It's amazing how much stress the LinkedIn Profile photo causes! One of the first questions I'm asked when reviewing someone's profile is how to have the perfect picture. Everyone wants it to be just right; and it's a refreshing change because I remember the good ol' days (which were just a few years ago) when I had to spend all my time just trying to convince people that it actually was important to have a profile photo. If you want to get some ideas about what makes for a great LinkedIn Profile photo, check out our article here. But once you know the shot you want, how can you get it without having someone take a poorly lit head shot … [Read more...]
The Cool Kids are Leveraging their Alumni Network on LinkedIn
Of all the networks we build in our lives, one of the earliest and deepest networks we create is that of our alma mater. People take their connection to their school seriously (just watch the boosters at any basketball game). The fundraising department at your school depends on that when they have students call and ask you for money. Take me for example. I'm a busy guy and I don't have a lot of spare time just laying around. But if you want to have 5 minutes of my time, call me and tell me when you graduated from Northwestern University. I'll definitely give you a few minutes. Use LinkedIn to Stay Connected In the past if you wanted … [Read more...]
The Most Important Rule When Writing LinkedIn Profiles
Updated September 2020 Over the last decade I've read a lot of LinkedIn profiles. I've helped thousands of professionals improve their own profiles. And I do a lot of networking and selling so I'm always looking at what people write about themselves. And here's the reality: Not all profiles are good. Sure, some of them are really useful. I can read the profile and understand what the person does, who they work with, and why I would want to connect with them. Others miss all of those main points. This is important. Because if your profile isn't useful to your reader, then you are shooting yourself in the foot. Engage … [Read more...]
Should You Really Put Recent College Grads in Charge of Your Social Media?
"Give the job to Mikey, he understands this stuff!" "Mikey" in this scenario is a 24-year-old recent college grad who is looking for his or her first job in marketing (or probably anything because of the crappy job market). "This stuff" is the entirety of your company's social media marketing and branding work. Strategy, tactics, execution...the whole shebang. Instead of kids trying to get their brother to eat cereal, it's executives trying to fill their social media positions. It's an understandable response considering how quickly social media has evolved and how much influence it is exerting on business. Trying to keep up with … [Read more...]
The Clues Hidden in the Structure of My LinkedIn Network
Updated December 2018 Back in the day, LinkedIn offered a service that let you graphically represent your LinkedIn network. It gave you a way to visualize what how your connections were linked to you and to each other. Unfortunately, it's not possible to use the service anymore. But they contained some great lessons to be pulled from what my LinkedIn network looked like back then. The Power of 2nd Level Connections Here's what mine looked like: Think about what you are seeing here. This is my personal org chart. This visually describes how I'm connected to everyone I know and how they are connected to each other. These … [Read more...]
LinkedIn Endorsements for Financial Professionals
Social media sites are developing and evolving at ever greater speeds. Unfortunately, this means that social media is often outstripping the offline world's ability to adapt. What may seem like an intuitive and nifty piece of functionality to a programmer can lead to a headache for those who are using social media in the real world. LinkedIn Endorsements demonstrate a social media feature that gets mired in real-world issues. For most professionals, the Endorsements feature is a useful tool. It allows our connections to attest to our Skills on our LinkedIn profiles. On the other hand, it creates challenges for professions that are … [Read more...]
2 Keys to Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
When we worked for the same company our entire careers, the idea of a personal brand wasn't important. These days, with shorter job stints and a "free agent" economy where it's common for professionals to bounce from project to project, having a strong brand is more critical than ever. But how do you manage your personal brand and get everything done on your to-do list? Here comes social media to the rescue - and on a professional level, LinkedIn. Your brand is based on how you are viewed by your network, the people that you know and the people that know you, i.e, your LinkedIn connections. There are two main pieces that make up … [Read more...]