This week I’m doing a 15-minute speed presentation for a group of meeting planners titled I Didn’t Know LinkedIn Could Do THAT! I hope you learn some new tricks from this sneak peek of my presentation outline.   “In Common With.”  This LinkedIn feature  shows you at a glance what you have in common with another person (e.g., schools, groups, companies, locations, skills, causes, and interests). No more fumbling around looking for conversation starters to break the ice. And here’s a little secret. Birds of a feather like to flock together–and they also like to do business with each other.   Signal.  Ever wonder if anyone on LinkedIn is talking about your company, your products and services, your employees, your industry, and your markets? LinkedIn’s Signal feature helps you quickly and easily keep tabs on who’s talking about you–whether they’re sharing good news or bad news. Capitalize on this by sharing the good news with your network and quickly nipping any problems in the bud before the whole online world hears about it. And it’s a great way to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, too.   Special LinkedIn Profile Sections.  LinkedIn is a great personal branding tool, and it’s easy to put your best foot forward with the help of the following special LinkedIn profile sections: Skills, Publications, Test Scores, Patents, Projects, Volunteering & Causes, Courses, Languages, Honors & Awards, Certifications, and Organizations. Include these sections to get a leg up on your competition and boost your credibility with potential customers, employers–everyone who views your LinkedIn profile.   Advanced People Searching.  Because LinkedIn’s Advanced People Searching feature shows you who knows whom, it’s easy to: . See if anyone you know is connected to a company that just received your resume Turn a cold call into a “warm call” by getting a personal introduction from someone in your network Find potential donors or volunteers for your favorite nonprofit Recruit the best candidates even when they aren’t actively looking for a job Discover new vendors and suppliers Find experts who can answer your questions and help you solve your problems . Google Search.  SEO experts charge hefty sums to help individuals and companies find their way onto page 1 of Google’s search engine results, but your LinkedIn profile and LinkedIn company page almost always appear on page 1–and it’s free of charge.   Saved Search.  This LinkedIn feature is like having a 24/7 virtual assistant that constantly searches LinkedIn’s 225-million-person database and periodically sends you a list of people who meet your specific search criteria. And best of all–this virtual assistant doesn’t demand a salary and benefits.   Groups.  LinkedIn has more than 1.6 million groups.  Many are industry specific and enable you to show your thought leadership and build credibility with potential customers. You can also make connections, send direct messages, and review job postings. Post and/or participate in group discussions to increase your visibility in the marketplace.   “Follow” Companies.  LinkedIn enables you to “legally stalk” companies and organizations. Simply “follow” the companies you are interested in, and you will have access to any company information they share–press releases, job postings, new products and services, personnel changes, etc. Hiring managers are always impressed when candidates are well informed about the company.   Mass Direct Messages.  You can send mass direct messages to a targeted group of people in your network. Because the message is sent to their LinkedIn inbox and their email, you can expect a higher open rate.   Alumni.  Most people have a warm-and-fuzzy feeling for people who attended the same college or university–and this can mean more business for you. A general LinkedIn search will help you uncover people who have mentioned in their profile that they attended a specific school, but LinkedIn’s Alumni feature takes it a step further and summarizes: . Where they live Where they work What they do What they studied What their skills are How you are connected to them . The search capabilities will blow your socks off. For instance, a simple search can show you all the company presidents in your target market who attended your alma mater–and show you how you are connected to them plus a host of other insider information.   Did you know LinkedIn could do all THAT?   For more great tips and tricks, download my FREE LinkedIn Essentials Tool Kit.

