Well, if you’ve read the book “how to win friends, and influence people” you’d know to avoid this tactic, for making friends.

However, in the blogging world, we get the benefit of skipping some of the practical rules of the world.
So let’s get to it. You absolutely should be doing these 5 key items:
1) Use the Widget and Links on Your Profile Page to Maximize Exposure. Getting people to visit your profile is half the battle with LinkedIn, however once they are there are you inviting them to go where you want them to go? Using the website links as well as widgets such as “WordPress” to add your blogs post to you profile are a great way to engage people. These people are already interested in you, they are reading you profile. Don’t limit their engagement to what you can type on LinkedIn, take them to other places that can educate them further and/or promote your brand or your products.
2) Respond to Questions and Answers. This is often encouraged to gain expertise and “rank” within communities as an expert. This is very true, however there is also a very important aspect of engagement when you provide value to a conversation in this format. You automatically engage a targeted audience who all have a certain mindset. If you’re savvy, you cannot just build expertise, but you can weave in relevant self-promotion that is usually highly effective.
3) Provide research to a community. This is basically providing a group with interesting data and topics as news or discussion. Similar to the reasons above, this type of engagement will not only provide you an audience and build your rank within a community, it will also make people more receptive and engaging when you lead them to self promotion. People don’t mind being “pitched” or getting some level of promotion from folks as long as they first get value from them.
4) Figure out what you want, then build a group to accomplish it. Most people feel intimidate to start their own group on LinkedIn or feel like it’s going to be a hassle to maintain. Before you dismiss it, give it a try. It’s not that hard and you may be surprised by how many professionals out there are interested in same goals or topics you are. Owning a group has several advantages, perhaps the largest is you can communicate directly to them at any time.
5) Use LinkedIn. Ok, this one sounds a bit dumb. However a majority of people we train do not login and interact frequently. They use it more as a repository for their online resume, which they update once every few months, then happily go about “facebooking” several times a day. This is ok if you’re 18 or if you have no current professional goals or needs. However, if you need a job or have a business objective that requires others, get on LinkedIn! It’s overlooked often, but truly is one of the most effective and powerful networking tools today.
For more information, join one of our linkedInformarketing.com webinars and subscribe to our newsletter.
Dave Albertson
Small Business Growth Expert

Learn how to build a LinkedIn Marketing System that accelerates connections, leads, sales, and opportunity.

Have you ever wondered how some people can get thousands of business leads using LinkedIn? Or curious what marketing techniques advanced businesses are doing with social media?

Do you feel LinkedIn has the potential of being a powerful marketing strategy but don’t know where to start? Are you limited with time and resources, but would love to try any free and effective promotion you can get your hands on.   Then start here.   Create a LinkedIn Marketing Machine.

More Information:

This is a walkthrough webinar taking you step by step through your LinkedIn Account and how to use it for marketing and promotion.

However it is not just a walkthrough. It is Interactive! So you will be able to ask questions, chat, and tailor the webinar to your needs.

Length: 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your questions

Visual: Webinar where you get to see the presenter’s screen and see what he is doing step by step. You can ask as many questions as you want using chat or the phone.

Audio: You can access the Webinar using any telephone or with your computer using your speakers. However if you use your speakers you will not be able to ask questions, you can write your questions by chat.

Personalization: Before the Webinar we ask you important questions about your business, your job, your goals and your level of expertise with LinkedIn. This way the presentation will use real, pertinent examples and help you apply this knowledge immediately.

Date: August 12th, 2010 Time: 12:00 PST, 3 EST Location: Teleconference

Use sign up button above to register. You have nothing to lose, we have a 100% No Risk Policy! .

If you are not 100% Satisfied with our webinar or simply cannot attend, simply let us know and we’ll give you a full 100% refund.

