20 LinkedIn Case Studies and Examples for Professionals

1. Frank Coletta, CEO at Mobile Advanced Care in Brazil, uses LinkedIn to research professionals before meeting with them. He finds that he uncovers important insights that he would have otherwise not known.

2. James Filbird in China gets 75% of his business from LinkedIn. He has found that the quality of information, people and tools available on LinkedIn surpass all other social networking sites in terms of business. He is the owner of JMF International Trade Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

3. Evan stumbled upon his dream job on LinkedIn. For fun he did a random search for “Advertising Sales Director”. A position at TravelZoo was advertised and  applying, interviewing and receiving the job, Evan was able to get back into an industry he loves mainly due to his LinkedIn profile.

4.After reading about an interesting company in a magazine, Liz Manning searched LinkedIn and found one of the company’s founders and sent him an InMail. At the time the company had no openings. About two months later, Liz saw an ad on Craigslist for an opening and the LinkedIn toolbar indicated that she was a 2nd degree link to the co-founder. She sent the con-founder another InMail, mentioning their common connection and within a day she had an interview and landed the job.

5. Steve Weinstein is the Manager of Marketing Communications at Cooper Power Systems. He landed this job because a recruiter from his current employer found him on LinkedIn. Steve interviewed and got the job due to LinkedIn. You never know who’s looking at your profile.

6. Chuck had recently relocated his family to North Carolina from California. In order to reach out to marketing professionals in his area he started using LinkedIn. He made a connection with the chief executive of iContact, an e-mail software company where Chuck is currently the corporate communications director.

7.Linked Group makes a difference for children in Bangalore, South India. An employee from Ernst & Young had visited a poverty stricken school in Bangalore and decided she wanted to do something to help. A LinkedIn group was created to foster a discussion on how to help. One member suggested creating a “Wish List” on Amazon. Members of the LinkedIn group then proceeded to buy books for the children.

8. David T. Stevens lost his job at a radio station and instead of wallowing he immediately went to LinkedIn. He changed his status to “I’m up for grabs, who wants me?” Awfully bold but it grabbed the attention of his connections. He was referred to the Chamber of Commerce Mountain View and within a week he had the job of chambers events and programs manager. His bio on LinkedIn also shows that he is a LinkedIn approved trainer so he not only offers a success story but you can learn upon visiting his profile.

9. Irish Software start up company Goshido used only LinkedIn to raise 230,000 dollars in eight days. They sent out 700 messages to potential investors, and garnered over 200 responses in a week. As found on LinkedIn Success Stories Frank Hannigan, Chairman for Goshido said, “Attracting investment is all about trust, LinkedIn is the largest collection of trust agents on the planet. We reduced the cost and time involved in fundraising 75% by using LinkedIn as our funding vehicle.” Did I mention it was all done on LinkedIn?

10. LinkedIn Polls help members gather information. Of course. Are they worth it? Yes. LinkedIn member, Linda Chell Rooney used to Polls application to gather ideas for a tele-seminar series on issues pertaining to home construction and real estate. In less than a month, she received 100 responses and was able to promote her seminars gaining nearly 60 participants.

11. Buddy Media

Jeff Ragovin, VP of Sales and Business Development at Buddy Media, uses LinkedIn to reach out to clients. He has found success with quality not quantity. Although his company net worth is in the millions, he uses LinkedIn to find the right people to offer company proposals to. He would request invitations based on common connections to ensure a personal connection versus a simple cold call.

12. Hans Notenboom

Hans Notenboom, Phillips’ Global Director of Online, uses LinkedIn as a platform to engage with their audience in the healthcare sector in innovative new ways. They use LinkedIn to bring thousands of conversations surrounding healthcare onto one platform.  There are over five million healthcare professionals on Linkedin from all over the world can share insights and experiences in an environment where Phillips’ can facilitate without being obtrusive. This way the information stays focused and delivers to the desired audience. They wanted to create an environment on LinkedIn that would be useful for members. They are still in their early stages but have seen a great level of engagement. They created an  “Innovations in Health” LinkedIn group, to move engagement off the website. Although it’s still early they have seen a great level of engagement among the group’s 11,000 plus members.

