe do? One thing is for certain and that isshegets attention. According to Forbes, last year shemade a cool $6.3 million, received 3,600,000 webhits and was mentioned in almost 18,000 pressclippings. Clearly attention is valuable.

QUICK START GUIDANCE We advocatefollowing the CAP principle (see Rule 5)

ISSUE - You Don't Have the Time to Devote toThis It goes without saying that in today'sfast-paced information age, everyone is multitask-ing and there is little time available for anythingnew. Need we say more on this topic? Can youidentify with the phrase "I'm in overwhelmhaveto get out of it fast?"

QUICK START GUIDANCE So is this a dealbreaker?

Actually Noyou can make time if you step backand think about this logically. Remember your firststep? You were being strategic as to which sitesyou participated in. Some sites are more time-in-tensive than others. However, if you laid out yourgoals for these sites and supported them withrealistic action plans, then all you need to do is"measure" your execution and continually tweak itto be more effective. Thus what you might belooking at is spending 15 minutes a day on

LinkedIn, or five minutes a day on Twitter or anChapter 6: Overcome the Overwhelm 29

hour a week launching videos on YouTube. Thepoint is if you understand what you are focusing onbuilding, you can maximize your results withoutsacrificing more time.

30 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Section IIWhat LinkedIn Offers

GOAL: Generate a high level perspec-tive of ways that LinkedIn can offer op-portunities for success for Businesses,Job Seekers, and those seeking Can-didates.

Section II: What LinkedIn Offers 31

SK

MLd32uccess through Gaining nowledge

any people receive benefits frominkedIn Answers, which is aatabase of questions that usersR u l e

7 Success Starts With a Clear Understanding of Your Goal

The definitionof "user

success" willvary from

user to user.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool becauseof its incredible opportunity tonetwork with other people and pro-fessionals. As was noted in Rule 1,there is no "typical user" per se,instead there is a variety of usersfrom all over the globe across avariety of industries who all pluginto LinkedIn. As the diversity isbroad across LinkedIn, so is thedefinition of "user success," whichwill vary from user to user. 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

can read and respond to. It's a lot

like tapping into one's own informal board ofChapter 7: Success Starts With a Clear Understanding of Your Goal 33

advisors. It's a free place to go to get answers toquestions that previously may not have beenaddressed due to a lack of knowledgeable re-sources. It's also a place that can help stimulateideas. A friend recently told us of excellent advicehe received in response to a question he posed.He was interested in using viral marketing toincrease revenues and was looking forward toapplying the advice he received in his pursuit ofbusiness success.

Success through Enhancing Credibility

Conversely, by answering questions, users haveopportunities to provide advice that highlights theirexpertise. Since it is easy to see the profiles of theperson giving the answers, providing answers isalso a great way to promote a user's profile. To befair, it isn't the end all, be all. To achieve success,you need to consistently work on providinganswers that enable you to showcase your talents,which in turn enables you to promote yourself.

Success is Finding a Job, a Candidate or Strengthening Career Management

At a recent lunch, an acquaintance shared hissuccess in landing a new position and told us, "Ihad no idea the opportunity was available. I

received a call out of the blue after a recruiter saw34 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

my profile which was identified by a mutualcontact." For many, the most tangible use ofLinkedIn is for their careers. Some people findjobs, others have jobs that find them; employershave a low-cost way of identifying talent and, ofcourse, those interested in career managementhave a very effective tool in which to do so. It goeswithout saying how simple it is for recruiters toconduct more effective job searches acrossLinkedIn and for many, having an extra channelthat passively enables them to learn about newcareer opportunities is exactly what they arelooking for.

Success is Meeting and Reconnecting with People

LinkedIn is a social network. Thus by definition,users should expect to interact socially. For manyLinkedIn users, this is all they want to do. Prior tothe advent of the online social networks, keeping intouch with people from one's past was verytime-consuming. In many cases, it was difficult orimpossible to reconnect. Thus, losing contact withformer colleagues, friends and classmates wassomething that was an unfortunate byproduct of aperson's growth. However, social networks havebegun to eliminate the difficulty in reconnecting

with these people and, as millions are finding out,Chapter 7: Success Starts With a Clear Understanding of Your Goal 35

it is very exciting to reconnect and catch up withpeople from your past.

Acncdinmp36s you move across the communi-ation spectrum, you see that theeed for two active participants toreate effective communicationecreases tremendously. Forstance, for a phone call to beost effective, you need two

eople talking. However, this is aR u l e

8 Communicate Constantly Without Being AnnoyingLinkedIn isn't

just yourordinary

communica-tion tool. Its

elegance is inits passive

communica-tion capabili-

ty.

If you were to stop and try tovisualize what effective communi-cation means, you might envisiontwo people completely engaged ina conversation. Since it isn't alwayspossible to meet and communicatewith people face to face, certainbusiness tools are used as commu-nication surrogates. These includecell phones, faxes, emails, textsand nowLinkedIn. 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

time consuming task. Often one

party is not available or simply doesn't want toChapter 8: Communicate Constantly Without Being Annoying 37

address a particular issue at that moment, so theydon't take the call. Conversely, LinkedIn isn't justyour ordinary communication tool. Its elegance isin its passive communication capability. Yes, thereare still two participants, but the "writer" doesn'thave to actively engage anyone to effectively com-municate with any and all interested readers. So,how can constant communication help?

