I've just decided to join LinkedIn (perhaps just to have a list of "People who have viewed my profile*," and I wondered what people here think of it. Have they made useful contacts, received referrals/introductions, found a new employee?
I'm also interested in whether it's worthwhile to upgrade the account - has anyone done this?
(*I have just read that, due to LinkedIn's privacy policy, it is very difficult to see the names of people who have viewed your profile. Is this a general perception?)
I use linkedin very frequently and it does help me in my business.
I have upgraded as I use the inmail feature and also like to see the full list of people who have viewed my profile. Note however that you can turn this setting off in your profile and it gives a generic description which leads to a list of "one of these people viewed your profile" which is not so useful.
I would say about 5% of the people who view mine use this lockdown feature.
Doing this and then creating connections has led to new business for me, I also now have a large network of contacts which is very useful, ie I have found assistance in all sorts of matters very quickly.
It is also useful to see the connections of other people, ie you could ask for introductions from your existing contacts to people you would like to connect with
It is good to get all your experience and background on there (think of it as an online CV) this means people can review all about you in their own time and make the decision to add them to your network.
I use it also for the groups as you get loads of info from these in emails.
A good feature is the recommendations section. This is for people to write a testimonial about you for all to see.
Please feel free to review mine here to get an idea of how I use it.
Hope that Helps
Jeremy
__________________
"Quite simply the best add on for Sage we have ever invested in.."
Want to see what all the fuss is about? Click here: OptegraMRP
I use it, but not as much as facebook... lol (think of it as facebook for working people)
I have connected with quite a few from my network and find it useful to see who i'm connected to, I think im 3 links from knowing Richard Branson for example!
Be careful of people adding you though.... I get quite a few randoms trying to add me. I simply mail them back 'why do you want to connect, and do i know you?' If they dont reply then they get binned, if they give a crap reply, they get binned... only about 25% of them make it through the cut! lol
I'm also anti Twitter as well is you wanted to also have a sub group, lol.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Regarding Linkedin being 'your online CV'...as a newbie to these forums do you mind if I disagree with this?
(And can I say in my defence that I've owned several small businesses, the last one offering marketing advice to sole traders and micro businesses; and keeping up to date with best practice in regard to social media was a big part of that!)
So...
If you are employed and/or looking for a job, I agree, it's a great place to have your CV on show.
If you own your own business? Please think again.
Let me explain.
Linkedin is a great platform to connect with others, to build your reputation as an expert in your field and to find new business.
But as a business owner, prospective clients are not interested in your CV (or certainly not straight away) - they're not interested in the fact that your worked for Smith and Jones between 1990 and 1995, and you worked for Jones and Smith between 1996 and 2010....instead they're only interested in what you can do for THEM.
Your target market (you do have a target market, don't you?!) has problems. In your hands you hold the solutions to their problems.
AND THAT'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO GET ACROSS.
So, as an example, what you have to get across is not what a hotshot you are, but how you can solve their problems.
So your headline (the line directly under your name) shouldn't read 'Founder of BillaBong Accounting', but instead should read something like 'I help (insert target market here) to (blah blah) and (blah blah)' (look, I'm not going to write the damn thing for you!)
Have fun with it - make it interesting, but always look at it from your prospective client's point of view, and in answer to the question 'how can this person be of benefit to me?' And update it regularly, because Linkedin send out regular emails about updated statuses and changes in profile to your contacts.
Use the summary part to elucidate further on how you can help them, with plenty of examples if possible 'I saved Joe Bloggs £1,000 last year by doing xxx' (Do ask Joe first before you use his name or, just use 'a client'.)
Always keep the focus on their problems plus your solutions.
Ask for testimonials from happy clients. Yes, I know it's hard, but it all builds your reputation.
And you can always add your CV info at the end, if you want to.
Which reminds me.....I'm giving all this advice out, and my Linkedin profile needs a little attention too...I'll sort it this afternoon, I promise!
