LinkedIn Company and Profile Tips

Written by Barbara Rozgonyi for “Success Secrets of the Social Media Marketing Superstars,” this content is
copyright 2010 protected and may not be reprinted or reused without written permission.
For more information or to interview Ms. Rozgonyi, email corywestmedia@gmail. com or call 630.207.7530.
 

LinkedIn Excerpt from “Success Secrets of the
Social Media Marketing Superstars” published by
Entrepreneur Press with Contributions from World-
Class Social Media Experts

Thanks so much for requesting this ebook. While this
is only one chapter, I recommend you purchase the
book and read it in its entirety. You’ll get all kinds of
great information from leading experts who can show
you how to promote you, your brand and your Dan Janal, Mitch Meyerson and Barbara Rozgonyi at
business in real life and on social networks. Please BlogWorld New Media Expo in October 2010.
feel free to contact me if you have questions about
social media, content marketing, digital public
relations, LinkedIn, Facebook or twitter. You may
reach me directly on any of these networks and you’ll
find my contact information on the last page of this
ebook. Keep me posted on your progress!!!!

Barbara

 

Keith Ferrazi & Tahl Raz: Relationship Strategy Chris Brogan: Building Communities

Brian Clark: Psychology of Social Media Joel Comm: Success Qualities

Mitch Meyerson: Online Marketing Craig Valentine: Communicate with Impact

Ann Handley: Creating Content Starr Hall: Building Profits

Gary Vaynerchuk: Building Mega-Followings Dan Janal: PR Strategies

Andy Wibbles: Personality Michael Stelzner: Go Viral

Denise Wakeman: Business Blogs Dave Evans: One Hour a Day

Julie Perry: YouTube Chris Garrett: Social Bookmarking

Paul Colligan: Podcasting Kim Dushinski: Mobile Marketing

Mari Smith: Facebook Shama Kabani: Online Video

Deborah Cole Micek: Twitter Barbara Rozgonyi: LinkedIn

 

Barbara Rozgonyi, Imagemaker Bio Illinois, DePaul University 's Kellstadt Marketing
Barbara Rozgonyi is a speaker, Group, Chicago White Sox and many Chambers of
author and leader of CoryWest Commerce and associations. A recognized social
Media, LLC, a Midwest-based media, marketing and PR expert, Barbara’s media
strategic marketing mentions include inc.com, SOHO magazine,
consultancy founded in 1990. ChicagonistaLIVE!, NFIB.com, lowesforpros.com,
As publisher of lawmarketing.com, Mashable, Germany’s FAZ and
www.wiredPRworks.com, listed NBC5. An author with over 850 blog posts to her
on Alltop and in AdAge’s Power credit, Barbara contributed the LinkedIn chapter to
150, Barbara reports on ways to grow business, build “Success Secrets of the Social Media Marketing
brands, and connect communities. The founder of Superstars,” published by Entrepreneur Press in 2010.
Chicago ’s Social Media Club chapter, Barbara is a Named one of the top 30 PR twitter experts to follow
frequent keynote speaker, an accomplished corporate by ereleases.com, Barbara’s digital brand is
trainer, and an experienced educator who’s @wiredprworks, which also the name of Barbara’s
developed programs for colleges, associations, iPhone app. The mother of three, Barbara and her
corporations and online communities like College of husband, a 78-time marathon runner, make their
DuPage , Office Depot’s Web Café and the home in Chicago’s suburbs.
International Social Media Association. Speaking
engagements include SOBCon, UnGeeked Elite, PRSA
Chicago suburban, Ragan Communications Social
Media Bootcamp, National Speakers Association

 

How to Leverage a LinkedIn Network into Dynamic 12 Steps to Transform a LinkedIn Profile Into an
Business Connections By Barbara Rozgonyi Always-on Networking Hub

A digital communications strategist, Barbara Rozgonyi At 50 million worldwide users in late 2009 [up tp over
wires branding, marketing, social media and public 75 million in August 2010 – latest stats at
relations together to build businesses, engage http://press.linkedin.com/about], LinkedIn is the
customers and connect communities. Founder of place to search for, connect to and develop business
CoryWest Media, LLC and Social Media Club’s Chicago online. To transform your LinkedIn profile into an
chapter, Barbara shares her enthusiasm and expertise always-on global networking hub, follow these 12
online at www.wiredPRworks.com. steps.