You can also view a full FAQ on the bottom of our training page

Unlocking the power of social media to accomplish a goal is what our blog is all about. We often write about specific linkedin tactics and strategies, general communication strategies, and some of the science and best practice surrounding online marketing and self promotion. In this article I would like to discuss a more esoteric idea but one that can change your business or your life if you put it to use.

The idea is that your ideas trapped in your head have an independent energy level to them. Some are flickers of light that may pass in a spare moment at lunch and are quickly forgotten. Others you may write down and share with some friends the next day over a cup of coffee. Some may even be so strong inside you they have a burning and driving force you can feel in your gut and they preoccupy much of your mental focus.

Many people make the mistake of viewing these ideas as their creation that must be accepted by others. They endlessly rant about this great epiphany or idea they have and immediately want to share with others to get their ” feedback” . I ask that everyone take a slightly different perspective with their next idea. Treat it as a spark of energy and try to give the spark to as many social networks as possible. Don’t try to influence people how to use it or why YOU think it’s important, rather just sit back and observe. Don’t treat the idea as your own either let the energy travel through the network. Many of the sparks you ignite will flicker away quickly just like some do with you each day. Even some of the great ideas you have that you are sure are powerful will dissipate quickly on these networks. Others will not. Some ideas you have that may be small and in passing you will observe a building energy towards. This energy can be life changing, and typically builds faster and more powerful than you ever thought possible.

This is the basis i feel of true “viral marketing” , although most really don’t get it.

One eloquent and well-written book that articulate these concepts is

The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life

If you read this book, you will be much better equipped with a philosophy that will aide in your social networking goals.

If you want to learn more about some specific tactics on how to properly plant your ideas using LinkedIn, try joining one of our networking webinar series. In here we give some practical tips on how to engage with your audience and help spread ideas (and eventually take advantage of that building energy).

Most people have great ideas. However, most are too attached to their bad ones and never give their amazing ones the right chance with the right audience.
I encourage you to let go, and try something new. I promise you, a new road and new opportunities await.

Dave Albertson
Small Business Growth Expert

Lear how to receive 5,000 or 10,000 unique visitors to your website, get dozens of incoming leads and close more sales.

Don’t forget to sign up for our LinkedIn For Marketing Newsletter below to get free videos, audios and strategy once per week.

]]> http://www.twitterforpromotion.com/linkedin-audio-training-recording-on-how-to-use-linkedin-for-sales-and-marketing/feed/ 21 http://www.twitterforpromotion.com/how-to-win-customers-with-social-engagement/ http://www.twitterforpromotion.com/how-to-win-customers-with-social-engagement/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:31:07 +0000 admin http://linkedinformarketing.com/?p=771 In the modern era of social media, many use this as platform to speak freely about how they feel. Let me tell you why this is not a good idea.

For starters, I would like to vent.   Last week we inadvertently uploaded some Getty images with watermarks instead of the purchased versions.  This was a mistake we apologize for, using unlicensed images online is clearly something that should NOT be done and is disrespectful to the professionals that make them available.   We got a comment back from a Getty image profile advising us of this and how inappropriate it is.    The initial reaction by me was apologetic, we had clearly made a mistake and I appreciated the source for advising us of this.   They concluded the comment with “you have a long way to go to be a professional in your profession”.    In the course of one sentence, I went from being apologetic and thankful to being personally insulted.  I will now use other sources for images the rest of my life and discontinue any business relationship.   What was the value to Getty of the last statement?  Did it aide in their ultimate goal of eliminating copy write  abuse and gaining loyal customers?  Clearly not in this case.

Social Engagement through blogs, LinkedIn profiles, etc creates unique opportunities for  building an audience and increased networking.    One disadvantage that it creates is it is very hard to control your message and interpretation.   In addition, one small statement can get quickly escalated, spun,  and sent to a whole audience that you did not intend.    It’s one thing to make some random inflamatory comments on a sports blog about your favorite teams lack of performance, but once you cross into business and self-promotion, you must choose your words wisely.

To this end, I would like to offer 4 tips.