Building on what billabong says about testimonials.... if your worried what the client might say or worse (and i've learnt my lesson) they only write one line!
Instead do what I have been told in my business growth courses, write it for them!!!!
Write the testimonial how you would like to see it, then send it to the client; ask them if they could add this as a testimonial to your profile and that you've done the hard work all they have to do is cut and paste it into the box!
This way you get what you want, and the client doesn't have to waste their time thinking how to praise you. I've done it several times now, and you only have to look at my freeindex page or website (not going to plug it, just look for me on there, better still go to my website and you'll see them on there!)
Then come back to me and tell me which ones the client wrote! ;)
Dont tempt me Vince, I may try to find you on there
Testimonials I wholeheartedly recommend, however does anyone like the endorsements part...?
I appreciate the ones I have received that are genuine, but I do get a lot of endorsements for stuff I don't do and also some from people who are connections but don't really know if I am good at what they have "endorsed"... so I don't accept these.
It appears to be too easy to "endorse all" for random skills in the relevant industry. Or am I wrong?
Cheers
__________________
"Quite simply the best add on for Sage we have ever invested in.."
Want to see what all the fuss is about? Click here: OptegraMRP
Vince : The skill in breaking winds in lifts is being able to offset the blame to someone else in the lift. I believe thats the endorsable one.
Jeremy : Totally agree, I personally am quite selective in my endorsements but do however endorse as well based on replies on here even though I may never have met or dealt withthe person in real life.
It seems Linkedin etiquette that if someone endorses you then you find something to endorse them for.
Kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Dont tempt me Vince, I may try to find you on there
Testimonials I wholeheartedly recommend, however does anyone like the endorsements part...?
I appreciate the ones I have received that are genuine, but I do get a lot of endorsements for stuff I don't do and also some from people who are connections but don't really know if I am good at what they have "endorsed"... so I don't accept these.
It appears to be too easy to "endorse all" for random skills in the relevant industry. Or am I wrong?
Cheers
Endorsements are very much a failed idea on Linkedin. I get people who do not know me or have not ever used my services endorsing me for all sorts of things, some of which I can do, and some of which I can't. The whole system of endorsing people is so easy to do that it makes a farce out the results. Instead of the current system, the site should encourage you to endorse people with whom you have had business dealings with, for stuff you know they do well. Instead everyone is endorsed as being capable and talented at doing everything.
(And Vince, your Linkedin profile is very amusing, and I think that being endorsed for breaking wind in lifts, eating pies, stuff and nonsense would fit in well with your profile!)
" (And Vince, your Linkedin profile is very amusing, and I think that being endorsed for breaking wind in lifts, eating pies, stuff and nonsense would fit in well with your profile!)"
Well, there's not that much to it to make it funny, really - other than those four skills (I have stuff and nonsense as two separate skills - that just seemed right, somehow) the headline thingummy says "Yer wot", I have an interest in not working, and the advice for contacting me is not to contact me.
I only set up a profile way back whenever because someone kept telling me I "have to" have a LinkedIn profile - but once I'd set it up I largely ignored it for a long time. I did add a couple of skills to it at some point, but when I was fairly recently endorsed by someone who wouldn't be able to justify that endorsement I decided I'd throw in some silly skills. I added a load of sensible, genuine* ones around them, so that they didn't stand out.
I'm waiting to see if I do get endorsed for them by anyone who is literally just clicking boxes and not actually reading what they say.
At some point, I may add more serious stuff, with some sillies thrown in for good measure - a summary, and experience, etc.
Wait! Did someone say this is like an online CV?
* Well, TBH, I can break wind in lifts, and I'm definitely good at eating pies, even if I do say so myself. And I can definitely do stuff, and I often talk a lot of nonsense. So those four really are as genuine as the rest!
__________________
Vince M Hudd - Soft Rock Software
(I only came here looking for fellow apiarists...)
