How are you using LinkedIn?

The Top 10 Reasons to Spend Time Using LinkedIn for Career and Business
By Martin Brossman and Greg Hyer

LinkedIn is a free resource that lets you build and maintain a global and local network–a powerful tool in a world where higher transparency is required for trust. LinkedIn allows you to keep in touch with not only what people are doing but who they are connecting with. It is a social medium that is professional and businesslike. If you have not spent time with it and you care about your career and your clients’ trust, it’s time to start allotting some hours to it.

Here are just a few reasons to invest time in LinkedIn.com:

1. More than 30 Million people you can search.
LinkedIn lets you research 30 million professional people with almost 100% accuracy and gives YOU permission to know the information posted on the profile. For example, if you met someone for the first time and mentioned you saw in their LinkedIn profile that they went to the same school you went to, that would build rapport. If you gained this information from a private paid database, that might make them feel uncomfortable.

2. Free quality consulting advice.
Use the Answers area of LinkedIn to obtain valuable free information as you need it—it’s often comparable to thousands of dollars of consulting advice. One way people are motivated to give you quality answers is because they have a chance of you voting their answer to you as the most useful answer increasing their status as an expert.

3. Establishing yourself as an expert.
Receiving authentic recommendations from past or present associates and co-workers which appear in your LinkedIn profile can help position you as an expert. Of course recommendations have to be earned by quality work, generally building over time to enrich your LinkedIn presence, and are often inspired by your giving sincere recommendation to others. At the same time, answering questions offers you a further opportunity to be seen as an expert by responding to questions posed in your field. When your answer reveals your expertise, you have the possibility of being voted “expert answer.”

4. Enhancing your brand and presence on the web.
LinkedIn is a site that builds more credibility than your own website. It is well-indexed by Google. When people see a recommendation given to you on LinkedIn, they can choose to see the full profile of the person that gave the recommendation, giving it more credibility.

5. Direct introductions to a large number of quality people.
Through LinkedIn you can be directly introduced to and have access to people who may not take your call directly. By properly using LinkedIn’s direct introduction system, you can get introduced to people that you are connected to as well as people that your contacts are connected to. You can also learn who your contacts are connected to, and how they are connected. Important note: When you make the reach to contact them, always have a reason in their best interest.

6. Allowing people to prescreen YOU to build faster trust.
With higher demands for greater transparency, LinkedIn offers a credible way for your customers to prescreen you by seeing recommendations without having to bother people. This also applies for people looking for a job. People can see recommendations to you without your having to repeatedly bother your references to pre-screen you.

7. Professional groups that let you connect with a common interest.
Connect with people that share a common interest by joining a group and participating in group discussions on the group’s discussion board. There is a group for everyone, such as local networking groups like Linking Raleigh, NC, school and corporate alumni groups, or groups related to an industry or profession.

8. Providing valuable changing resources to attract multiple visits to your information.
Use the LinkedIn applications to do things like display your Wordpress or TypePad blog in your profile so that visitors can learn more about you. Add the Amazon book app so you can share with others what you are reading and recommend they read. Promote your events or find an event through the events app. Make a presentation by uploading a PowerPoint slide show about your business or even yourself.

9. The ability to recognize good people that the world can see.
LinkedIn lets you give recommendations to people throughout your entire life, and that can be a better use of your time then the usual mode of interrupting people to ask for a job or a sale. LinkedIn not only allows you to build trust and credibility with local people but people all over the world. Since you can search in your vicinity or anywhere, you can have local contacts and global ones very easily. By providing deeper information, LinkedIn can enhance existing relationships and deepen new ones. Spending some of your time appreciating good people in your life is the avenue to fostering friends and associates who care about YOU.

10. Keeping track of your direct and indirect network.
Use LinkedIn as an easy way to keep track of your contacts, their contacts, and changes in status. For example, if someone you know got promoted or received an award, this could by a way to acknowledge them for their accomplishment. You may find that a good friend wanting to help you just connected with an important person you want to meet.