More professionals will be aware of your identityand the business that you have. LinkedIn is morethan just another social networking site. It hasmillions of members worldwide and they are allprofessionals! When you add connections withpeople in the same business niche as you, you areproviding those professionals with informationabout yourself and what you have to offer. By com-pletely filling out your profile, interested readersget a bird's eye view of who you are and what youcan do.

LinkedIn helps you get in touch with professionalswho might need your services. When people startknowing you and your services and they starttalking about you and your products, then you willsee the power of word-of-mouth marketing on theinternet. As long as you remain professional inyour conduct and relationship with people, theybegin to effectively promote your services.

One of the beautiful things about LinkedIn is the38 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

ability to note "what you are working on." If youtake a look at various profiles, most people justignore this function. Through our limited research(of simply asking people why they do), it wouldappear they avoid it because they:

don't understand the value of it

don't know how to properly use it

don't really feel they have anything importantto add

really don't spend any time adjusting theirprofile at all

Let's spend another 30 seconds and get a betterunderstanding of how this function could benefityou. Whenever you update "what are you workingon," that update is passively broadcast toeveryone in your network. Thus it shows up on ev-eryone's LinkedIn home page without having tosend them an email, make a phone call orotherwise disturb them. Since you want thisfunction to remain a credible one for you, don'tabuse it. If you note every time you go to the storeto get a gallon of milk, your brand will suffer. There-fore, update it for only for events of significancethat add to your brand. For instance, let people

know about a new blog you set up or a newChapter 8: Communicate Constantly Without Being Annoying 39

business deal you've landed or one you arepursuing. Who knows, perhaps someone in yournetwork can help you in pursuit of that deal.

cn

MaSthjo40ampaign that could lead to yourext position?

ost job searches today begin with search of the online job boards.tatistically speaking though, lessan 10% of people searching forbs that way actually land them.R u l e

9 It's Never Too Early to Build RelationshipsSocial mediais about new

ways of com-munication,

and commu-nication is thefoundation for

relationshipbuilding.

Harvey MacKay nailed it with thetitle of his book on networking, "DigYour Well Before You are Thirsty."Given the uncertain economictimes, do you know for sure if yourjob is going to be there in 6 or 12months? Since social media isabout new ways of communication,and communication is the founda-tion for relationship building, do youknow where to begin to properlylaunch a relationship-building 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Job searchers need to be trying

other avenues as well. Some of the traditionalChapter 9: It's Never Too Early to Build Relationships 41

ones include: networking, looking through helpwanted ads, working with professional outplace-ment firms, like DBM or Right Management, andworking with headhuntersto name a few. Nowit's time to add LinkedIn and social networking tothat list!

Once you have identified companies that you wantto target, LinkedIn can quickly help you determineif you have any warm contacts into those compa-nies. Here is a suggested list of tactics to follow:

Using the list of companies that you've gener-ated, search them on LinkedIn (all 500 of theFortune 500 are on LinkedIn) and see whichindividuals show up in your search results.

Split these individuals into two categories bylooking through their profiles. Category #1would consist of a list of people that arecurrently working at a particular company andCategory #2 would be comprised of peoplewho previously worked there. Don't get toocrazy in terms of the size of your lists. Keepthem manageable and focused on key rela-tionships, relative to your expertise.

Sort these lists based on your Tier 1 or 242 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

contacts.

Next, research the profiles of your "best con-tacts," looking for key phrases on the type ofwork they do and jot notes down about theirspecific job functions.

Now, armed with a little "intel," assuming youhave an effective LinkedIn network, try tocontact those whom you consider the mostrelevant people to your search within thosecompanies. The key point here is: the warmerthe contact, the better.

If you don't have a large network on LinkedIn, hereare some additional tips you could follow.

Let's assume that you have identified a list ofpeople on LinkedIn who seemed to be relevant tothe type of position you're looking for. Now look forways to make contact with them in a non-intrusivemanner.

See if any of them are using the LinkedInAnswers functioneither asking or answeringquestions. Either way, try to provide ananswer to these questions. This may get theirattention.

If not, read through their profiles and takeChapter 9: It's Never Too Early to Build Relationships 43

another routesee who has recommendedthem and determine if there was any way foryou to connect with the person doing the rec-ommending via LinkedIn Answers or other-wise. If so, that could provide you a solidentre to your "cold contact."

Finally, see if your cold contacts participate inany of the LinkedIn Groups. If they do, try tojoin those groups and try to establish contactthat way.

If you would like to connect with us, please followthe links to our profiles http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/ChrisMuccio http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/PeggyMurrah http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/DavidCBurns

Send us an invite noting that you've read the bookand we'd be very happy to accept your invitation.

cr

Abaimm44onsidered as your online esume

s a professional, your educationalackground, your organizationalnd company affiliations and otherportant professional informationay be displayed in your LinkedInR u l e

10 Focus on Career DevelopmentLinkedIn

connectspeople and

gives them achance to get

together forprofessional

andwork-related

reasons.

LinkedIn is more than just anothersocial networking site on theinternet. It can actually help you inyour career development. Withmillions of professionals out therewhom you can connect with, youcan make your career grow with thehelp of LinkedIn and other profes-sionals.

