Over the past 1.5 years since joining LinkedIn, I have experimented with standard LinkedIn sources and a bunch of my own. Some work better than others for various types of connections. Once you accumulate 500 or more, LinkedIn will report 500+ next to Connections in the 1st profile box and on your Connections page.
TOP 15 OTHER SOURCES & STRATEGIES BEGINNING NOW!
1. Listserv contacts who share similar areas of interest with you
2. Professional inquiries about your publications and other activities from new colleagues and students
3. Consulting firm personnel who hired you
4. Contacts from your Website, blog, or other professional sites
5. Meeting planner or conference organizer who invites you to speak
6. HR director or center director who hires you to speak or train
7. Faculty, students, or others who attend workshops you conduct (DYNAMITE SOURCE! After all, they attended your workshop because they’re interested in your work.)
8. Professionals you meet at conferences (with new business cards)
9. Professionals on Facebook or other social media and people “following you”
10. LinkedIn professional group contacts in discussions (join a bunch of LinkedIn groups in higher education, professional associations and organizations, and relevant businesses)
11. LinkedIn connections at institutions where you have worked or gone to school (colleagues, students, classmates, clients, etc.)
12. Connections from your LinkedIn connections (scroll down their connections and click Connect on the right)
13. Members who are listed in your LinkedIn groups (to the right, click Invite to Connect)
14. On your LinkedIn Home (upper left on menu), go to People You May Know box on the right and click See More at bottom (scroll through list to find potential connectees—click Connect or Invite to Connect and invite them as a colleague)
15. Acquaintances on airplanes, trains, buses, skateboards, snowboards, and other transport equipment
What have I missed? What sources have you used to generate connections? Let me know your strategies?
What’s Next? What hit rate can you expect when you invite prospective connections? What’s the response rate in academia compared to business and industry? Stay tuned for my next blog.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
On your profile page, under Contacts at top, click Add Connections. Go to the right box titled Enter E-mail Addresses. All you need to invite someone to join your network is his or her e-mail. That’s it. Type 1 or 100 at a time in the box. Then click Send Invitations.
Your Challenge: Where do you dig up these connections? Where do they hide? Do you need to contact Homeland Security or Dog the Bounty Hunter to track them down? Pretty much!
TRADITIONAL SOURCES
Start with what you know: your current resources. Where do you store the names of your professional colleagues, friends, associates, and livestock?
Back to ‘ole basic traditional sources:
1. Old faded business cards held together with broken rubber bands
2. Rolodex® cards
3. Print & online directories (your institution, association, conferences)
4. iPhone/PDA directories
5. Other
Tap all of these previous sources. That could be a fairly long list or a tiny one based on the season of your career and your interpersonal skills. Once you have sent out the invitations, be patient. If they’re academicians, expect a very low response rate. Don’t take it personally. Most are not familiar with LinkedIn. Just persevere.
What’s Next? Beyond your current lists of potential invitees, my next blog will suggest 13 other sources I have used to build my network. That could conceivably be my most useful blog of 2010. Just wait for the nominations to come out. You can start on those sources over the holidays and during your break. I hope you get a break.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Now that you’re convinced, kinda, that you should collect a few recommendations, let’s consider the process.
REQUEST PROCESS
Here are steps to solicit a recommendation:
1. Email-wise, the request usually takes the following form: “Please write 2–3 comments on the value and impact of my consulting on your employees or project plans (or presentation to your faculty or coaching experience). There are recommendations on my profile that may help you compose one.” If he/she requests that you send them a draft, do it.
2. Request a draft first. Then you can edit it and send back for approval. Make sure it is generic enough so it will stand the test of time once it’s posted on your profile.
3. Once both of you are satisfied, go to your LinkedIn profile page, and under Profile, click Recommendations.
4. At the top, click Request Recommendations.
5. For 1, click Choose on the box, and a dropdown will appear of all of your job and student positions. Click the title to which the recommendation will apply.
6. For 2, type the name of person writing the recommendation or click IN and pick the person from your list of connections (Remember, he/she must be in your network.)
7. For 3, personalize the stock message in the block.
8. Click Send. That’s it. A piece of cake with ice cream and a root beer!
Your colleague, client, student, etc. will receive the request and copy and paste the recommendation you both approved into the block provided. You will receive the recommendation by e-mail from LinkedIn and be given a chance to revise or approve, then post on your profile.
FORMAL RECOMMENDATION SOURCE
When you consult, speak, or coach, specify in your contract a requirement that, if the event is successful, the client will prepare 2 or 3 comments about the experience within a couple of weeks. This is standard operating procedure for speakers. (REJECTION NOTE: In academia, it has been my experience over the past 2 years that many directors or faculty who hired me will ignore that requirement and refuse to write anything. Just post whatever recommendations you receive.)
