The Power of LinkedIn: Find, Be Found and Engage

Brandy Nagel

Online Networking

A complement to traditional networking.– Relationship-based– Makes your network visible for you and for

your connections

Who’s Using It?

• 50 million people are on LinkedIn.

• All Fortune 500 companies are represented – at a director level or above.

• More than 300,000 CEOs on LinkedIn.

Through LinkedIn you can:• Find and be found• Engage people in conversation• Access more people – the right people• Research companies• Discover inside connections• Manage your online reputation

When you join, you create a profile - your professional accomplishments.It is a dynamic document.

Many people simply paste in their resume.

Name

Headline

Location

Industry

Picture

Status update

This section auto-populates

Websites

Public Profile URL

Are you a “brand name” product or a “generic” ?

Add a middle initial or middle name.

Add a common mis-spelling of your name in the specialties section.

My last name rhymes with “bagel” and is commonly misspelled “nagle”

LinkedIn’s Photo Policy: We consider a photo appropriate as long as it does not contain content that is copyrighted… and does not contain offensive content.

If your photo is not an image of yourself or does not contain an actual photograph, it is considered inappropriate.

Unique web address – direct to your public profilehttp://www.linkedin.com/in/benagel

Make this consistent with your personal branding.

Summary

Specialties

Write in your own voice. When in doubt, keep it short. Use key words.

Key wordsCPA = Certified Public Accountant

PMP (Project Management Professional) is one of five concentrations offered by the Project Management Institute in the study of Project Management:

PMP = Project Management Professional

CAPM = Certified Associate in Project Management

PgMP = Program Management Professional

PMI RMP = Risk Management Professional

PMI SP = Scheduling Professional

Consider for Your Summary…

Jargon does not explain value:

Eliminated the need for TPS Reports.

Valuable to any business:• 800% increase in e-newsletter

open rates in one year - from 200 to 1,600 readers.

• 90% reduction in annual printing costs, from $20,000 to $2,000.

Tell how you…– Increased sales– Increased profit– Increased productivity– Reduced costs– Reduced waste– Saved time– Made a “headache” go away

Be specific. Be bold. Be accurate.

54% reduction of expenses over five years.

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.

-Mark Twain

LinkedIn does not have spell

check!

Always have at least one other email address assigned to your account should you lose access to the primary email address.

Account & Settings > Personal Information > Email Addresses

“2 A.M. is a lousy time to try to make new friends.”

Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty

by Harvey Mackay

Who do you know?• Co-workers• Classmates• Neighbors• Friends• Relatives• Teammates• Service providers• Mentors/Mentees• Customers• Vendors

Think of everywhere you worked, lived, volunteered, worshipped, hung out…you know hundreds of people.

Contacts & Connections

• Add everyone you know into Outlook. – Make sure each one has an e-mail address

• Export those connections to LinkedIn.

Old school: only invite people you would be willing to recommend

indiscriminate selective

Who to Invite?

New school: dinner party introduction

Some people have hundreds of contacts.

How strong can those relationships be?

weak tie: a friendly yet casual social connection.

Research shows people don't get their jobs through their friends. The get them through their acquaintances. Why?

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

The strength of weak ties

As of April 2009

Personalize

Great to see you on LinkedIn! I'd like to add you to my professional network.

-Brandy

or

It was great to meet you at the Courtney’s cook out. As I mentioned, my neighbor works in the finance department at IBM. Let me know if you are interested, and I’ll make an introduction.

-Brandy

Loophole!

Groups

•Alumni groups

•Previous employers

•Professional associations

•LinkedIn Roswell

•Consider creating a group

Groups

Groups

Introductions

Can I remove a person from my list of connections?

Bonus tips• Check your online reputation: www.pipl.com• Check out xobni (“inbox” spelled backwards).• Set up a Google alert for yourself.