13. Mike Mcsharry

He is the Managing Director at Systems and Education Ltd and he found his best man on LinkedIn. He had lost touch with the best man in his wedding over 25 years ago. When planning a twenty-fifth anniversary for his wife he decided to join LinkedIn to aid in a web search. A few days after joining the network a mutual friend re-connected the two on LinkedIn.

14.Marc Rousseau

Marc Rouseau, Web Communications and Social Media Consultant is located in Cambodia, where LinkedIn and other social networks are M.I.A. He’s using LinkedIn to created introductory training courses for entrepreneurs and businesses. They have brought them closer to realizing that social media creates more opportunities for international business. In addition, he teaches them how LinkedIn is pivotal in expanding networking opportunities. He also uses apps like ‘Box’ and blog integration, to share information and/or campaigns.

15. Ricky Potts

Ricky Potts is a busy man. He is an owner of Open Book Design, Content Specialist IMAVEx and is the special coordinator and staff writer at IndyConcerts.com. He has found success using LinkedIn by networking. He also tracks the book he has read and still wants to read. LinkedIn allows him to show his blog and put his entire “online” resume on one platform. With over 300 hundred connections Ricky has found success while using LinkedIn.

16. The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel recently closed a deal to acquire sites Lakerentals.com and Coastrentals.com. How?

They were contacted by the people behind Lake Rentals and Coast Rentals via Inmail on LinkedIn. The opportunity was made aware by having the profile visible on LinkedIn. The tag-line “LinkedIn makes professional connections visible” rings true. It makes companies visible thus creating unforeseen opportunities.

17.Daniel Tunkelang

Daniel Tunkelang, Chief Scientist at Endeca found success on LinkedIn with the search feature. He helped organize and call people who had a strong interest in the topics for the event. After conducting a search on LinkedIn he chose 100 people to send a personalized connection request. He found more than 50% of those people accepted the connection. In addition, he found that some of these connections submitted papers to the workshop, one volunteered to review the book he had been working on and others expressed their thankfulness in finding a connection based on their targeted interests.

18. Schawk!

Schawk is a company with thousands of employees located in Des Plaines, IL. It found success by using LinkedIn Recruiter to fill a variety of positions. Schawk decided to use LinkedIn to create a stronger online presence and built a Schawk Career Page. The page is used in conjunction with their LinkedIn group. It has helped build a talent pool so when an opening occurs they have qualified talent lined up.  The combination of LinkedIn Recruiter, our Career Page and LinkedIn Group had a significant impact on their hiring efforts. They’ve saved $200K on searches, which were all done in a time-efficient way.

19.Stan Relihan

Stan interviewed on Cameron Reilly’s ‘G’Day World’ show on Podcast Network, on the subject of ‘Using LinkedIn as a Business Tool’. During the interview he was given a challenge: use the LinkedIn Netwrok  to find the most impressive Celebrity Guest to appear on his show. As a result, he found Vint Cerf, (co-inventor of the Internet & Chief Internet Evangelist at Google) to appear as a guest. Due to making connections and others willingness to introduce connection Stan now has his own weekly Podcast show. Without LinkedIn, none of this would have happened.

20.Ismael Ghalimi

Ismael has an interesting story on how he found success on LinkedIn. He was getting married with guest flying in from all around the world. Since he frequently used United he recommended his guests do the same. Unfortunately, the flight the guests needed had been over-booked. United had sent a piece of mail notifying them that their flight reservation had been moved. However, this change would make his guests miss the connecting flight and therefore miss the wedding. Instead of getting angry he went to LinkedIn. He typed in “United” in the search field, narrowed down the search to locate the general manager for United Air Lines France (where his guests were visiting from). He used an Introduction through a connection and got in touch with the manger to explain the situation in a cordial email exchange. What came from this email conversation was all reservations being moved back to the direct flight, offered free return tickets to Paris, a personal email to inform Ismael that the flight had a 15 minute delay and had Champagne waiting for the guests upon arrival. LinkedIn can do more than find you a job, it connects you to right people at the right time.