Are you annoyed by someone’s status updates? Tired of getting so many emails? Don’t want to share your connections list with your network?   These are only a few of the important things you can control from your LinkedIn Settings Panel. I will be sharing five critical settings with you. For more information about settings, check out the Your Account, Your Settings–Your Way chapter in my book.   To access your account settings, place your cursor over your name on the top toolbar and select Settings (old version top toolbar) or scroll over your picture on the far right of your top toolbar and select Privacy & Settings (new version top toolbar).     Here are the five settings I’m asked about most frequently and find most useful.   1.  ”I don’t want to be bothered with all those group emails”   Yes, you have full control over which groups you receive email notifications from and the frequency with which you receive them. Ask yourself If I miss something from this group, would I be mad? I suggest you keep track of a handful of groups, and then turn the others off.    How: Settings > Groups, Companies & Applications > Set the frequency of group digest emails   2.  ”This guy is driving me nuts with his silly status updates”   We all have some people in our network who are essentially using their status updates like a Twitter account or they don’t understand that on LinkedIn we don’t want to be sold to on a daily basis. This setting allows you to say “bye-bye” to their status updates.    How: When you view one of their status updates on your home page, move the cursor to the top right of the update and click “Hide.”   3.  ”I don’t want to tell my network every time I change my profile this weekend”   This is especially helpful if you are working on your profile in a condensed period of time and don’t want to report every change immediately. Be sure to turn this back on when you have completed your final change. Having your network see your profile changes is a good thing.    How: Settings > Profile > Turn on/off your activity broadcasts   4.  ”I don’t want people to see my connections”   The default is that your first-degree connections can see who your other first-degree connections are. Allowing your friends to know who your other friends are has always been an important step in the networking process. It is especially cool how LinkedIn has taken that to a new level.    That being said, I do understand certain people may not want this list to be viewable by others. I know plenty of people who would not play the LinkedIn game at all if this control did not exist, so I’m thankful it’s available.     Many people would like this setting to be person-by-person and not all-or-nothing. I am sorry to say that option is not yet available on LinkedIn.    Check out my article: “Should You Hide Your LinkedIn Connections?” for a more in-depth discussion of this topic.    How: Settings > Profile > Select who can see your connections   5.  ”How do other people get their picture, name, and company name on Who’s Viewed Your Profile”   The default is that you won’t see this detail, but I think most of us who are interested in growing our brands want this detailed information to show up when we appear on the Who’s Viewed Your Profile list.    How: Settings > Profile > Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile     Take a few minutes to make sure your settings are in line with your LinkedIn strategy. It will help you save time and be much more effective on LinkedIn.

How cool would it be if you could write notes right on someone’s LinkedIn profile? Only you could see the information. It would be like your personal cheat sheet–what’s her personal assistant’s name, where did you meet him, etc. Well, you can, and it’s easy to do. Just use the “Add Contact Information” feature.    To access the feature, click “Contact Info” (1) on any 1st level connection’s profile and then click “add” (2).   Choose from the available fields or create your own. Whatever you include will be strictly confidential–for your eyes only.    Here’s a few ideas of information you might like to include:  Where you met Spouse’s name Kids’ names and colleges Products they usually purchase Names of decision makers at their company   Golf Handicap  Birthday Favorite wine, restaurant, music, sports, sports teams, vacation spots, charitable organizations, etc. Who introduced you to them Topics of conversation to avoid  Save a tree. Make your notes right on your friend’s LinkedIn profile instead of on a scrap of paper that may get lost anyway!

Have you or your company created helpful resources that display your knowledge or expertise–a checklist, video, white paper, customer testimonial, etc.? These are great ways to build credibility and promote yourself and your company. But how can you get your resources into the hands of people you already know plus lots of people you would like to know?   LinkedIn to the rescue! Here are seven simple ways I’ve used LinkedIn to share my resources, including my first FREE eBook “10 LinkedIn Mistakes Companies Make.”  1.  Status Updates. Because everyone in your network will not read every status update you post, share your best resources regularly. This also gives people who are new to your network an opportunity to see your best stuff. 2.  Professional Gallery.  A well-displayed document in your Professional Gallery will stop them in their tracks when they are scanning through your profile.   3.  Publication or Project. These special sections are yours for the asking. Think outside the box here. It doesn’t have to be a publication or project in the truest sense of the word. And you can move these sections to a more visible place in your profile if you really want to grab someone’s attention. Check out my profile for some great examples. 4.  Product or Service on Company Page.  Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s not a product or service! And if you list it as your first product or service, it will also show up on your company’s LinkedIn home page.   5.  Status Update on Company Page.  This goes out to your company page followers, and it’s also posted on your company’s home page. See my company page for examples of this. 6.  Post a Discussion in a Group(s).  Remember–these are discussions, not in-your-face marketing. Post a thought-provoking question to which your resource provides an answer. Then share the resource in an attached link.   7.  Comment on Ongoing Discussions in a Group(s).  Keep an eye out for discussions relating to the topic your resource addresses. This isn’t too hard if you focus on groups in your industry or your customers’ industries. When the opportunity presents itself, share your knowledge and your resource.   If you take advantage of these seven LinkedIn features, you will not only help your audience and increase your credibility, but you’ll also increase traffic to your website.   And if you haven’t already grabbed your copy of my free eBook, why not do it now by clicking here.

