Comments for The Executive's Guide to LinkedIn Weblog http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog Deciphering LinkedIn and Social Networks for Executives Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:06:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Comment on LinkedIn Body Language: How Touch Creates Stronger Connections by csrollyson http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2010/03/linkedin-body-language-how-touch-creates-stronger-connections/comment-page-1/#comment-1620 csrollyson Thu, 20 May 2010 04:20:11 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=461#comment-1620 Hi Connie, thanks for sharing your frustration. The trust factor is so hard to deal with.. most of us are honest and trying to automate, be as efficient as possible, but a few people try to abuse the system and impose that on the rest of us. I know LI receives a ton of complaints from execs that they get "spammed" so LI errs on the side of being conservative and making it more work to contact a lot of people at once. They know that if too many people get spammed, their company is in serious trouble. Their approach is the opposite of Facebook's, which might be characterized as "shoot first, aim later." LI is all about privacy, discretion and trust, even though that makes it harder for us sometimes! All the best- Hi Connie, thanks for sharing your frustration. The trust factor is so hard to deal with.. most of us are honest and trying to automate, be as efficient as possible, but a few people try to abuse the system and impose that on the rest of us. I know LI receives a ton of complaints from execs that they get “spammed” so LI errs on the side of being conservative and making it more work to contact a lot of people at once. They know that if too many people get spammed, their company is in serious trouble. Their approach is the opposite of Facebook’s, which might be characterized as “shoot first, aim later.” LI is all about privacy, discretion and trust, even though that makes it harder for us sometimes! All the best-

]]> Comment on LinkedIn Body Language: How Touch Creates Stronger Connections by Connie Sexton http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2010/03/linkedin-body-language-how-touch-creates-stronger-connections/comment-page-1/#comment-1611 Connie Sexton Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:40:24 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=461#comment-1611 I totally agree about personalized invitations to connect. However, LinkedIn has made this more difficult. I download my address book from time to time to see who is in there I haven't yet connected to. I identified 3 or 4 people who were to receive the same invitation since my relationship with them was the same. You can no longer click on the 3 or 4 names and do a custom invitation. You can put them in individually and do a custom invitation but you have to look up their addresses first. I thought I must be missing something but wwhen I sent a question to the LinkedIn help desk the response was that they changed the format to avoid mass invitations. And sending the standard one line invitation isn't mass? I totally agree about personalized invitations to connect. However, LinkedIn has made this more difficult. I download my address book from time to time to see who is in there I haven’t yet connected to. I identified 3 or 4 people who were to receive the same invitation since my relationship with them was the same. You can no longer click on the 3 or 4 names and do a custom invitation. You can put them in individually and do a custom invitation but you have to look up their addresses first. I thought I must be missing something but wwhen I sent a question to the LinkedIn help desk the response was that they changed the format to avoid mass invitations. And sending the standard one line invitation isn’t mass?

]]> Comment on LinkedIn Becomes an Enterprise 2.0 Syndication Machine with API by 2010 Web 2.0 and Social Network Predictions - Interactive Advertising and Sales http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/12/linkedin-becomes-an-enterprise-2-0-syndication-machine-with-api/comment-page-1/#comment-1167 2010 Web 2.0 and Social Network Predictions - Interactive Advertising and Sales Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:24:47 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=417#comment-1167 [...] will ramp strongly in 2010. For one exam­ple, LinkedIn’s Plat­form enables devel­op­ers to syn­di­cate LinkedIn data into enter­prise appli­ca­tions. The Web [...] [...] will ramp strongly in 2010. For one exam­ple, LinkedIn’s Plat­form enables devel­op­ers to syn­di­cate LinkedIn data into enter­prise appli­ca­tions. The Web [...]

