I’m a big fan of LinkedIn (if you didn’t already know) and I get asked a ton of LinkedIn questions.  I also receive a number personal emails from professionals who see a tremendous amount of success while on the worlds largest professional networking website.

However, most of these success stories come through email and I’d like these stories to be shared with the world.

This is your opportunity to showcase how successful you have been on LinkedIn, or share one instance where LinkedIn has helped your career or business.

Please take a moment to write in the comments below what your biggest success story is on LinkedIn.

If you got a job, generated more leads, made a huge sale, got a referral, sold tickets to an event, drove traffic to your site, built a big LinkedIn group, or did anything else on LinkedIn to help you in your business or career then please share.

I look forward to hearing about your success stories so please take a moment to share them below so others may see how great of a site LinkedIn really is.

What is Your Biggest LinkedIn Success? is a post from: Lewis Howes

Wouldn’t it be nice to rank #1 on Google for a certain keyword in your industry or niche?

It would be amazing, and that’s why brands spend a lot of money every month to SEO agencies in hopes of making the front page of Google for a certain keyword.

I knew this concept was powerful as well, but realized the more I taught others this concept of ranking high on LinkedIn, they got excited about it!

Ranking High on LinkedIn

When you look at the image below, you will see that I rank first when you type in the keyword “sports” on LinkedIn.  For me this is very important as I want to dominate the online space with my site SportsNetworker, and the Sports Executives Association.  I want to be known as a credible resource in the sports industry, and by ranking first out of over 600,000 results for the word “sports” on LinkedIn this allows me to stay at the head of the pack in the sports business world.

5 Keys To Rank #1 On LinkedIn

This is a simple process to rank on the first page of search results in the “people search” section on LinkedIn.  Although this doesn’t work every time, it works most of the time and I’ve seen it well over 100 times happen for people in real time.  There are five places you need to put your keywords when you use this strategy:

1.  Headline

Your headline is the first thing people see when they go to your LinkedIn profile, therefore (in my mind) it’s the most important or most relevant part.  If your headline doesn’t have your keywords in it, then you are missing the biggest section of the equation.

2.  Current Work Experience

Your current work experience is the next most relevant thing because it is what you are currently doing in business.

3.  Past Work Experience

You start to notice that this works in the top to bottom approach within your profile.  Start from the top, and working your way through your profile to the bottom.

4.  Summary

Your summary is the meat of your profile, or the body of your speech.  Make sure it looks clean and you don’t just add a line of key words next to each other or it won’t represent your personal brand well.

5.  Specialties

This is the section you want to add a number of different keywords to showcase your talents in short phrases.

I go into more detail about each section during my video interview with the sassy Amanda Coolong and good friend Efren Toscano on the TechZulu show below.

There are a number of other reasons LinkedIn can help you improve your reach within your industry or niche, simply starting a LinkedIn group will help your build a loyal fan base of potential customers in no time.  Take advantage of this powerful site by optimizing your profile full of key words, then start using the other amazing features it has to take your brand or company to the next level.

How to Rank Higher On LinkedIn is a post from: Lewis Howes

There are a number of questions people have about using LinkedIn.

What are yours?

LinkedIn is a valuable resource for most people, but many still consider it the “ugly stepchild” compared to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites.

Why? Because they don’t understand how to best use it to achieve their business goals.

Lets make this post a place to ask your questions and get them answered.  Post your biggest questions on how to use LinkedIn below, and I’ll respond there or create a detailed video response for those that need more explanation.

And please chime in and give your own answer to questions becasue I would love to hear your point of view.

What is Your Biggest LinkedIn Question? is a post from: Lewis Howes

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of LinkedIn.

When I co-wrote the LinkedIn book LinkedWorking nearly a year ago with Frank Agin, there were around 30 million users.  It has doubled to 60 million since then and it also has the highest average household income per user over the top social networking sites (currently $109,000 per user).

These stats excite me, and they should excite you as well if you are serious about your personal brand, your career, and your business.

Are you serious about that?