LinkedIn Offers New Promotional Tab

10 Amazing LinkedIn Status Updates

Guest post by Anthony Juliano

Stay top-of-mind, start conversations in 140 characters or less

Wouldn’t you love to have the opportunity to get in front of customers and prospects every day to share your expertise, passion, and ideas? Well thanks to LinkedIn, you do—if you take the time to update your status. Just like your updates on Facebook help you stay in touch with friends, LinkedIn status updates can help you stay connected to your professional contacts in ways that can have a dramatic impact on how you’re perceived—or whether you’re thought of at all.

While it may seem difficult to come up with something to say, there’s actually quite a bit worth talking about. Here are ten ways you can update your status so that your name not only stays in the mind of your audience, but starts conversations with them as well.

• Mention what you’re working on. One of the best status updates is a simple mention of the most interesting thing you’ll be working on each day. Over time, mentioning different aspects of your work will have a bigger impact on what people know about you than even the most carefully written profile.

• Share what you’ve read. Building a social media audience isn’t about self-promotion—it’s more a matter of being seen as a resource. That includes being seen as a go-to person when it comes to the latest thinking in your industry. If you’ve read something that’s worth your audience’s attention, tell ‘em about it (and link to it, if possible).

• Share advice/opinion. You have expertise to share—why not summarize it and share it? Even if you think it’s simplistic, there’s probably someone out there who would benefit from your knowledge. And if your status is more opinion than fact, just be aware of how your audience might react. There’s nothing wrong with encouraging a little debate—as long as you can respond.

• Share memorable quotations. A great quotation can inspire, educate, and amuse. Share others’ thoughts when they reflect your beliefs, and you’ll help the audience understand not only what you know, but what you value.

• Ask questions. A question mark is the only punctuation mark that demands feedback. Phrasing your status in the form of a question is a great way to engage your audience, tap into their expertise, and show them you care about their opinion.

• Mention events you’re part of. Location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla aren’t the only way to tell people where they can find you. Tell your audience what events you’re part of—before, during, and after they occur—and you’ll be better positioned to connect with them not just online, but also face-to-face.

• Share content from other sites. The 140-character maximum length of a LinkedIn status update is deceiving: it seems limiting, but only if you think of it as the whole conversation. Instead, think of it as a way to generate interest in a longer conversation–content you’ve created elsewhere, that is, like blog posts, photos, and videos.

• Cross-post tweets. LinkedIn’s 140-character limit on statuses is no coincidence: it’s a direct result of its integration with Twitter. Now, just add “#in” to a tweet, and it can do double-duty as your LinkedIn status (and it’s just as easy to make your LinkedIn status a tweet—just click on the Twitter check box). It’s important to remember, however, that many tweets are not appropriate status updates—especially at-replies that depend upon context to be understood. Make sure that the tweet can stand on its own and is aligned with your goals for being on LinkedIn. Many users have set up automatic integration between LinkedIn and Twitter, and it’s causing confusion and negative impressions among their audiences.

• Share job opportunities. Is your company hiring? Why not inform those you trust first? And don’t just limit this to jobs with your employer: help your contacts find talent, and help job seekers, by promoting others’ job postings. It’s a great way to be a resource to those in your network.

• Directly promote your product or service—but only infrequently. Many of us are on LinkedIn because we ultimately want to be thought of first for a certain product or service. With that in mind, it’s okay to use your status update for direct promotion, but only sparingly and with the knowledge that too much promotion will cause you to be seen as an interruption to the conversations others are hoping to participate in via social networking.

As you can see, there’s no shortage of opportunities to use LinkedIn to connect with your audience. Instead of waiting for people to come to your profile, get in front of them by updating your status every day—or at least a few times a week. It may just be the missing link in your networking efforts.