]]> Comment on LinkedIn Becomes an Enterprise 2.0 Syndication Machine with API by NeboshOfCourse http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/12/linkedin-becomes-an-enterprise-2-0-syndication-machine-with-api/comment-page-1/#comment-1106 NeboshOfCourse Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:48:51 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=417#comment-1106 Awesome post! I've been on LinkedIn for a while now but haven't been using it to its full potential, you've just given me loads to beef up my profile, thanks for the tips Awesome post! I’ve been on LinkedIn for a while now but haven’t been using it to its full potential, you’ve just given me loads to beef up my profile, thanks for the tips

]]> Comment on Job Search via LinkedIn: A Cautionary Tale by James Keddie http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/11/job-search-via-linkedin-a-cautionary-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-703 James Keddie Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:36:50 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=377#comment-703 I don't think clarity is the issue. His motives were quite clear to me. Deceptive? Yes. Ignorant? Yes. I've had a similar experience to you. One CEO of a software company contacted me via LinkedIn asking "it would be nice to share experiences". We set up a Skype call and within the first five minutes he asked me three times to visit his website and "register". Register for what, and why? I made it clear from the initial mail that I was not interested in his company's services, but would be happy to speak about Asia-Pacific focused matters. This is another example of pure deception. I wonder if these people realize the ramifications of "one-sided" relationships like this? Needless to say I am no longer connected with this individual (a "virtual door knocker" as I refer to them). Thankfully this doesn't happen very often in LinkedIn as users are reaching levels of maturity and understanding of "do's and don'ts" of professional social networking. I don’t think clarity is the issue. His motives were quite clear to me. Deceptive? Yes. Ignorant? Yes.

I’ve had a similar experience to you. One CEO of a software company contacted me via LinkedIn asking “it would be nice to share experiences”. We set up a Skype call and within the first five minutes he asked me three times to visit his website and “register”. Register for what, and why? I made it clear from the initial mail that I was not interested in his company’s services, but would be happy to speak about Asia-Pacific focused matters. This is another example of pure deception. I wonder if these people realize the ramifications of “one-sided” relationships like this? Needless to say I am no longer connected with this individual (a “virtual door knocker” as I refer to them).

Thankfully this doesn’t happen very often in LinkedIn as users are reaching levels of maturity and understanding of “do’s and don’ts” of professional social networking.

]]> Comment on Quick Takes: How to Evaluate LinkedIn Groups by Jennifer Beever http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/08/quick-takes-how-to-evaluate-linkedin-groups/comment-page-1/#comment-158 Jennifer Beever Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:27:27 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=367#comment-158 Great ideas, Chris. I agree that it's critical to have a systematic approach. One thing that I do is when I find a new group, I ask to receive daily digests of group activity. The digest emails ping me frequently with the group's activity. Then once I know a group is valuable, I can choose to not get the emails or move to the weekly digest, and visit it daily online. Great ideas, Chris. I agree that it’s critical to have a systematic approach. One thing that I do is when I find a new group, I ask to receive daily digests of group activity. The digest emails ping me frequently with the group’s activity. Then once I know a group is valuable, I can choose to not get the emails or move to the weekly digest, and visit it daily online.

]]> Comment on #2: How many LinkedIn Recommendations Should You Have? by csrollyson http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/08/2-how-many-linkedin-recommendations-should-you-have/comment-page-1/#comment-157 csrollyson Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:11:05 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=355#comment-157 Jacob, thanks for writing.. that's a great idea to ask clients for recommendations, but make sure to start by asking them to comment on a specific aspect of your contribution. That way, you can influence the variety and the relevance of the recommendation to your overall message.. without telling the client what to write. Recommendations are the "voice of the customer," broadly speaking, so they can be very powerful and strengthen your message. They say things differently than you, so that widens your appeal. Jacob, thanks for writing.. that’s a great idea to ask clients for recommendations, but make sure to start by asking them to comment on a specific aspect of your contribution. That way, you can influence the variety and the relevance of the recommendation to your overall message.. without telling the client what to write.

Recommendations are the “voice of the customer,” broadly speaking, so they can be very powerful and strengthen your message. They say things differently than you, so that widens your appeal.

]]> Comment on #2: How many LinkedIn Recommendations Should You Have? by Jacob Cynamon http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/08/2-how-many-linkedin-recommendations-should-you-have/comment-page-1/#comment-156 Jacob Cynamon Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:03:35 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=355#comment-156 Chris, these are excellent points that I'm going to keep in mind in the future. My current work involves several 3-6 month project engagements for clients, so I make a habit of asking them for a recommendation. Since each project is somewhat unique, this allows me to showcase my project management skills while highlighting my ability to adapt to new situations. What reasons lead other readers to request recommendations? Chris, these are excellent points that I’m going to keep in mind in the future. My current work involves several 3-6 month project engagements for clients, so I make a habit of asking them for a recommendation. Since each project is somewhat unique, this allows me to showcase my project management skills while highlighting my ability to adapt to new situations.