·        Listen first and avoid assumptions – In my vent, I called out the impact of the words chose to advise us of the abuse.   I would be willing to wager if the creator of those words listened to us or knew me on a more personal level they would know that being professional is a priority for me and the root cause of this failure was not rooted in my lack of professionalism.   It’s easy to make statements based on your understanding of present facts of a person or an entire network, but without first asking questions and understanding the audiences perspective, you open yourself up to incorrect assumptions.    Often these incorrect assumptions can result in a lack of trust of your audience.   The foundation of business is trust, and once you lose it, it is hard to get back.

·        Be political – This is contrary to popular opinion.  The power of social media lies in its unbridled honesty and the refreshing approach to let the community voice its opinion, right?  This is true, however if you are a professional with an end result in mind you need to manage expectations appropriately.  This does not mean spinning truth, this means making sure that your goals and intended outcomes are communicated clearly with every word you choose.

· Write what you want not what you think – This tip plays on the above two, but extends its application even further.   The power of social media results in the building of community based ideas that typically take a life of their own.   If you are too strong in stating your current opinion or direction, you miss the boat on letting the community run wild with passion and ideas for the vision you paint them.  Give your network the canvas on which to paint on, and they will typically build an amazing portrait that helps you fulfill on your goals.

·        Position yourself as expert – This is the core of what we teach in our social media training.   Networks allow you to define yourself and establish your own rank and command.  If you don’t establish yourself as an expert, you are just another Joe on the street with a viewpoint or opinion.  On the other hand, if a network views you as an expert, your ideas build into a movement.   Even if you are not, the interaction of establishing yourself as one will lead to great dialogue between you and other “experts” to guide your vision.    Intellectuals or those with expert knowledge are quick to dismiss other viewpoints that don’t match theirs.  However, by engaging them on their own perceived level, you raise your own profile.  You’ll be amazed at the passion others interact with you at, if you can establish this.  We spend millions of man hours debating the concepts of those with a high profile such as Barack Obama, Bill O’Reilly, or Bill Maher.   You may not be able to achieve a higher profile than the president or traditional media hosts (or maybe you can?), but social media allows  you a channel to build a bigger following than you can imagine.

I want to hear what you think, please provide comments based on your experience.  If you have more in-depths example from your past, send it to support@cashdogs.com and we will consider featuring an article on our blog about your examples.

Thank you for reading and being part of the www.linkedinformarketing.com community.

Dave Albertson
Business Growth Expert

I have decided to put together a series for finding a job on LinkedIn. I think it’s necessary as there so many people out there looking for a new job or career change, especially in recent times.

Finding a job is a daunting task and it requires a bit of leg work especially in this economy. As I have always said, “Finding a new job is a job in itself.”

That is why you have to utilize every aspect that you can to separate yourself from the competition. You have to put yourself out there to get what I call the “WOW” factor when people see your resume. You need to have a resume or LinkedIn profile that when people click on it, that they are so amazed they want to meet you.

In order to get there, they need to feel confident that you have the work experience that will give them that “WOW” factor.  So today’s post is about getting ‘recommendations’ from your LinkedIn network that can help boost your profile.

This is essential because a recommendation is a stamp of how you worked with other people or colleagues now or in the past.  You can have an ok resume, but if enough people recommend you and say great things about you that might be the difference to get you the job.

Also, nobody wants to work or hire people that can’t get along with others. The more testimonials or recommendations that you get, your credibility will build. Other employers want to know that you can execute on the job they are hiring you for, and just by having solid recommendations make recruiters feel more comfortable you can execute at that high level.

Now, if you can get 20 plus recommendations from your friends, family or people that you worked for on LinkedIn, you will get a “WOW” factor from recruiters because it’s impressive that you have so many people believe in you. For friends, family or colleagues to put their name on your profile is putting themselves out there as well and recruiters know that.

Also, depending on the recommendation, this can show leadership qualities, skill sets and people skills.

