Here is the second article in the Learning LinkedIn series that we kicked off last week with the article, Is LinkedIn Answers Worth the Investment for B2B Professionals. This week we continue with a chat about the profile, which is the key to protecting your online reputation on LinkedIn.

With 100 million members, many of whom are executives from Fortune 500 companies, it is hard to overlook the impact that LinkedIn is having on the professional’s career.  How many connection invitations have you received lately?  No doubt, you have received enough of them to catch your attention.  If you are not using LinkedIn for personal and business branding, have you been feeling as if you might be missing something?  It is possible that you are missing more than you know.

Can an incomplete LinkedIn profile hurt me in business? 

Short answer:  yes.  In the same way that an incomplete or amateur website says something about you or your business so does an incomplete profile. Nowadays, people ask Google for answers long before they phone a friend. Google indexes LinkedIn profiles.  When yours comes up in response to an online search, wouldn’t you want it to be a link that people will actually click on and get the answers they are looking for. When an incomplete profile starts to affect your business or personal brand then it is time to take corrective actions.

What corrective actions should I take to improve my LinkedIn profile?

Photo and Headline:  Make sure you have one.  Nothing is more disappointing than searching for someone only to find that there is no photo to help identify if you have the right person.  The photo helps to add a human element to your business.  Take the best headshot you can.  There should be nothing in the background or any other people in the picture.  Save that one for Facebook.  The headline should be descriptive.  Avoid putting only your job title or company name as this does nothing to explain why a person should open your profile.  Try to use your best keywords.

 Status updates:  This is one simple way to keep fresh content coming.  Any updates or linked conversations from Twitter show up underneath your headline.  Keep your conversation appropriate for business, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t let your personality show.  If you wouldn’t talk about a subject at the water cooler at work then don’t on LinkedIn.  With that said, if anyone wants to talk about Design Star, I’m available…just saying.

Summary Section:  Here is a place where you can tell people what you really do and why you are unique.  The description gives details to help prospective clients see that you can solve their business problems.

Recommendations:  This is one of the most important areas of the profile. Recommendations are the best form of word of mouth marketing.  Make an effort to ask for a recommendation for every appropriate situation.  For example, did your boss just give you a pat on the back and thank you for your service?  Then send a request for a recommendation for that specific action.  Long ago, a note added to your personnel file was the norm.  It’s the same concept in digital, sharable format. The recommendation of others is a powerful tool that gives you credibility.

Websites:  Where else do you have a presence online?  LinkedIn provides three opportunities for you to publish them.  Give your links a name other than Company Website.  Try using a question like, Need A New Home?.    Or, put the name of your blog like, Talking Social Today.

OK, I’ve done all of the above, now what?

That’s a common question.  Here are 10 ways to keep your profile exciting and keep your connections returning for more.

• Add your blog feed
• Publish your events
• Embed a video or slideshow
• Email your profile to a prospective client
• Stream your Fan Page and Twitter accounts
• Print your profile out and use it like a brochure
• Use your profile URL on all your printed materials
• Share your upcoming trips so colleagues can find you
• Collect data from your connections by creating a poll
• Collaborate on work projects by creating a team space or huddle

Your LinkedIn profile can enhance or detract from your online presence.  When it detracts, you run the risk of looking unprofessional or worst than that being invisible.  Either of these can hurt you in business.

Do you have an exciting LinkedIn profile?  We’d love to see it in action.  Post your profile URL in the comment section below.

I describe LinkedIn as the sleeper social site sensation of the year.  Wasn’t it just last year that we were all speculating about how LinkedIn works beyond just connections?  This year, we just saw that some people see its value.  The company’s first IPO offering started at just $45 a share but raised dramatically on the first day.  No doubt, this is because many people see that there is value in using LinkedIn to build business relationships even if they haven’t figured out exactly how to use it.

For business-to-business professionals, LinkedIn is the definitive social space where you must have a presence or else risk online extinction.  With 10.3 billion people using Google to find whatever they need, your presence is required. The business buyers and decision makers of today are looking for you to help them solve their business problems by offering your company’s unique perspective and solutions.  Think of Google as your new business card.  

What is LinkedIn?

Surprisingly, I still run into many people who ask this question.  LinkedIn is a social media site for entrepreneurs and professionals launched in 2003.  It is a widely recognized business-networking site worldwide.  

LinkedIn is unique and very different from the other social media sites.  It is all business all the time.  You will not find games to play and you can only connect to people whom you know or to whom your connections introduce you. Connecting to someone on LinkedIn equates to giving out your business card along with some information about your company.  However, online you can keep the conversation going longer and more regularly.  LinkedIn is a tool to help you do that.

LinkedIn Demographics

• More than 100 members in over 200 countries and territories
• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are members
• 73 of the Fortune 100 companies use LinkedIn’s hiring solutions
• More than 2 million companies have a LinkedIn company page
• The mojority of the members are very influential and affluent

How can LinkedIn Answers help me connect to decision makers?

LinkedIn Answers is an opportunity for you to go beyond your profile by participating in discussions that other members would find helpful.  You can ask or answer a question.  It is a way for you to introduce yourself to other members without feeling awkward or being pushy.