If so, then LinkedIn is THE place to bring your briefcase, build amazing relationships and get down to work.

Whether you are using LinkedIn aggressively, or you don’t even have a profile, there are a number of questions you should be asking yourself during the time you spend on this sexy business site.

Ask Yourself These 7 Questions On LinkedIn

1.  Who am I?

Do you know who you are?  Do you know what you are passionate about?  If not, your profile will look more like your resume and you will lack the personality you need to shine on LinkedIn.  Make sure you know who you are before you craft your message on LinkedIn.

2.  What are my goals?

Got goals?  If not, you might as well give up, or stop using LinkedIn all together.  The only way you are going to achieve something (unless you hit the lotto) is by setting goals for what you want to achieve.  By doing this, you will have a clear plan to take action, and you will focus on what matters most.

3.  Who do I help?

What is your niche and who are the people you help in that niche?  Do you help entrepreneurs, small business owners, fortune 500 companies, or others professionals?  Be clear about this so you can attract the people you help most to your profile.

4.  How do I help them?

If the people you help (work for/consult with/ etc) don’t know how you can help them, then why should they reach out to connect with you and eventually pay you?  You need to make it clear on your profile how you help the professionals in your niche, and it will attract more of the right clients by doing so.

5.  Who do I want to connect with?

Simple.  Do you want to connect with everyone (recommended), a select few, those in your niche, outside your niche, top level executives, decision makers, or gatekeepers?  Figure it out, and start connecting with them.

6.  How do I want people to perceive me?

This is a question you really want to focus on.  Your LinkedIn profile (usually) ranks very high on Google when someone searches your name.  This empowers you to make a conscious decision on what people see, how much they see, showcase who has recommended you, and so on.  How do you want to be perceived by the world?  Make sure you fill out your profile accordingly to match what you want others to perceive.

7.  What results do I want?

We all want results.  What are yours?  Do you want more leads, more traffic to your site, find a job, market your business, get a book deal, find a sponsor, find funding, or are you just trying to make a name for yourself in your industry.  Figure out the exact results you are looking for and take action to reach them.

Questions are important.  They help us find the answer to what we are looking for.  Asking questions are especially important when using LinkedIn (along with other social networking sites) because you can waste a lot of time if you don’t know why you are spending time on it.

Are these questions helpful for your LinkedIn experience?  What other questions should you be asking yourself?  I have a question now… what are your thoughts?

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Image by AlbinoFlea

7 Questions To Ponder When Using LinkedIn is a post from: Lewis Howes

There are two main approaches people have when connecting with others on LinkedIn.

1.  Is to connect with only those you know well

2.  Is to connect with everyone

Sure there are cases in between, but for the most part those are the two main strategies people use.

There was some recent discussion about a ProBlogger guest article I did on using LinkedIn to drive traffic back to you website, and the main reason why some only apply #1 is because they don’t want to jeopardize their top connections by having to forward along introductions from those they may not know that well.

However, you don’t have to forward all of your introductions, and you are missing a HUGE opportunity if you don’t connect with those you may not know very well.  Watch as I explain in the video below:

There are 6 main reasons you want to connect with everyone on LinkedIn:

1. To be found and contacted by more professionals: Increasing your 1st degree network grows your your 2nd and 3rd degree by millions more people.

2. To drive more traffic to your site: Any time you update your status or profile, it shows up on the homepage of everyone you are connected to.  More connections = more eyeballs.

3. To generate a TON more leads: Simple.  More connections = more potential leads

4.  To build your database: Your database is one of your most valuable assets in business.  LinkedIn allows you to export your contacts (the other “top social networking sites” don’t).

5. To create more opportunities: So many more opportunities come in that normally wouldn’t  because you are on the “top of mind” for people who might not know you that well (as opposed to the close network of people you already know).

6. To build thought leadership: The more people you connect with, inspire, help, and influence, the bigger impact you will have on the world.  This creates the potential for more recommendations, more referrals, and a bigger platform as a thought leader in your niche.

Do you connect with everyone who sends you an invite, or do you only add those you know very well?  What are some other reason for connecting with everyone, or not connecting with everyone?

