Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn. Neal Schaffer

Extension

      Many executives I have met see LinkedIn as merely an extension of Classmates.com. To some extent, this is a very valid objective for using LinkedIn—to get back in touch with old colleagues. After all, that first invitation to join LinkedIn should have come from an old friend or colleague, right? As the name “classmates” entails, you can only find old friends with whom you went to school. What if you want to get in touch with ex-colleagues? LinkedIn is definitely the place to make this happen; reconnecting with past co-workers should, without a doubt, be part of your LinkedIn Objective. LinkedIn can offer this in that your basic profile is composed of your work and education history. For each company or college that you enter, you also have the option of to enter which years you worked or studied there. Combining this with the rich database and search functionality that LinkedIn provides allows you to quickly and easily find ex-colleagues. The more information you enter on your profile, the higher the likelihood you will find people. Two words of caution here: 1) you can only find people if they have properly filled out their entire profile (a lot of people don’t do this) and 2) although there is a standard drop-down for colleges and universities, this doesn’t exist for high school names, so it may be more difficult to find someone pre-college (which is where Classmates.com’s strength lies).

      Recruiter

      With millions of people putting their company names, years worked, past titles, and detailed descriptions at companies they have or are presently working for, you can imagine that, as more people join LinkedIn, it becomes a huge database of talent! Combined with the rich functionality that allows you to pinpoint searches by each of the fields that are entered, you can imagine the goldmine of information that LinkedIn provides to the world’s recruiters and headhunters. Rather than cold calling the competitor asking for “the VP of anything,” that person more than likely already has a profile on LinkedIn! Through sending an invitation, sending an InMail, requesting an introduction from a common connection, or joining the same Group, that recruiter can now contact anyone they wish without cold calling. You can now see why LinkedIn is the only tool that a recruiter may ever need, and also why there are so many recruiters on LinkedIn. For recruiters their LinkedIn Objective is very clear—to log on and start searching for qualified job candidates!

      Job Seeker

      It’s no wonder how LinkedIn grew with more and more professionals reaching out to ex-colleagues and recruiters, amassing a database of contacts. Just as you can google someone and find information about them, LinkedIn was already being used for finding people without you knowing it. So why use LinkedIn if you are looking for a job? To expose yourself to the incredible number of recruiters who are currently active users! Be found!

      Sales & Marketing / Small Business Owner

      If you are in sales & marketing, the ability to reach 40 million potential customers is an exciting prospect. But there is more to LinkedIn than just an audience to sell to; this is a professional audience that doesn’t necessarily want to be sold to. LinkedIn respects the privacy concerns of its professional members and has publicly stated spamming will not be tolerated; in fact, LinkedIn set up a special email address ([email protected]) to report those who are abusing the site. So while you can freely tweet away on Twitter or have a great deal of freedom on Facebook, you need to be aware that LinkedIn is a different beast. That is not to say that LinkedIn cannot be used for sales and marketing; it simply has to be done carefully, following the proper protocol.

      Professional Networking

      With all of the professionals who are already on LinkedIn, it makes sense that LinkedIn is the perfect platform to find and network with other professionals. If you are looking to build up your Trusted Network of Advisors, look no further than LinkedIn’s searchable databases, specialized Groups, and a comprehensive Q&A forum!

      Windmill Networking

      After becoming more familiar with LinkedIn, many will find that the larger the network they have, the easier it will be to reach their objective. Without knowing how LinkedIn really works, it is difficult to see how this can be done. Even when I received my first invitation from someone I did not know, I felt a little violated; however, as you start to communicate with others on LinkedIn, through Group Discussions or through answering questions, you will undoubtedly find yourself starting to connect with people who you may have never physically met before. There are some who will still stick to their original physical network, saying that quality is more important than quantity. This is a debate in which there are pros and cons for both approaches. If you understand the concept of a virtual network that resides next to or on top of your physical network, you will see the advantages of Windmill Networking. You will find yourself connecting with people you may not have met who can help you reach your personal and career objectives. Remember: Your network is still your network; a virtual connection on LinkedIn simply directly links your two profiles.

      Although Windmill Networking implies you are an open networker, there is one thing I would like to point out: this book is not merely about open networking. Open networking is a unique type of LinkedIn activity. LinkedIn specifically warns you against connecting with people you do not know. On the other hand, LinkedIn also encourages you to increase your connections. The official LinkedIn blog by Guy Kawasaki urges you to increase your connections to gain visibility. The jury is out on the subject. I suggest you do what you feel comfortable with, as long as it moves you closer to meeting your pre-established objective. This book will include warnings for certain activities that may draw the attention of LinkedIn, so please read carefully. At the same time, please also know that LinkedIn is constantly changing, so the situation could change, for the better or worse, at any time.

      Just remember, if you ever feel lost along your LinkedIn journey, re-visit your original LinkedIn Objective. Make sure your activities are consistent with what you originally planned to achieve. LinkedIn, like the Internet in general, can eat up a lot of your time if you are not careful and focused.

      What is a “Brand?”

      Before going through the process of creating your LinkedIn Brand, let’s first discuss one of the most talked about terms these days: your brand. What exactly is a brand, you ask? In the Preface, I defined my own brand as something which differentiates me from everyone else in the market.

WindMill WISDOM Your brand is something unique that differentiates you from everyone else. It illustrates your unique skills and experiences and describes, or “brands” these attributes in the appropriate fashion. Ideally, your brand will immediately showcase your unique strengths.

      Let us start by thinking about brands of products we see at the supermarket. Produce, for the most part, is not branded. What about cereals? Or soups? Or yogurt? You have many different choices when it comes to buying groceries, but many of us buy based upon a “brand” name. This brand name is formed through the following: TV commercials or other media advertisements, the coloring or imagery of the physical package, and the catchy phrases that are sometimes used in the commercial or on the packaging. There are differences in flavors between each product; however, if we are buying a commodity where something very similar exists, we are buying based upon the branding. If we are buying something more expensive than its competitor, we are putting a premium on that brand.

      Another good example is the drug store. You can buy Tylenol or Advil, but now it seems that every drug store has their own comparable “generic” drug on the shelf. If you look at the ingredients of the medicine, they are often exactly the same; however, the price is different. As a result, the feelings we experience when we buy one or the other is very different. We consciously and sub-consciously place value in the name brand or in the inexpensiveness of the generic product. Many people will buy the cheaper alternative, but many others will pay more for the brand name.

      If you think of yourself as a brand, your brand value is your salary. If you were competing for the same job as someone with a similar skill set, wouldn’t you want to be paid more for your brand? I think your answer is “yes!” That is why branding yourself is so important. Think about it this way: if you