So, in the next week, make it your goal to go onto your profile and on the bottom right corner of your profile click on the “Ask for a recommendation” and send it out to your network. You will be surprised about the great responses you will get.

For more about building your recommendations join one of our live walkthrough webinars.   Our profile webinars are only $47 and we’ll give you your money back if you don’t accomplish your goals.

Tony Hanak

Business Growth Expert

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter may be what you think of when you hear the buzzword “social media”. You may have decided to join the bandwagon and have a LinkedIn or Facebook profile. If you’re really hip (or you’re 17), you may even be tweeting throughout the day. But what really is social media? Why should I use it other than to do what everyone else is doing?

The answer to this will vary depending on who you ask. The academic crowd can give you a variety of information on network theories and how they apply to the newest internet technologies. I actually love the academia behind it, there is no doubt some powerful and more scientific concepts behind some of these new mediums A great introductory and fun read to this is

the bestseller Linked,check it out if you have time.

However, I am not writing this to talk about network theory academics, my purpose is to give you a better reason to dive into social media outside of sharing pictures on facebook, or reading meaningless posts and tweets from your circle of boring friends who feel compelled to broadcast “my weekend was too short”, “PHX>LAX”, or “taking the dog for a walk”.

Before we discuss the reason to use, let’s go back 50 years and take a look at how people got what they wanted without a post or tweet. If you were a business, it was easy, advertise. Send out print ads, get radio time, maybe even TV time if you were a big time business. This was a one way communication channel that told people about your product or service. If you got the message to enough people, you’d increase sales.

How about non-business related things you want? How about getting your kid into private school or starting an after work sports league? Well in both instances, you’d likely network with others to try to influence them to do what you wanted. For people in elite circles, doctors or lawyers, those who could afford a country club membership, etc they may leverage the “old boy’s network” to trade favors to accomplish something like getting their kid into an elite school. For simpler things such as organizing an event people would talk to what networks that where already established and a member of, many times a church related group.

These examples are similar in a few regards.

1) They required communication

2) They used an organized group of people

3) They leveraged some role or affiliation with a group (country club member, church, etc)

4) They had a goal in mind and accomplished it with above 3 things that would otherwise not have been possible by them individually

So my point is that social media today is the exact same as it was 50 years ago? NO!!! Although many today seem to view and use it as such. Social media today is very different in that networks and affiliation can be self-defined and interlinked.

What does this mean? Well it means I don’t need to be part of the local country club to promote my goals with the elite crowd, it means I can create my own country club. Not only that, I am not just creating a country club, I am creating a “node” of connections that allows me to use other peoples affiliations and networks indirectly. It also means my role can be self defined and not limit me in who I can access. 50 years ago, I may need to be part of the “Harvard Club” if I wanted to get an exclusive job offer. These “old school” networks still exists and are still powerful, however now I can create my own network identity and break into these groups!

I could write a whole book just on how networks operate, but others already have and surely have done much better than what I would. Rather than focus on how it works, I want to get you thinking how to make it work for you! Don’t just think of social media as some websites that allow you to see what your friends are up to. Think of them as a way to create two-way communication channels with any group in the world, even that country club group you may not be able to pay your way into. Think of them as a way to influence every person you need to in order to accomplish whatever goal you have. Think of them as a way to define your own position and access privileges without money or permission.

This is the power of social media and it starts with you learning the basics of self-promotion and social networking using LinkedIn. If you are ready to dive in and get the most out of these opportunities, try joining one of our live walkthrough webinars. Our country club is only $47 and we’ll give you your money back if you don’t accomplish your goals.

Dave Albertson

Business Growth Expert

Losing your job can be one of the hardest things a person goes through: financial stress, potential of having to move, not knowing what job you’ll be able to find next, having to sell possessions or losing your home are some of the immediate jarring realities that many face.