In this chapter you will learn: A complete LinkedIn profile is your connection to a
world of opportunities. Optimize your profile with
• 12 steps to transform a LinkedIn profile into an
keywords.
Always-On Networking Hub
• Why your company or organization needs its own 1. Use Keywords to Help People Find You
LinkedIn profile
Keywords are the search terms people use to find
• Where to find connections: 20 places online and in
information online. The keywords people use to find
real life
you and your business might point to your profession,
• How to increase influence on LinkedIn and beyond
service, location, area of expertise or even the
• What LinkedIn groups can do for you and your
problems you solve. Optimize your LinkedIn profile
business

 

with keywords in your headline, summary, expertise 5. Cover Every Position for Maximum Exposure
and your job title and descriptions.
Expand your connection potential by listing all
2. Upload a Flattering Profile Photo that Matches relevant former companies and positions. Break up
Your Image your current experience into categories like speaker,
consultant and author to broaden your skill set. Then,
Worth at least 1,000 (maybe 100,000) words), a
people can recommend you for each individual
LinkedIn profile picture conveys your business image
position.
to the world. Are you casual, relaxed, authoritative,
intellectual? 6. Route Traffic to Three Destinations

3. Write a Catchy Headline that Grabs Attention In addition to a place for your twitter ID, LinkedIn lets
you list three websites. Consider including your
Your headline describes who you are and what you do.
company website, a link to your Facebook page and
This isn’t necessarily the title on your business card.
another to a landing page that collects database
Sort of a personal tagline, your headline stands out
information. Use the URL or, better yet, a phrase that
when people see your profile.
describes the site.
4. Summarize Your Talents into Sound Bites
7. Hail Alma Mater to Connect with Other Alumni
The summary section is the place to make your
Listing schools you attended pulls in connections from
personal brand statement. Given that attention is
students and alumni. Even with decades of distance in
shrinking down into text-message and tweet-size
graduation years, a common alma mater opens the
sound bites, it’s important to be concise, informative
and engaging. Use bullets to make your main points.

 

door to a shared experience in LinkedIn alumni LinkedIn’s event center lets you create, RSVP and
groups. comment on events. Event creators can invite
contacts, edit details, see who’s interested and
8. Spice It Up with Specialties and Interests
monitor comments. Events show up on search engines
Like a dash of spice to adds flavor, your specialties
inside and outside of LinkedIn.
and interests lists spark up your profile with keywords
12. Upgrade Your Account and Get More Features
and tangents that set off your personality.
A basic, free personal LinkedIn account gets you
9. Make it 100% complete
started. Investing in an upgraded personal or business
Complete profiles rank higher in searches and let you
account improves functionality, reach, access and
make the most of LinkedIn’s profile opportunities. Is
customer service. To see the options, check your
yours 100% complete? If not, see what you need to do
account settings.
to fill in the gaps.
While you may be familiar with personal profiles, you
10. Add Applications for Personalization and
may not be aware of the depth of information
Promotion
LinkedIn shares on company pages. Like a personal
Applications update and round out your profile with profile, there is no charge to create a company
presentations, blog posts, free articles, travel plans, profile on LinkedIn.
book reviews and events. You can also use
applications to collaborate and share files.

11. Promote Events and Invite Guests

 

Why Your Company or Organization Needs its Own How to Make Connections to Exponentially Expand
LinkedIn Profile Your Network

Reasons to add your company or organization include: Send invitations [active] or accept invitations
being indexed in LinkedIn’s search engine, monitoring [passive]: the two ways to get connected.
how the company or organization shows up, getting
Many people set up their profile, invite the people
listed in the service provider directory [when a
they know and then wait to receive invitations. But,
customer makes a recommendation], owning the
why wait? Every new person you add to your network
profile, and managing updates.
increases your connections exponentially. So, get
Setting up a company profile is as simple as going.
completing a form. After your site is live, LinkedIn
LinkedIn connections come in three degrees:
populates the dynamic information continually and
• First degree: trusted friends and colleagues, direct
automatically. Company profiles display a summary,
connection
employee information, related companies, key
• Two degrees away: friends of friends, each connected
statistics, jobs, news, and stock information.
to one of your connections
Employee information includes current, former, new
• Three degrees away: connect through one of your
hires and recent promotions and changes. Every
friends and one of theirs
company, even a solo entrepreneurship, can benefit
from using the information LinkedIn posts on their
company profile. One way is finding other companies
and people to connect with.