Let me just take a moment to thank you for sharing my name, information, and book with your friends, relatives, and coworkers. Because of you, the first edition of “The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success” has become the #1 selling LinkedIn book in the world. And here’s some more great news. The 2nd edition of my book is now available at Amazon or a bookstore near you. The book is completely revised and includes the latest LinkedIn changes plus 50 pages of new content and ten “gotta have” LinkedIn resources. Be sure to pick up a copy or download it to your favorite reading device.    FAQ: Should I upgrade to a paid LinkedIn account?       My latest LinkedIn user survey showed 15% of respondents have upgraded to one of the paid LinkedIn accounts, up from 8% a year ago. I personally don’t have an upgraded account, but, in case you’re interested, pricing starts as low as $15.95 per month. Here’s what I say about this issue in my new book: Consider moving to one of the paid accounts if you are:   1.         A human resources professional 2.         A recruiter 3.         Someone who consistently runs into the screen that says you should upgrade   If you are regularly seeing the screen that suggests you should upgrade, you are probably using a LinkedIn feature that is working for you, and you may want to consider going to one of the paid accounts.    For example, if you like to send InMails and/or introductions or would like to have more saved searches, you may want to upgrade your LinkedIn account.    In general, I do not recommend moving to a paid account unless you fall into one of the three categories listed above. However, in order to encourage more of us to pay for LinkedIn on a monthly basis, there will undoubtedly be more and more valuable new features available exclusively to paid subscribers.     Features available to paid subscribers   Here are a few features you might find useful:   1.  Saved searches.  I would love to have more than three saved searches.   2.  Longer list of search results.  You get up to 100 results on the free account, but a longer list could mean more leads and thus more income.   3.  Who’s Viewed Your Profile.  With a free account, you can only see the last five people who have scoped you out. An upgraded account lets you see everyone who’s looked at your profile (unless they’ve blocked their name).   4.  Additional advanced search filters.  I’d especially like to have access to filtering by company size.   5.  Access to full profiles of more LinkedIn users. With a free account, you can see full profiles of your 1st and 2nd level connections. Access to specific information about more remote connections can help you develop a strategy for reaching out to those people.   6. InMails. You can purchase these for $10 each and thereby contact people to whom you are not connected. If the recipient does not reply within seven days, LinkedIn gives you a $10 credit. (Before buying an InMail, be sure to check if you are in a group with your target, because common group membership enables you to send a free message).    I’ve had pretty good success with InMails. Most paid accounts come with a monthly allotment of InMails. The extra income that results from response to your InMails may actually cover the cost of your upgraded account.   There you have it, the complete lowdown on whether you should start forking over your hard-earned cash to upgrade your LinkedIn account.    Has an upgraded account been beneficial for you?

Recently I was doing a day-long consulting event, spending one-on-one time with a large organization’s business development folks, and was struck by the number of people who told me they’re not currently connected on LinkedIn to all of their existing clients.   The people responsible for making the decision to engage you are the most important LinkedIn connections you’ll ever make. Why weren’t they connected to their clients?Because they didn’t understand how the LinkedIn search algorithm works and the power of a rarely used feature called LinkedIn Introductions.  LinkedIn’s Search Algorithm Let’s address the LinkedIn search algorithm that determines who comes up first when people are looking for your products and services.  1.  You have to have the right keywords and other criteria that people are searching for or you will never come up. For help with this, download “LinkedIn Keyword Worksheet” and “LinkedIn People Searching: Your Ticket to Improved ROI” on the free resources page of my website.  2.  The default sort order for all search results is relevance. This is LinkedIn’s “secret sauce,” but the most important factor here appears to be your relationship with the searcher: Are you connected at the 1st, 2nd or 3rd level with the searcher. This means every time you connect with the decision makers at your current client’s company, you appear higher in the search results when their connections are looking for your product and services. This happens simply because you’re connected with your clients. You don’t have to do anything further.  LinkedIn’s Introduction Function Once you connect with your clients and can see all their connections, you can put together a first-rate list of potential clients. You can then warm up a cold call with them by asking for an introduction from your client. There’s no one better than a happy client to introduce you to potential clients. These introductions are golden.  If you prefer to ask for an introduction the good old-fashioned way, great–pick up the phone and call up your client. But LinkedIn’s Introduction feature is also a terrific way to get introduced to your current clients’ connections whom you’d like to meet. Your clients can easily share a quick testimonial about how great you are and pass along your contact information to their connections.   For all the details and strategies on how to ask for a LinkedIn Introduction, check out “I Found You, Now What Do I Do With You?” (Chapter 11 of my book) or the LinkedIn Help Center has a short discussion as well.  What should you do next? Get out your client list and make sure you are connected to every single one of them. Then search their networks and ask for introductions. It’s that easy. And don’t forget to share your success stories with me!