Like anything in life, you do have to spend some time with LinkedIn to gain value from it. The time you spend building your profile will reap its return when you put yourself out there to expand your professional network and build your reputation through this rapidly expanding social media tool. Simply by sending and receiving recommendations, using apps, answering and asking questions, and helping others along the way, you can be remembered and made memorable by using LinkedIn. Take full advantage of what LinkedIn has provided for free and bring yourself to the forefront of a crowded room.

About Martin & Greg:

-Hello, I am Martin Brossman. As a success coach, I believe almost everyone should be on LinkedIn since it has given so much value to myself and to my coaching clients when they spend the right amount of time with it. If you Google my name in quotes, you will see the second item listed is my LinkedIn profile–all possible with the free LinkedIn service. I currently use their paid service, but that evolved after I gained value from the basic free service. (Our post above refers to all that is possible with the free service.) I have been offering group LinkedIn training in the Triangle since 2006, and in response to requests, I now offer customized LinkedIn training for individuals and small groups. My LinkedIn profile: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/martinbrossman

-Hello I am Greg Hyer. As a local networking advocate, I feel strongly that LinkedIn is the ideal tool and service to use to enhance your professional brand and manage your professional relationships. The benefits to using LinkedIn are significant, yet it does not require that you devote that much time to it. As a founder of a LinkedIn Group and corresponding website, LinkingRaleighNC.com, I help local professionals build a quality network and provide some resources to improve their chances of finding the connection for the next opportunity. My LinkedIn profile: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/greghyer

Short URL for this post: http://tinyurl.com/10LinkedIn

Republished from: http://wake.mync.com/site/wake/community/story/11074/

To see more about the group go to: http://www.coachingsupport.com/network/PNOTW.html

Every person attending a leads group is afforded the opportunity to give their 30 second introduction to themselves and their business. Most of these groups allow attendees to bring a promotional give away, which are handed out by ticket drawings given at registration, and doing so presents yet another opportunity to promote your business. The point of the leads group, which usually meets weekly, is to allow for networking and promoting one’s business. They are most effective when attendees develop relationships and schedule one on one meetings with others who they are interested in doing business with each other. It is an unwritten rule that when two people meet each person gets equal time to present their business. These groups also become more dynamic over time as the attendees get to know each other better.

The bottom line for leads groups is attend regularly, build relationships, refer to other members, meet one on one and have fun. Over time those who attend and use the groups properly do report getting business and find these groups worth their time and effort.

Bill Carraway – billcrenegade@mindspring.com – 919-605-4895 To learn more about the Western Leads group: www.westernwakeleads.com

To see the entire Business Networking Resources in the Triangle Blog: www.TriangleBizScene.com

LinkedIn (www.Linkedin.com) is a business network that has emerged as a replacement for the old rolodex because it is online and self-managed. LinkedIn offers a much more robust way to maintain your business connections and see what they are up to. But beyond that, LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool for business introductions.

Your Profile
Before you begin looking for contacts within LinkedIn, make sure your Profile sells you! A professional picture will help people remember you, so make sure it makes the impression you’re looking for. List your current and past positions, including volunteer positions. Every position you list is another way to “link” with other people. For example, I list my position with WBON. When someone does a google search for WBON, my LinkedIn profile comes up!

Once you are satisfied with your profile, begin looking for people you already have a relationship with. The easiest way to do this is to upload your contacts from your electronic rolodex – Outlook, Yahoo Mail, etc. This upload will identify all the contacts from your rolodex who are already “LinkedIn”. Follow the instructions to “invite” them to connect with you.

As you receive emails indicating that contacts have accepted your invitation, take the time to view their profiles. Have you done business with them in the past? Can you write them a great endorsement? Do it now! Next, check out their connections. This is the fun part. People you know are connected to each other and you had no idea they knew each other. You went to the same college as someone you know and didn’t even know it!