However, let’s face it, this is not even the worse part. Feeling humiliated. Having to tell your loved ones. Going through the emotional roller coaster of depression, anger, and frustration. Seeing the impact on your family and feeling you are letting them down. Not knowing if

what you have to offer is good enough to get back to what you once had……….these are the parts of job lose that really cause emotional harm.

I know this because I went through it. I am here to tell you to “let it go” for a reason. All of the emotions you feel above have a few very specific and often hidden set of consequences.

First of all, it can cause you to retreat. If you feel depressed, humiliated, etc that last thing you want to do is go and talk to people or try something you’re not comfortable with.

Second, it can cause you to be on the defensive. How can I focus on seizing new opportunity when I am so worried about protecting or regaining what I once had?

Last, it can cause you to under-sell yourself. If I am questioning my own self, how can I brag to others about how good I am at something.

Some people may not think this is occurring or feel they are working through this. As soon as I got fired I scrambled to all the contacts I knew and started pitching to them for a job. This is being aggressive and attempting to oversell, right? Likely not, if you feel any of the emotions above, I guarantee that others pick up on this in your communication. Your emotions, no matter how guarded, translate to neediness, lack of confidence, and desperation.

You may already feel bad or worried, why am I telling you all this. Well, the secret to success no matter what your situation lies in your own self-promotion.

It just so happens that one of the best professional self promotion tools, LinkedIn, is also one of the best job search tools available. If you can successfully promote on LinkedIn, you can replace a job, or even find a completely new career.

The key to success on LinkedIn is utilizing the opposite behaviors I highlighted above. Be aggressive, oversell your expertise, and position yourself as an expert. Engage with new communities of people and discussions then what would normally be in your comfort zone.

We tell people in our LinkedIn training that your LinkedIn profile is 10x more powerful than a resume. We say this, because we know it to be true. Your profile is not a piece of paper delivered to someone, it is an engagement tool that allows you to network and attract new opportunities.

You should not be scared, depressed, or humiliated. If you are – let it go. Use this time in your life as a spring board to something better. It will get better. Know this first. Next, be open to the things you don’t know and get busy on LinkedIn.

For more tips and tricks, join our RSS or newsletter with form below. If you are ready to dive in and want more hands on help, checkout our training page for various options at http://linkedinformarketing.com/

Dave Albertson

Business Growth Expert

It’s summertime and remarkably there are hundreds of thousands of students looking for summer jobs or internships. This is the best time to get some really talented and bright students who can help you or your business and to leverage man power to increase your revenue.

I was recently talking to a close friend of mine that is about to finish up her exams and she is currently getting her business degree. She is just finishing up her sophomore year.

Just last week she was inquiring about a couple businesses that I own and wanted to know if I had any internships open.

I asked her what her objectives were and she inquired about learning more about advertising, sales and marketing, the cornerstone for any small business.

We chatted a little further about her wants and I agreed to put something together for her and have it by the end of the week. Today she just looked over the description and said that this was perfect as she was eager to learn about marketing and advertising.

So now we have a partnership for the summer.

The best part i that she is willing to work 15-20 hours a week and not take pay. When I was in school I always had paid internships, so I was shocked that so many college students are willing to go above and beyond to learn and not get paid.

Although I found her a position, I also found her a way to make money through our company. She said she is super excited. We now have a win win situation.

This was a good lesson for me as I hope to motivate her through an internship that she wanted and provide some incentive at the same time. I truly believe that if you find people that are passionate about what you are doing and help them grow through the process, you get talented and eager working employees or interns.

So what are my next steps. Well, I am going to utilize LinkedIn to find our next 3 interns. The first thing I am going to do is sign up for 2-3 groups on LinkedIn that are “Internship” focused. There should be a few thousand targeted list for me.

Post on the discussion groups and I am bound to get some leads and 4 solid interns for the summer…

And the best part is that I am going to give them a glowing review and recommendation that should help build a killer resume so they can land their dream job when they graduate.