So you know LinkedIn is a powerful business tool, but you’re not sure how to capitalize on its business capabilities. LinkedIn can be used for some many reasons such as business development, sales, marketing, hiring, recruiting, advice, job hunting and much more.

I have put together some practical resources that will help you in learning some key LinkedIn strategies:

• LinkedIn Questions and Answers Section of the LinkedIn site, you can get expert advice from people around the world right at your fingertips.
• Linked Strategies Group on LinkedIn this groups membership is in the tens of thousands for one very good reason. You learn very practical LinkedIn strategies. You can join the group here.
  
• Linked Strategies Webinar, this is a complimentary webinar that teach power user strategies you can learn in a ninety minute presentation and live Q and A.  Currently this webinar happens every Thursday at 4pm EST with playback for those who can’t make it. You can grab your reservation here:

If you are considering paying for expert LinkedIn advice then I recommend you get the book on the upper right of this page, you may find all the answers you need right their.

If you have a great tip or tool please share.

I have pulled together a few videos to help answer this very question. Many business owners, managers, and decision makers are asking this question and instituting policies to keep employees from using LinkedIn. Without the full understanding of the scope of LinkedIn’s capabilities for your business this type of policy making is extremely linear.

Watch these videos:

To learn more about being a LinkedIn Power User, join this complimentary Webinar this coming Thursday at either 4pm or 7pm EST, can’t make it? Register for the playback. Grab your spot here: http://bit.ly/3wzq9Q

If your are business professional, manager, or owner and would like to learn more about how your company can capitalize with LinkedIn email us at support@mycorporatemedia.com  to request a personal presentation.

Three Little Known Ways To Use Linkedin

Here is what we will cover:

1. Advanced Search- Building a targeted network & finding decision makers
2. Events-generating buzz for your tradeshows, presentations, public events, etc…and track interest.
3. Get expert advise to you’re most pressing business questions at “no cost”!

By using the advanced search you can grow a targeted network by entering one of these simple terms LION, Opennetworker, or Toplinked. Next you can choose to only search through groups you already belong to for your search. These search terms stand for people who are open to accept invites, by doing an advanced search you can then identify those people in your target groups (market) that you would like to be directly connected to. This allows you to still build a massive network, but extremely more targeted. You can also use the advanced search to find key decision makers in companies by entering title specific keywords and the company.  I use this tool all the time to get new business.

The events application can be a powerful tool and resource to drive attention to your next public event along with the opportunity to measure interest. What I love about this application is that you can promote events on your Profile, in Linkedin Groups, Status Updates, Emails, Websites, and Blogs with a direct link tied to this application.

Next, when it comes to needing expert advisors. I have found no better place than in the Linkedin Question and Answer section. As long as you truly utilize this resource and post your questions with as much detail as possible you will often find a long list of experts in your field standing ready to offer their advice. Here is the best part, it does not cost you a dime!

3 Bonus Resources:
~ Get your free copy of the Fast Start Guide to Linkedin Success: Grab it here
~ Join me on the Linked Strategies Group on Linkedin to access more tips. Join Here
~ Join us for one of our “Complimentary” Linkedin Power User Webinars: Count Me In

Linkedin can be an endless source of leads, job opportunities, referrals, and multiple income streams. However, none of that matters if you have not optimized your efforts both with your network and your profile.

Optimizing your network: First key step to optimizing your Linkedin network is to build a network based off the target market you are after and want to penetrate. In order to do this write a list of potential industries and titles you are targeting. Then identify those you have interacted with in the past and invite them to connect with you. You can also target those on Linkedin within the advanced search option, who are open networkers. Using such search terms such as LION, Toplinked.com, and opennetworker can generate a long list of members whom provide their email address readily to accept connection invites. In addition you can add the keywords of your target market in the search allowing you to find those open to connecting within your target audience.

The next key to optimizing your network is to add tags or categories to your connections so you can effectively manage which target market they fall within your connection base.
(Learn more on this by joining us for our Linkedin Strategies Webinar this Thursday with Q & A at “no cost”.)

Bonus Network Tip: Now that you have the right target people in your network be sure to reach out to them and keep them updated via email or by updating your status in your Linkedin profile on a regular basis.

Optimizing your profile:

Your Linkedin Profile is your online professional brand, just google your name and see what pops up. More than likely your Linkedin profile showed up near the top.
I often tell people “Your Linkedin Profile is Your Resume”, so how well does yours read?

1. First of all is your profile complete? Things such as work history and education are critical.
2. Have you written a compelling headline?
3. Do you have a good profile picture loaded? Preferably a nice headshot professionally done.
4. Think about your list of specialties and make sure they are keyword rich so you appear in more searches and are found easily within Linkedin for your target audience.

The first key is completing your profile. I cannot stress enough how an optimized profile is critical to measurable success on Linkedin.

