On my LinkedIn Blog I just posted a critique o.f a LinkedIn Recommendation I got – you can read it at Excellent LinkedIn Recommendations – an example.

I didn’t ask for that Recommendation, and I wasn’t expecting it.  It has made my day….

Imagine if you make someone else’s day – well, you can.  Just go find a first degree connection in LinkedIn and write them a real, glowing, value-add LinkedIn Recommendation.

You can get some tips from my blog post How To Write An Excellent LinkedIn Recommendation.

Want more LinkedIn training?  My video, LinkedIn for Job Seekers (not just for job  seekers) provides over 2 hours of training on LinkedIn.  Or, my best selling LinkedIn book is pretty awesome (so I hear ).

Nick recently came out with a new book called How To Work With Headhunters.  I’ll write more about that later.

I sent Nick a LinkedIn for Job Seekers DVD and hoped he would weigh in on it.  I was more than pleasantly surprised by the in-depth and two-thumbs-up report he gave on his blog.  You can read the entire post at LinkedIn for Job Seekers: A personal tutor.  Here are some things from his post that I really liked:

“I don’t write about many products or services because it’s rare that I find one worth writing about. Let’s face it, the Net is rife with hyped-up garbag-io.”

Totally – we’ve been beyond information overload for a long time.

“I expected a slick video of Jason in a suit lecturing me. (I dunno about you, but I can’t stand scripted videos and droning talking heads.) What makes this video so effective is that it focuses entirely on the LinkedIn screen while Jason stands over your shoulder and walks you through every important page, screen, feature and tool LinkedIn has to offer. There’s no droning…”

I hear this a lot – people expect me to be on a stage telling you what to do… in fact, you can see a short preview here, or a long preview here – you don’t see me speaking at all – it’s all my screen as I walk you through Linkedin, with my commentary and advice.

“My plan to skip around and get a feel for the DVD was dashed. I wound up taking my time and taking notes!”

There is a ton of meat in the DVD…

“I’m not job hunting, but I learned much of what I need to know to use LinkedIn for my business.”

Great point – I say it’s “not just for job seekers.”

“I think this product works so well because Jason Alba is immersed in JibberJobber and he spends all day long thinking about what helps job hunters.”

Another great point.  I actually think about social tools from two perspectives: (1) from the professional in career management, whether they are in a job search or not, and (2) from an entrepreneur/marketing perspective, so I can figure out how to grow my own business.

“LinkedIn for Job Seekers costs $49 (if you catch the current promo price). An hour with a tutor will cost you more than that.”

I charge $250/hour for consulting.  My DVD is over 2 hours long. The math is simple on this one

Nick, thanks a ton for this review, it really made my week when I saw it in my Google Alerts

This 90 minute LinkedIn for Executives webinar will go over various scenerios on how EXECUTIVES can get more value out of LinkedIn:

• how an executive finds and communicates with a key contact
• how and what they do with Target Companies
• how they network into a company
• what they could do with the network contacts they grow
• how they can grow their network with relevant CxO and board members,
• etc….

The cost is $50 if you are a Netshare member, $60 if you aren’t.  Register at Experts Connection.

Just who am I to give this webinar?  Jason Alba:

• served as VP, CIO and General Manager at his last employer during the course of three years,
• got laid off and found himself in a job search where flipping burgers wasn’t an option (based on personal expenses),
• wrote the best-selling book I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? (see Amazon reviews here)
• Created the DVD LinkedIn for Job Seekers (see Amazon reviews here),
• Speaks across the United States on career management, LinkedIn, Social Marketing, etc.

I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? was the second LinkedIn book in print, and the first to be in a Second Edition.

You can learn more about my LinkedIn thoughts on my LinkedIn blog, but don’t miss the webinar on Wednesday!

If you have any LinkedIn questions, consider getting my LinkedIn for Job Seekers DVD.  This is not just for job seekers… it’s a great tutorial to get up to speed on getting value out of LinkedIn (I spend the first 3 sections on Profiles).

