I am noticing more and more people coming to my classes with more than a basic knowledge of Linkedin and less and less people coming that are not even on Linkedin.  What this means is that the general level of knowledge in the marketplace is rising which will be helpful to all of us who have been using for a while, remember the more people on Linkedin the more #2’s and #3’s you get and the more people are willing to use this tool for connecting people and information gathering.  When the bar rises we all win!  Hope week #33 tips help you find new and improved uses.

Profile Tips

I talk a lot about the Summary section but today I want to make sure you see the power of the section right below that called Specialties.  Consider this the spot where you can “pantry” full of keywords.  Remember keywords are one of the most important reasons I talk about your Profile needing to be “Beefy”.  I have seen people just list all of the words that they want to be keyword searched for.  I have seen others list things that make reading sense but then they follow this with the word KEYWORD: followed by a list of keywords.  You will want to make sure that you also include words about your region or territory you serve like “Wisconsin” or “Milwaukee” for me.

Fill that “pantry” full of the words you want to be known and found for.

Connection Tips

When you are reviewing your list of Connections did you know you can filter that list by region and industry?  You do this by using the drop down tabs at the top of the Connection box.  I have found this very helpful when wanting to “mine” my network for a certain skill set or need that I have in order to make a connection with someone in my network (available only for level #1 Connections).  This way you don’t have to look through your whole list to remember who you know who is a “Banker” or “Real Estate” professional and this also the way you will find me when you need…………”FURNITURE”.

Also on the top of the Connection box you can sort your Connections by those people who have “new connections” so you can review those seeing who recently connected with who, something that might be useful if you are trying to stay on top of new #2’s in your network.

Wildcard Tip or Question

People are always asking me if they should upgrade to one of the Linkedin paid accounts.  My answer has always been that if you get the screen that comes up when you are trying to do something on Linkedin and it says..” You are out of that feature and if you upgrade you get more of these”, that means that whatever you are doing is working for you, and you may want to consider this.

I am still not on the upgraded account but a brand new feature just came out that allows you to manage profiles that looks pretty useful.  You can sort, make notes on and keep track of profiles you are interested in.  You get this feature if you go to any of the upgraded accounts which there are currently three different levels beginning at $29.95 a month up to $299.95 per month.  The other thing that people usually run out of is InMails (you get 5 your whole career on Linkedin) and possibly the number of introductions outstanding at any one time (you get 5 with free account).  The people I run into that are consistently on one of the paid account are recruiters or HR professionals.

Miscellaneous News and Notes

Some of the other resources I provide are:

•       Customized corporate training classes
•       Keynote and workshop presentations for conventions and association meetings
•       Corporate social media strategy consulting
•       For Sale:  LinkedIn training DVDs for beginners and intermediate users
•       For daily tips, follow me on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/WayneBreitbarth

Here is my upcoming schedule for teaching/speaking so you can share with friends, relatives and business associates.  Follow link or paste into your browser for additional details and registration information.

Wed April 21, 2010   Wayne's LinkedIn Power Formula Training for Beginners
                               M&M Office Interiors; 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
                                  http://budurl.com/4hxu

Mon May 10, 2010    Wayne's Intermediate LinkedIn Power Formula Training
                               M&M Office Interiors; 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
                                  http://budurl.com/89ft