6 Reasons To Connect With Everyone On LinkedIn is a post from: Lewis Howes

I’m seeing a trend of Internet marketers that are starting to dive more into social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

This is great and all, but most of them are missing out on a huge opportunity by not using LinkedIn to the fullest.

Yanik Silver recently reached out on Twitter and said he was looking to use LinkedIn more.  I thought I would share a few things in this video where Yanik can use LinkedIn to

1. Drive Traffic

2. Build His List, and

3. Generate More Sales

Watch this video below as I share with you 8 different ways Internet marketers (and Yanik) should be using LinkedIn.

I have seen other Internet marketers finding success using LinkedIn like Joel Comm, the NY Times best selling author of Twitter Power.  His “Twitter for Business” group has nearly 6,000 members without him doing much at all to grow it.

He is selling more books, generating more leads, and driving more traffic to his site from his LinkedIn group.  In a recent message he sent out a link for a few of his ebooks for free, and the comments he received in the group all sing his praises for providing such quality content.

LinkedIn is a qualified, target audience you can reach out to with over 60 million business professionals and it shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone, including Internet Marketers.

Here is a recap of the 8 points I made in my video on LinkedIn marketing for Internet marketers:

1. Headline:  Make sure you target your niche, and demonstrate how you help that niche.
2. Connections:  The more the better because LinkedIn allows you to export your emails into a CSV file.
3. Recommendations:  More Authority, Credibility, and Social Proof… you all knows this better than anyone.
4. Websites:  You always have a call to action at the end of your sales letters, why not here as well.
5. Groups:  If you don’t build it, someone else will have a huge niche audience to send weekly messages to.
6. Blog App: Driving organic traffic to your site… can’t beat it.
7. Amazon App: If you have a book on Amazon, then this will help you sell more.
8. Events: Many Internet marketers have events, and this is a great way to spread the word absolutely FREE!

How else do you think LinkedIn could be helpful for Internet marketers?  What other things can they focus on throughout their profile?  Should they take it as serious as the rest of people looking for ways to advance their career, or do you still not see the value in using LinkedIn?

LinkedIn Tips For Yanik Silver and Internet Marketers is a post from: Lewis Howes

There is a recent post by Colin Alsheimer where he says that LinkedIn is dead.

Now I’m sure Colin may be misguided like most of the people I encounter who don’t “get” LinkedIn.

And that is OK.

I’m not going to get too heated on this debate, because I realize that everyone has different goals and objectives, and some sites may be better than others in helping you achieve your goals.

Still, I have yet to find someone who is unable to achieve their professional goals on LinkedIn.  And if you are not currently achieving something you want in business yet, please write it in the comments section below and I will do a brief personal video showing you how to achieve it on LinkedIn.

Of course, as with anything, you get out of it what you put into it, and Rome wasn’t built in a day so there may be some grunt work needed to achieve your goal.  But with the size of LinkedIn, and the power of its network, I’m more than convinced you can achieve any business goal you have if you approach it right.

Check out my video response above where I show how LinkedIn is alive, and I hope you check out some previous videos on this site where I go into more detail on LinkedIn’s greatness.

Oh, and Colin, I know you quoted Chris Brogan in your post also, but I just did a video response on how Chris should be using LinkedIn to grow his business.  I hope you get a chance to check it out here and let me know if you still think LinkedIn is dead, as I enjoy the friendly debate.

Linkedin is Alive! is a post from: Lewis Howes

It’s a fact that Gary Vaynerchuk is completely dominating almost everything he is involved with.  He is a NY Times Best Selling Author, runs a killer media agency with cool and collected brother A.J., has a unique wine show, and everything he is passionate about seems to crush the competition (except for his NY Jets, lol).

However, Gary made some comments a while back saying he was going to start taking LinkedIn to the next level this year, and in my opinion he hasn’t done it yet.

I know Gary is one of the busiest people on the planet right now so I understand this may not be a top priority.  I do believe Gary could really start taking all of his projects and businesses to the next level if he implements 13 of the things I noticed wrong with his LinkedIn profile.