Clint Goudie-Nice is the lucky one today… let’s start:

• THANK YOU for not putting anything in the name field except your name.  Drives me nuts to see email addresses, LION, etc. (which are all against the terms of service).
• Great picture – I love it.  One thing I like about this picture is how close your head is… I’ve seen a few recently where the person is like 10 or 20 feet away from the camera and I can’t make out enough details.
• The LinkedIn professional headline is … okay. You are missing an opportunity, however, to put a marketing pitch there (think 30 second commercial condensed down to a 5 second commercial).  The professional headline is a great place to communicate your value-add, and will be seen in various places in the LinkedIn experience.

• You need more LinkedIn Recommendations. I know Clint personally (he bought me a burrito yesterday!), and know that Clint is an awesome systems architect… why doesn’t he have more LinkedIn Recommendations?  I’d expect him to have at least 10 really awesome Recommendations.  Get to work on that!
• You should have more connections.  I know Clint networks a lot, and is a nice, likable (sp?) person.  I talk about how to grow a relevant network in my LinkedIn DVD.

• Do you sell candles… is that your “Company?”  Or is this a link to your current employer?  Is your “Website” your family blog?  Don’t make me guess – instead of choosing the default labels for this, choose “Other” and then type something descriptive in.

• I highlighted the things that stuck out to me as errors in grammar or spelling or formatting… I could be wrong on some, but they just looked wrong.  Clint should have cleaned this up by now (I haven’t looked), but you don’t want your Summary to detract from your message and capabilities.  Some people won’t care and won’t catch them … others will let errors like this become an issue.  Proof your Summary, and then have about 10 others proof it and provide feedback.
• I like how Clint has a lot more than two paragraphs here… I think he’s still shy of the limit (2,000 characters), which I’d recommend he works towards.
• I like the voice, and the message, in general.  Would like to see some “for example” stories.
• I think the ending could be stronger… it’s okay as-is, but I wonder how it could make more of an impression.

• I’ve never seen this before but I really like it – it solves the issue of “how do I talk about different jobs I had at the same company?” … he has done this a number of times in his profile.

• My question to Clint was, which of these add value to your branding and overall message, and which of these do not?  Those that do not are distractions, or noise, and you should not show them on your Profile.

This is kind of a quick-and-dirty LinkedIn Profile review… check out the LinkedIn DVD, were I go over five other professionals’ Profiles… and much more!

How is YOUR Profile?

I realize I’m totally biased about my LinkedIn DVD (I’m quite proud of it :p), perhaps it’s not fair to tell you what I think of it.  Let me share what others are saying about it on Amazon.com:

VerySuperCool Sue writes from Austin:

I was surprised at the amount of information that was on the dvd. I thought I had finished, when I realized I was only beginning! I think everyone who has a Linkedin account could really benefit from watching this.

Paul Jones from Salt Lake writes:

I loaded Alba’s LinkedIn DVD and immediately started using the spacebar. You know, the spacebar pauses the video. And I needed to pause the video because so much of his advice was immediately actionable.

Kelly Kennedy says:

What I especially liked is that the DVD is a webinar format of Jason using LinkedIn, not just him standing there talking about it. As you view the DVD you see what he is clicking on, what Jason thinks about various features, and what you should do with LinkedIn for job search and career management. It is especially helpful how Jason highlights sections of the program and then discusses each section individually for clarity. Our undergraduate and MBA students have taken full advantage of the program and I admit that it was clearly worth the small investment we made.

Jeffrey Ogden in Bethpage, NY writes:

Jason has created a very useful and informative DVD for anyone who wishes to optimize his or her Linkedin profile. Why is it important? I just met with a Chairman and CEO of a good sized business. He said “I loved your resume.” I responded “What resume? I never gave you one.” He said “Oh, I mean your Linkedin profile.” [I LOVE THIS STORY!!]

Sophie Lagace from Eureka (!) writes:

I have used several other LinkedIn resources, including Jason Alba’s own book and blog, and I’m employed, not looking. Yet I still found value in the tutorials, and I took several new actions to connect with people and improve my profile.

Cultural Tofu writes:

Although it’s geared towards job seekers, I found the information to be relevant for non-job seekers just trying to build their professional brand and grow their professional network. … I highly recommend this DVD to anyone interested in updating their professional brand using LinkedIn.

Thom Allen in West Jordan, UT writes:

Most of the information in the DVD isn’t a secret, but Jason brings new ideas on how to use the features that already exist for LinkedIn users. You will find more opportunities to improve your LinkedIn connection base than ever. You need this DVD.

