profile setup for linkedin

Social Media Series 1: LinkedIn Training – Profile Setup

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

LinkedIn Training

Segment 1

Profile Setup, Usage

and

Monetizing LinkedIn

June 10, 2009


Sign Up Page for LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/

First Name, Last Name, Email (Personal Email Address like Gmail.com)

Use a Personal email address like www.Gmail.com to avoid email messages coming to your Company account. This will also allow you to segment out any other Social Media Platforms with a Personal Account

Select “Continue”


Confirmation of Account

See Confirmation Email, click Link within email and sign in using email and password

Email Password and “Sign In”


How do you want to use LinkedIn?

Make your selections you are comfortable with keeping in mind that “To Be Found” should include all checkmarks.

Notes: Unless you are in Human Resources do you need to check the “Hiring employees or contractors”.

Save Settings


Email Confirmation

Go to your email account and look for the email from “LinkedIn Email Confirmation” within your email client that you used to sign up for:

Save Settings

Open email to confirm your account on LinkedIn with the “Confirmation Link”


Email Confirmation

Click on the Link within the email to confirm your LinkedIn account, which will take you to the LinkedIn “Confirm Email” Page (Next Window):

Click on this confirmation Link to Confirm your Email


Email Confirmation

Click on the Link within the email to confirm your LinkedIn account, which will take you to the LinkedIn “Confirm Email” Page (Next Window):

Click on this Button to Confirm your Email Address


Login to LinkedIn:

Finally, enter your password you used to sign up for LinkedIn and click the Button “Sign In”

Enter your password to Login to LinkedIn‐then click button to sign in


Preferences for LinkedIn (Initial window after 1st sign in):

Step‐by‐Step: All areas are similar so I will choose the most widely used tool, which is “Address Book” for now.

Select the Address Book option to see who in your contact lists may already be using LinkedIn


Address Book integration: Finding people you already know on LinkedIn

This process allows you to connect to Colleagues at Company, old schoolmates, existing clients and anyone in your Address Book that you have as a contact.

You can use your Lotus Notes Address Book as well, which I suggest, if you have most of your contacts in this medium. If not, you can also upload a .csv file from whatever Address Book you may have, Outlook, Mac Mail, etc…

Please see https://www.linkedin.com/static?key=pop_ex_upload_contacts for instructions on how to save a .csv file for uploading.


Accounts & Settings: How you want to be communicated with on LinkedIn

After adding your Address Book Contacts, select the “Account & Settings” link as shown:


Accounts & Settings: My Profile

Next, Select “My Profile” to change and add information necessary to your Company Branded Profile


My Profile: Setup of your Profile to be Company centric

Main areas to be filled in, current position, past positions, Education and Websites

Profile: Title: Company given title City, State: Should be filled in automatically Industry: Marketing and AdCompanying should be filled automatically

Current Position Fill in Current and Past positions from all jobs you may have had to increase your network

Add in your Formal Education to increase your possibility of Linking with old schoolmates


My Profile: Websites

Websites: Choose “Other” as the option for all Website selections – this increases Company’ Search Engine Optimization that leverages LinkedIn’s top search engine marketing. Top Website Entry should be: Name: Company Communications URL: http://www.Companyinc.com Name: Company Blog URL: http://sellingatthetop.com/Company Name: Company Twitter URL: http://twitter.com/Companycommunications


My Profile: Interests

Interests: This area should be what YOU and only you are interested in personally. This will give anyone looking you up to see what you as a person are like and give the human element to the LinkedIn social tool. People find this area fascinating to understand things they may have never knew about you, even your existing customers, and will discuss these things that you may have in common with them, or with their families.


