Category: LinkedIn Tips and Techniques

On New Year’s Eve 2022, at the crack of midnight, Big Ben rang again, after years of painstaking restoration repairing damage dating from the Nazi bombing of London in WW2 and decades of mechanical wear and tear.

Watch and listen to the familiar sound of a faithful icon, now back with us, newly witnessing history, going forth.

Why don’t you use this as a metaphorical reminder to chime in to the global professional conversation on LinkedIn?

And I suggest you do so with regularity, no not hourly like Ben, and not necessarily daily, but at least let us know you are out there, guiding us and adding quality, offering your unique perspective to enrich your connections via the LinkedIn conversation.

While the world is moving at lightning speed, be a constant. Restore your brand image by finding the time to make some useful, respectable, reliable sounds.

Even if you do not have something to say, attach an article or a post you read somewhere, and add a brief comment to tell us why this is important to you.

Tell us. Ring your bells.

Or be silent and forgotten.

Your choice.

I say be Big Ben-er, amazing-er, than last year.

I see a lot of experts intoning a suggestion to be a successful public speaker: do not assume they are “into” your expertise; rather, be attuned to your audience’s needs.

Obvious (at least to me)!

I always review the LinkedIn profiles of my session attendees to glean common areas for improvement that I weave into my talks to “speak” to their needs.

Likewise, don’t expect a reader of your LinkedIn profile to want to read, or even care about, your list of marvelous accomplishments, from your POV. They’re not that into you.

What will work better?

My top 5 ways of demonstrating your expertise, using others’ words and gestures, rather than merely your own:

1. Accumulate LinkedIn recommendations from colleagues, vendors, and clients in stories. Let the writer tell how well you do your “why.”
2. Don’t go over- or under-board in the number of recommendations you show. My Halpert 2% Rule really works.
3. Accumulate, refresh, and rotate quotes from others about how well you do what you do and weave them into your LinkedIn profile, especially your About and Experience sections. Now it’s not just you, but others telling “why you” as well.
4. Be sure skills endorsers are knowledgeable of your capabilities; you never know who knows whom and could casually ask them how they have seen you skillful at something they need.
5. Demonstrate superior thought leadership in everything you post. Add observations from your lens to others’ articles that you curate and share. Add your own unique fresh perspective and cite appreciation for your muse, or mention where inspiration came for a LinkedIn post or article.
6. BONUS: Be a mensch in applauding connections on work anniversaries, promotions, or achievements–in words–and why this is meaningful to others.

Easy to do, now you know.

Harder but not impossible: include these in your daily branding process.

The long goal: appear bigger than life in ways that do not come across as ego-centered; rather, be more real, surrounded by an entourage of supporters who want you to succeed.

Some advice, for the new year fresh slate we have before us.

I resolved a long time ago not to make new year’s resolutions. And I don’t read others’. Why? Because no one follows through on them, so they ring hollow for the new year.

However, I resolve to continually improve and amend my ways with each new day. As I learn throughout the year. As a challenge to myself. As I encourage others to practice that philosophy.

So even if I did (which I don’t since COVID) work out in a membership brick-and-mortar exercise facility, I would not be one of those gymrats who come daily for a couple of weeks in January, and then disappear.

I would go at the same time. Daily. And for the next day, week, and month. Year round. A healthy habit, not a lugubrious chore and thus temporary.

Learning new behaviors, practicing, mentally embracing that I am always in beta, changing, career-morphing to meet new environmental influences (however you define them): these are also daily parts of my entrepreneurial life. Read more about this.

Am I a symbol of perfection? Hell no.

I just aim for my “it,” and work towards “it,” and demonstrate “it,” from my lens, in hopes to help others achieve their “it”s.

All while trying to be amazing-er. And getting you there too.

All year long. Not just a week or so and then back to old familiar ways.

My questions:

1. How about you? How do you seek to be amazing-er?
2. Do you aim for better practices in using tools in your toolbox, LinkedIn included, to show your entrepreneurial or professional brand?
3. What are your differentiators? How do you strive to be unique?

I am looking for a professional conversation here on this topic. Yes, a few minutes’ time with your written comments. Not “like” or “celebrate” emojis, please–let’s leave that old click-and-run habit behind in the old year!

“Why you do what you do” is the continual answer that will resonate and stick in the inquisitive minds of your audience. Make them want to know and be memorable.

^{See you back here January 3rd. Happy, healthy, prosperous new year to you, treasured readers!}

Scene: Zoom networking meeting Christmas week. The theme for that meeting: how can we help you?

Rounding the Hollywood Squares on my screen, it stopped at a guy who said, “I’m looking to meet the head of HR at XYZ Corporation to see if I can get him or her to bring me in to {what my expertise is in}.