Julie Walraven in Wausau, WI writes:

… even though I have read his book before and worked with LinkedIn for a couple of years, I found a few more tips and changed my profile once again. … Screen by screen with Jason giving clear advice, jobseekers will learn what to do and what not to do with LinkedIn and why. As a professional resume writer, I am excited to use this new tool with my clients and am recommending it on my website.

Marc W from West Jordan writes:

Jason Alba shows us in his new DVD what works and why and how to implement it. He presents his material in a very easy to follow format with excellent examples.

Thomas Clifford writes:

What I like best is I can review any of the segments quickly and easily and then jump onto LinkedIn and execute the concept. … Books on LinkedIn are fine; this is like having a private one-on-one tutorial in your home. Pretty cool!

Awesome folks, thank you for those testimonials!

If you haven’t gotten a copy of LinkedIn for Job Seekers, the DVD, yet, click here to order.

If you want to save $10 and have me eat the shipping and handling, you need to order today .  Additionally, I’ll throw in some kind of THANK YOU for ordering early thing – not sure if it will be free premium of JibberJobber, or one of my other webinars (Blog Marketing 201 – 501 or Write Your Book), but it will be something cool (any ideas?).

LinkedIn for Job Seekers has the following chapters/session:

1. Profile Review Part I – Above the Fold – I critique the top part of five LinkedIn Profiles, and make suggestions on how they can make them stronger, and increase the chances of being found in search results.
2. Profile Review Part II – Below the Fold – I critique the rest of the five LinkedIn Profiles, specifically the stuff that you see when you scroll down (education, work history, etc.)
3. Applications – To wrap up the “LinkedIn Profile” stuff, I had to talk about the new “LinkedIn Applications,” and what I suggest you do as a professional.
4. Account and Settings – It’s a big menu page, but what do you need to worry about? We’ll go over some of the things I recommend you pay attention to.
5. Getting and Giving Recommendations – How to get and give LinkedIn Recommendations.
6. Answers – Asking Questions – Ask questions in LinkedIn as a part of your networking and personal branding strategy.  Here’s how.
7. Answers – Answering Questions – Not ready to commit to asking questions regularly?  Answering questions is also very powerful, and doesn’t come with any regular commitment.
8. Searching – If you aren’t using advanced search, you are missing a big part of LinkedIn.  There are a few simple tricks that can take you a long ways in LinkedIn.
9. Browsing Connections – Your first degree connections might have some golden contacts for you – here’s one way of finding people you need to network your way into.
10. Exporting Connections – Exporting your contacts is one of the four things I talk about in my seminar.  Here’s why and how.
11. Growing Your Network – I had 5 first degree contacts when I first got started, and that was a huge mistake.  Instead of saying “get thousands,” we say “get the right connections, and here’s what that means!”
12. Groups – Groups for the job search?  Absolutely, and strategically!  We talk about how to find Groups and what to do once you are a member.
13. Staying Current – I’m on LinkedIn — Now What Blog – Some info on how to keep up with current LinkedIn information, as well as communicate with others regarding issues we blog about.
14. Company Pages – The Company feature in LinkedIn is amazing… AMAZING.  I think it’s the second best thing they’ve done, next to Answers, for a user like me.  Eventually it could eclipse the value of Answers… !
15. Jobs – Looking for a job in LinkedIn’s job search area?  Here are some things to know.
16. Introductions and Communication – how to, when to, why to communicate with people in LinkedIn’s communication tools.
17. Conclusion – Some final thoughts on LinkedIn, LinkedIn in your job search, etc.

Instead of a “here is every link in LinkedIn, and if you click on it here’s what happens” training, this focuses on what I think you should focus on with LinkedIn.  So there you go – if you want it you can get it whenever, but if you want to save some money and get some other goodies then order it TODAY.

I’ll decide on what bonuses to give with these preorders before I ship – you can leave suggestions in the comments (or by email).

Wednesday afternoon at 4pm EST I will start a 90 minute webinar for Experts Connection (cost is $50).  I’m really excited about this webinar because I’m taking stuff I’ve learned from about 60 presentations this year and creating a powerful presentation for this audience.