Your LinkedIn profile may be 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

profile. This way, other professionals andChapter 10: Focus on Career Development 45

employers can easily learn about you and whatyou have to offer.

Optimize your keywords

You can increase your visibility by addingkeywords that are related to your profession and towhat you do best as a professional. If employers,and people who are looking for a resource personrelated to your field, search by those keywords,you get a better chance of being the first person onthe list.

Connect and grow your network

From your email address book, you can easily addfriends to your LinkedIn network. You can alsosearch friends who were employed by the samecompany you are connected with right now. Thereare a myriad strategies you will come across insome of the other rules. To maximize the effective-ness of your network, aim for at least 50 people inyour first-degree connection.

Use LinkedIn Answers to the max.

Just like Yahoo Answers!, LinkedIn has LinkedInAnswers that allows people to post questions tothe network. If you have any concern in your

career development or in the way you do your46 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

work, you can just use this feature and solicitanswers from all sorts of professionals in yournetwork. You can also answer the questionsposted by other people in the network so thatpeople can notice what you know and what youhave to offer.

Your action plan

Now it's your turn. Here are five things you can doto enhance your Job Search Process on LinkedIn.

Job Search Jargon use the search functionto find people with similar skills to you andlearn what jargon they used in their summaryor in their professional description to be foundon a search. Then incorporate that jargon intoyour profile.

Interview Enhancement learn about thepeople you will be interviewing with. Forinstance, let's say your research reveals youboth went to the same college. Wouldn't infor-mation like this offer a great bonding opportu-nity?

Reverse Reference Checks prospectiveChapter 10: Focus on Career Development 47

employers check on you. Now with LinkedIn,you can check on them and perhaps get theinside scoop from people who worked at acompany.

Stronger Employee Reference Checks tosupplement the glowing references prospec-tive employees offer, you can find others whoworked with them previously and get abalanced perspective.

Company "Health" Assessment do an as-sessment on the comings & goings of peopleat the company you are looking at. Check ifthere appears to be high turnover, strongprospects for career advancement, etc.

With its millions of users worldwide, LinkedIn isone of the best features of Web 2.0. It connectspeople and gives them a chance to get together forprofessional and work-related reasons.

SyZS

Ifds48pecialist. You can further refineour search by selecting Country orip code. Then click the blueearch link.

you want to specify even moreetail when conducting a jobearch, click the Advanced SearchR u l e

11 Be Smart When Applying for Jobs You haveaccess to

tons ofinformation

via LinkedInthat can helpyou positionyourself and

stand outfrom the

crowd.

LinkedIn makes it easy to be reallysmart about the jobs you apply for.You have access to tons of informa-tion via LinkedIn that can help youposition yourself and stand out fromthe crowd. To search for a job, go tothe LinkedIn main menu located inthe upper left corner of the screen.Click on the Jobs link. Next, enterkeywords that describe theposition, like Accountant or ProjectManager or Human Resources 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

link located directly below the

keywords box. On this page, you can specify theChapter 11: Be Smart When Applying for Jobs 49

title, company, function and industry. You can alsospecify location, experience level, the time ofposting and, optionally, enable a search by date ofposting.

Once you click Search, you'll be supplied with a listof positions that meet your specified criteria. You'llsee title, company, location, posting date and thename of the individual who created the posting.Select a job by clicking on the title. A page willopen up that includes all the job detail. On the rightside of the page, you'll see a box that says PostedBy. At the bottom of the box, you'll see a link toApply Now. Click the button and you'll be on yourway.

Need a Job Referral

First, go to the page for a specific job you're inter-ested in. On the right side, about half way down thepage, you'll see a section called Inside Connec-tions to the Company. Next, click on the name ofthe person who you want a referral from. Then goto the upper right corner of the screen and selectGet Introduced through a Connection.

Alternatively, you can click on the job poster'sname to apply directly to the jobif it's set up thatway. Otherwise, you'll see a box located on theright, labelled Posted By. Below that you'll see the

link Request Referral. Click on the link and you'll50 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

be on your way to finding someone in your ownnetwork through whom you can get a job referral.

Want an Inside Connection?

An Inside Connection is a connection to someonein your network of connections. When you're onthe page for a particular job posting, you'll notice,on the right, a section that says Inside Connectionsto the Company. Click on one of the selections andyou'll be taken to a list of people who areconnected with that company or to people at thatcompany in some fashion. You can use a LinkedInIntroduction to contact those individuals who maybe two or three degrees from you.

To increase the chances you'll have an Inside Con-nection, invite more people to join your LinkedInnetwork. The more connections you have, themore likely they'll be connected to the individualwho posted the job. More is better!

Confidentiality

Not to worryno one has access to your resumeexcept the job poster to whom you've actuallyemailed your resume.

Chapter 11: Be Smart When Applying for Jobs 51

csth

THcs52andidates broadcast about them-elves,things like their profiles,eir Answers, and their initiatives.

here is a fee for posting jobs.owever, it is less expensive asompared with other onlineervices. Since LinkedIn positionsR u l e

12 It's More Than a Job PostingWhen you

post a job onLinkedIn, you

get a lot richerperspective

on thecandidate. It's

almost like"reality TV"

for the hiringprocess.