Repeat this process with each accepted invitation and you’ll be building your network in no time. The, when you are looking for a product or service, use your network first!

Doing Business through LinkedIn
Say you’re interested in talking to StayNTouch.biz about your new product. You log into LinkedIn and search for people who work for StayNTouch.biz. Then you Figure out how you might be connected to them. Ideally the connection is just one degree away, or in other words, you know someone who knows the person you are looking to connect with directly. Then ask for an introduction. Try it now by going to my profile and checking out my contacts. Is there anyone you’d like to connect to? Ask me for an introduction.

An introduction received via LinkedIn is much warmer than a cold call, because it comes with a bit of trust. You are no longer a stranger trying to sell things that no one needs, instead you come with a recommendation from a person that the receiver knows. And even if you can’t find a path to connect to someone, sending a direct message via LinkedIn is better than sending a cold email. The reason is that LinkedIn implies business, and so the person you’re trying to reach likely is not going to be as surprised or angry about the unsolicited ping.

Submitted by Theresa Carter, WBON Membership Chair www.StayNTouch.biz – 919.369.7801 If you have any linked in questions, please email me and I’ll try to get back to you right away, but if I get a lot of questions, I may do a follow up article!

It is rare that a small business or entrepreneur has a big PR budget. Instead, they must rely on low-budget, high-impact strategies to achieve their public relations goals. Networking is one secret weapon available to entrepreneurs and small businesspeople who wish to establish a strong presence in the community.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you have a vision and passion for your business — or you wouldn’t be in business. You are your own best salesperson. You are the best possible ambassador for your company. Networking is the secret weapon which, if properly targeted and utilized, enables you to build a strong community presence for your organization.

Making Friends Before You Need Them
At Pioneer Strategies, we have a simple definition of networking: making friends before you need them. We believe that networking is all about one thing: building solid, lasting business relationships with key people.

Key Principles of Networking

» Relationship: Networking is not about making a quick sale; it’s about building a trust-based business relationship that will stand the test of time.

» Two-way street: By definition, a lasting business relationship must be a two-way street. You cannot focus solely on what the other person can give you; you must bring something to the table as well. If a business relationship isn’t beneficial for all involved, it won’t stand the test of time. You must add value to the relationship.

» Choose your audiences: As an entrepreneur or small business owner, your time is precious and must be used wisely. That’s why it’s important that you thoughtfully consider your target audiences before you begin networking. For example, if your target audience is comprised mainly of high-tech companies then a retail merchants’ organization would likely not be the best networking venue for you. If your target audience is centered around manufacturing businesses, high-tech companies are not the ideal place to expend your networking energy. Identify your audiences — then go where they are.

» Stay in the Game: Networking is not an overnight cure-all for your sales woes; it is a long-term process that will yield tremendous results over time. Once you choose your audiences and determine where you can best interact with them, be consistently visible. Don’t be a fly-by-night who attends one Chamber function, then drops the whole networking idea out of frustration because you haven’t achieved immediate results. Be patient, stay in the game and give your networking time to bear fruit.

» Be Honest and Be Real: It’s important that you not try to put on a show or pretend to be something that you’re not. Just be yourself, be honest, and get to know people.

» Don’t Wing It: In order to be truly successful, there must be a method to your madness. If you shoot from the hip, more often than not you’ll miss your target. Develop a networking plan and stick to it.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you are your best salesperson. If you develop a networking plan and invest the time to get out there and build those key relationships, it will pay great dividends over time. Networking is not a quick-fix — it’s a long-term process. Develop your plan, then exercise patience and discipline by giving it time to work.

Frank Williams is president of Pioneer Strategies, a public relations agency he founded in 2001. For more information, visit Pioneer Strategies’ Web site at www.pioneerstrategies.com or the Public Relations Insights Blog at http://www.pioneerstrategies.blogspot.com.