Now it’s time for your ideas: what types of LinkedIn status updates do you use? How have these helped you connect with others?

10 Reasons Why LinkedIn is Powerful for Branding and Sales

cLinkedIn is a powerful tool. It incorporates all the features one needs for networking, job searching, sales, and employees. You can also utilize LinkedIn to connect with old friends or colleagues. If you intend to use it for business then other your help to others first. It’ll leave a good impression and well…they’ll owe you one. Let’s discuss in detail the plethora of LinkedIn options.

1. The Events Feature. Never really sure what events to attend pertaining to your industry? The Events feature offers event search but also recommends events for you based off your profile. It offers information about attendees and updates surround the event. So far there are eight thousand events with the option for event organizers to add more.

2.Linked up with your other social profiles. Potential business opportunities can come from all over the place but LinkedIn is thier one stop shop. Once you’ve made your connections people can view your profile and then click away to your website, blog or Twitter account (make sure you put those links on your profile).

3. The Power of Staying in Touch. You may not be needing LinkedIn for job hunting or anything business related. However, LinkedIn is great for staying in touch. It’s a updated by its users making it a reliable current database.

4. Applications. LinkedIn offers a range of applications that help you make the most of your profile. One great application is SlideShare. This allows you to share your presentations and save them on the web. You can show your connections your expertise and range of knowledge through one easy to use application. You can also set up polls to find out valuable information and share your blog.

5. Groups…SubGroups. These groups can be great for announcements, upcoming events, discussions and for finding out valuable information. Remember these groups and subgroups should be joined because you have genuine interest in what the group is about. If used correctly, it’s powerful for making connections and staying “in the know.” Plus with the Groups Feature you can find the best discussions, most influential within your groups and more.

6. Finding A Job. This alone speaks volumes. If your in the market and looking for a job (or employee) then LinkedIn is a powerful source. You can search for businesses looking to hire in your level of expertise. It’s better then looking through wanted ads. You can also see if you have any mutual connections for quick references and common ground. LinkedIn also alerts you when someone has viewed your profile, not specifically who, but at least you know there is interest.

7. You Get your Name Out There. By staying active on your LinkedIn profile you can ask for action! This will help gain their interest and can result in real life interaction. The more active you are in taking part in discussions, posting information, asking questions-the more likely your name is going to stick in people’s memories.

8. Brag, Boast and Gloat. Tell people what makes you so great. Fill out your summary by using strong choice words. The power behind doing this is that people will come to think of you by these words. This isn’t the place to share your shortcomings and how you’ve you overcome them. It’s place to tell why your the best and then back it up with action. Plus you LinkedIn profile is search-able on Google so represent yourself well.

9. Recommendations. If you’ve had a good business relationship with anoter LinkedIn member, ask for a recommendation. Be careful not to ask just to ask. You want people who know you and can honestly write a good recommendation. Then you can return the favor since their recommendation gives you good credentials. Plus your recommendation gives them exposure on your profile. It’s a win win.

10. What have you found that makes LinkedIn such a powerful resource? Fill in the number 10 spot.

5 Ways to Use LinkedIn’s New Group Functionality

Our ability to have freedom of speech drives many of the fundamental values of the American Dream. Our first amendment is what allows social media to be so great. LinkedIn Group feature is a prime example of how. As a LinkedIn member you are able to create an open conversation on any subject or profession. Users can comment, share information…you know…practice their freedom of speech.

More importantly however are the reasons why this Groups feature is so great. LinkedIn has improved upon this feature making it easier to engage in conversations. After reading LinkedIn Takes Groups To The Next Level, I thought I’d highlight and simplify it’s improved features.

1.The feature allows conversations to feel more personal, more interactive. There is no longer a barrier. You can share links as if you were on the homepage. Plus with your profile picture is attached with any comment you make.

2. You can click on the last three participants profiles to jump in on the conversation…if interested in what their saying… plus you can see what the entire conversation was all about by clicking the discussion headline or “See all comments” link.