Here is more information:

LinkedIn & Facebook Essentials for Executives: Using Both Platforms as Professional Networking Tools
Guest Speaker: Jason Alba, Founder and CEO of JibberJobber.com & author of I’m on LinkedIn – Now What??? andI’m on Facebook – Now What???

Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Time: 4:00-5:30 PM Eastern, 1:00-2:30 PM Pacific

Class Description: LinkedIn is the professional network recruiters and hiring managers use to find talent. As important, it is the social network other professionals and executives use to find partners, customers and business relationships. It is not a hotbed of job seekers…rather…decision makers. If you are not using LinkedIn, you are missing out on a viable way to optimize opportunities that are available. This presentation is designed for executives…to help you understand ways to optimize LinkedIn. We’ll cover a number of tactics you can implement immediately to grow your network, nurture individual relationships, while putting your professional brand in front of your immediate and extended network.

Facebook is regarded as a popular hangout for a younger crowd…but that crowd has grown up and started in hiring manager and influencer roles. We’ll explore techniques you can implement on Facebook to network, share your brand and communicate with other professionals.

In this 90 minute session you will learn:

• How to create your LinkedIn profile to increase odds of being found.
• How to best communicate with your LinkedIn network.
• How to use the LinkedIn search features for an executive job search.
• How to use LinkedIn “Answers” as a strategy to enhance your personal brand.
• How to use new LinkedIn features to communicate with network contacts and professionals who should know you.
• The best way to get the “right” recommendations on your LinkedIn profile.
• How to create a compelling Facebook profile.
• Two techniques to find professionals in your field on Facebook.
• Elements of a connection strategy for both platforms.

Hope you can make it!

LinkedIn is not optional.

With that in mind, there are three things you need to know about:

The second edition of my LinkedIn book is shipping, even from Amazon.

It’s been a long time coming!  I wrote a post on my LinkedIn blog yesterday with all kinds of juicy information, INCLUDING information about how to get a FREE LinkedIn eBook!  How, you ask?  If you purchased the book from Happy About you will (or already have) receive a link to download the second edition, for free!  If you purchased the book through Amazon please go to the blog post from yesterday and follow the instructions, and we’ll get back to you with what to do to get the second edition LinkedIn eBook for free (it’s simple).  The cost is free for the eBook if you purchased the first edition, OR 11.95 for the second edition LinkedIn ebook, or 19.95+S&H for the LinkedIn paperback (or whatever Amazon charges).

Tomorrow you have the chance to learn from THE most connected person on LinkedIn.

Ron Bates is the man!  He has the largest first degree network on LinkedIn, and anyone who has a ton of connections and wants to grow their network knows who Ron is (the guy to beat :p).  Ron is offering a free webinar tomorrow, 12/10 – here’s the link to register, and here are some details (there is no cost):

If you are not able to attend the complimentary events coming up make sure to register anyway!!  Even if you’re traveling, in a meeting, or unplanned events cause you to miss the webinar, as a – no-show – you’ll receive a follow-up email with a link to access a recording at your convenience.

Do people really know how good you are??
December 10, 2008 (1pm EST) - How to Communicate Your Executive Value Proposition
Presented by Ron Bates – LinkedIn’s most connected member with over +44,000 direct contacts

Next week, Dec 17th, I will do a webinar for Experts Connection called LinkedIn & Facebook Essentials for Executives: Using Both Platforms as Professional Networking Tools.

I did a LinkedIn for Executives a month or two ago and it went really well – next week we are doing another one, and I’m really excited about this one.  Sponsored by Netshare and Career-Resumes (who does LinkedIn makeovers for $200), this is one of the most exciting presentations I’m doing this year – Netshare always puts on awesome events).  The cost for the 90 minute webinar is $50 (click here to learn more).

You better be on LinkedIn.

And you better have a LinkedIn strategy.

Do you?

Find your next job at Job Search USA.

Someone asked me to include a worksheet they could use to track their LinkedIn efforts.  Here’s what we created… the page numbers coincide with the pages in the book.  Please download this LinkedIn worksheet and feel free to share it with your friends!

Wow, I am SO glad to have this submitted to the publisher so I can get on with the rest of my life!  Actually, I’m very happy to have this second edition out, which is cleaner and of course more current than the first edition.  As I was writing it it seemed like daily people would come back and say “make sure you include LinkedIn Applications,” “make sure you include LinkedIn Group Discussions,” “make sure you include LinkedIn Events,” etc.  I was going crazy…!

