As presented at the BNI London North East International Networking Week Event on 7 Feb 2011. This presentation gives tips and advice on how to effectively use LinkedIn to expand your online networking activities.
15. Get Introduced! 1. Fill in your details 2. Include message for person you are being introduced to 3. Include a message for the person who will be making the introduction 4. Send 5. Follow-up!
Thank You … I am Russell Chesler, Founder and Director of Achieve IT Consulting and I’m going to be talking today about you can use LinkedIn to boost your online marketing activities and expand your network. I’m going to be going through some hints, tips and advice to get you started with this online phenomenon Before I start I’d like to see a show of hands - Who has heard of LinkedIn - Who has an active profile - Who has made a meaningful introduction through LinkedIn? For those of you who have profiles I hope that my presentation will help you get more out of LinkedIn And for those of you who are currently missing out I hope that this will encourage you to Get In with LinkedIn
What is LinkedIn? Professional Networking site 90m users in 200 Countries, 5m in the UK alone 3 primary aims - Reconnect with ex-colleagues, contacts, friends - Improve your prospecting by looking for shared contacts who you can be introduced to by a respected colleague - Interact with fellow industry professionals to share opinions and offer advice Unlike Facebook which is a social networking site, this is a professional networking site, with the focus on you, rather than your company Connect and interact with fellow professionals LinkedIn becoming one of THE places to both Hire and be hired. Background research into potential employees Offers another avenue to get introduced to that dream referral!
So why should you get involved? Online networking is fast becoming more mainstream with more and more people using social networks for business Being active on LinkedIn helps raise your profile in the online world, and allows you to develop your reputation as an expert in your field Lastly, your competitors are using LinkedIn and getting involved. If you don’t get interact with your customers online, someone else will!
Name Title Current Position Photo Education Websites e.g. company / blog Twitter
Summary: Think of this as your BNI 60 seconds What do you do (in a nutshell) What makes you stand out Why should someone use you over someone else List of areas of Speciality
List all your previous jobs with timelines and positions This acts as your CV so it’s important not to leave any gaps!
Recommendations This is where you really stand out Helps build your credibility on LinkedIn Who looks better: Guy with 20 recommendations or the guy with none? IFDAYDG
Example of a Great Profile Peter Lurie, Proactive Medical and Life, Fortune Chapter Worked with Peter to help develop his profile Completely filled out Main Section 21 Recommendations List of Published Articles Honours & Awards A lot of people aren’t comfortable bragging but LinkedIn is a great to place self-promote without having to feel embarrassed.
Here is an example of a Poor Profile – I’ve greyed out the name to protect the innocent! No Picture No Links No Recommendations Does nothing to stand out amongst the crowd
Why is it important to actively develop your network? Without an extensive contact list you're not going to get very far People more likely to connect with you if you have an extensive contact list as this improves your credibility Your ability to get introduced depends on the size of your contact database. The more contacts you have the bigger your 2 nd and 3 rd degree networks! Assume everyone had 200 contacts on LinkedId You would be exposed to 40000 people your 200 contacts could directly introduce you to If you go down to the 3 rd degree of separation that’s 8m people!
Import from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or AOL Import from Desktop client (e.g. Outlook) Search Colleagues (based on company) Classmates (based on school / uni) Friends and Family LinkedIn has a “People you may know” facility which suggests contacts based on your existing network Measure: Size of Network Number of recommendations
What are they? groups of people in same profession share similar interests work for same organisation membership groups (e.g. BNI) Why join them? This is where using LinkedIn starts really gets interesting Opportunity to partake in topical discussions Keeps you up to date with the latest Industry Happenings Opportunity to network with new people, expand your network, increase chance of being introduced Opportunity to soft-sell When you contribute to a discussion and include a link to your website or blog, the search engines pick up this fresh content and it, in turn, has a positive impact on your search engine optimisation
Check Name Michael Cuschieri Click “Get Introduced”
Select person and click continue
You details Message for person being introduced to Message for Introducer Send Follow-Up
3 types ranging from $25/month to $100/month "Inmails"... Is a message direct to anyone on LinkedIn even if they are not in your network. LinkedIn guarantees the message will be delivered but of course there is no guarantee the person will actually read it Better search results Enhanced tools to organise your profile
5 Habits Great Profile Expansive Network Ask for and get lots of recommendations Join relevant groups Get involved in group discussions and share your opinion
I hope this has given you a taster of some of the benefits of using LinkedIn And some tips and advice on how to get started or improve your LinkedIn profile Hand Over to Michael Cuschieri