My Profile: Groups and Associations

Groups & Associations: Must include:

‐ Direct Marketing Association ‐ American Marketing Association ‐ Local Chapters of DMA/AMA ‐ Company Corporate Associations

Can include: ‐ Any relevant work associations

Company is involved with May include:

‐ Personal or Charity Associations you are involved with


My Profile: Honors and Awards – SAVE CHANGES

Honors and Awards: Must include:

‐ Company Awards ‐ Company Honors

Can include: ‐ Any relevant work Awards you

have been given in your career May include:

‐ Personal or Charity Awards you were given

DON’T FORGET TO “SAVE CHANGES”


My Profile: My Photo

PHOTO: Please use a Professional Photo in the JPEG format. Just have a look at other photos to see what is normal and appropriate. Do not use a logo, or inappropriate photos that you wouldn’t want your customers to see.


My Profile: My Photo

PUBLIC PROFILE: Click this link “Customize your URL” and place your name in the box – see next page for example


My Profile: My URL

PUBLIC PROFILE: Click this link “Customize your URL” and place your name in the box. Example: DeanHolmes (No spaces) This helps with searches and outgoing links as other social applications will find you on the LinkedIn site through Google like searches


My Profile: Public Profile Check Settings

PUBLIC PROFILE: Be sure to check ALL BOXES including “Picture”, which by default is not checked. Having the photo allows you to be known as you build your brand and awareness on LinkedIn and any other Social Applications.


My Profile: RSS Settings

PUBLIC PROFILE: Click on the “Your Private RSS Feeds” link to select an RSS Feed to come into LinkedIn from Company’ Blog.


My Profile: LinkedIn Answers Category Settings

LINKEDIN ANSWERS FEED: Choose “Direct Marketing” from the drop‐down box to have this feed into a RSS Reader (If you have one), if not please click on the button “Google” where you need a Google Account (Use the same one from your Gmail Account) or choose any of the Readers from the list. Newsgator is also a good tool, but I prefer Google due to the ease of use. An RSS Reader allows you to select any RSS Feed from any site that shows the RSS button to see news from the industry or customers news as well.


My Profile: LinkedIn Answers Category Settings

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FEED: Click the “Add to Google Reader” button or add it to your iGoogle Homepage, if you already have that setup as your search provider.


My Profile: Company Groups

From the top of the LinkedIn Page, you will find the Search button:

In the box beside “Search People”, select the drop down and select “Search Companies”

Type in “Company Communications” to reveal the Company Company Group

Click “Join this group” and enter your email address for [email protected]. Sasha will need to approve you into the Company Group after receiving an email – you will see this appear in the left sidebar on any LinkedIn Page after approval.


My Profile: Summary Section

How to get there: Left Sidebar > Profile (Use this copy for Company Branding verbatim)

Improve your targeting efficiency and accuracy. Company Communications can help improve your direct mail marketing relevance, maximize your "wow" factor, and ensure quality execution in a timely manner. When consumers are choosing which mail to read, we help to make sure your mail will be the one they choose to open, read, and respond to. To address the challenges of direct mail marketing program implementation, Company offers a full range of services to support you in every stage of the process. Realize the full potential of your customer data. Leverage your customer data and our expertise to get more from every marketing program dollar. As a market leader in applied database solutions, Company Communications' data professionals are experts at modeling, profiling, and analyzing customer information to fine tune every element of your marketing program from target identification to media planning to creative design. Our experts turn data into actionable information that will help you achieve superior results from your direct mail marketing, out‐of‐home, adCompanying insert, or point‐of‐sale program investment. About Company Communications Company Communications is a premier provider of targeted print adCompanying and direct marketing solutions to America’s leading retail and consumer services companies. Company delivers marketing programs that create strategic value for clients by using creative services, proprietary consumer research, database targeting and digital technologies, premedia and media placement services, combined with its world‐class printing expertise. www.Companyinc.com. Common Misspellings: Add this to the bottom of your Summary Page, which allows for anyone searching for you by name, and the common mis‐spellings of your first and last name. Look around the keyboard to see which keys may be missed.

Summary section (Bottom of Profile Page)

CONTACT SETTINGS: (EDIT) Add your email so that anyone looking to get in touch with you can. Add your phone number as well. Also, add what you are looking to accomplish or looking for out of the people who would contact you on LinkedIn here.