Are you a stealth job seeker or do you know someone who is? This week’s LinkedIn advice is about searching for your next great job “under the radar” so you don’t get fired from your current job.    I will answer these frequently asked questions:   1.  Will my being on LinkedIn suggest to my boss that I am looking for a job?   2.  What are the steps I should be following on LinkedIn to position myself for a new job and search for that job?   To answer question #1, if you use common sense, it’s unlikely that it will be a red flag to your boss. Don’t use words like seeking, pursuing, looking (the kind of words official job seekers may want to use), and don’t make a bunch of profile changes all at the same time. Then you should look like the 200+ million people who use LinkedIn daily to grow their networks and their businesses.   For an in-depth answer to question #2, let me direct you to a special blog post I wrote for Careerealism. As part of their Professional Emancipation Project (P.E.P), I and several other career experts have shared our thoughts about how to break free of the “Golden Handcuff Effect” and take full ownership of your career.   My article, with 15 specific LinkedIn tips, is titled:                       “How LinkedIn Can Help You In Your Stealth Job Search”  Be sure to pass this on to your friends who need this information. They’ll thank you for it!

Your LinkedIn company page is a great outlet to share, influence, educate, and attract your target audience–but only after people make the choice to “follow” your company.    Learn how to create a LinkedIn company page that will get maximum attention AND attract “followers” by attending my upcoming LinkedIn marketing class (live or webinar).   In the meantime, here are…   10 Simple Ways to Get More LinkedIn Company Page Followers   1.  Install a LinkedIn Company “Follow” Button on your website and blog.   2.  Ask people to “follow” your company in your other channels of corporate communication (mail, email, newsletters, advertising, etc.). And it’s kind of lame to simply say, “Please follow our company page on LinkedIn.” Instead, share with them what’s in it for them.     For instance, explain what interesting information you are going to make available to followers, like special promotions, job postings, articles, video, checklists, events, etc.   3.  Get more employees from your company to join LinkedIn, and be sure they list your company as their current employer. Your company logo will then show up on their profile, and it will click through to your company page.     4.  Show your employees how to include a link to your company page in their email signature.   5.  Discuss with all employees the importance of “liking” and/or “sharing” status updates that come from your company page. Your company’s updates will then go to each employee’s network. More views = more followers. (Note: Employees are automatically followers of their employer’s company page.)    6.  Mention and link your company page on your other social media platforms.   7.  ”Follow” other companies on LinkedIn, and “share” and/or “like” their status updates. Clients, potential clients, and industry experts are a great place to start. And don’t be surprised if a good share of them follow you back.   8.  Refer to your company page when interacting with people in your LinkedIn industry groups.    9.  Share good, helpful resources and information via company status updates on a consistent basis. If you do this well, over time you will acquire lots of followers.    Currently on my company page you can get not only a link to several of my weekly blog posts, but you can download these two terrific documents:   . Don’t Whine About LinkedIn’s Changes: Capitalize on Them! A free chapter from the second edition of my book (available in book stores April 2013)  . If you are the page administrator of a LinkedIn company page, click the paper clip icon to attach a document to your status update.     Not sure what to share? Download this awesome reference sheet from LinkedIn: “Engage Your Followers with Company Status Updates.”     10. Attract new followers by offering unique content.    For example, beginning March 18th, I am going to share with my company followers my first eBook: “10 LinkedIn Mistakes Companies Make.”    So why not follow my company page now so you won’t miss out!