Bonus Profile Tip:

Take a look at my profile and in the summary you will see I noted common misspells of my name. Why have I done this? Because someone may misspell your name searching for you on Linkedin and never find you if it’s not within your profile.

~Randy Schrum

*Linkedin Strategy Group: Learn more Linkedin Strategies and Tips at the most collaborative Linkedin Group available within the Linkedin space.

*Linkedin Strategy Webinar: “No Cost” Series, Join us every Thursday different times every week (4pm EDT or 7pm EDT “subject to change”). Don’t worry if you can’t make the live webinar, sign up anyway to gain access to the recording.

*Profile Optimization: Not sure if your profile is optimized at its best? Need the help of a professional who has helped countless others? Email support@mycorporatemedia.com  For $300 get your profile professionally revamped, in the email subject please put “Profile Re-vamp”.

 
***LinkedIn is a networking tool that helps you discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners.

Getting lost or sucked into the social space can be a business professional’s worst nightmare! While Social Media can be very beneficial for ones business it can be a two edged sword. Costing you thousands of dollars of lost “time”. So how do you effectively manage your time with Social Media?

Here are some tips.

1. Just like any business plan, identify your goals with Social Media such as brand advocacy, brand awareness, lead generation, sales, website traffic, etc…
2. Now that you know your goals, identify the time you need to set aside each day to achieve these goals.
3. Create measurables to better understand your efforts. Which in turn helps you better refine your Social Media Plan. Measurables can be such things at web traffic, lead generation, sales, brand recognition, etc… all which can be measured.
4. Remember to keep the main thing, the main thing. It is way to easy to get sucked into little social trails that result in nothing but lost time.

If you feel you need more education on the Social Media subject. You can begin by attending this “no cost” webinar on Linkedin Power User Strategies  Strategies Webinar is hosted every thursday with times either 4pm or 7pm EDT.  As well as access to the previously recorded.. Since Linkedin is the number #1 business professional website this is a great way to start understanding how to effectively move in the Social Space. Register Here.

Randy Schrum

This is a big question that I am sure will generate a ton of response. So are you a believer in Linkedin Groups? I will tell you that I am without a doubt a strong proponent of Linkedin groups.

The reason why I am a strong believer is because you have a professional community coming together for like interest, goals, experiences, and networks. This makes it the perfect place to collaborate within a “targeted market” with your real investment being the time you put into it.

As a sales and marketing professional myself, I see this as a perfect place to build brand image, be a resource to potential clients or customers, and find solutions! Whether you are in sales, construction, accounting, unemployed, lawyer, doctor, engineer or any other field you can find value in the Linkedin Group communities. Through the group’s directory you can view already established groups or even pioneer a group as you may discover a need to fill on the Linkedin space. The group’s directory will allow you to easily find the right group by both category and keyword. This is a great tool because you then just determine your target audience you want to be in front of by relevant keywords and search to join those “liked minded” individuals

So here are some do’s and don’ts:

~ Be a resource to your group and bring value.
~ Respect the group rules.
~ Ask quality, thought provoking questions.
~ Give well thought out answers.
~ Do not promote your service as a new discussion without the group manager’s approval.
~ Be respectful of the members and when others may be less than professional be slow to respond and careful not to lash out. The community is watching to see how you respond. Respond well and win a valuable connection forever.

As an added interactive, I have posted the question to the Linkedin community on July 21, 2009 @ 8pm central. Here is what I asked, “Are you a believer in Linkedin Groups & Why?” click here to see the live responses.

Finally here is a group for All Linkedin Members, Linked Strategies offers strategies, tips, collaboration, and resources with the Linkedin community on how to be successful with Linkedin. You can join here today, as a way of saying thank you the owner has graciously agreed to host a “no cost” Linkedin Power Users Webinar that you can sign up for here. Strategies Webinar is hosted every thursday with different times emailed to you.  As well as access to the previously recorded.

Randy Schrum

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 So what drives me to Lie, Cheat, & Steal? It’s Linkedin I tell ya! At least that’s what I tell my wife. All kidding aside here  is why I Lie, Cheat, & Steal. I originally posted this article in July 2009 and decided to republish now.

 Lie: I lie in bed often thinking of ways to post meaningful group discussions with killer headlines. Why? Because I know when I do that my brand gets tremendous exposure and the personal messages start flying from the over 70 Millions members on Linkedin!

Cheat: During the week I will cheat every available second to some how connect or collaborate on Linkedin so my brand continually stays in front of my network and the 170 industries represented on Linkedin!

Steal: Every single time I see a great invite response, method of posting questions, great headlines on discussions, or a cool status update. My first question is, “how can I steal that and make it work for me and my brand?” after all executives from all Fortune 500 companies are on Linkedin potentially watching or observing members for their next offer of employment they want to extend!

Staying involved and aware of best practices on Linkedin can result in tremendous rewards and I think thats what drives me to Lie, Cheat, & Steal.

What do you think?