3. Create and Vote on new content.You can comment and “like” content (ahem Facebook) This also helps you gauge what others are interested in by seeing what they like.

4. Follow feature allows you to receive email alerts so when select members of a group participate you can start to follow them. LinkedIn will begin to highlight active group participants as “top influencers,” so the most active in a group will influence more participation from other members.

5. LinkedIn will be integrate more with Twitter, greater sharing options with more ability to follow.

LinkedIn is continually updating and enhancing its features in order to make it the number one professional place to network.Thus far it has up to 67 million users and is growing. Get to know your LinkedIn profile as well as you know your Facebook profile. I think LinkedIn should be considered the first amendment in pursuing the online dream. It holds the keys to amazing networking possibilities, which is why we spend so much time on social networking sites anyway…right?

8 Ways to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

If you haven’t created a LinkedIn profile then you should get on it. There are 50 million users on LinkedIn who may looking for what you are doing or have the answers to your questions. LinkedIn is a free, powerful social media site that can connect you to many people and open doors for many opportunities. Like every social media site time management is key but to fully optimize your experience here are some useful tips.

Lewis Howes (co-author of “LinkedWorking”) has some great insight on how to optimize your profile on LinkedIn. We’ve all heard of SEO? If not, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which allows for a greater presence on the internent to increase traffic to your website. In order to ensure that your profile is in the top ranking when being searched on LinkedIn do the following:

1. Define what/who you are in one or two keywords (e.x. business coach)
2. Take that keyword(s) and place them strategically in 5 places on your profile:Headline, Current and Past Work Experiences, Summary and            Specialties
3. Within minutes (of doing this) you can SEO your profile. Seriously, try it!

Other ways to ensure greater success on LinkedIn is through groups, conversations and connections. LinkedIn provides opportunities for all of these thing to happen as long as you know how to add the most value to your profile.

1. Create groups. Groups equal contacts which create a frenzy of networking opportunities.
2. Ask questions.
3. Focus on one aspect. If have found your LinkedIn niche then focus on that and do it well. For instance, if you are good at connecting with the members of a group (you created) then interact with them, send messages, start discussions, ask questions etc…
4. Be consistent. Follow through with what you have set out to do. Whether that’s making connections or creating a group.
5. Add Value. Link up your blog, twitter, website whatever gives insight into who are you as a professional.

LinkedIn is easy to use so the more you give the more you will receive. It always feels better to give anyway.

Get started… Get going… Get searched… Do whatever…

Just do it the best way possible.

11 Ways to Use LinkedIn’s New Company Follow Feature

LinkedIn deserves a big “Thank you” from its millions of users with its new Company Follow feature. This feature lends itself to a multitude of tasks such as finding those coveted job openings, company developments and opportunities all which are current with the growing rate of companies using LinkedIn. So “Thank You” we all needed a little motivation and push toward the right direction.

Company Follow is beneficial for the Jobseeker in many ways. You can be among the first to know about the companies you follow in ways that benefit you. For instance, when employees, leave a company, join, are promoted and when a company is advertising a job oppurtunity through LinkedIn. All of these notifications can be delivered by email daily, weekly or whichever frequency you need. Get the most out of LinkedIn by taking advantage of the Company Follow feature.

Jobseekers
1.Be selective of the companies you follow. It’s imperative to follow companies where you will be of greatest value and that have a good reputation.
3.Discover what hidden jobs these companies may have by staying current its news.
4.Who’s coming and going? Find out what jobs are opening or closing and why.
5.Promotions. A friendly congratualtions to an employee receiving a promotion can garner itself into a beneficail networking relationship
6. Know what “Top Dogs” have joined with the company. By knowing what Executives or Senior Managers have joined you can insight into what the company is doing, accomplishing, or needing, which could be window of oppurtunity.

Companies use LinkedIn for various ways such as building a community, gaining new talent, or watching its competition. The Company Follow feature will ensure greater success for using LinkedIn to it’s fullest potential.