Alas, it’s done, and the LinkedIn ebook and paperback is available for purchase on the Happy About site, and Amazon might have it up as early as Friday (black friday).

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this process, leaving reviews on Amazon, emailing me, reading the LinkedIn blog, suggesting me as a speaker, etc.  I am super-duper appreciative of YOU.

LinkedIn has changed. Most of the changes you see are with their technology.  I guarantee in a year this second edition will feel outdated by the end of next year as new stuff comes out regularly (seemingly faster than before).  Regardless of the technology changes, let me suggest a few things I think are core to your LinkedIn experience and any success you might have on LinkedIn:

1. Relationships, relationships, relationships! The key to short term and long term success (in many areas of our life) centers around relationships.  Focus on real relationships with real human beings.  The technology might change, but this idea doesn’t.
2. LinkedIn is powerful. If you are not getting value out of LinkedIn, I’d seriously try and figure out what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong.  I know many people are getting value out of LinkedIn, from many different industries.  Go ahead and ignore it, but I’ll tell you, in professional business networking, LinkedIn is the 800 lb guerrilla and no one is going to displace them anytime soon.
3. LinkedIn provides a great learning opportunity. Whether you want to see how to interact with other professionals online (or how not to), or you want to do industry or product research, LinkedIn is a terrific resource for more than “finding and being found.”  Just go in and lurk in the LinkedIn Answers section and you might find some rich, helpful stuff to help you be better at what you do.

I’d like to invite you to be an affiliate for my publisher, and get 30% of the purchase price for all books sold from his site.  This is way better than Amazon’s 4%, and if your audience (blog, newsletter, etc.) could get value out of my book, sign up!  Just go to http://www.happyabout.info/linkedinhelp.php and sign up in the upper right corner.

The price for I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? is $19.95 for the paperback and $11.95 for the ebook.

Today I want to present Part II of LinkedIn Maintenance (or else) to you.  If you don’t do this when you read my blog post, don’t call me asking to help you – because I won’t be able to.  First, the story:

I got a desperate email and few voice mails, and then finally connected on the phone with a recruiter.  This is someone who has read me, known about me, heard from me, etc. for over a year.  She was practically in tears, and clearly distraught.  She had built her LinkedIn network to over 1,500 connections, and used it religiously in her work as a recruiter.

Can you imagine taking all the time and making all the effort to build a network that big, and using LinkedIn on a daily basis as she did her job?  LinkedIn is to her what a hammer is to a carpenter.  Critical.

She ended up leaving her employer.  And shortly after, probably within 24 hours, her LinkedIn account was… GONE.

Wait, it wasn’t totally gone.  This is scarier than “gone.”  From what I understand, here’s what happened:

Her boss must have done a “forgot password.”  Since her primary, and ONLY email address on her account, was the corporate email account he provided her, which he now had COMPLETE control over, he was able to login as her.

And he changed her LinkedIn password.

And he changed her vanity URL (from her name to his name).

And he changed the name (the one at the very top of your Profile).

It looked 100% like HIS account.  But there were two problems:

1. All of the 1,500 connections were connected to this new, bogus, fraudulent account.  Sounds like a HUGE breach of privacy/security to me.  And embarrassing and disrespectful to the lady, who had built the relationships.  Not to mention the complete disrespect for each of her LinkedIn connections.
2. All of the recommendations had HER name, not his.  He couldn’t change that.  If I happened upon the Profile I would have guessed it was a bug in LinkedIn.

But it wasn’t a bug.  It was a fraudulent situation.  I said, “YOU DIDN’T READ MY BOOK!”  Because in my book I say, MAKE SURE the primary email address is one that you will have 100% complete control over, like a gmail account, or Yahoo, or AOL, or Hotmail, or something like that.  The second address in your account can be your employer’s address, but it should NEVER be your primary address.  NEVER!

That’s it… no more story, no more writing about this.  GO NOW to your LinkedIn Profile, click on Account & Settings, then on the right click on Email Addresses, and the rest should be obvious.

If you want more info on using LinkedIn, you can buy my book or follow the I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? blog.  I blog regularly over there.

Please, go do this NOW.