This video was created (out of pure love) specifically to show Gary what he can do to improve his profile and start helping that playoff beard fulfill its real purpose, but I want the rest of you to pay close attention to some of the slight changes you could be making as well.   These changes I demonstrate may just give you that extra opportunity you need to take things to the next level this year.

I realized I left one BIG point out of this video, and that was using the events section on LinkedIn.  I know Gary has a number of book signings, speaking gigs, and wine events around the country and he has not used the events section to its fullest potential.

I recently helped promote an event he had during his book signing in St. Louis.  I sent out a few messages and was able to get over 400 people to RSVP on LinkedIn, and there was a great turnout during the event (see 413 RSVP numbers in image).

I don’t think he was able to get that many to ever RSVP for an event on Facebook, and we all know Twitter doesn’t have an option for events.  Using the events section on LinkedIn is the 13th point of this post.  Think LinkedIn isn’t worth paying attention to? Look at the numbers and think again.

Do you see anything else Gary should be changing or implementing on LinkedIn?  Better yet, were there things I mentioned that you should be doing to your LinkedIn profile that you didn’t think about before?  If so, please let me know what they are in the comments below and start crushing it on LinkedIn.

13 Ways Gary Vaynerchuk Should Be Crushing It On LinkedIn is a post from: Lewis Howes

Chris Brogan recently said he was thinking about deleting his LinkedIn account.

I was shocked when I first read this, but I also understand that he must be getting overwhelmed by the amount of people reaching out and asking for favors.

Since Chris has given me amazing advice, and I consider him to be a mentor of mine,  I decided to create a video to show you (and Chris) why I think it would be a mistake if he deleted his LinkedIn account.

The message in this video is not only for Chris, but for everyone who isn’t using LinkedIn to its fullest potential yet.  I urge you to start using it more aggressively, as you will see what the benefits are in this video.

Staying On LinkedIn

Here are my 8 main reasons I feel Chris Brogan should stay on LinkedIn:

1.    Google Juice: LinkedIn is one of the top search results for Chris (and most of us)

2.    Recommendations: With 145+ recommendations you create more authority and social proof

3.    Build and Manage a Powerful Database: More powerful than with Facebook and Twitter

4.    Exporting Contacts: No other *top* social networking site does this

5.    Driving Traffic: Your status updates, links, and WP blog app drives organic traffic to your site

6.    More Followers: People will follow you on Twitter, join your newsletter, and subscribe to your blog

7.    Sells Books:  Need I say more?

8.    Decision Makers: Higher net worth of people are on LinkedIn over the other traditional business sites

Do you think Chris should delete his LinkedIn profile?  Are my points compelling enough to keep him (and YOU) on LinkedIn?  I hope Chris decides to give it another chance and think about it differently from here on out, and I hope the rest of you understand how powerful LinkedIn can be for your business.

Chris Brogan (And YOU) Should Stay On LinkedIn is a post from: Lewis Howes

LinkedIn groups are by far the most powerful aspect of LinkedIn.  Hands down.

I have seen people build their entire business, market a number of products and services, sell out their paid events, and become thought leaders in their niche all around a single LinkedIn group.

Most people who have created groups on LinkedIn know the benefits. However, for those who have not created one yet, or don’t think it is valuable to do so, here are my top 10 reasons that you must start one today (before someone else beats you to it).

1.  Builds Thought Leadership

I have several LinkedIn groups.  One has more than 20,000 members, and around five of them have 5,000+ members.  Each group has (one of) my websites as the featured site for the group.  This is one of the first things people see when they join the group.  My name is also featured as the owner of the group.  Based off of perception alone, the owner is a thought leader for that groups niche (until proven otherwise).  The more you back this up with quality content, and positive group management, your community will support you and anoint you a leader in that niche.

2.  Connects A Thriving Community

People love to belong to a community, or a Tribe as Seth Godin puts it.  The more you are able to connect like-minded people together, the more they will appreciate you for doing so.  Create an opportunity for passionate people to come together because the leader that does this *usually* reaps the benefits.

