The other day someone mentioned he was looking for a new direction in his career and I asked him how well he thought his LinkedIn profile capsulized his value proposition, his brand, his uniqueness to help him gain visibility at the search firms.  His response, like so many others was, “I haven’t spent the time and can’t figure out how to do that.”

So, for all of you stuck in the time warp, raised in the 40’s/50’s/60’s 70’s when we were told not to talk about ourselves, get over your internal resistance.

Embrace “it” and use the tools available to grasp the attention you deserve and self-promote on social media. The “it” is described as the active, participatory, run-with-the-ball need to network effectively.

The new reality is that LinkedIn is a power tool in your marketing tool box.  Get comfortable with the concept, and get serious about talking about how and why you stand out from the crowd.

I watch my coaching clients bristle at my urging them to self-define professionally and show in different ways why they are better than the competition on LinkedIn.  They can “talk the talk” but can’t effectively commit it to writing on their personal profile.

When you get over “it,” the word flow freely, ok, more freely. It just takes practice.