Part 2

Groups


Groups: Overview of suggested Groups

Reference http://www.linkedin.com/deanholmes for Group selections

Searching for Groups: Type in companies, geography, most any term will have a group

Common Company centric Groups:

DMA: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=95984

Analytics: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=22313

Financial Marketing: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=61443

Healthcare Marketing: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=100418

Statistical Modeling: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=915657

Customer Analytics: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=84934

Marketing Executives: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=36393

CMO’s: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=51822

Database Marketers: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=134079

Twitter: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=54432

Direct & Database Marketers: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=146431&trk=anetsrch_name&goback=.gdr_1238525345727_1

Search by dropdown “SEARCH GROUPS:


Groups: Overview of leveraging Group Discussions

Look for Discussion topics that are Company centric, or relate to our business. This is a key to finding who is discussing problems, challenges or ideas they may be searching for.


Groups: Overview of leveraging Group Discussions

Once you pick a discussion, look at the answers given and determine if you could answer or add to the topic at hand with some key, but non‐confidential information, that could get seen by other marketers.

The Reply Privately Window:

REPLY PRIVATELY: This is a gold mine for sending a FREE email right to a prospects Inbox on LinkedIn and in their email address which they have in their profile. This is one of LinkedIn’s best kept secrets and one that when you search for, find and want to reach out, you can do so without any cost to you. KEEP IN MIND: Be sure you are complimentary of their answer, be specific in what you find interesting and be clear on what you see as a possible next step.

REPLY PRIVATELY: This is the window that will pop‐up when Reply Privately is selected


People Search: A Case Study of how this works

After you have uploaded and have connected with some of your invitations, you will see the power of your network like never before.

Search for a contact you know may have connections and referrals:

Scroll down, to the right, and find their Connections:

Select SEE ALL CONNECTIONS


People Search: A Case Study of how this works

Glenn’s Connections, scroll through each and every page, to see who they have as “Other Connections” not ones that are “Shared Connections” – this may be on several pages:

Note that with just this one contact in my network, and on this one page of his connections, there are:

‐ CMO of Oreck ‐ SVP, Marketing of Assurant ‐ VP of Marketing at Prudential Financial ‐ VP of Customer Knowledge at 1800Flowers ‐ CEO of ActiveCause ‐ National AdCompanying Manager at John Deere ‐ VP of Sales and Marketing at Samsonite ‐ Director of Marketing, Discover Card Services ‐ Interactive Marketing Manager at Lexus

This is only one, one of my 7,049 1st degree connections in my LinkedIn Network.

REFERRAL’S TO BE HAD: As you look through all of their connections, you may come across people they know, that you would like for them to introduce you to. Most of my 1st degree connections that I call are more than willing to make a call on my behalf –

NO MORE COLD CALLS


Glenn Hughes: A Case Study of how this works

Glenn Hughes initially sent me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn through a Group, LIONS, an “Open Networker” group that we share.

As soon as I received the invitation, as with EVERY invitation I receive, I scan to see who is sending the invitation, where there may be a fit between our organizations, accept the invitation and then send a note back that states what I would like to see next.

Example: Glenn’s invitation to me on 2/9/2009

Next: I reviewed Glenn’s website www.UpperQuadrant.com and determined that this was a person I wanted to talk with and a call was placed.

Next: Glenn and I had a great discussion that was centered around his LinkedIn strategy, how he found me and then his business – simply put, we were able to discuss these things because he found me on LinkedIn

Outcomes:

Meeting with their CEO to discuss a partnership that revolves around how their clients, with whom they are discussing Company with now, due to my LinkedIn Training that I gave to Glenn, and the referrals they will walk us into.

Next, see who some of their client’s are…


Some of Upper Quadrant’s clients:

Client referrals expected from Upper Quadrant:

‐ Cox Media

‐ Nortel

‐ Rosetta Stone