3.  Drives Traffic To Your Site

Looking to drive traffic to your blog or company website?  Look no further, a LinkedIn group is a great way to do this.  Here are a few ways you can drive traffic to your site from your group:

• Put your website link in the group profile
• Add the site RSS feed to the News Section
• Send a weekly message to you group, and include a niche related article from your site
• Add your site in the group welcome message (more on this below)
• Create a discussion and include your link

4.  Builds Personal Network

I get roughly 15-20 new invites to connect (as a 1st degree connection) every day.  Most of them come from my groups.  Why?  People love to connect with the community leader.  Since I run a number of “communities” within my LinkedIn groups, I am looked at as someone to connect with.  This is almost true for all group owners, they seem to rack up bonus points from starting the group, therefore having more connections than the average LinkedIn user.

5.  Sending Weekly Messages

This may be the most powerful feature within the groups.  A great example is Robert Flemming, who runs the eMarketing Association group on LinkedIn.  It has almost 200,000 members.  Instead of having to spend thousands of dollars each year on email marketing you could simply create a group, and send them a weekly message for free.

The downside to this is you can’t brand your emails they way you could from a custom email marketing provider (affiliate link), but you can still do some damage in terms of getting your message out there to your members.

The upside, Robert has events with ticket prices of over $1,000 and he sells a ton of them because of his group.  His LinkedIn group helps him achieve his event marketing goals, and it doesn’t cost a dime.  Tough sell, eh?

6.  Create Auto-Responder Email

This is a no-brainer.  Who wants to send a message one-by-one to someone every time they join a group?  Not me, that would take hours of management time every week.  LinkedIn was wise enough to make this easy for the group managers by enabling a welcome message.  Every time someone joins, you can send your own automatic message that delivers to their email account (not their LinkedIn account, but their actual email provider).

This means that you can create a decent sales funnel by first welcoming people to the group, telling them a little about how the group can benefit them and where they can go to get more information.  Hopefully you have them sign up for your newsletter, or connect with you on other social networking sites.  This will help you generate sales in the long run… if you set it up correctly.

7.  Lead Generator

The more you give, the more you will receive.  Dr. Robert Cialdini talks to us about the proven power of reciprocity in his best selling book Influence, and it holds true within a LinkedIn group as well (on LinkedIn, or any other social networking site for that matter).

Connecting people, providing job leads, referrals, valuable content to help them achieve their goals: these are things that you can give to people, and by doing so they will give you an abundance of leads (or whatever it is you need in your business) in return.  It has happened to me, and a number of other group owners who are “doing it right”, and it will also happen for you.

8.  Creating Sub Groups

Want to target people in various locations around the world, or sub niches within a niche?  LinkedIn allows you to create up to 10 subgroups.  It’s a great way to throw events all around the country and only have to send a message out to the subgroup, as opposed to the entire group about a regional event.  Make sure you take advantage of this feature (in an ethical manner of course).

9.  Managing Content

If people are posting MLM type content, or someone is using foul language or attacking others in an unproductive way, you have the ability to remove individuals or delete inappropriate content.  Simple as that.  If it isn’t helping the community, you have the power to make it better.

10.  Helping Others

Ultimately, every good leader helps his team or community rise to the top.  I’m sure 99% of group owners have their own agenda when creating a group, but the more they focus on helping it’s members achieve their goals, that group owner will achieve their goals as well.  It feels good to have the opportunity to help others.  LinkedIn helps us everyday by letting us see how we are connected to one another, and allows us to build stronger, more meaningful relationships.  Let’s face it, business (and life) is about all about the relationships we have, right?

In closing, LinkedIn is a powerful platform to help you achieve your business goals, and the groups aspect is a vital part to helping you achieve those goals faster and in a more meaningful way.  Be willing to take some time to better understand them, as you may find a new way to help yourself, or others, by using them each day.

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Image by LinkedIn Blog

Top 10 Reasons To Start A LinkedIn Group is a post from: Lewis Howes