What’s Next? My next blog will deal with how to add connections to build your network. That’s probably the most important ingredient in using your profile.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
WHY RECOMMENDATIONS?
Short Answer: Your credentials count ginormously to provide credibility for your expertise. However, when you are being considered for a position where you are rendering specific services, such as any type of consulting, speaking, etc., what past clients say about your performance weighs in more heavily than anything you could possibly say about yourself. Recommendations or testimonials furnish that weight.
WHAT ARE RECOMMENDATIONS?
(BLOAT ALERT: This is the beginning of the bloated answer that consumes the rest of this blog.)
On LinkedIn, recommendations are important, to the extent that your profile will not be considered “complete” until you have at least 3. But LinkedIn’s notion of “recommendation” is more akin to what is known as a “testimonial” in the business community, not what we know as a recommendation.
Academic Recommendations. We’ve all had letters of recommendation written for us when we apply for a position or are being reviewed for promotion. They’re usually a couple of pages in length detailing our most amazing characteristics and accomplishments and structured according to the position or promotion criteria. That’s not a Linkedin recommendation.
LinkedIn’s Version. LinkedIn’s “Recommendation” is much shorter and has a specific purpose. It can range from 1 or 2 sentences to a long paragraph. The concept is: “What credible authorities say about your performance counts far more than what you could ever say.” This is consistent with the 360 degree multisource feedback model used in businesses to evaluate employees. Those in the best and, preferably, highest positions to observe what you do should be the ones to scribe the recommendations. They can document your dazzling performance. Here the emphasis is usually on the specific performance at one time or collectively over multiple experiences.
Who Should Write It? It can be a
(1) colleague or administrator in your department,
(2) the person who hired you to consult or speak, or
(3) a faculty or staff member, or student who was on the receiving end of your services.
People in different roles provide multiple perspectives on your performance. My recommendations on LinkedIn and my Website represent all of the above.
These professionals can describe what you do, how you do it, and the value and impact of your contributions. The last-named element is especially important. Does your work produce any visible results, change, or impact? When you leave, does the client say: Who was what's-his-name?" OR "Who was that masked woman." (NOTE: The person writing the recommendation MUST be a connection in your network; otherwise, it cannot be posted. Only that colleague can post it.)
What’s Next? I will take you through the steps to request, write, and post a recommendation. I have lost several recommendations because colleagues gave up on the process.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Click Edit Profile and inspect the large white box that begins with your Current job positions. If you completed the previous information described in my blogs, Past jobs, Education, and Websites should be listed. If you have a Twitter account, you can add that next.
Public Profile. At the bottom of the box, Public Profile permits you to set up your own personal LinkedIn URL link. Why? you ask. Colleagues can click directly to your profile. Just add it to your signature line. After your title, institution, e-mail, phone, and URLs for your Websites and blog, tack on the LinkedIn URL. You want to make it easy for colleagues and clients to see your credentials and contact you. If they can’t find you, they’ll pick someone else.
Update box. While you’re at the top of your profile, you will notice a white box under your name and location box. In the bottom right, it says Post an Update. When you click that Post, you can announce your professional activities to your network. For example, you can post blog titles (as I do regularly), research activities, attendance at a conference, a new article or book, recent surgeries, dental appointments, and any other info you want your connections to know. When you post your “tweet-size” message, it will be sent automatically to your connections, if you pick that option. In fact, you can have your actual (Twitter) tweets appear regularly in this update. It is recommended that you post updates a few times a week to raise your LinkedIn rank in Google, which is most everyone’s goal in life.
What’s Next? What’s missing in your profile? A PhD from Harvard? A thousand connections? You’re getting close. It’s Recommendations by employers and colleagues who praise your performance and production. You need 3 to complete your profile. How do you get these recommendations? That’s next.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Turkey-with-stuffing-in-your bellies, nonvegetarian colleagues, it's time to jump back on the LinkedIn train. You vegetarian tofu-turkey types are also welcome to join in the frivolity. We're currently on an hilarious journey through ProfileLand.
Of course, you’re in Edit Profile mode. You'll live in that mode, right, at least until this puppy is done.
Additional Information. In addition to all of the information you have provided, there are other categories you might want to consider (click Edit):
1. Websites: List your institutional, business, personal, and/or blog sites. Click dropdown to identify type of site.
2. Interests: List professional and personal interests and hobbies.
3. Groups and Associations: List professional associations, but hold leadership positions for Honors next. Here you can also list your LinkedIn groups when you join them. There are a bunch of higher education and alumni groups.
