My favorite social networking site finally reached 100 million members.

Congratulations LinkedIn!

They recently announced they will be going public, opened up their LinkedIn ads from beta, and continues to add new features to the site.

All in all, LinkedIn rocks and it’s time you take notice.

Facebook what?

Twitter who?

LinkedIn continues to make impressive strides and if you want to advance your career, receive more targeted leads, generate more sales, and build your business… then you better start spending more time on LinkedIn over every other social networking site.

Of course I still use the other sites, and they all serve a purpose, but if you want to take your business to the next level then it’s time to start taking LinkedIn much more seriously.

Check out this slide show that shares some interesting statistics about the LinkedIn site and user base:

If you are one of the millions that has a weak profile, then please take a few minutes right now and give yourself a face lift with these  tips.

You have a choice where you want to spend your time and what sites you use to get results from.

If you aren’t getting the results you want, then stop using other sites that waste your time.

My friend Albert Einstein once defined insanity as,

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Time to move your attention to LinkedIn more and start getting the different results you desire.

Enough talk, make it happen, and I’ll see you on LinkedIn.

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I’m coming out with a complete new training course that will help people get the job they want, receive more qualified leads in their business, and ultimately get more sales.  I’ve been doing this and helping others do this on LinkedIn for the past three years, and I think you will love the way I show you how to do it as well.  Make sure to go HERE to sign up and get notified when I announce it.

The perceived value of your brand and your database are your most valuable assets.

At least this seems to be the case for most entrepreneurs and business professionals I know.

Generating success on LinkedIn has everything to do with enhancing your personal brand and expanding your database. In fact, Gary Vaynerchuck talks about the importance of building your brand equity within the social media landscape during this video below (even if you have already seen this, it’s always fun to revisit)

Powerful LinkedIn Tips

Without an identity on LinkedIn, your personal brand will suffer tremendously.

LinkedIn is also the only major social networking site where you can build a large database of highly targeted leads and access that database at any time (by exporting your connections emails).

Since LinkedIn is without a doubt the # 1 business social networking site, it’s important you put the energy and effort into getting the most out of your LinkedIn marketing.  Here are my top 10 LinkedIn tips to achieve this.

1.  Control Your Brand

This is the most important aspect for me, and why I included the video with Gary.   The best way to take control of your personal brand on LinkedIn is to fill out your entire profile and write concise, compelling, value driven copy.

For most, when you search for your name on Google, your LinkedIn profile is one of the top five results that show up. Control what others view about you by completing your profile 100%, and making it stand out from the rest.

2.  Join Groups In Your Niche

There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn.  Connect with the ones that fit your interest or industry.  Each group has a job board, a discussion area and forum, and a place to ask questions.  Get active in groups as it’s a powerful way to interact and find like minded professionals.

3.  Connect With Everyone

This is something I debate with people often.   I believe this is a limiting mindset when you don’t allow others to introduce themselves by reaching out to connect with you.  How do you expect others to want to hire you or do business with you if you shun them away?  Connecting with everyone on LinkedIn not only opens up new possibilities and opportunities, it also increases and expands your 2nd and 3rd degree connections, allowing for more people to find you, contact you and work with you.  Simple as that. 

4.  Ask Compelling Questions

That’s right.   Actually get on LinkedIn and ask a few questions every now and then… is that so hard?   I asked two questions that took me five minutes of my time and received over 50 helpful answers in return.   Just make sure you ask the right questions and tag it in the places where your target audience is searching.

5.  Become An Expert

A great way to share your expertise is to answer questions.  One of my connections told me he spends 15 minutes a day, 3 days per week answering questions related to his topic.  He says in brings in around 3-5 new clients each month after he follows up with each person (this results in $3,000-$5,000 more each month for him).  If leads are your concern, then answering questions could quite possible be your answer.

6.  Host Your Own Event

You would not believe the energy and enthusiasm created by hosting a live LinkedIn networking event.  I’ve hosted over 20 live events and promoted them all through the LinkedIn events section.  One event had over 1,000 RSVP’s and the average event had around 350 paying attendees.  It allows you to connect with those online connections… offline, and make powerful face to face relationships.  Learn about the benefits of hosting your own LinkedIn event here.

7.  Say Thank You

In the real world, people love it when you say “Thank you”.   It seems to solve a lot of problems in general.  Be sure to say those two important words every time someone does anything for you, such as makes a recommendation, makes an introduction, or answers your questions.  Saying “Thank You” is another thing Gary recommends, in fact it is the entire topic of his new book The Thank You Economy.

8.  Become Transparent

It seems as though the only way to be successful online these days is to become completely transparent. The more you try to hide something, or stay generic, people will move on to the next thing.  Seth Godin says that being remarkable is nothing more than having others remark about you. Take this advice into account as you go along your LinkedIn ways.

9.  Create a LinkedIn Group

I can’t say enough about LinkedIn groups and what they have done for my business.  They give you more credibility, help you get more leads, and more sales.  Here are my top 10 reasons to start a LinkedIn group and other thoughts on how to create a profitable business from your LinkedIn group.

10.  Make Recommendations

Chris Brogan has a great post on LinkedIn recommendation tips, and I suggest you check it out before you give any.  Of course it looks good to have a lot of recommendations on your profile (Chris has almost 150 of them here) but I always recommend giving them first before you ask for any.  Most likely if you give a great recommendation, that person would be happy to return the favor.

(Bonus Tip)  Use LinkedIn Applications

LinkedIn does a great job of adding more and more advanced applications to their tool belt.  It’s a great way to enhance your profile and stick out from the rest.  You can add a video to your profile, showcase your blog or your graphic design work, include your presentations, put up a picture of your book from Amazon, run a poll for your connections, and more.

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I hope you learned something new with these LinkedIn tips and you use them in your own profile.  If you want to learn about how to get more from LinkedIn to increase leads or sales, then make sure to sign up at www.linkedinfluence.com.

Did you enjoy this post?  If so, feel free to share this article on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and also sign up to be notified each time I come out with another post like this one.  Go ahead an subscribe via email here (it’s free!)

image by Nan Palmero

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.

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?