Are you frustrated because networking to get business appears to be a waste of time? Are you networking at the right watering holes? Are you doing it the right way? Are you getting results? How often have you heard a professional who was new to networking complain that the leads group they were in was not getting them business, or that the business group they were a member of was a waste of time and money? Membership or participation in any networking group does not guarantee business unless you follow some basic principles:

1)    Plant in the right field. When you get started, survey a number of different networking groups and find out which ones offer the best exposure for your business, which ones best fit with your marketing plan, and which ones compliment your personal marketing style the best. In this way you will ensure that you invest your time into the places that will yield the maximum return. Don’t make snap decisions. For example, if you are in a business to business segment and you join a leads group that is made up of consumer businesses, or if you are in the healthcare industry and you join a group with IT and communications people, you are not putting yourself into a good position for the best results to occur. Spend time to find the right networking forums for you and your business.
2)    Plant good seeds. Instead of just focusing on what you can get out of the networking group, make your primary focus to look for ways to contribute to the group in the most efficient, effective manner possible. Make referrals, pass leads, make introductions, promote businesses that are in your group, share business information and take leadership roles where you are needed. The principle here is that you cannot give into a worthwhile endeavor and not get a multiplied return.
3)    Tend your field. Building one on one relationships within your networking forums over a cup of coffee or a meal is where the real magic sets in. The individual relationships are the real glue of your personal network. Balance your time between establishing new relationships and maintaining your close contacts. Keep an A list of your closest partners. Maintain communication in a manner that fits your style. If you like to write then send notes, if you like to talk then make phone calls, and if you are spontaneous then send emails.
4)    Do not dig your seed up. A farmer invests in seed, spends time preparing and planting, then waters and cares for the field. Early on, when nothing looks like it is happening, he does not go out and dig his seed up or move to another field, but instead waits patiently for his harvest to arrive. Networking is the same way. It will take time in most cases for you to cultivate trust and goodwill in your networking forums. Be patient and keep planting good seed. Your harvest will come, and when it comes, it will be multiplied.
5)    Visit other fields. You main focus should be tending your own networking groups, but take occasion to step out and visit other ones. You can learn from other forums, make outside connections, and spread the word about your business to other professionals. Look for alliances outside of your regular networking forums. These relationships are something of value that you can bring back to your regular networking groups.
6)    Be prepared for the harvest. When you start getting results, be ready to receive them. Be ready to professionally and effectively facilitate the leads, contacts, introductions, etc. that you receive.
7)    Your harvest does not always come up where planted. Many times opportunities will arise from places that you did not plant. Congratulations! You are experiencing the benefits of the unseen law of sowing and reaping. This is the super seed. Receive it and do not try to figure everything out.
8)    Harvest the field properly. When contacts and introductions are given, make sure that you provide feedback to the referrer on what happened. When the referrer sees that their trust in you was wisely given, they are going to feel all the more confident in sending the next referral. This feedback will encourage the referrer to send you more referrals. Rewards given in the right manner are wise. Take the referrer to lunch, give extra focus on helping them, send a note, or come up with a creative way to say thank you.
9)    Evaluate your harvest and plan next year’s crop. There is a time when you need to take an honest look at your networking plan. Once a year, look at where your time and resources are being spent. Drop what is not working well, and move to a group with programs that may be more effective. Be careful how you do this evaluation. Hard metrics, like how many leads have I received, how many good contacts have I made and how many times has a relationship from this group helped me close a deal, need to be in the mix for your evaluation, but other soft indicators, like branding exposure, access to industry information and size of sphere of influence should be considered as well. These are often intuitive metrics and hard to measure, but they could be even more important to you and your business than are the concrete metrics. Changes in your business or the networking forums you are in may also dictate changes in where you spend your networking time. When you choose to leave a networking forum, do not just disappear. Exit gracefully and maintain key relationships.

In your networking, just remember this quote from the greatest networker of all time whose network continues 2000 years later, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Be a patient giver and a seed sower and watch the return come in.