I do an annual LinkedIn User Survey, and Groups is always one of the participants’ favorite features. Why? Because you can be exposed to and interact with a targeted audience even though you may not be officially connected to them. . There are almost 1.6 million groups to choose from, and you can join up to fifty of them. Of course, the smartest folks on LinkedIn take advantage of all fifty and wish they could be in 500. But whether you decide to join five or fifty, how do you know which ones are right for you?   Well, you want to be where the action is! It’s kind of like hanging out at the corner tavern or neighborhood meeting spot. You go there to catch up on what’s going on, help others, and find out who can help you. That’s what some of the groups (especially industry groups) are like on LinkedIn.    Follow these steps, and you’ll find your industry’s most important hangout spots: . Go to Profile>View Profile on the top toolbar. Click your industry (located just below your headline). This will take you to the Advanced People Search screen where you’ll see a list of everyone in your network who has listed the same industry. Enter all or part of your industry name in the Keyword box on the top left. This will enable you to search the entire LinkedIn database rather than just your network. If your industry category has more than one word (e.g., Professional Training & Coaching), you will get a broader search if you use only the word you think most people are including in their profile (e.g., training). Change Sort by from Relevance to Connections. You now have a list of all the people in your industry across the globe who have that keyword somewhere in their profile. The person with the most connections is at the top of the list. In other words, you have a list of the most connected people in your industry (listed in order from most to least connected). Now scroll down and look for individuals whose professional interests are similar to yours. When you find some good candidates, look at their profiles and see what LinkedIn groups they’ve joined. Make a list of the groups that you are not in but should be in and join them ASAP. Repeat these steps for secondary industries you may be involved in. Better yet (and don’t tell anyone I gave you this top-secret advice) try the industries your customers are in. That’s sure to be a home run.. I hope this tip helps you figure out just where you should be hanging out. . For more advice on joining groups, go to the Free Resources section of my website and check out LinkedIn Groups-Ca$h in On This Powerful Tool.

This week I spoke to a number of college audiences. When I told them about that warm, fuzzy feeling people have for fellow alumni, many of them just didn’t get it. I guess it’s one of those things you need to experience and not just talk about. The first time they see a door open for them in the business world as a result of that common bond, they’ll probably say, Hey, Wayne was right!   LinkedIn’s recently enhanced Alumni feature is the perfect place to begin new relationships with people who have walked the same hallowed halls. You won’t believe the incredible things you can now do with this feature.   There are two ways to access this feature. Click Contacts on the top toolbar, and then scroll down and click the name of any school you have listed on your profile–or you can just click the name of a school on anyone’s profile. Yes, this means you now have access to the alumni of schools you didn’t even attend! And we’re not just talking colleges here. It works for high schools, specialty schools, etc.     Ca$h In On This Powerful Tool   Every school’s Alumni page includes an awesome filtering system that helps you find the perfect fellow alumns to reach out to. Click the right arrow to gain access to all the filters.      The filters include: Where they live Where they work What they do What they studied What they are skilled at How are you connected       Once you have selected your filters, LinkedIn displays a mini profile for all individuals who meet your filtering criteria. Without leaving the page, you can send a message to any first-degree connections or use a personalized message to connect with anyone on the list. Pretty cool, don’t you think? I am amazed that this is still free.    Some of the searching capabilities have always been available through Advanced People Searching, but it is much easier to do it here.   Initially you will see fellow alums who attended the school during the same years you were there. For schools you didn’t attend, the default is 1900 to 2020. But you can put in any range you prefer.   If you’ve been looking for a way to sort people by age range, this is your ticket. If you sell products or services to a targeted age group, use the age range on the top right to find alumni who are probably in that age range. Granted, it isn’t exactly an age search because not everyone gets an undergrad degree at age 22, but it should still provide some valuable information.      Use the Search profiles keyword box to really zero in on the right alumns to reach out to. Attention Recent or Soon-to-be Grads   Use the Alumni feature to figure out who you might want to network with to help you find that first great job. This feature, along with some of LinkedIn’s additional profile sections (Test Scores, Courses, Honors & Awards), will help you stand out from the crowd and discover the perfect job for you.     I think after you test drive the Alumni feature, it will become one of your favorites. And I love success stories. Let me know how reconnecting with fellow alums helps you and your business.