When you're looking for a greatcandidate to add to your team, it's agood idea to tap into a variety ofresources to find the best possibleperson. LinkedIn is a greatresource for HR professionals andother recruiters who are looking tohire. When you post a job onLinkedIn, you get a lot richer per-spective on the candidate. It'salmost like "reality TV" for the hiringprocess as you can observe what 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

itself as a social networking site for

business professionals, you might be able to find aChapter 12: It's More Than a Job Posting 53

better fit more quickly than you would by posting asimilar position to a more generic job site.

It costs $195.00 to post a single job for 30 days.Every job you post will automatically expire afterthat time. You can renew your posting at any timefor the same cost as the original posting, with eachrenewal providing you with an additional 30 days ofonline visibility.

You also have the option of purchasing "JobCredits" which allow you substantial savings if youbuy a 5- or 10-package bundle of job posts. If youpurchase five Job Credits, then each job postingcosts you only $145.00. The 10 Job Creditpackage averages only $115.00 per postingasubstantial savings.

If you want to post a job, you just need to follow afew easy steps. First, go to the LinkedIn Menulocated at the upper left on any LinkedIn page.Click on the "down arrow" located next to Jobs.Select Post a Job.

Fill out the job details. At the bottom of the onlineform, you can save a Draft so you can work on itlater, or you can click on Next so you can reviewthe details. Keep in mind that the job description islimited to 25,000 characters. Also, don't worry ifyou change any of the pre-populated inputs. Thisbasic information is being pulled from your own

LinkedIn profile. If you make any changes here on54 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

this information form, rest assured that youroriginal profile will remain unchanged.

If everything is to your liking, click Post this Job tosubmit it to the system. You'll receive a confirma-tion that the job is posted and you're finished!

If you've posted a job on LinkedIn, anyone canview it. If the job is closed or if it expired, then youand any applicants will still be able to view it. If thejob is deleted, it will not be viewable at all.

It's easy for others to apply to your job posting.They just need to click Apply to submit theirresume. You'll receive the application at the emailaddress you set up when you added the jobposting. When you receive the information fromthe applicant, you'll be able to see their profile, allthe information that they sent to you, as well astheir relationship to you and your network.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, each timesomeone applies for a job you've posted, you'll au-tomatically receive an email with their application.You can also check on your job applicants throughthe LinkedIn system. Go to the navigation bar inthe upper left corner of any LinkedIn Page. Clickon the drop-down arrow located next to Jobs.Select Manage Jobs and then you'll see the namesof the applicants.

Chapter 12: It's More Than a Job Posting 55

provideadvice and

careerguidance.

oswthL

Ls56f info). If you are looking foromething to "carpet bomb" andork as a mass market broadcast,ere are more effective tools than

inkedIn.

inkedIn can help connect profes-ionals and business people via theR u l e

13 Precision is the Key to Business Development There are

many, manythousands ofexperienced

professionalson LinkedIn

whom youmight not

normally haveaccess to,

who will

LinkedIn is a business tool just likeyour cell phone or your PDA.However, it is not a magic elixir. Itcan function exceptionally well in avariety of ways but it can't be every-thing to everyone. Even withmillions of users, people are stilltrying to figure out the mosteffective ways to use it. One thing isfor sure; it functions best as a "pre-cision-type" tool, (i.e. reach aspecific person, learn a specific bit 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

internet. In addition, any individual

or small business owner can tap into its "mentoringChapter 13: Precision is the Key to Business Development 57

potential" and create their own "informal personaladvisory board."

A tool like this should not be taken for granted andignored. There are many, many thousands of ex-perienced professionals on LinkedIn who willprovide advice and career guidance that you mightnot normally have access to. Utilize LinkedInAnswers and ask the questions that can help youand your career prosper. They are really helpful,not only for the advice offered, but for the exposureto other people's thoughts and concepts that youmight never have been exposed to otherwise. Inmany instances, tapping into this wealth ofknowledge is invaluable.

The Yin to the Yang of the previous comment is toparticipate regularly on LinkedIn Answers anddemonstrate your knowledge to the world. Aswe've stated previously, relationship building is atwo-way street. Participating regularly in LinkedInAnswers is a great way to establish relationships,help or impress others and build up your contactlists. Make an effort to find and answer at least twoquestions per week.

social networking is about connecting others. Oneof the biggest questions that comes up is, "Howcan I use it for business development?" Here are afew ways that LinkedIn can help you with businessdevelopment.

Prospect for Account Entry Points Look for58 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

ways to generate warm introductions based onyour network. For companies you are looking toprospect with, look for connections or contactswithin your network that can be connected to them.

Identify Key Decision Makers Generate a list ofkey people within the target organization that youwould want to contact to discuss your value prop-osition.

Minimize Cold Calling by Prospecting throughyour Network Look at whom your primarycontacts are connected to. See if they have con-nections that you would like to meet. Keep this re-lationship oriented and don't abuse it.

Company Intelligence Read through theprofiles of leaders at companies you want toprospect with. Learn about the key initiatives theyhave achieved and possibly identify key selling"points of pain."

Target Market Research Use LinkedIn toresearch the background and career experience ofyour customer. Helps you properly prepare for yourselling process.

