Hello:
By now we are all seeing that social media is getting headlines everywhere, and many more people are “getting on board.” I consider you to be a part of the group of people that I know were “early adopters.” This should definitely give you a “leg up” on your competitors. If you didn’t notice, I just gave you a bit of “gobbledygook.” Read on in the tips for Week 46 to see what I mean by that.
Profile Tips
I was reading a book recently (which I highly recommend) by David Meerman Scott called “The New Rules of Marketing & PR.” In it he talked about a blog post of his called “The Gobbledygook Manifesto.” You can get a copy of this at:
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/37.03.Gobbledygook.pdf.
The premise of this document is that we all use too many words that are overused and cliché, words like “flexible,” “scalable,” “groundbreaking,” “industry standard” or “cutting edge.” You know the kind of words I am talking about. His premise is that when we use these words, we lose our audience and we lose our effectiveness in communicating our message. I totally agree and have seen the Summary section of some people’s profiles loaded with these kinds of words. I fear that many of us are doing just that, “losing our audience.” So do yourself a favor and review the 2000 characters that you have used in your Summary to make sure that the message you are communicating is crisp, clear, and to the point.
Connection Tips
As I have mentioned before, you are allowed up to 50 groups, and I always recommend you join 50 of them. I have outlined the different types of groups you can join in an earlier email; so I am not going to go over that again. What I want to remind you of this week is to periodically do a keyword search in the Groups section of LinkedIn for new industry-related groups that may have been formed recently which you should be a part of. To make room for these new groups, you should eliminate groups that you haven’t seen any benefits from or been able to contribute to.
Wildcard Tip or Question
I found a great blog post from Tanya Hall for people who want to be “headhunted” - in other words, found by recruiters. That might be more of you than just those in “official” job-seeking status. This is good stuff:
http://www.gaj-it.com/14804/top-ten-tips-to-get-headhunted-on -linkedin/.
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 Aug 18, 2010
Wayne's LinkedIn Power Formula Training for Beginners M&M Office Interiors; 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM http://budurl.com/auq5
Make sure you are reaching out to your connections this week and giving them a hand in any way you can. This will pay dividends down the road.
Wayne
Wayne C. Breitbarth
President M&M Office Interiors, Inc.
W233 N2833 Roundy Circle West Suite 100
Pewaukee, WI 53072
office 262-781-2600
cell 414-313-7785
Wayne,
First, let me say, I am in agreement with your post. Great information!
That being said, I want share something.
In a previous life, I was a middle school language arts teacher. When reading your blog I could not help but notice one of my ‘pet’ peeves’ in composition – the word THAT. In your first two paragraphs you use the word ‘that’ 7 times! That is an interesting word it is one we use often when we speak, but when writting, especially when one wants their communication to be “crisp, clear and to the point”, the word ‘that’ distractes from the clarity of the message.
If you can say the sentence withOUT the word ‘that’ and the sentence still makes sense . . then take it out! THEN your message will be clear concise and to the point!
I am happy to hear that you enjoy my blog posts. Thank you very much for the suggestion regarding my use of the word “that.” My wife tells me “that” all the time! I attempt to be conversational in my blog while at the same time sharing relevant content, but occasionally my passion for the content overshadows my focus on grammar.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment.