A recent example comes to mind:

I just got back from a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise to the Bahamas. We visited Freeport and then sailed on to Nassau, Bahamas the next day. I took the opportunity to spend some time on the cruise writing.  Being on the cruise and giving workshops there is a networking and LinkedIn success story.

Here’s how it started:  Sam Wexler called me about three years ago, and told me that he found me on LinkedIn. He was giving a technology conference on a cruise – the first one he knew of. He wanted to promote the cruise using LinkedIn. I worked with him to show him how to use LinkedIn to promote conference.

The first conference was sold out ahead of the deadline – 400 people.  And the same thing has happened every year. He called me in July 2011, and asked me to give two workshops on LinkedIn during the conference.

All this would not have happened except for LinkedIn and networking. He had a goal and look for someone who could help him reach that goal. We didn’t know each other before this, and now we’re working together.  And on a wonderful cruise.

Since I started using LinkedIn more and more after I wrote my book, I found it works very well to cluster my time and do similar networking and marketing activities at the same times every week. In doing this, I’ve streamlined the way I work, and really focus.  As a result, I spend less time and get more real results.

• The Magic is in the Mix. Whether you want speaking engagements, new clients, more face-to-face meetings, or referrals and introductions from LinkedIn, always ask yourself this question every week, “What is the one thing that will make the most difference for my business this week?”  Then focus on that all week – in your online networking, in person meetings, phone calls, writing and everything else you do. There’s no one ‘Silver Bullet”. The Magic is in the Mix. Continue to use every marketing avenue that you currently use, and stay focused.

• Know what differentiates you from others who provide similar services.  Perhaps you take the time to get to know your clients and their goals and challenges, and then help them solve them in the best way.  Perhaps you’re quick and provide solutions quickly.  If you’re not sure, ask your clients why they chose you, and what’s more helpful about working with you and your company.

• Cluster your time.  Before LinkedIn, I woke up and read the newspaper with my morning cup of coffee. Now I wake up, scan the newspaper, scan LinkedIn – the updates and news, and spend 15 minutes catching up with people in my network, setting meetings with them, and updating them on things that will advance their networking, sales and businesses. I check e-mail twice a day – in the morning and the afternoon. I ask people to call me if they want to reach me in between times.  This has really streamlined my marketing and social media time, so I get the best result with the least amount of time.

For more information and more tips, go to www.LinkedInWorks.com and subscribe to my newsletter (click the blue box on the main page or check the sidebar).  It’s chock full of easy-to-use tips so you can maximize LinkedIn.

As always – Success to you!

LinkedIn has changed several privacy settings so that our names and photos can be used for third-party advertising unless we UN-check the boxes.

Here’s what to do:  (To get the full article to Opt-Out of Social Advertising with screen shots that show you want to do, click here)

Manage Social Advertising

1. Login to LinkedIn and go to Settings.  At the very top of the screen in LinkedIn (above the Menu Bar), hover your mouse over your name, and then click on [Settings].
2. Look to the left below the yellow Upgrade button, and click on [Account].
3. Then under Privacy Controls, click on [Manage Social Advertising].
4. [UN-check] the box that says that LinkedIn can use your name/photo in ads.

Turn On/Off Enhanced Advertising

1. Login to LinkedIn and go to Settings.  At the very top of the screen in LinkedIn (above the Menu Bar), hover your mouse over your name, and then click on [Settings].
2. Look to the left below the yellow Upgrade button, and click on [Account].
3. Then under Privacy Controls, click on [Turn on/off enhanced advertising].
4. [UN-check] the box that says that LinkedIn may show you enhanced advertising.

Keeping you up-to-date on the best strategies to maximize LinkedIn.

Jan Wallen

Listen to it here or at BlogTalkRadio.

Standing out in the job market is more difficult today than it’s ever been before!

For one thing, recent downsizing has led to more candidates for fewer jobs. On top of that, the 24/7 convenience of the Internet has made applying for positions almost too easy.

Now all a candidate has to do is type in some basic information, attach his or her resume and they can apply for a position in a mere matter of minutes … maybe even seconds once they’ve been at it a while.

Because applying for positions has gotten so easy, companies are being completely inundated with resumes from job-seekers who basically apply for any and every position that they are even remotely interested in.

It’s now gotten to the point where many companies don’t know how to effectively manage the candidate flow.

That’s where a recruiter can help you.

A good recruiter can make sure you get noticed for the right position.

“Demystifying Headhunters - How to Partner with Recruiters: Everything You Need to Know” is written in a clear, no-fluff style filled with actionable advice for professionals who want to actively manage their job searches and careers.
—Tim B., FL

But instead of using a recruiter most job seekers today opt for the “throw it all against the wall and see what sticks” philosophy in which they send their resume out to anyone and everyone that they can.