By no means are these the only tips that youshould be aware of. Please feel free to share yourtips at:http://www.LinkToProsper.com/Tips.

Chapter 13: Precision is the Key to Business Development 59

nemmwta60ificantly larger, has beenstimated to be grossing $800illion and Facebook about $300illion. So given all this "potential,"e looked at ten possible ways top into this "potential."R u l e

14 Find and Be FoundPeople need

socialinteraction.

LinkedInprovides that

but moreimportantly, it

opens thedoor to

businessinteraction.

With the proliferation of onlinesocial networks, both online andoffline businesses have betterpotential for growth and network-ing. Due to that broad potential, thesocial networks themselves aremaking significant dollars.LinkedIn, which notes that they areprofitable, hopes to generate $100million in revenue in 2008 from amix of advertising and fees. Bycomparison, MySpace, which is sig- 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Most online social networking sites tend to beChapter 14: Find and Be Found 61

merely for friendship. LinkedIn is more than that.Millions of registered users and businesses areusing LinkedIn. This includes all of the Fortune 500as well as famous people like John McCain,Barack Obama, T. Boone Pickens, Bill Gates andmany more. In addition, there are over 150 indus-tries that are represented in LinkedIn.

Given this broad spectrum of users, we based ourlist on the simple premise that LinkedIn is a placeto be "found" or "find people" and through that phi-losophy, began to expand it out.

1. Find & Follow "Thought Leaders" focus onyour particular industry or keep it broad andlook for some well known "gurus."

2. Increase your Credibility use it like realityTVhave people follow your significant busi-ness moves through the "what are you work-ing on now function."

3. Increase your Web Traffic use LinkedIn todrive traffic to your blogs, websites, etc.

4. Be an Idea Generator use LinkedIn An-swers to get ideas for articles and posts toyour own blog.

5. Informal Advisory Board use LinkedIn An-62 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

swers to tap into a variety of experts to an-swer your questions for free. It can be a greatmeans of exchanging experience and busi-ness savvy.

6. Enhance your Brand it's about giving morethan you are getting.

7. Competitive Intelligence follow your com-petition, determine the internal corporatestructure of a competitor, review the compa-ny culturei.e. turnover rates, promotion,and operational relationships, both internal &external.

8. Industry Intelligence learn what others inyour market are focused on.

9. A Network of Support and Community smallbusinesses sometimes lack this, especiallywith solopreneurs. With the coming of Linke-dIn, small business owners can readily inter-act with others who have similar experienceto their own. Who knows, business ownersjust might find angel investors willing to fundtheir ventures within the LinkedIn community!

10. Locate Industry Experts Quickly the Linke-Chapter 14: Find and Be Found 63

dIn Advance Search page allows you to tapinto a rich list of experts on almost every top-ic, industry or company. This is very impor-tant when you are looking for a critical skillset or much needed market research.

11. Bonus target key employees that you maywant to hire away from your competition.

People need social interaction. LinkedIn providesthat but, more important, it opens the door tobusiness interactions. We offer our short list ofways to tap into the potential this offers. However,our list is merely a drop in the bucket. Dependingon your use of LinkedIn, there are many moreways that you can, and will, tap into. Rememberthe only limit to one's vision, is one's vision.

timelymanner.

ces

Hpefi64reasing sales and enabling moreffective uses of business relation-hips.

ere's a rapid fire look at theotential LinkedIn offers business-s: research prospective partners,nd industry experts, locate and getR u l e

15 Think Outside the Box Great

businesspeople who

makebusiness

decisionshave the

knack formaking great

businessdecisions in a

Great business people who makebusiness decisions have the knackfor making great businessdecisions in a timely manner.Perhaps that is something they areborn with but, for sure, it is alsobased on the business supporttools they have. LinkedIn should beone of these support tools as theyhave the capability of providingrelevant information rapidly thatcan be used to assist in hiring, in- 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

background information on

potential employees, perform research on compet-Chapter 15: Think Outside the Box 65

itors, contact media, close sales rapidly with muchless effort than traditional channels, etc., all ofwhich can greatly improve your business.

Hiring Top Talent great companies are builtaround top-tiered people and top-tiered peopleusually associate with other top-tiered people. Sohow can those relationships be effectively lever-aged?

Apply LinkedIn to leverage your employees'networks to find even more high quality talent. Themost talented employees in any field are usuallynot looking for work because they are alreadyemployed. What better way to gain access to themthan through a referral from one of your trustedemployees?

More effective evaluation of Human Capital the typical hiring process begins with the interviewand then proceeds to a background check.Wouldn't it be more effective to vet all your appli-cant's references before you have an interview?

Apply LinkedIn to view your applicants' profilesand verify all their references before your firstmeeting. Taking this to another level, think of thedue diligence that can be performed using thisprocess when considering the talent evaluation ofa target company prior to the actual acquisition ofthat company. This alone could be worth millions.

Speaking engagements these can be very66 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

powerful ways to reach your business partners,prospects or customers. However not all invita-tions to speak will result in getting your business infront of the proper audience.

Apply LinkedIn to quickly check out the group tofind out if they are legitimate and would bevaluable for your company. Use a LinkedIn searchto determine if you have any common contactswho you can contact to learn more about thegroup. Based on this research, you can quicklydetermine if it makes sense for you to commit.