What reasons lead other readers to request recommendations?

]]> Comment on #1: How Many LinkedIn Connections Do You Need to Move the Ball? by csrollyson http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/08/1-how-many-linkedin-connections-do-you-need-to-move-the-ball/comment-page-1/#comment-151 csrollyson Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:09:16 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=331#comment-151 Mike, thanks for your insights and, as you know, you are not alone. Adoption of social networking is very uneven. You are thinking the right way by recognizing that you have "two separate businesses." If you can see a connection between Web 1.0 adoption ("the Internet") and Web 2.0, you probably believe that everyone will have to conduct online networking in the years ahead, as most businesses now need websites to be taken seriously. If this is true, even if 15% of your clients and prospects are reachable via social networking in 2009, you can drive down the cost and increase quality by interacting with them using social networks this year. Next year, a larger portion of your clients will be reachable. Competitors that don't see this will be caught flat-footed at a certain point, where you will be fluent and more competitive. Another thing that will hurt businesses: Web 2.0 is very different from Web 1.0 because it's about relationships, not only information and transactionability on demand. With Web 1.0, you could wait and throw money at a website later because it was a tech thing, somebody could build it for you. Web 2.0 requires mentoring and far more awareness of how to develop trust, how to conduct yourself in these new spaces (social networks). How to develop community and motivate people to interact? Firms will have a much harder time because these things are social, you can't buy them as easily. Lastly, one thing people assume that is *not* true: social networks don't mean that you will do less face-to-face networking. You will increase the quality and focus of your face to face time because pre-qualification will be better, and the info bytes part of meetings will be taken care of beforehand. Thanks again for sharing! Mike, thanks for your insights and, as you know, you are not alone. Adoption of social networking is very uneven. You are thinking the right way by recognizing that you have “two separate businesses.” If you can see a connection between Web 1.0 adoption (“the Internet”) and Web 2.0, you probably believe that everyone will have to conduct online networking in the years ahead, as most businesses now need websites to be taken seriously. If this is true, even if 15% of your clients and prospects are reachable via social networking in 2009, you can drive down the cost and increase quality by interacting with them using social networks this year. Next year, a larger portion of your clients will be reachable. Competitors that don’t see this will be caught flat-footed at a certain point, where you will be fluent and more competitive. Another thing that will hurt businesses: Web 2.0 is very different from Web 1.0 because it’s about relationships, not only information and transactionability on demand. With Web 1.0, you could wait and throw money at a website later because it was a tech thing, somebody could build it for you. Web 2.0 requires mentoring and far more awareness of how to develop trust, how to conduct yourself in these new spaces (social networks). How to develop community and motivate people to interact? Firms will have a much harder time because these things are social, you can’t buy them as easily. Lastly, one thing people assume that is *not* true: social networks don’t mean that you will do less face-to-face networking. You will increase the quality and focus of your face to face time because pre-qualification will be better, and the info bytes part of meetings will be taken care of beforehand. Thanks again for sharing!

]]> Comment on #1: How Many LinkedIn Connections Do You Need to Move the Ball? by Mike Van Horn http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/2009/08/1-how-many-linkedin-connections-do-you-need-to-move-the-ball/comment-page-1/#comment-150 Mike Van Horn Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:17:13 +0000 http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?p=331#comment-150 Chris Two observations: -- Most of my current "face-to-face" consulting clients are not active on business social media, so I have to market to them the old-fashioned way. I'm using LinkedIn, blogs, etc. to reach beyond this group to others who are engaged online. But it's almost like having two different businesses. -- My target clients fall between your two categories. I want to draw them in with transactions, including free, then entice them to sign up for longer (remote) interactions with me, either 1 on 1 or via workshops. mvh Chris
Two observations:
– Most of my current “face-to-face” consulting clients are not active on business social media, so I have to market to them the old-fashioned way. I’m using LinkedIn, blogs, etc. to reach beyond this group to others who are engaged online. But it’s almost like having two different businesses.
– My target clients fall between your two categories. I want to draw them in with transactions, including free, then entice them to sign up for longer (remote) interactions with me, either 1 on 1 or via workshops.

mvh

]]>