Companies
1. A new stream of followers and potential employee oppurtuinity can be built. There is no restriction on the amount of companies a person can follow allowing a followers to build.
2. Pay attention to the competition. If anyone can follow you so can any company so know who is paying attention to you.
3. They said what? Know what the conversations surrounding your business are whether you like it or not. It’s better to know than not.
4. Keep your employees happy. By following your competitors you will know if they are in need of someone who could be found in your company. This provides you with an unique oppurtuinity to keep your employees happy in ways that matter most.
5. Follow freely. You won’t be blocked so follow your competitor to protect your company and find ,if needed, new employees.

5 Ways to Increase Donations through Social Media

We finished up our Increasing Donations through Social Media seminar yesterday and it was great to meet individuals from the not-for-profit world in Indianapolis. We had some awesome conversations surrounding the idea of telling YOUR story to the world… the story that drives emotion through each and every donor. I wanted to upload the Powerpoint presentation I used yesterday and give a couple of pointers on increasing donations through social media.

5 Ways to Increase Donations through Social Media

1. Message Boards. Create a message board or central location for your supporters and their friends to communicate with each other and your organization. For a great example check out the Lupus Foundation of America’s message boards. It is so important to create a comfortable place for your supporters to chat. It is up to your supporters to decide where they want to host the conversation. If it ends up on Facebook then… it ends up on Facebook.

2. Start a Blog and Communicate. This really should be number one on your priority list. You should be writing your story… every second of every day. You do not need to be sitting down and typing out each story but (at the very least) you should be thinking about how to form the story of your organization. People buy into stories… period. For a great example of story telling check out the organization > Charity + Water.

3. Start an Affiliate Group on Facebook and LinkedIn. Create groups of Facebook and LinkedIn that connect your supporters to each other in activities outside of your organization. An example of an affiliate group would be a Facebook Fan Page for your local youth soccer league or a LinkedIn group for your local Kiwanis club. Why does this matter? You are creating touch points with an audience that is not expecting you (the organization) to be at that place…. at that moment.

4. Start a Facebook Cause and Encourage Supporters to Join and Share!

5. Use Your Email List to Drive Growth on Social Networks. Every supporter who has given you permission to market to them through email… could still be utilized to support your cause on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Search for your email subscribers in the social networking world… the chance is… they are using the same email to support their social networks. The more times you can connect with a prospect or supporter… the better.

How Intuit Stays Relevant Using Social Media

Christen Wegner is a former journalist turned resident Gen Yer on the communications team at Intuit. When not on Twitter, she is usually texting, on Facebook, or writing for various blogs like Small Business United and TurboTax.

One of the hottest topics for any business, from the small to the large is social. So my first thought when Kyle Lacy sent me a tweet asking me to write a guest blog post I was like “Oh cool, Intuit is doing so much, yay, let’s share.”

So I started collecting info regarding all out campaigns, events, and information and started sharing that with friends and family. But what floored me was what I would find out after talking with a couple former coworkers. Companies are actually still banning their employees from social media – things like Facebook, Twitter, and gasp, personal blogs.

I guess I live in a little bubble and take for granted the fact that at Intuit, we are trusted that we will do what is right as THE voice of Intuit on social channels. And without those social channels there is no way Intuit could have done anything fun, interesting or relevant to what small businesses want and need.

One of those conversations was with a former colleague who told me her company has just blocked Facebook and MySpace from their computers stating employees were “wasting too much time on the social networks.” Of course, her IT department didn’t account for the mobile applications and now employees are frequently seen gripping their Blackberry’s and iPhones.

Thriving with social

When I joined Intuit, social media wasn’t new but it was this undiscovered territory. We were trying to find the right balance between keeping our employees happy and keeping them productive. Happily three years later I can sit here, write this article, have TweetDeck running in the background, and occasionally check out Facebook.