However, this approach couldn’t be more wrong.

You’ll waste a great deal of time and money and all you will likely end up with is frustration and disillusionment – instead of your perfect job at the top of your salary range!

Unfortunately, very few people on any level today really understand what recruiters do, how they do it (or why they ask so many questions before they’ll tell you much at all.)

But that’s all about to change thanks to Judi Perkins’s new book, “Demystifying Headhunters – How to Partner with Recruiters to Find Your Perfect Job: Everything You Need to Know About Attracting, Choosing, and Working With Recruiters (with lots of valuable information even if you’re not).”

This book is filled with everything you need to know to find the right recruiter – the recruiter who can help you land your perfect job.

Not planning on working with a recruiter? This book is also jam-packed with job search tips you can use to find your perfect job on your own!

Demystifying Headhunters – How to Partner with Recruiters to Find Your Perfect Job, helps you figure out how to find a recruiter, the best way to work with them, and then puts you in the mind of a recruiter so that you can establish a good relationship with them.  Before reading this e-book, I thought recruiters were just for CEOs, but this information can help people at the managerial level (like me), and even those who may be working with temp or permanent placement agencies.  This is not information rehashed from other books or websites; it offers new insights on how you think of presenting yourself and on how to use a recruiter to your advantage. Read it!
—Chandra F., MI

Here’s just some of what’s inside this amazing ebook:

• The three types of recruiters and which type to make sure you stay away from at all costs!
• Why you need a recruiter, even if you are happily employed – plus, what questions to ask to ensure you find the recruiter that’s right for you!
• How to find a quality recruiter among all the fake and ineffective ones on the Internet – plus, five not-to-be-overlooked ways to find a recruiter other than using the Internet!
• How to take control of your job search efforts and make sure you get noticed by all the right companies and recruiters!
• How to quickly determine if a recruiter is “a good one”!
• How to ensure you are remembered by a recruiter … step by easy step!

Plus, you’ll also learn:

• How to develop a “personality for success” – you’ll simply be amazed by what you read here!
• How to realistically assess your capabilities – and then jumpstart your job search by drawing attention to your strengths!
• What companies want now more than ever – and how to demonstrate to them that you have exactly what they need!
• Why your resume could be holding you back – other than your birth certificate, your resume is probably the most important professional document you’ll have in your entire life, yet people continue to make mistakes on them … find out exactly what should be in your resume!
• The one thing you should absolutely not do if you really want to land your perfect job – this is critical to your success … even if you read nothing else you must read this important tip!
• How to remove the filters or the “barriers to entry” in getting your perfect job – find out what you should do to ensure your resume gets read!
• The single best resource companies employ for finding new talent – and how you can best take advantage of it to secure your perfect job!
• The REAL truth about search firms and headhunters – find out if all of them really have the job seeker’s best interests in mind!
• Why only 2% of job seekers find work using job boards – and how you can get around this potential career road block!
• How to nail any interview – discover exactly what you need to do and say to ace an interview … including things the hiring manager will NEVER ask or tell you but that you need to be sure to communicate anyway!
• How to know when you should stick it out in a current position or move on!
• The proper way to respond to any offer – plus, why taking a counter offer from your existing employer is one of the worst mistakes you could ever make!
• And much, much more!

To learn more about this incredible book, including how you can get a copy for a very special low, low price on May 17 only, please CLICK HERE.

Social media and social networking is changing the way we do business.

That’s where social media – and especially LinkedIn – is so valuable for sales and marketing.

Social media and especially LinkedIn make it possible to:

• Quickly find and reach our decision-makers, and build relationships
• Get through directly to our decision-makers – there’s no gatekeeper
• Save time. When I used to go to meetings to meet people, it used to take time to get to the meeting, and then I’d meet a few people who might at some point become clients (or maybe not).  Then more time to get back to the office or home after the meeting.

It works for me.
Clients find me on LinkedIn, and I can attribute new clients to my profile and activity on LinkedIn.

Here’s the dilemma:  I have so much to do — I don’t have time to do everything.  So I’ve looked at the things that I might outsource to someone else. Social media is one area, and I have outsourced some of it.

And I’ve learned through good and bad experiences that it’s important to outsource some of my social network marketing, and keep some to do myself.

Here are my Top 5 Tips if you’re thinking of outsourcing your social networking:

1. Write your sales and business goals down if you haven’t already. Review your goals and your business plan, and ask yourself what you want social media to do for you and your business.
2. Know your niche and your target audience. Be very specific about who they are – both demographics and psychographics such as their job title, types of companies where they work, what they do, their age, and what they like to do outside of work. Find out what social networking sites they visit, and be sure you’re there also.
3. Make a list of what you do for your social media marketing. Some of these might be: writing postings, posting them, connecting with people, updating and communicating with people to let them know what you’re doing – events, articles and blogs you find and want them to know about, etc.  Put a star next to the ones you love to do. For example, if it’s easy for you to write and you like to write, you may not like doing the technical parts of posting what you write. These are the things you’ll keep for yourself.
4. Find someone – or several people – who can do the things that you don’t love to do. The best way to do that is ask people you know, and people who are doing social media marketing for their business. Ask them who they use and what they have the person do.  Get their contact information and interview them. Choose the one that has the skills you’re looking for and that you will enjoy working with.
5. Don’t completely outsource everything. It won’t work if you simply say to the person you’re working with, “Here – take care of everything” and you’re no longer involved. No one else has your voice, information and perspective.  People are looking for guidance and information that will help them achieve their goals.  They want to learn from someone who has a personality. That is — you. If you have someone help you with the writing, be sure you take time to get to know each other well enough that they can write in your style. Take time to read what they write before it’s posted, and remember that people want to hear from you.

In summary:

Social media marketing is important. What if you don’t have time? Outsource the parts you don’t love – the technical part. People want our perspective and personality, and what we can do for them. We can’t outsource that. If someone writes for you, read it before it’s posted.  Be sure it’s “you”. Find someone that does the same thing for colleagues and friends. Interview them, and choose the one who has the skills and you enjoy. Take time to read what’s out there, so you’ll know what’s happening.

How will you make this year’s sales better than last year’s?

Where are you now at the end of the sales quarter with your goals, LinkedIn,
networking and sales?

Do you want to boost your sales?  Find clients?  Grow your business?

Take this Quarterly Check-In to find out

Ask yourself these questions and discover how well you’re networking and using LinkedIn for your lead generation and sales.  That is, what you’re doing well, and what could you do better.  Be honest here.  Every point here will be covered in the articles I write throughout the year.  And you’ll receive easy-to-use tips and proven strategies that you can put in place.

Networking Self-Assessment:

Answer these with 1 to 5 (1 means Not at all, and 5 means All the time).  Add up your score, and write down the Top 3 things you can do now to go from a good LinkedIn networker and salesperson to a great one.

1. I have my long-term sales and networking goals written down
2. I block out specific time in my weekly schedule for lead generation and networking activities
3. I have a clear picture of my ideal client, and know them as well as my best friend
4. I know who can introduce me to people in my target audience and to my ideal client
5. Regular referrals come to me
6. I’m sure that a family member or child can explain what I do for a living
7. I add value to everyone I meet, even before they do.  I live with the philosophy of Pay it Forward
8. I regularly keep in touch with people I know with phone calls, thank-you cards, appreciation cards and meetings
9. I follow up with people I meet within 24-48 hours and learn how I can advance their networking and refer other good people to them
10. I have written an introduction and brief description of the company that includes the benefits of our products and services to our clients, and results we achieve for companies
11. I make it a habit to ask for recommendations and testimonials from satisfied companies and clients
12. I ask for referrals and give my referral partners success stories about my business
13. I have a clear, concise Elevator Pitch or Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that I can both say and write in emails and LinkedIn messages
14. I talk about the value of our products and services and how it solves our clients’ business challenges before talking about the price
15. It’s easy for me to meet new people and ask the right questions so I learn more about them

Scoring:

60-75 – Congratulations!  You’re a Master Networker and LinkedIn Salesperson. Call me with your Success Stories!

50-59 – You’re a Great Networker and LinkedIn Salesperson. Keep up the good work, and pick the one thing that will make the most difference to improve your sales and your networking.  LinkedIn makes it easy and a lot less time-consuming, so you may want to use LinkedIn more and be sure you’re as productive and effective as possible

40-49 – You’re a Good Networker and LinkedIn Salesperson. Keep networking – especially generating leads.  The more you do, and the more focused you are, the better you’ll get.  Leverage the relationships you already have and ask for introductions to your decision-makers, people in your accounts and people at new accounts.  LinkedIn makes it easy and a lot less time-consuming, so you may want to use LinkedIn more and be sure you’re using it as effectively as possible

30-39 – You’re a Fair Networker and LinkedIn Salesperson, and can easily learn more about what you can do to be Great

1-29 – Help!  Learn more now – Quickly! You’re missing ways to generate leads, find clients, grow your business and build your brand.  Call me ASAP – we’ll get you up-to-speed fast.

