The Magic LinkedIn® Formula

The Magic LinkedIn ® Formula My e-book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn ® Profile, enumerates 18 â€Å"Mistakes to Avoid† as well as 7 â€Å"Bonus Tips.† That’s a total of 25 items that I think are important for every LinkedIn ® user to understand and implement (actually more than 25, since many of the chapters have subpoints as well). Nevertheless, on Wednesday I will be giving a presentation at American Family Insurance’s DreamBank on â€Å"Top Five LinkedIn ® Mistakes.† Not 25, but 5. It’s not easy to choose the top five, but I managed to do it. Not only that, but I even narrowed it down to three general categories. I call this my â€Å"Magic LinkedIn ® Formula† and even if you’re unable to attend my presentation live on Wednesday, you can benefit from the formula. Success on LinkedIn ® comes down to what I have dubbed the â€Å"3 Ls† (not to be confused with the class of students in their third year of law school): Locatability Likeability ALiveness 1. Locatability If no one finds you on LinkedIn ®, there’s not much point in having a profile. Unless you are in a rare situation where you prefer not to appear in LinkedIn ® searches, easy locatability means you will get in front of the people searching for someone like you. For job seekers and business owners, being found by a target audience is one big key to success. Increasing your locatability entails two main actions: 1) putting the right keywords in the right places, and 2) growing your network aggressively and appropriately to at least 500 connections. A combination of well-placed keywords and a robust network is a winning LinkedIn ® strategy. 2. Likeability Just because someone finds you on LinkedIn ® doesn’t mean that person will contact you. If your profile is sloppy, incomplete, unfocused, or off target, you will probably be skipped over for someone with a better presentation. If, however, people like what they see, they will be more likely to request a connection or conversation. Likeability means sounding like a human being and not a robot; listing accomplishments without bragging; having an attractive photo and format; and putting your personality onto the page. The more you distinguish yourself as unique, the more you will encourage valuable interaction. 3. ALiveness I like to say that having a LinkedIn ® profile is like having a gym membership. You only get value from it if you do the work! Sitting on your butt will not get you 6-pack abs †¦ or a new client or job through LinkedIn ®. Aliveness on LinkedIn ® includes but is not limited to updating your profile, participating in groups, sharing valuable information, engaging in discussions, and taking relationships off line to the phone or even a coffee shop! That’s my Magic LinkedIn ® Formula: Locatability, Likeability and ALiveness! Are you using it? If you already are doing everything listed above, great- you are a power LinkedIn ® user. In that case, I recommend that you dive more deeply into How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn ® Profile for the fine points that will bring your LinkedIn ® success up even another level. I’ll have time for QA at my DreamBank presentation on Wednesday, and you get to participate too. What burning questions can I answer about my Magic LinkedIn ® Formula and your LinkedIn ® profile challenges?