 

Finding people to invite 9. Friends and family
10. People you may know as suggested by LinkedIn
Start by importing your email address book and
11. Networking contacts
sending invitations only to people you know. If enough
12. Conference speakers and attendees
people click on “I don’t this person,” your ability to
13. New prospects
add connections may be limited.
14. People found using LinkedIn’s search toolbar
To shape your network’s regional and industry access,
15. Key people on company sites
check your network statistics in the contacts section.
16. Professional or trade association colleagues
Search for new people to connect within the areas
17. Bloggers you like
where you’d like to grow, and invite them to join your
18. Real life contacts
professional network.
19. Chamber of Commerce associates
20 Ways to Get Connected by Sending Invitations to 20. LIONs [LinkedIn Open Networkers] who agree to

1. Contacts in your email address book accept invitations

2. Colleagues – former and current
3. Classmates – former and current
4. Group members
5. Business contacts
6. Twitter followers
7. Facebook friends
8. Email recipients, include LinkedIn in the signature

 

Sending Invitations be as important. After you accept the invitation, send
a thank you message with an introduction to how you
The number of invitations you can send at one time is
help people and companies like theirs.
based on your account level. You may want to
upgrade your account, even temporarily, so that you Organizing Contacts
can send more requests for introductions while you’re
LinkedIn organizes your contacts in categories such
building out your network.
as: tags group members, partners, colleagues,
To send an invitation from a profile, click on add this classmates, companies, locations, industries and
person to my network. LinkedIn will ask you how you recent activity. Because you can export your contact
know this person. You can send a standard greeting, list and sync it with your database, every connection
but adding a personal touch only takes an extra is another person you can reach via email.
minute or two and improves chances of your
As you grow your network by searching for new
invitation being accepted.
contacts, sending personalized invitations, managing
Tip: Install LinkedIn’s toolbar into your browser to your existing and contacts and building on
search for people, companies and groups. relationships, you will experience the power of truly
being connected to an always-on business network.
Accepting an Invitation
How to Increase Your Influence on LinkedIn and
You can and should review every connection request.
Beyond
Before you accept the invitation, be sure you want
the contact in your network. If your goal is to have Making connections with influential people is one way
high quantity, not high quality, then screening won’t to get closer to becoming an authority within your

 

network. But, it’s not all about who you know. It’s advertising and promotion, business development,
about who knows you – for what you want to be graphic design, mobile marketing, public relations,
known for. sales and search marketing.

To increase your influence on LinkedIn and beyond Before you compose your answer, do some
participate in the community by answering questions background research. Look at profiles, search online,
with authority, asking compelling questions and get visit sites and check out the specific situation
recommended by recommending others. referenced in the question.

Be the one with the answers people are searching for Now, you can personalize your response. Address the
person by name and make a connection to their
Answering questions on LinkedIn is a proven strategy
question. Reference your research. Link out to
for positioning you or your business as the go-to
informative sites, not necessarily your own.
resource in your niche. If you like to be helpful, this
strategy will be a natural fit for you. If you’ve helped someone else with this kind of issue,
describe how you solved the problem.
LinkedIn’s answer section hosts a dashboard that
displays questions from your network, categories to Before submitting your answer, read other answers so
choose from and people with best answers. Start by that you can comment on them and add value to the
selecting a few question categories that match your conversation. If you’ve covered this situation on your
areas of expertise. Each main category has sub- blog, link to the post. Add contact information to your
categories. For example, within the marketing and signature.
sales category, you can answer questions about

 

