I'm going to tell you a secret: I'm a Zumba instructor. That's right, Zumba, the Latin-dance aerobic fitness classes. I don't teach often, at most once a week. But when my travel schedule allows, I love to jump around a gym to some salsa or reggaeton music. It's a blast! That might not be something you would expect from a professional-development author and speaker. I Don't "Lead" with My Fitness Activities And in fact, if you read my LinkedIn profile, you wouldn't find any mention of my Zumba career. Is that because I am embarrassed? Am I ashamed? Not at all. So why isn't there any mention of my "rico y suave" moves on … [Read more...]
How to Create Organizational Brand Alignment with LinkedIn
Updated December 2018 LinkedIn is often seen as the land of the jobseeker, the salesperson, and the recruiter. But what if your job isn't externally facing - is it worth spending time there? In other words, how can you use LinkedIn if you like your job and simply want to do it better? If you look beyond just updating your profile the next time you are looking for a job, there are simple ways that LinkedIn can help every career, no matter what your role or professional goals. In this article, you'll discover 3 simple (but powerful) processes that will help you capture the power of LinkedIn for your daily business success, no … [Read more...]
The 9 Words that Should Never Appear in Your LinkedIn Headline
Updated October 2021 I spend my days thinking, writing, and speaking about the intersection of business and relationships in the digital age. I focus a lot of my attention on social selling, the convergence of old school sales processes with powerful online tools. It's fun being in the midst of this change and evolution. People are experimenting with lots of new ideas and methodologies. Some are successful; some...not so much. We're all figuring it out together on the fly. Not Everything is Pretty on LinkedIn When you do this long enough, you see the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of social media. After seeing another … [Read more...]
Starting Your LinkedIn Profile with the Perfect Headline
Updated December 2018 How do you get people's online attention in a busy world? You might think that's a question that only applies to newspaper editors, content marketers, and bloggers. But it's actually important for all of us to consider...especially when it comes to our LinkedIn profiles. If you want to manage how your network views you, you have to make sure that they actually view you. Why Should You Worry About the Perfect Headline? An important step in this process is leading off with the right headline. Because whether it's a newspaper, a blog article, or your LinkedIn profile, the headline performs a few important … [Read more...]
How to Look Like a RockStar on LinkedIn
Updated December 2018 They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So what are the thousand words of your profile photo saying about you? More and more of our online interaction is becoming visually-based, and how you present yourself is a key component of your online presence. YouTube has over 100 hours of video uploaded every minute and one of the most popular social media sites with teenagers is Instagram. People like to "see" who they are interacting with. It has always been common for people to say, "I can't remember names but I can always remember a face." Because there is only one photo attached to your profile, it plays an … [Read more...]
Stay Away from Branding Mistakes with LinkedIn Publisher
The LinkedIn Publisher platform isn't for everybody. Yep, I said it. If you don't like to write, can't write well, or don't think you have anything to say, long-form articles on LinkedIn might not be for you. But if that doesn't scare you away, Publisher can be a powerful tool in your personal brand-building toolkit. And I don't want to freak you out; it's pretty cool that it's now so easy to share content with your network. You have to be careful, though, because it also pretty easy to make yourself look bad. We don't want that to happen. Share Your Expertise Publisher started out as the LinkedIn Influencer program, and it required … [Read more...]
Understanding Your LinkedIn Brand Message in 3 Simple Steps
Updated January 2022 At the root of every ineffective LinkedIn profile and wasted status update is a lack of planning and forethought. Even with over 300+ million users, most people are on LinkedIn in a reactive capacity. They created a profile because others invited them to connect and when they post it's because they heard somewhere that they were supposed to. They are missing the strategic component that will enable them to leverage their time. They haven't thought through what they are trying to accomplish and therefore they accomplish very little. Asking and answering a few simple strategic questions can go a long way to making … [Read more...]