Hmmm. The name of the company sounded familiar. So I politely switched my video to a static picture of myself, opened LinkedIn (you knew that was coming!), searched for the company, found their Page, clicked on “people,” and (lo-and-behold!) one of our fellow members of the very same networking group is connected to the CEO!

Back with my video on “live,” I chatted to that guy on the zoom call with what I found and he thanked me.

Five minutes later, the zoom conversation got around to the notion of how small the world is and how so many good people know other good people. So I just had to tell the group what I had found, and that they could have discovered that too.

In essence, the connection search tool we call LinkedIn helps all who use it well. Or not.

_{Update: the shared connection to the CEO is not in touch anymore (it helps to update your connections please!) so I repeated the search and found 2 more of my connections with nexus to two more XYZ Corp. decisionmakers to restart the process. It will work, I just know it.}

But I think this particular LinkedIn lesson is worth learning by all who might need it someday. Like you.

End of one growing cycle rolls into the start of a new one in sight.

What physical change, improvement, increased business, i.e. seeds sprouting new limbs or establishing firm branches, are you contemplating for germination?

How much energy will you expend?

Will all sprout?

How will you fertilize them for strength and rigor?

What flowers do you anticipate and will you further pollenate them to bear fruit?

Not speaking about new year’s resolutions. Not asking rhetorical questions.

The greenhouse is open.

Tell us your plans. What can we expect from you?

I see so many useless, frivolous polls being pushed out via LinkedIn!

“If you had $10 million in the bank,” the pollster asked, “would you or would you not work?”

Really?

What value are you adding to the global conversation from this poll?

LinkedIn should be other than, better than, more valuable than, a personal soapbox! Pollster, are you so lonely that you have to poll us?

Responders, do you feel so isolated that you are compelled somehow to answer?

Just because LinkedIn offers polls doesn’t meant they should be so overused. Or anything else offered on LinkedIn.

Use discretion please.

Please remember that a great way to be ignored on LinkedIn is to “cry wolf,” like someone who posted every time he ate breakfasts, lunches, or dinners out. Ugh, did that ever add meaningless electrons to his posts! And loss of readership!

Clicking “likes,” or other emojis, in essence makes you transparent and uninteresting, and is another bad habit that dies hard. If you read me here you know my admontition on that topic.

Isn’t telling, in quality words, why you like something more satisfying, to you and more valuable to your readers? Quality of observation builds readership and followership. Not quantity of clicks and keystrokes.

So don’t complain that you get very little nothing from LinkedIn. You reap what you sow. As I often suggest, take a 30,000 foot view of your LinkedIn profile, posts, and comments. Would you even consider buying from you?

John Doe, if you are reading, I am sorry but it’s going to be very, very hard to find you just by name on LinkedIn’s search.

Even among other 11 Marc Halperts, and 31 Mark Halperts, I have to stand out! And my name is unusual, or so I thought.

I differentiate myself in a few ways so here goes. Tell me if I missed any:

• I comment (not “like” or lamely click other emoticons.
• I post on LinkedIn at least daily, with quality material (I am told!).
• I optimize my LinkedIn profile in 4 special places to be found better in the search engine, using keyword strategies.
• My headshot is full face and recognizable if you ever met me, and I use a recent one everywhere in social and other media.
• I try to recognized, reliable, and easily found, and most of all, approachable because this is my brand.

I invest in it.

You may want to search for your name on LinkedIn too. It’s amazing how many people share your name so you must step forward. Self-investment is a noble pursuit.

Make LinkedIn one of your assets that pay you back for the work you put in to it.

It happened again today for a third time, and at least once most other days.

I want to schedule a zoom chat, or leave a text, or speak over the phone, and I need your email address or cell phone number, respectively, from your LinkedIn contact info.

Or I snoop around old emails or texts for several minutes, or perhaps I never find it, and decide not to contact you, so tell me, who’s to blame?

Not me.

Please, I don’t know how else to offer this less bluntly: be sure ALL your contact details are in the footer of your emails and on your LinkedIn profile.

Please.

Or run yourself into that brick wall.

Take a 30-thousand-foot view of your brand, and how do you come across?

Not good: you are reluctant to tell us your “why.” That makes you smaller than life, perhaps show lack of attention to detail, remain confusing to understand, all the while never saying enough to set yourself apart from the noise in your industry.

Or amazing-er: by employing rich language and planning well for the development of your profile, you point to past experience and current inner thought, well-articulated and expertly executed, including examples, skill endorsements, and collegial, glowing recommendations that make you shine as the star that your clients willingly tell you that you are.

You know where I am going here, yes, look at your LinkedIn personal and company profiles.

Would you consider buying from you based on what you project?

Your choice how to proceed: petrified status quo or always tweaking and enhancing.

The reader who drops by your profile gets one choice too, disregard you completely and go to the competition, or energized to 0contact you for more to see if there is a fit.

Now you know what you have to do. Review, reword, rewrite, and/or renovate?