Answering questions that relate to your area of Get recommended by recommending others
expertise can raise your visibility, influence and
Being recommended adds to your credibility. When
authority.
your recommend others your review shows up on their
Ask compelling questions profile with a link back to yours. You get traffic and
exposure, but more importantly a closer connection.
Don’t have all the answers? Then, be the one who
asks compelling questions. Although there’s no official To keep track of your recommendation activities,
scoring in this category, better questions tend to get you’ll find a recommendations dashboard in your
more responses. If you have a question, chances are profile section. Here, you may manage, request and
other people are looking for the same answer. And, send recommendations.
you get to be the one that awards best and good
Writing recommendations for others, without being
answer rankings.
asked first, positions you as a giving and thoughtful
Asking questions helps you create content for an person. How do you write a recommendation? After
article or a blog post. Within a day or two, you’ll have you describe your connection, focus on one key point
plenty of people to quote and fresh stories to tell. and keep it short.
And, you’ll drive traffic to your site by mentioning the
Think of recommendations as testimonials or
people [and their sites] who answered your question.
endorsements. If you get a recommendation request
from someone you don’t know well, be honest and
tell them that you’d like to know them better before
you recommend them.

 

The best time to request a recommendation is when Special interest groups abound on LinkedIn. Some
someone compliments your work or a customer thanks groups are private. Some groups automatically accept
you for a job well done. Ask if they will write a new members. Others require approval by a group
recommendation and then follow up with a request administrator before you can join. Use LinkedIn’s
that includes a reference to their comments. search function to find groups. You can also check out
groups on other profiles. Ask your contacts how they
To extend a recommendation’s reach beyond
like the group. Or, join the group and check it out.
LinkedIn, give approval to use yours in all of the
You can leave at any time.
person’s or company’s marketing materials. You can
do the same with the recommendations you receive. When you join a group, you set your contact and
privacy preferences, including the option to show the
What LinkedIn Groups Can Do For You and Your
group’s logo on your profile page. After you receive
Business
notification of acceptance, visit the group’s site.
Sort of like super-powered connecting, LinkedIn
Now, you’re ready to start participating.
groups give you a place to interact and form a closer
Every action you take adds to the reach, shape and
relationship with a crowd of people. LinkedIn lets you
power of your LinkedIn network. Joining one group
join a maximum of 50 groups. If every group has an
can puts you in contact with hundreds or thousands
average 1,000 members, that’s 50,000 people you can
of people.
interact with every day, if you choose to.

Connect with a Crowd

 

Participate by Commenting and Sharing life. Although you can create up to 10 groups, to be
successful each will require some attention.
Each group has its own distinct personality. Listen in
and get to know who’s who by browsing recent Group categories choices include alumni, corporate,
discussions, announcements and news. When you conference, networking, non-profit, professional and
introduce yourself to the group, tell them what you other. To create group, you will enter a summary,
bring in terms of information, connections and talent. group description and website as well as set open or
approved access, choose a language and location. You
Then, make a personal connection with the leader to
also have the option of uploading a logo that will
let them know who you are and how you can help out.
display as a profile badge throughout the LinkedIn
For example, if you’d like to start and lead a
system.
subgroup within the main group, let the leader know
you’re interested in moderating the discussion. After you set up your group, invite up to 50
connections at a time to become group members.
Be active by checking in frequently, commenting on
Once a week, you can email the group with an
discussions, sharing interesting links and asking
announcement and you can post news or a discussion
questions.
topic anytime. LinkedIn manages distribution via
Create Your Own Groups to Connect People and
email. You can import email and contact information
Information
into your database, but ask permission before
As the leader, you manage members, facilitate subscribing contacts to an email newsletter.
discussions and represent the group online and in real
To keep discussions going and to vary viewpoints,
appoint a few group ambassadors. The group will be

 

most successful as a gathering place for connections
and information.

Every action you take adds to the shape and power of
your LinkedIn network. Your LinkedIn profile connects
you to a global community with millions of people and
represents the virtual marketplace of the business
world. Leverage your LinkedIn network into a dynamic
business center by optimizing your profile, actively
seeking connections, advancing your influence and
participating in groups.

Blog http://wiredprworks.com

LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/in/barbararozgonyi

Twitter http://twitter.com/wiredprworks

Facebook http://facebook.com/rozgonyi

Flickr http://thesociallens.com

Speaker Credentials
http://budurl.com/socialmediaprspeaker

LinkedIn Company and Profile Tips

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (18)

Similar to LinkedIn Company and Profile Tips

Similar to LinkedIn Company and Profile Tips (20)

More from BARBARA ROZGONYI

More from BARBARA ROZGONYI (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

LinkedIn Company and Profile Tips