4. Honors and Awards: Create headings for this section appropriate to your achievements, such as Editorial Boards, National Association Leadership, and Awards. This is the place for your Nobel, Pulitzer, Tony, Academy, and other awards. Click Save Changes.
Personal Information. Supply your Phone, IM, Address, and Birthday, Year (yeah right!), and Marital Status from dropdowns. When you’re done, click Save Changes.
Contact Settings. Check Types of Messages You Will Receive and Opportunity Preferences. Add Specific Advice to Users if you like. Click Save Changes.
Applications. It's AP time. Click Add an Application on the right to review options.
What’s Next? We skipped some information in the Brief Profile at top and the Update box. We will complete that next. Then I'll move on to Recommendations and how to dig up Connections for your network.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Begin in Edit Profile mode. Now you can add your job experience and all of your degrees.
Experience. Click Edit. Starting with your most recent previous job, prepare your job profile similar to your profile you already wrote with Company Name (Institution), Website, Industry from dropdown, current job Title, Time Period, and a Description of your job responsibilities. Save Changes.
Repeat for each job. Click Add a Position. Include significant and relevant jobs. For example, skip reporting your stint as a Capital One Viking, but DO include your visiting professor position at the University of Siberia. You can add your acting jobs under Interests.
Education. Click Edit. Starting with your most recent degree, pick Country, State, and School Name from dropdown lists, then fill-in Degree, Field of Study (Major and Minor), Dates from dropdown, Activities; Societies. Click Save Changes
Repeat for each degree chronologically. Click Add a School. Make sure to include special certification programs and other significant educational training at accredited institutions and fly-by-night mail-order diploma factories.
What’s Next? As of 2 months ago, this would have been pretty much the meat of your profile. However, Surprise! Surprise! Academicians and vegetarians throughout the universe, guess what? LinkedIn added sections on Publications, Certifications, Patents, etc., basic material that we normally include on our institutional Website and CV. My next blog will address these sections.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Make sure you’re in Profile Edit mode. Now we are going to tackle a super-important element in your profile: Summary. It is the first glimpse at who you really are and what you do. If a colleague, consulting firm, or job-recruiter glances at your summary and is not impressed, he/she probably won’t read any further. It’s lights out on your profile.
Before drafting this section, you need to determine the purpose of your profile. Is it to network, to promote you, to promote your business, or a combination of the preceding? Who will see it? Your summary must be written to fit your profile purpose(s). This section will be tailored to the image you want presented.
Summary: Click Edit. This section consists of 2 parts:
(1) Professional Experience & Goals which is a highlight “film” of your background, experience, and what you can offer a client, and
(2) Specialties field to highlight your areas of expertise and what distinguishes you from the rest of the pack
Professional Experience & Goals (max. 2000 characters). This blank white area should be filled with your “elevator speech.” Remember my blogs on that topic? NO! That’s okay. Format-wise, use lists, if possible. They’re easier and faster to read than running text. Carefully craft a capsule description of
a. who you are (teacher, professor, researcher, writer, secret agent, GEICO gecko, etc.)
b. what you do (conduct psychological profiles on the men in the Capital One commercials) or produce (books on rodents and lizards used in GEICO commercials)
c. what you can do for your target audience (create hilarious commercials for rich insurance companies)
The last-named focus is for consulting and business purposes. Consulting firms and clients want to know specifically what benefits or outcomes you can provide for them.
Beyond these outcomes, identify your goals.
This section should be brief and pop off the page so a colleague, client, or recruiter will stop and take notice. Since LinkedIn only formats in PLAIN TEXT, not HTML, you’re limited in popping options. I recommend UPPER CASE for important words and heads or “apostrophes” around other words for emphasis. Don’t get carried away.
Specialties. Identify your categories of expertise. These can be more specific than b above. What can you do differently or better than others with a similar background? Why should a client or employer hire you as a consultant, speaker, or CEO?
Click Save Changes.
What’s Next? I’ll add information on experience and education, which you can copy from your CV. Your profile should be taking shape.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
So far, you should have completed Snapshot and Photo. Under Profile, click you know what: Edit Profile mode.
Brief Profile: The next white box is a brief profile of your current and past job titles, education, recommendations and connections when you start accumulating them, your business, blog, and other Website links, Twitter link, and personal LinkedIn URL.
Current. For now, just click Edit to the right of Current and plug in your Company Name (Institution), Website, Industry from dropdown, current job Title, Time Period, and a Description of your job responsibilities. Spend time drafting a clear and succinct portrait of your job tasks and accomplishments in the description box. When you’re done, click Save Settings.
If you have a 2nd job, for example, you’re a professor Mon.–Fri. and an NFL quarterback on Sun., repeat the entry for that position so both will be listed.