Why should you invest the time to ask or answer questions?

While there are many reasons why answering questions is important, the most coveted reason is Google.  Google indexes questions and answers.  This means when someone searches on a term related to your question or answer it could show up on the first page of Google.  There is, of course, no guarantee that this will happen but the possibility is very high. 

Remember, Google is your new business card.  When you give someone a card, you do not know if it really goes into the person’s active contact list or if it finds a home in the bottom drawer.  Does that keep you from giving them out?  No!  So think of using LinkedIn Answers in the same manner.  You never know when someone will start to see the answers you give as a possible solution to their business problems.   At this point you are one step closer to gaining a new client.

Another reason to invest the time is the This Week’s Expert leaderboard that appears when one goes to the LinkedIn Answers tab.  A person becomes an expert by answering any question that the asker then marks as the best one.  For giving the best-recognized answer, you get a point.  The ten people who have the most points are listed on the LinkedIn Answers tab main page.  Can you say free advertising?  Even when you don’t have enough points to land on the main page, you still get credit on your mini profile of the questions you answer which shows the categories where you have earned expert status.

How can LinkedIn Answers help me generate leads?

It’s true.  You can find people to network with who are ready to buy your product or services.  Here are three ways to do this effectively.

1.  Give clear, honest, good thought out answers.  When you do this, you are establishing that you know what you are talking about.  People will be attracted to you and want to connect with you because you are knowledgeable and helpful.

2.  Ask compelling questions.  This can create actual conversations with other members.    Conversations create something magical.  Ok, it is not magic. However, it creates a type of familiarity that might influence a potential buyer’s decision to pick up the phone and call you when they are ready to solve their business problem.

3.  Never network alone when you can help it.  When you are networking in person locally, invite a LinkedIn connection to join you.  Do you travel for your company?  Try to evaluate whether you have a potential customer in the city where you will be then meet with them before you leave for lunch or coffee.  No selling! Just concentrate on putting a human face on your business at first. 

This is nothing more than Selling 101 for B2B professionals.  But with the addition of LinkedIn Answers as a part of your networking strategy, you are able to connect farther and faster than you can on foot.  It’s true that you can and should use other traditional methods such as cold-calling or print/tv/radio, etc.  However, these methods have very serious limits when compared to using social networking.  Combining them with social networking increases the opportunity to widen the net and catch more prospects.

For many B2B professionals, LinkedIn Answers is still an enigma.  What do you find the most mysterious or confusing about using LinkedIn Answers?  Let’s discuss it in the comment section below.   

Well, just when we all think that social media is getting to a manageble level it happens again.  Another social networking platform, Facebook, adds a few new features that make you go, hmmm…  Now, I do like what LinkedIn changed, but I’m not sure exactly what FB is going for.

First, they have changed the way people join fan pages.  Now, we can only like each other because apparently, according to FB, fan was too strong of a word.  Also, on the fan page you now see your personal FB friends along with the people who “like” you.  The thing that I loved about facebook’s personal profile and fan page was the separation.  I liked having people who only want to see pictures of my granddaughter separated from the other people who want to talk about social media.  It’s down right frustrating, I tell you.  I’m almost afraid to teach my next social media class because while I’m explaining a feature of some social networking site it might change that very hour. 

Second, Facebook is now introducing another level of networking (I guess that’s what it is) called community pages.  So what’s the difference between community page, fan page, personal profile and group?  I don’t believe anyone know yets.  If someone does then like the Bush’s Beans dog, they ain’t talking.  For now what is known is that individuals can create a community page.  I think that the page will be owned by the one who creates it at first but once it reaches a certain number of people who like it then the community takes over and it becomes more like a wiki.  If you understand that, please explain it to me!  LOL!

So the question again becomes should people/organizations go ahead and create a community page to have first in advantage or just wait to see what happens.  How will people use the community pages?  What will having these well liked community pages do for fan pages.  Will it make fan pages obsolete?  The world is waiting for an answer. 

Here’s my biggest question:  Are the big drug manufacturers working on a pill to combat social networking chageitsis?  I might need a perscription.  In the meantime, I guess margaritas will have to be enough.

Wow, I’m really loving You Tube.  Until now, if I wanted to see someone show me the steps of the latest dance craze then You Tube was my Google.  But since I’ve become very serious about using it to research more serious subjects, I can see that there really is a lot of valuable information to be had.  Many people are very generous.

I’m sharing this video with you because Kyle Flaherty at Breaking Point Systems gave a great talk to the company’s global sales force.  In the presentation he shares some key points about using LinkedIn for B2B sales.  With over 60 million members, of which all Fortune 500 executives are a part, LinkedIn is not to be ignored if you’re serious about growing your business.

In general he reminds us to:

Be a resource: what’s in it for your connections

Don’t interrupt: be helpful

Connect after meeting: keep up with the people you meet in person

Be current: use LinkedIn applications to make your profile interesting

Update your profiles everywhere: when you find yourself listed on LinkedIn like sites update the profile

How helpful has LinkedIn been for you to grow your online presence and prospect for sales?