Little Known LinkedIn Tip that Paints a Stronger Picture of YOU!

OK, so you hear about "secret this" and "secret that" when it comes to social media tips and tricks, but I just stumbled across one that I had not heard of before - and believe me, I've been a careful observer of all things in this realm.  What is it? How about controlling where your testimonials are placed in your profile?

By now, you've asked others for a recommendation. Most likely, you've received a few - maybe, even a lot - but chances are, they are all stacked under your latest job listing.  That's not awful, but it doesn't exactly paint a consistent picture of your performance over the years.

And if you're like me, well, you've held a myriad of positions in your career. In my case, fourteen!

For recruiters, it looks like I can't hold a job.  But on closer inspection, one would find that to move up; I had to move out.  It's just the way that it is in advertising & marketing circles (That is, until you finally hang out your own shingle and stop depending upon recruiters to find your next big gig). Which I did.

So, instead of having all of your recommendations dumped under one position, you can select where they go - but you have to do something radical to do it.  You eliminate your current position under your profile (where it states : CURRENT). Don't change your resume one iota. Stay within the Profile section and simply add your position back in.

Let me explain:
I was simply adding another position that I hold (as an assistant football coach for the local high school), but because of the date I had selected, LinkedIn placed it at the top of my profile, making it appear that my main job was football coaching.  (And) that's not what I wanted.  So I toyed-around a bit to fudge the dates just a tad so that my "real" job showed up at the top of the page (it's chronologically based).  In doing so, I dumped my original job, then added it back with a slightly different start date. Wallah... it was back at the top of my profile heading! That's all I wanted to do.   

Then panic set in.

What I hadn't realized, was that all of the testimonials that were attached to the original posting now became "unassigned" and were effectively gone from my profile!  37 endorsements down the drain! :-(

I was panicked at first, thinking that I would need to re-ask all of those that had endorsed me to re-do their recommendation.

Not cool.

However, I didn't lose my cool — firstly, because I had saved a Word doc of all of the quotes that I had received - something you should do right now - so I knew who to ask and could provide them exactly what they had said previously; but secondly, I figured LinkedIn had to have a way to get them back (which they do). As I looked a little more carefully over my new profile and scanned down the entirety of the page, ALL of the recommendations were indeed, listed, but under the heading "Unassigned" (they just weren't counted in that upper Profile section).

All you have to do, is click the EDIT link and re-assign each (individually - which takes some time depending on how many you have to go through) to the position and company that they best are categorized within.  Which is exactly what I did.  It's not cheating, it's actually more accurate and helpful to anyone who really wants to get an honest picture of my experience.

For a guy with fourteen different jobs, my new LinkedIn listing represents the longevity of my good work much more effectively.

Social Media to the Rescue?

Yesterday, the tools of "social media" made an indelible mark on me. When a friend's in trouble, you react with whatever tools are available to you... and what struck me funny last night, is that the first place I turned to when I heard of her predicament was Facebook and LinkedIn.

Her day started with the curious sounds of mooing...

Turns out that the 6 inches of rain that had fallen the night before had caused the peaceful Rush River to swell into a monster, rising 8 feet and sweeping away a herd of cows returning back to their barn for milking. As her basement filled with water, she wondered what could be done, where the rescue, if any, was coming from and how she was going to get through the day with her son. Apparently, she had time enough to snap a couple of photos and post them to her Facebook page.

Her friends commented how tragic it was and offered her comforting words of encouragement. But, eating, breathing and sleeping marketing often makes one take different steps in light of such an event. If she was going to get some help, she needed attention — right away.

I'd put on my hip boots and jump in my Suburban to help, trouble was, I live 300 miles away. Yet what I had seen and read of the events of her day was a news story. Press coverage of her situation, and that of her neighbors, should only be made better if a news crews were on hand to shed some light on the slow tragedy that floods render.

But who do I know in the media somewhere near her farm?