All of this information will appear below under Experience, but your Title(s) will appear in this profile box. Ignore everything else in the box for the time being.
What’s Next? Let’s move on to one of the most critical parts of your profile: Summary box. If you want to start drafting that material, do it. I’ll give you some pointers in my next blog.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
PROFILE MOTTO
It’s profile time in the big city! My MOTTO for this profile: “Do it right or don’t do it at all.” If you do not complete your profile, it’s like sending a colleague or employer half of your CV. It says, “I don’t care.” You want your BEST possible image to be presented to the people who may matter most in your profession and to those who you haven’t even met yet. Your professional reputation is on the line. What you display can be a career maker or breaker. You decide.
Make sure every entry is accurate and spelling, mechanics, grammar, and word choice are impeccable. If possible, type everything in Word first because LinkedIn doesn’t have spelchek. Dig out your CV. You’re going to be copying and pasting a lot.
Snapshot & Photo
Are you ready? Let the games begin. At the top of the LinkedIn page, under Profile, click Edit Profile. You will always start in “Edit Profile” mode to enter new information or change your profile. “View Profile” is what people will see.
Directly below is a blue box. Click Edit.
Snapshot (light blue box): This is your electronic business card. Provide basic information, including Name, Professional Headline (current job title or tagline), Country from dropdown list, Zip Code, and Industry from dropdown list. When you type your zip, LinkedIn translates that into a geographic area under your name. If you don’t enter the zip, the area will just say United States or your country name, which, to other LinkedInners, may convey, “I can’t be bothered to complete this or I don’t care.” When you’re done, click Save Changes.
Photo: On the right side of the box, click Edit. Upload a professional, flattering picture (headshot) so people can easily remember you. [NOTE: Photo must be no larger than 80 X 80 pixels.] When you receive business cards from new colleagues at a conference and invite them to connect, it will be easier for them to match your name to a picture than nothing. Please DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT post a frog, ugly baby, barnyard animal, stuffed toy, or your book cover that you might find on Facebook. This is a professional network. What image do you want to convey to professionals who may not know you or a prospective employer? They want to know you’re for real. Click Upload Photo.
Click your choice for who you want to see your photo. I chose “Everyone.” Then click Save Settings.
Status Update: Ignore the white box below your snapshot and photo. I’ll come back to that later.
My next blog will cover the next white box below to begin your brief profile. I will focus only on your Current job title and description. You can start working on that if you like.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
WHY AM I WRITING THIS BLOG SERIES?
Available Resources. Great question! If you Google LinkedIn, you will find barrels of resources that provide tips and tricks for preparing your “profile” and how to do a job search. You can even go to LinkedIn and use their resources to learn how to do everything on the site, as you may already have tried. Having read most of this material to prepare myself for this blog series, I will tell you that those materials are excellent, especially the LinkedIn User Guides.
Why Moi? I have nothing vested in LinkedIn. They don’t know me. All of the Google sources are written by and for the business community, not professors. LinkedIn’s guide is probably prepared by an IT specialist.
Academic Spin. My purpose is not to replicate the available resources, because I couldn’t begin to do that, nor is there any need to reinvent the LinkedIn wheel. My intention is to address the needs of academicians and put an academic spin on certain critical aspects of the site. The profile headings have always been slanted toward business and industry. For example, one of my complaints has been “no place to list my publications” that are central to my credibility.
Guess what, academicians? Faculty crying and yelping paid off. LinkedIn just added sections on Publications, Patents, Certifications, Skills, Languages, and other areas you present in your CV. Do those headings address an academic gap in LinkedIn? You bet. How many of you knew that? Oh, you did. Sorry. I haven’t seen a pub listing by anyone in my network yet. I will be covering those sections in an upcoming blog.
Business Spin for Academicians. Further, I have dealt with the pain of starting a formal speaking business. Some of the wounds related to writing copy for business brochures and to developing and executing marketing strategies are healing, but they may be of value to you before they become infected.
We’re All Consultants. Since my first year at Johns Hopkins, I was told that one of the criteria to determine my value and worth as a professor is the number of requests I receive outside my institution to consult and speak. I was in business and didn’t even know it. Outsiders affirm your expertise; they build your credibility. The number and type of invitations to the White House and Capitol Hill to advise the President and testify before Congress really count when you come up for promotion.
Had I known then what I know now about running a business, my consulting life might have been more productive. If you’re a newbie, some of my tips may be helpful.
My next blog will begin with the Public Profile you display. How different is it from your CV and what you present on your institution’s Website? What professional information is critical for your colleagues, clients, and students to know about you? You have total control over what is presented and who sees it. We will work through the profile step-by-step with an occasional hop or 2.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