In fact, Intuit encourages employees to do just that. We have employees who train customer service reps, engineers and developers how to start interacting in such social channels. On our Intuit Community dozens of different employees interact every day answering questions, solving problems and simply act as a sounding board for our customers. And what is even better is the Community is where customers go to talk to other customers as well.

And our Small Business team was one of the first teams at Intuit on Twitter. Today we have more than 50 teams and individuals out there. What they learned early on meant a change in strategy for Intuit and insights into how we can help small businesses succeed.

Much of that success led to a desire for other social networking events like town halls, small business events, and a blog where regular experts discuss their tips and tricks (http://smallbusiness.intuit.com/blog/). All of this to help small businesses succeed in business and thrive in the social realm.

Over the last eight months we have managed the Love a Local Business Campaign in which Intuit is putting small businesses on the map. The idea is that fans, including customers, vendors, employees, and the community, determine what small businesses deserve some love with winners receiving small business grants.

That’s right, free money for doing what these small business do every day – take care of their customers and being social.

A big part of our strategy reflects a changing world where people and businesses are increasingly connected. We want to arm all small businesses and employees with tools , ways to listen, and create strong customer engagement as one small business community.

I don’t think any of this could have been done without access to our social channels. So thanks Intuit for letting me and my team stay relevant. And the hope is that our work helps small businesses stay relevant as well.

10 Ways to Maximize LinkedIN

Brandswag held a seminar yesterday entitled Beyond the Profile: Maximizing LinkedIN. We had a sold out crowd and it was a great discussion surrounding the better uses of LinkedIN. We are holding a seminar next Wednesday (the 24th) from 8-9:30am on Integrating Social Media into Your Marketing plan. Below you will find the slide deck from the seminar. I also wanted to briefly discuss the 10 different ways to maximize LinkedIN. It is extremely important to use LinkedIN for lead generation, job search, and professional networking. Let’s get to it.

1. Take Full Advantage of Your Profile

It is extremely important to maximize the use of your profile on LinkedIN. When you are communicating with other individuals.. on the site.. your profile speaks for you.  Be very sure you upload a good photo and bring your profile to 100% completion. When I say upload a good photo… I do not mean an 80′s glamor shot or your company logo.

2. Uploading Your Initial Contacts

When you are first joining LinkedIN it is important to build your initial contact base. Check out this easy to use tutorial from Dave Taylor. It is also important to connect to past/present colleagues and alumni from your college or university.

3. Recommendations

It is my opinion that recommendations are one of the more powerful tools within in LinkedIN. Why? People know recommendations are sincere and other individuals had to write them for you. It is extremely hard to fake recommendations on LinkedIN. Check out this post on writing better LinkedIN recommendations. You should always recommend first!

4. Using Groups

We discussed using groups in three different ways:

1. Lead Generation

2. Personal Development: Learning from others in your industry

3. Increase Your LinkedIN Profile development

5. Promotion of Events

6. Using Your Status Updates

The status updates on LinkedIN are underused but have been changing slowly with the integration of Twitter into your LinkedIN profile. I try to update my LinkedIN profile with relevant news, blog posts I am writing, or information about my Twitter Marketing for Dummies book.

7. Using Applications

Check out the LinkedIN Learning center about Apps: Click Here. Here are my top 4 applications to use on LinkedIN: BlogLink, Reading List by Amazon, Events, and Tweet.

8. Networking for a Job or for Lead Generation

LinkedIN is extremely powerful when using the tool to connect with individuals who are looking to hire individuals in the corporate community. If you are using LinkedIN the right way it is extremely easy to get connected through a 2nd degree individual. Honestly though… who better to tell you about using LinkedIN for job search than Dan Schwabel and Chad Levitt.

9. Search Functionality in LinkedIN

10. Using LinkedIN for Lead Generation

Have you heard of the six degrees from separation concept? This is fundamental to using LinkedIN for lead generation. It is possible to use LinkedIN to turn a cold lead into a warm lead by sending a request for an introduction. Check out the slide deck to find out how.