Making the Most of LinkedIn

LinkedIn continues to grow and improve as a powerful professional networking tool.

A year ago, I joined LinkedIn to research networking communities for a project that I was working on with a client. At the time, MySpace.com seemed too juvenile and risque so I build a quick profile and began to explore the tool.

As a new member I found a few friends here and there that were connected and then within the next six months I began to receive more LinkedIn requests and I've slowly built my network to over 60 connections within a variety of industries. I was pleased to connect with fraternity brothers and college friends and even one of my good friends that interned with me at the White House during the Clinton administration.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool that if used correctly can expand your networking skills and also build a great online resume for the world to see. Here are a few tips that can help your LinkedIn profile get noticed and also promote your Google Rankings and website traffic as a result through Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

• Create a complete profile that lists all of the companies and positions you have held. LinkedIn aggregates your current and former companies to give you updates when your former colleagues or classmates have joined LinkedIn.


• Spell the names of the companies and schools correctly! It's a great thing to have your profile available for the world to see, but horrible when you have blatant errors. In my haste to create a profile I misspelled "White House" as "White Houe". This prevented LinkedIn from notifying me of fellow White House alums because of my error (not to mention embarrassed me a bit). Luckily, editing your profile is a cinch.


• When you build your profile use the "My Websites" section very wisely. This allows you to promote the organizations you identify in your profile. If you select "other" in the custom fields, you can create a custom title to promote your blog or website as well.


• Customize your LinkedIn URL, you have the ability to create a custom URL with your name to promote in your auto signature on Outlook or email. For example, www.linkedin.com/in/edwardcates. Add it to your auto signature and you provide the folks you email a non-intrusive way to learn about you and your credentials.


• Recommend others and ask them to recommend you in return. It builds credibility and allows for others to endorse your stellar talents.

Think of LinkedIn as a 24/7 agent operating on your behalf with an electronic resume. Be sure to set your profile settings to "Full View" and this will allow you to get first page Google Rankings and instant SEO!

There are a variety of privacy options for those that would like to use the tool under more discreet conditions. Be sure to go to your privacy settings to adjust these.

You are also able to view statistics of your network as it grows that includes Your Connections, and connections Two Degrees Away and also Three Degrees away from you. Essentially providing your connection's, connection's connections which can all be reached through a LinkedIn introduction to enhance connectivity. You can also view geographic location of your network and the industries you have strong connections in.

Former Apple Computer evangelist, author of "The Art of Start", master blogger, marketer and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki shared in his blog, "How to Change the World" the following statistics about LinkedIn:

• The average number of LinkedIn connections for people who work at Google is forty-seven.
  
• The average number for Harvard Business School grads is fifty-eight.
  
• People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.
  
• All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees.

Ready to step your networking game up? If so, then check out LinkedIn.

by Edward Cates

www.linkedin.com/in/edwardcates

Already on LinkedIn? Post your comments about it here.

PlanetMogul.com - New Professional Networking Site For Urban Users

Earlier this year, I made my second run at entrepreneurship. My last consulting firm was developed and launched while I was fully employed and was designed around a singular opportunity that didn't come through. Since I was moonlighting, I never had the time to promote and build my business. Moreover, there weren't nearly the tools there are today to encourage professional networking.

This year, I launched my marketing and communications agency, Nuance Marketing, LLC. As I endeavor to grow my business and brand, I've embraced new mediums such as blogging and networking sites. I set up profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and Xing.com to promote my business and dabble in new age networking. I was fortunate enough to catch up with some great college friends but no immediate business leads.

PlanetMogul.com launched October 1, 2007 and is an innovative site that brings an aesthetic feel to the networking scene and put a professional twist on the platform.

Membership is free and registration was easy. Upon sign up members are encouraged to create either a personal or business profile and become a "Mogul" (I like being called a Mogul, nice touch). So this is when I really got excited about the functionality, because instead of asking questions about my favorite song or artist, I was asked for a Mission Statement, Areas of Expertise and Affiliations. I was also able to add a Blogger HTML button to link to my blog and upload a portfolio of my work and create a dynamic link to my profile page www.planetmogul.com/Edward06 .

Another unique feature to the site is the wealth of business information that's on the site. There is a diverse collection of success profiles called Moguls on the Move (MOTM). In this group there are Entrepreneurs, Executives, Celebrities, Politicians and Community leaders. The site also plans to host live chats for members with this group. For me it was unique to see the "Makings of a Mogul" for a range of people from Jay-Z to Michael Lee Chin (a true Mogul on billionaire status). It looks like these Moguls On the Move will be posting job opportunities and internships for their organizations. While there are recognized hip-hop moguls, you also have global Moguls like Sir Richard Branson and a number of music industry executives with true industry juice.

Planet Mogul also has an impressive collection of corporate profiles, with HR contact information, CEO Words of Wisdom and information on their corporate culture. Like the MOTM page, the corporations will be posting jobs directly to their profiles on the site.

This gives corporations a chance to recruit for diverse talent among the Planet Mogul membership.

The Education section has a collection of colleges, universities and trade schools with admission requirements and scholarship information.

The organization section for me was one of the highlights. As an Alpha man I was proud to see profiles of historically black greek fraternities and sororities but also much more.

Information on professional affiliations like the National Black MBA, 39 regional Minority Business Development Councils, philanthropies, etc.

There is a wealth of resource information including a Business Corner, Mogul Money (with a real time market watch) and a general lifestyle section and reviews called Mogul Essentials.

PlanetMogul.com will be hitting the road with their Moguls On The Move Tour hitting a number of college locations this winter and also a Mogul Makeover awarded on a quarterly basis to Moguls with the best business profile.

Previously, It took profiles on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and also a lot of time on Wikipedia in order to do what I did so quickly on PlanetMogul.com.

Important for me is that PlanetMogul.com is owned by Niche Marketing, Inc. an African American woman owned business based in Louisville, Kentucky. Niche Marketing is also the company that produces the Kentucky Derby Grand Gala the elite black celebrity event of the spring.

PlanetMogul.com fills a needed gap in the networking world. Visit the site at http://www.planetmogul.com/ and build a profile. That's another connect point. Also, the next time your brother, sister, or cousin comes to hit you up to promote their "label" or business, send them to PlanetMogul.com, it's free.

PlanetMogul.com has a sound theme for their membership campaign, simply put as "Build the Planet". Let's show our support for a site that's created to showcase this generation of Moguls that reflects the diversity of our urban experience.