Having lived in the area as a kid, I knew that all of the press coverage comes from the Twin Cities. I immediately checked into LinkedIn and searched WCCO, KARE, KMSP and the StarTribune Newspaper. To my surprise, one of KARE's reporters is a high school classmate of mine. He was even an existing Facebook friend — I just didn't know he was a reporter! I fired off a story tip for him on LinkedIn and Facebook hoping that he might check one of them (Facebook, BTW, won the day).

Meanwhile, others saw some of these posts and offered up their suggestions. We found a staff writer at the StarTribune and passed the same story tip on to him via the same channels.

Not more than 10 minutes later, I received confirmation that KARE-TV was packing their cameras and heading East to cover the story for TV and online.

My friend's TV & press report.
A competitor station picked up the story.
The Milwaukee Paper grabs the story.
And is finally picked up by the AP in the Chicago Tribune.

Social media is immediate, connective and viral. It's very hard to manufacture a viral chain of events, but if the story is honest and strong, you'll get traction. From fads to floods, crazes to cows, social media offers immediate impressions if you can put together the proper pieces.

As I write this, the waters are receding, but the damage done is significant. It's gratifying to know that I could play a part in getting others to care and provide some assistance, but now I'm left with the notion, "What's next?" Alerting people to the problems that our friends and neighbors face is important, but an actionable plan and real recovery are still in need. 

Social media doesn't have a tool for that yet... but, I'm working on it.

Do you have any suggestions? I'd be happy to hear them.

Social Media Newbies Unite!

I have to tell you, I've been following (OK, pun intended for Twitter users) the marketing aspects of social media for the past few years now - which makes me more than a "newbie", but doesn't put me at the head of the class by any means. Monetization of these mediums (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and others) is sketchy, at best. And for some, a down right waste of time.

If you, too, are scratching your head on how your small business (or using your own personal brand) can benefit, read on.

I can't cover it all, but this hopefully will help get you on the right path. So let's put our first foot forward:

1 > Do set up a LinkedIn account. This may be the most valuable thing you can do. Why? Not only is it a "resume" site - in which a potential client, employer or old acquaintance may look you up - but it is the ONLY social media site that gathers e-mails from which you can carefully utilize in soliciting feedback or better yet, actual sales.

2 > Do set up a Facebook page. You have to do this for yourself, then you can create a page for your business, group or interest. Aside from having the ability to be "friends" with your children (a great non-invasive way to spy on them - you didn't hear it here), Facebook is the mother of all social media platforms and can provide a forum to let your own personality shine through to potential suitors of your business. Be careful, though, it's easy to offer TMI and expose your brand to ridicule or scorn. A quick tip for setting up a business page: once you get 25 FANS, you can get a customized URL to make it easier for others to find you on FB.

3 > Do set up a Twitter account. The base idea is to be able to engage with your particular audience. Not sure where to start? Use a site called Tweepsearch.com to find people in your area of interest. Follow them and their followers. In no time, you'll be in a community of people who have at least a modicum of interest in you.

4 > Do set up a YouTube channel. Buy a Flip Mino and make 1-minute movies about what you or your business is an expert in. Post these videos to your channel, making sure your website is clearly attached in the bio section. Why? Because Google is now posting videos on WEB search results. You may be able to not only make page 1, but create a "roadblock" as well. Instant, easy and FREE SEO.

Does all of this take time? Yup. Can you get someone else to help? Yup. (20-something interns got this stuff covered...) But you better stay involved and in-the-know, your customers might just come a-knocking! Why? Because everything that you do here, will help direct traffic back to your own website... finally making it the productive tool everyone said it could be - you just never knew how to put it in play. And now you do.

Want to know more...

Jump into Mike's website
Link up with Mike on LinkedIn
Join Mike's Big Ideas Group on LinkedIn
Becomes a FAN of the Big Ideas Group on Facebook
Become a FAN of JacksonSpencer on Facebook
Follow Mike on Twitter

Do all of that, and you'll drop your Newbie title. You'll now be a Social Media Maven!