#smcsac

Advanced LinkedIn Concepts for Professionals

Instructors

@jeffmarmins

@cbaccus

Focus Areas

ConnectionsRecommendationsQuestions & AnswersGroupsApplicationsInpages & Company ProfilesTips

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn is the worlds largest online professional network

• With over 100+ million members in over 200 countries.• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every

second.• Number 2 social network behind Face Book• www.linkedin.com

LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge,

ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

Key Tenants

• Relationships out of Generosity

• Share Value• Subject Matter Expert: Build a

Credibility Plateau• ASK – for help, to connect and

for a next step

• Quality over Quantity (but both matter)

•How well do I know you? Determines how to connect and how to follow-up

• Import: Let LI know who you know

• Add, mine and ask for introductions

• Have boilerplate that isn’t boilerplate

•Understand the data relationships

Connections

Recommendations

• Give to get• Make it part of your routine• Social proof• No spelling or grammar

checking – write in word and copy/paste

• Visability

Questions & Answers

• ASK• ANSWER• Follow-Up (Post elsewhere?)

Groups

• Participation is personal brand recognition

• You can connect to others as a group member

Applications

• Where are they• Industry specific? • What tools are you already using? • Slideshare and Box.net

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property.

Few brands have ventured into the LinkedIn Group environment as a destination.

It’s one way to establish a brand’s position on a topic and provide a platform to show interest in that community

Establishing a Company Community

Questions and responses are far richer on LinkedIn compared to other social networks

This post about innovation and attracting new

customers received over 700 comments!

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property.

Another option is to become a member of a group

Key Benefits:

Contribute content as desired Do not have to manage community response Still can develop relationships and contacts within

group Can still demonstrate expertise and promote your

company through signature or profile

Becoming a Member Instead

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property.

LinkedIn Products & Services Performance

LinkedIn users doing recommendations is a new behavior that hasn’t taken hold quite

yet

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property.

Takeaways:

The engagement is light.

People tend to recommend without any explanation of why

Your employees may make up a significant percentage of the recommends

Big positive: The quality of who recommended is scene by your customers and potential customers.

Recommendations

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property.

Understanding Your Audience

Analytics give insight into who your “members” are by:

Industry Function Company

Advertising in LinkedIn an also be highly targeted.

• 40% of social is mobile

• Only connecting on a computer?

• Twitter• Smartphone

Mobile

Key Tips

• Ask Permission (Introductions, Inmails)• Be Authentic• EARN Trust• Update status – examples of work• Poll / Survey and share results• Cross-pollinate: Twitter / FB / Youtube• Search Linkedin first• Write honest and valuable

recommendations

Final Tips

help.linkedin.com

Be Active

Gordon Strause, a Senior Product Manager at Yahoo, had this to say:...I have found Linkedin useful. It's reconnected me with some former co-workers; I've used it to hire contractors and employees; I've even researched some competitive start-ups with it. I'm curious--is there anyone here claiming that Linkedin isn't valuable, did they try to do anything? Did you try to find someone you'd lost touch with? Did you try to find someone that might be helpful to you (contractor or employee or expert)? Or, is it, I signed up and I've been waiting for my cookie? Waiting around for more invitations is clearly not that useful, unless someone finds you interesting.

Support Slides

• Questions & Polls– Asking, Answering and follow-up

• Groups– Why belong to a group– How to find groups to join– How to best ask questions and answer questions within groups– Become part of a LinkedIn discussion group

• Applications– Adding presentations, videos, papers, podcasts, etc.– SlideShare/Box.net/YouTube/Portfolio– LinkedIn Today and other LinkedIn add-ins– Sharing Events

• Company Profiles• Personalized LinkedIn URLs• Miscellaneous tips and techniques