These are but three specific applications of howLinkedIn can help your business. When used stra-tegically, LinkedIn gives you a much deeper reachinto your industry, the ability to access muchgreater talent, which in the end gives you greaterknowledge that produces better results.

By having your team connected to LinkedIn, youcan use each other's network as well as connectwith your team. As we wrap up this rule, let's leaveyou with one more example of applying LinkedIn toa business scenario:

Suppose one of your sales people is calling on anew account and, in searching this company, theysee that one of your connections knows thePresident of this new account. They now have thepotential to leverage that connection chain to build

a relationship with the new customer. This couldChapter 15: Think Outside the Box 67

result in a much quicker sales cycle and accelerateyour business.

68 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Section IIIThe LinkedIn Profile

GOAL: Determine the most effectiveway to communicate your brand andyour value through the LinkedInprofile.

Section III: The LinkedIn Profile 69

finYlesQc70nd an expert to interview, or just toetwork with others in your industry.ou can connect with friends, col-agues and classmates from high

chool or college. With theuestion and Answer feature, youan showcase your backgroundR u l e

16 Understand Your LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn

claims thatusers with

completeprofiles are 40

times morelikely toreceive

opportunitieson LinkedIn.

If you're looking for new businessopportunities or if you're looking togrow your career, LinkedIn is theplace to be. LinkedIn offers you theopportunity to connect with tens ofmillions of professionals locatedthroughout the world, which canhelp you to accomplish many ofyour professional goals.

It's a great place to find a job, seeka reference, hire a new employee, 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

and expertise by answering the questions of othersChapter 16: Understand Your LinkedIn Profile 71

from over 20 categories.

Completing Your Profile

LinkedIn claims that users with complete profilesare 40 times more likely to receive opportunities onLinkedIn. To help you develop out your Profile,LinkedIn provides a completeness scale for you.For instance, you may have noticed a little textblurb that states "Your Profile is 85% Complete." Ifyou were ever wondering what attributes consti-tute a complete profile, they are:

Entering your current position

Filling in two past positions

Providing your education history

Adding your profile summary

Uploading a profile photo

Adding your specialties (which is also a greatSEO tool)

Gathering at least three recommendations

Updating & Revising Your Profile72 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Whenever you make changes to your profile, youneed to select the edit link (which is either to theright or left) for EACH of the major categories onyour profile (i.e. summary, education, etc.) andthen follow the directions.

You may be aware that when you make a substan-tial change to your profile (for example by adding anew current job or school or website, etc.), yourentire network receives an alert. You can controlwhether your connections receive updates. This isdone by navigating to Profile Updates on theAccount & Settings page.

Other Elements of the Profile

The Featured Logo If a user has the "In" icon,they have premium accounts. Users with this iconshowing may become Featured during searches ifthey most closely match the search criteria.

Thus

Premium Account leads to "In" Icon

and

"In" displayed + most accurate search result =Featured

Status If you are looking for a simple, yet non-in-Chapter 16: Understand Your LinkedIn Profile 73

trusive way of communicating with your network,the Status function is the perfect tool. This toolallows you to share information regarding yourcurrent focus. When you choose to use the "Whatyou are working on?" feature to enter a descrip-tion, a status update is triggered and sent to yourconnection's home pages.

Your Photograph A picture is worth a thousandwordsor so they say. Adding your photograph toLinkedIn allows you to create another connectionwith anyone visiting your profile. A nice, profes-sional headshot is the best choice, but any profes-sional-looking photograph will do. When you add aphoto it shows a different level of commitment tousing the LinkedIn tool. Given the fact that we'revisually oriented, adding anything that enhancesyour profile is a definite plus.

You have complete control over who sees yourphoto on LinkedIn. In fact, you have access tothree levels of privacy. You can allow your directconnections, your network, or everyone access toyour photo.

pspfilisub74eople tend to go through theignup process as quickly asossible, usually not completelylling out their profile as no onekes to spend unnecessary timeigning up on another one of thesebiquitous websites. Unfortunately,y racing through this, they alsoR u l e

17 Give Yourself a Fast, Powerful Makeover! Updating your

professionalheadline issomething

that offers anincredible ROI

in terms ofbenefit gained

vs. timespent.

For most people, their LinkedIn ex-perience begins with an invitationfrom someone they know. It isprobably the curiosity factor thatgets them to initially register withLinkedIn. We actually took a littlenon-scientific survey and that waswhat was overwhelmingly indicatedas the impetus for registering.

While curiosity is an impetus, it isnot one that is overwhelming. Thus 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

tend to overlook one of the most

important elements to their LinkedIn success.Chapter 17: Give Yourself a Fast, Powerful Makeover! 75

During the registration process, one of the veryfirst things someone needs to do is to create theirprofessional headline. It may be subtle, but it is im-portant, yet most people quickly skip past it ad-dressing it only with the bare minimal requirement.

Think about this. Do you realize that every timeyour name appears on LinkedIn, your professionalheadline also appears? Your name could come upin a search or within someone's network or in theOutlook toolbar, but the bottom line is that every-where your name comes up, so does your profes-sional headline.

Essentially, this headline functions as your3-second brand statement or your 3-secondbumper sticker. Let's illustrate the power of thiswith a little example which of these headlines ismore powerful?

