ambulanceHelp is an email or a call away.

Helpers abound, and as I discussed with a fellow LinkedIn expert on the phone last week (yes, we do collaborate), there are good ones with loads of experience, charlatans, and everything in between.

There will be times you have to select one (or two) to bounce a question off, as in situations like these:

  1. you don’t know where to start to renovate your profile, to make it look and sound like you, as interesting and engaging as you are. Objective coaching is available.
  2. you don’t know why your posts and articles are not getting notices, likes, shares or commented on. There’s black magic for this, and each expert has his/her own opinion.
  3. you need more recommendations and don’t know how to ask for them, to get best results, with minimal editing back and forth. Manage your recommender, as suggested here often.
  4. No one seems to be looking at your profile. Dull boring profiles rarely get noticed. Wallflowers never get to dance, as I always say. Buy some dancing shoes and invest in some lessons.
  5. no one calls or emails you based on your profile. Check your contact details; I’ll bet you failed to include your mobile number, email address, office street address, twitter handle, website and blog URLs. No one spends time searching for these anymore–you must supply them on LinkedIn!
  6. someone mentions they don’t still know what type of work you do, after reviewing your LinkedIn profile. Uh oh, profile rewrite time, unless they were braindead at the time they read your narrative. You have a narrative, don’t you, in your About section and after each of your jobs, right?
  7. the reader admits they stopped reading past your Headline. You’re in a heap o’ trouble! A coach can loosen up ideas for you to place in this all-important spot. It should never (!) read {title} at {XYZ Company}; that’s a snorer!
  8. your headshot looks like it was taken in high school: dark stormy background, you are grimacing, and you just don’t look like that anymore. All LinkedIn experts know and recommend a great headshot photographer (and videographer too!)
  9. You lack any multimedia and yet own some, but they are on YouTube and all around the web but don’t know where and how to place it on LinkedIn. Call that expert. Now.
  10. Your job may be in jeopardy in the coming econmic downturn and you just want to be prepared for a possible job search. Be ahead of the game. Start now, beat competitors. Get advice and help.

LinkedIn expertise is an art, not a science, and everyone, titled LinkedIn Expert or otherwise, has an opinion.

Choose your expert wisely and ask for references. Read their recommendations and look at work they have done for others, and especially for themselves. Check their teaching and delivery quality on their videos. Peruse their books, articles, white papers, blogs, videos, etc., to establish a basis to believe what they say and do could be valuable to hire for your needs.

Call them and converse, get a sense for their persona, then ask for a proposal.

And in all cases, caveat consultant. Cheap is just that. You will get what you pay for.