Your notes:

What are the Top 3 things you can start doing now?

For more info: For more information:  To join LinkedIn (it’s free), go to www.linkedin.com. For more resources go to my LinkedIn Profile or send Jan an email to:  info@linkedinworks.com.

LinkedIn Success Stories show that companies and professionals are generating leads, finding clients, networking to find strategic alliances, getting more quality referrals that turn into business and more face-to-face meetings via LinkedIn.

Social media is changing the way we do business. It’s changing the way clients buy products and services. What that means is that we must change the way we sell. We can’t keep doing the same things we’ve always done and expect to get different results.

Your customers are also on LinkedIn looking for you. Business is conducted now by searching on the Internet – and LinkedIn. Are you there? Will they find you in searches, and know why you’re the best one to work with?

Here are 5 ways that LinkedIn could be hurting your sales and brand, and what you can do about them.

Your presence on LinkedIn is limited. For example, you have a Profile that’s missing the Summary section and keywords that companies and your buyers use to search for you on LinkedIn. Or your Summary section is only a sentence or two. When people do searches on LinkedIn, they type in keywords. For example, I recently did a search on LinkedIn for CEOs in Information Technology companies within 100 miles of a Manhattan zip code. There were over 3,000 Profiles that came up.

What to do: No-one is going to read 3,000+ profiles — ever. The first thing they do is scan the small bit of information they see in the Search Results List – name, professional headline, geographic area. If you don’t give them a reason to click on your name and see the rest of your Profile, you’ve lost that opportunity and they’re gone.

If you don’t have the best keywords, your Profile is not coming up in the search results list. So they’re not even considering you.

Your Professional Headline lists your current or previous job title. This headline is what gets their attention when they pull up a list of Profiles. When they see 3,000+ of the same job titles here, why should they click on your name to see the rest of your Profile and find out about you and your company?

What to do:

Your Profile is a long listing of your products and services, or a chronology of your responsibilities throughout your career. These don’t showcase your expertise or differentiate you and your company from other companies that they’re considering hiring or buying from.

What to do: In the current marketplace, many companies are looking for products and services, and more show up in the LinkedIn Search Results List. People are extra busy. They have no time to read through a long chronology that doesn’t tell them why to choose you. This is also true for your marketing materials. If they see your long list with lots to read, they toss it immediately or they may set it aside to read “when there’s more time”. That never happens. So you’re set aside.
Remember that yours may be one of hundreds or thousands of Profiles in a search results list. When they do click through to see your Profile, they want to know “WII-FM” — What’s In It – For Me?” Does your Profile show them why to choose you? Show them your results!

You’ve made your target list of companies you want to work with or new accounts you want to win, though you’re not leveraging the business relationships you already have to meet people in those companies.

What to do: With LinkedIn, you can easily find out how you’re connected with someone in a target company and ask someone you know for introductions into the company. This is critically important when you want to meet CEOs and Board members who aren’t interested in “cold calls”. Referrals and introductions are proven to be more successful than cold calls.

You only have only a few connections (50-100 or so) and only a few Recommendations. For people in an outreach position such as salespeople, professionals, consultants and business owners people looking at your Profile think there must be something wrong if you don’t have many connections. (That is, they think, “They must not be a good salesperson, consultant”, etc.) You may be very good at what you do. It’s the buyer’s perception that counts. This is especially true for companies, salespeople and professionals who are in outreach-type, visible positions.

What to do: Invite people to connect. Request Recommendations. For senior-level executives, you may not be taken seriously if you have fewer than 12 to 15 recommendations. Your Recommendations must be results-oriented. It’s not enough to have one that says in effect, “Joe’s a good guy to work with” or “I liked working with Sue”. The reader wants to know exactly what it’s like to work with you and your company. People buy from people they know, like and trust. This is what they’re looking for when they read your Recommendations .

If you’re not on LinkedIn with a compelling Profile that comes up in searches, and that differentiates you and your company and also a Company Profile, it could be hurting your sales. You’re missing out on business opportunities and sales. Don’t let that happen to you.

Call me and we’ll talk about what you want to accomplish and the best strategies for making it happen. I can definitely help you design what you do on LinkedIn to get the results you want.

We’ll map out the best strategies for reaching you goals, and spend one hour focused exclusively and in-depth showing you how to put those strategies in place, and exactly what to do to reach your goals. You’ll also know your Top 3 Action Steps for the next 30-60 days so you’ll continue to get results with LinkedIn. The Strategy Session is $250, and includes a one-hour call, a questionnaire before our call, and follow-up by e-mail.

$395 LinkedIn Strategy Session

$250 LinkedIn Profile Critique & Makeover