John Doe 20 year expert facilitating $100,000,000 in High Tech Mergers

or

Bob Doe Owner, Doe & Associates

Clearly, the first professional headline is morefunctional and quickly enables you to understandwhat John Doe does and where his key strengthlies.

Now let's look at a practical implication of the two76 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

headlines above. Let's say you are doing a searchon High Tech Mergers. Assume both John Doe andBob Doe have the right keywords in their profileand they alone show up in the search. When youlook at the search results, all you are able to see isa name and the professional description. Thinkabout it, who are you going to be drawn to in a listof names, John or Bob Doe? It is very likely you willat least check out John because he tells you he isan expert in High Tech Mergers while Bob doesn'ttell you anything of relevance.

We were speaking to a group of "C Level" businesspeople discussing the value of a LinkedIn profile.To illustrate this point, we presented an individual'sprofile piecemeal. First, we highlighted his 300+connections. Next we showed his vanity link, whichmade it easy to find his profile. Following this, weshowed his links directing traffic to his blog andwebsite. Then we asked, "Is this a maximizedprofile?" Most heads nodded yes. So we finallyshowed his professional description, which wasvery vague and bland and asked if anyone in theroom knew what this individual did. Since it was sonondescript, no one understood what this individu-al's expertise was. Now we asked again, "Was thisa maximized profile?" This time, the answer was aresounding NO. The moral of the story is "Activityis not achievement." In this age of multitasking andbusiness at the speed of light, no matter how manypeople you connect with, if people can't quickly

ascertain your business value, the odds of themChapter 17: Give Yourself a Fast, Powerful Makeover! 77

seeking to do business with you rapidly diminish-es.

While we call it a 30-second makeover, whatever ittakes you to do, is absolutely worth the investmentof your time. Updating your professional headlineis something that offers an incredible ROI in termsof benefit gained vs. time spent. Invest in yourselfand quickly show the world your expertise andproject your brand!

bwasctoyL78rand through everything we do,ear, touch or discuss. Therefores many famous marketers haveaid, "You are Your Brand." We'veompiled a list of things you can do enhance your brand and improve

our ability to get "found" oninkedIn.R u l e

18 You Are Your BrandEach of us

projects ourbrand

througheverything we

do, wear,touch ordiscuss.

There are millions and millions ofregistered users on LinkedIn. Giventhat sheer volume, how are yougoing to get people to find you andmore importantly, when they do findyou, are you projecting the rightbrand that will help your chancesfor success?

Let's start by asking what is yourbrand? Whether we acknowledge itor not, each of us projects our 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

Become a Thought Leader and find newChapter 18: You Are Your Brand 79

relevant content that relates to your brand.

Search on Google and Technorati for stories.

Do a weekly scan of YouTube and thepodcasts on iTunes to see if there are any newones relevant to your brand.

Convert your new, relevant information into athought provoking question on LinkedInAnswers.

Conversely, use some of that information toprovide well thought through answers toLinkedIn questions.

Consider using this "fresh content" to set upyour own blog and offer key insights into yourexpertise.

With your blog, use an easy-to-remember,content-appropriate domain name for yourbrand.

Register your site with all the top search80 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

engines.

Link your blog back to your LinkedIn profile.

Use a specific name, relevant to your brand toname this link (i.e. Operations Guru.com vs.My Blog).

Utilize the "what are you doing" function onyour LinkedIn Profile but note only relevantthings to your brand (not inconsequentialones).

Along with your name, LinkedIn provides youwith a small area to describe yourself. This isyour "3-second pitch"it is displayed everytime your name comes up. Make sure youcommunicate your brand in this 810 wordarea. For instance, replace "Owner VideoCorp" with "Video Expert providing cost-effec-tive solutions to XYZ-type clients."

Add your LinkedIn vanity URL to your emailsignature and business card

LinkedIn allows you to email up to 200 peopleChapter 18: You Are Your Brand 81

at a timeat some reasonable interval andwhen the information is relevant to your con-nections, communicate this information.

When you invite someone to get LinkedIn toyou, personalize the note.

Provide LinkedIn recommendations to peoplewhom you know very well. People appreciatethese very much and this usually turns intosomething that will get returned to you.

If you are networking in person, be aware ofyour clothes and appearance. They reflectyour brand.

Don't seek business opportunities right off.Instead, seek areas of shared interest andbuild a relationship.

Try to always ask someone if there issomething that you can do for them.

Prepare ahead of time and read the blogs or82 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

check out the websites of key people that youcommunicate with.

Don't lie, don't pitch and don't spam. Yourbrand should be that of providing value, notsnake oil.

(Bonus) Be Confident!

There are probably a bunch more tips to add, andwe welcome them all. Feel free to share this list orleave comments with your own tips athttp://www.LinkToProsper.com/branding. All thebest to developing your future success stories!

Chapter 18: You Are Your Brand 83

atocvinpc84lso where you can post your pho-graph, adding another way to

onnect with others. Your profile isisible to the people who arecluded in your networktheeople with whom you've directlyonnected. You should consider it aR u l e

19 Promote Your Profile Your profile isa billboard for

you.

Your LinkedIn Profile is YourBrand and it is the starting pointof your LinkedIn experience. It isone of your most importantelements on LinkedIn.

It's the place where you willsummarize all of your professionalendeavors including your employ-ment, your website, your awards,certifications, background informa-tion, education and interests. It's 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

work in progress as you continually update it toChapter 19: Promote Your Profile 85

increase its effectiveness.

Your Profile is a Billboard for You

Think of your profile like a billboard; you neverknow who is going to see it but for those who doread it, you want it to be as effective as possible.

LinkedIn actually lets you know who has read yourprofile. Have you ever noticed that little text box onthe right side of your LinkedIn Home page thatstates, "Your profile has been viewed by 103people in the last 28 days. In the last 5 days youhave appeared in search results 89 times?"

If you haven't, that might mean one of two things:

Since that feature is in LinkedIn beta testing, itmight not always be available.

Otherwise, more important, fewer than fivepeople viewed your site in the last 30 days.

If you answered "b," then you really need to focuson attracting people to your profile, which can bedone relatively easily.

Promoting Your Profile86 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

A very simple and quick way to promote yourprofile is to create a vanity link and add it to youremail signature. Perhaps do something likethisWant to connect with me on LinkedIn?Please visit http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/JohnDoe.

Another straightforward way to promote yourprofile is accomplished simply through invitingmore people to connect. Once they receive the in-vitation, they can accept and then view yourprofile.

An additional way to promote your profile is to useHTML logos and links on your blogs and internetsites.

A broader way to promote your profile relates tothe search engines. Currently public profiles onLinkedIn are being indexed in the major searchengines. Thus limited information from your profilecan show up on a Google search, if you set yourpublic profile preferences to display the sections ofyour LinkedIn profile that you want non-LinkedInusers to see. This information is limited to onlyyour name, title, industry, metropolitan area,number of connections, and number of recom-menders. To contact with you, any of these viewerswould have to go through and follow officiallyLinkedIn sanctioned channels. You can alwaysedit this function on the Settings Page and clickingon My Public Profile.

So Who Can View My Profile? Chapter 19: Promote Your Profile 87

As we've seen, people who aren't on LinkedIn canview a subset of your profile if you so choose. Reg-istered users on LinkedIn, who are within your3-degree network, can see your name and fullprofile. In addition, certain premium corporate sub-scribers can see the same information if you allowthose views. Everyone else outside your networkwill only see a limited view of your profile.

aydobretis88 link is automatically created forou that includes the LinkedInomain name followed by a streamf random letters and num-ersdefinitely not easy tomember and certainly not attrac-

ve. This link is what takesomeone directly to your LinkedInR u l e

20 Personalize Your ProfileInsight for

your LinkedInprofile!

Accessing Your Profile: Creating a Personal URL

Wouldn't it be great to have a pro-fessional looking URL for yourLinkedIn profile that would be easyto communicate verbally or wouldlook great on your business card,website or other marketing collater-al? Well, now you can.

When you create a LinkedIn profile, 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

profile.

An attractive feature of LinkedIn is that you canChapter 20: Personalize Your Profile 89

personalize this URL using your name (if it's notalready taken) or other identifying words, such asthe name of your company. For example, AlbertEinstein might have created a personal LinkedInURL that looked like this:http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/AlbertEinstein.

You can create your personal URL by clicking onAccount & Settings at the top of your LinkedInpage. Next, go to Profile Settings, click on PublicProfile and you'll be taken to another screen. At thetop you'll be able to edit your Public Profile. Nowyou can add your personal URL to anything youwant.

Keep in mind that someone else may have alreadyreserved your namebecause many people havethe same name. If yours is taken, you might tryadding an initial or a title or a suffix (Mr./Ms.,Doctor, MD, PhD, etc.). Alternatively, you can addthe name of your business. Also, keep in mind thatyour personal URL must include at least fiveletters.

Your Profile and LinkedIn Groups

Groups are communities within LinkedIn whereyou can connect with others who share similar af-filiations by industry, association, company, or

some other common connection. When you join a90 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn

LinkedIn group, your profile becomes visible to allof the group members.

Keep in mind, however, that group memberscannot see your network of connections unlessyou make them visible to them or unless you arepersonally connected to that particular groupmember.

Remember you can control if others can view yourconnections by going to Account & Settings,Settings, Privacy Settings, and then clicking onConnections Browse. You can control whether ornot your connections are able to view the peopleyou are connected to, although they will always beable to see shared connections.

Adding Connections but without Alerting My Network

The default on LinkedIn is to allow your connec-tions to be notified whenever you add a new one.If you prefer not to alert everyone (and preventyour connections from seeing each other in yournetwork) you can adjust this on the Account &Settings page. Once on the page, under PrivacySettings, click on Connection Browse. Select "No"for the questions, "Allow your connections to viewthe rest of your connections list?" Then save yourchanges.

My Photo Disappeared? What Now?Chapter 20: Personalize Your Profile 91

Did you upload a photo but now you find that it'smissing from your LinkedIn profile? It may havebeen removed because it was flagged by anotheruser or LinkedIn management as inappropriate. Asa professional networking site, LinkedIn requiresthat you must use a photo to which you own therights. That is, you cannot use copyrighted photoseven if they are of you! You must own the copyrightto your material.

Also, it must be a picture of you and not someoneor something else. As a professional site, you'renot allowed to use image