LinkedIn – Page 2 – Eliminate Your Competition

Evernote as a business card reader

By Sean O'Shaughnessey | Comments 0 Comment

If you want to manage your relationships with your prospects and customers, you will need an effective and quick way to scan business cards to your personal and professional database. Evernote provides an effective way to accomplish this tedious task.

It is very possible that your employer requires you to put this information into their corporate database. This is perfectly acceptable. Your employer pays you and you represent them to your prospects and customers, therefore, they have every right to ask you for information about those that you meet. However, this does not preclude that you maintain your own list of people that you have met – you are not forced to forget everyone that you met when you leave an employer.

Regardless of where you store your contacts, you need an efficient method for taking the information off of a business card and getting it into your computer. Your basic choices are:

Pay an assistant to transcribe the data.
Manually transcribe the data yourself.
Use an optical character recognition (OCR) tool to accelerate your own efforts.

I have used several OCR tools in my past. My current favorite tool is to use Evernote. I find it to be very efficient and quite accurate. I use an iPhone and here is some assistance in using Evernote to increase your efficiency with scanning business cards.

The business card camera captures the clearest possible images of your business cards and saves everything into a contact note including:

Name, title, company, and additional contact info
An image of the card
A photo of the person and LinkedIn profile information (when available)

Business card scanning is an Evernote Premium feature. Basic and Plus users can currently get 1 year of business card scanning for free when they connect Evernote and LinkedIn.

Using the business card camera

Start scanning cards

To start scanning:

Make sure your device is connected to the internet.
Open up Evernote.
Hold the “+” icon on the bottom of Evernote and three icons will appear. Slide to the ‘Photos’ icon from the quick note panel on the home screen of Evernote on your iPhone or iPad.
Position the camera over the card so that the edges of the card remain in view. The camera automatically detects, focuses, and captures the business card (there will be a green overlay on the card). Note: If the business card isn’t automatically detected, tap the button in the upper right corner to turn Auto Mode off.
Once the business card is captured, Evernote displays all the information recognized from the card. If you are logged into LinkedIn and the email from the card matches a LinkedIn profile, Evernote pulls in additional information about the contact.

Review and edit contact info

It is a good idea to review the information scanned from cards to verify if it is the way you want it to appear. If Evernote finds a matching LinkedIn profile, Evernote imports additional contact information from that profile and adds a LinkedIn icon beside any of those corresponding fields.

If any of the scanned information needs to be edited, do the following:

Tap the field to edit the information.
Tap Save to save to Evernote as a new contact note. To scan additional cards, tap Back to camera or tap Done to finish.

Connect with LinkedIn

Evernote automatically build a content-rich note around business cards you scan. Business cards become searchable contacts in Evernote with full contact information, a link to their current LinkedIn profile, and a photo, plus a section for notes.

You don’t have to be connected with the person on LinkedIn for this to work. As long as you’ve connected your LinkedIn account to Evernote, you’ll automatically get the person’s profile info and photo. After scanning their card, you’ll have the option to connect on LinkedIn, share your own contact information, or save the new person’s info as a contact in your device’s address book.

If the scanned business card email address matches a LinkedIn profile email address, you can send a LinkedIn connection request from Evernote in one of two ways:

Scan the business card and save the note. When you see the confirmation message, select Connect on LinkedIn. A notification appears to let you know the invitation has been sent.
If you’ve already scanned the card, open that note and tap the Connect link.

Easily save new contacts

There are two ways to save contact information from every scanned card to the contacts on your mobile device:

Automatically: To save information from every card scanned, simply tap your account name and select General > Camera > Business Cards and toggle ‘Save to Contacts’ on.
Manually: Select Save to contacts from the options menu.

By default scanned cards are saved to the ‘Business Cards’ notebook. You can change this notebook and how cards are tagged from the Settings screen. Simply tap your account name and select General > Camera > Business Cards and select Notebook or Tag to change your preferences.

Photo by shinya

Six easy tips to stand out on LinkedIn

By Sean O'Shaughnessey | Comments 0 Comment

Paul Castain’s Blog had a great article recently about six ways to stand out on LinkedIn. I thought it was great so I am going to reproduce part of it here. However, you definitely should jump over to read Paul’s complete article as there is much more to Paul’s article than what I have put here.

Here are 6 super easy (and no cost) ways for you to stand out on LinkedIn. As a bonus, they don’t require you to spend massive amounts of time in order to accomplish them!

Send an actual note instead of the impersonal LinkedIn invitation template! Based on my own experience (and polling my followers) 99% of the invitations sent on LinkedIn, come across as impersonal and worse yet, part of a bulk effort to amass legions of “connections”. By the way, you’ll dramatically increase the number of people who actually accept your invite as well.
Say “Thank you” Thank them for accepting your invite. Thank them for sending you an invite and at the end of that “Thank you”ask them a question. Questions, inspire responses, responses create dialogue, dialogue creates propinquity and propinquity helps you stand out.
Every day, LinkedIn gives you conversation starters. They will tell you Everyone in your network who have new jobs, new roles, work anniversaries, birthdays. You’ll find these conversation starters under the notifications tab. Most people use LinkedIn’s sh*tty template for congratulating your connection but; you’re BETTER than that so why don’t you do something NOBODY does; Send a handwritten note via an ancient technology known as “snail mail”. Don’t feel like doing that? Shoot a 59 second video with your message and embed it into an email.
The best questions are the ones where people have strong opinions. Think about the people you’re trying to reach. What do they feel strongly about? What topics do they tend to have strong opinions about? Is there an “elephant in the room” that needs to be addressed.
Remember your manners and respond to those who were kind enough to respond to you. Otherwise you’re going to look like a tool! Whenever I ask the question “How many people, in your network have suggested a quick call to get to know each other?”, the answer is pretty much little to none! And yet, that call is essential in order to create a level of comfort and propinquity necessary for others to buy from us, refer us, help us with a warm intro etc.
You should be continually thinking about people who should know each other in your network. Send them both an email introducing them to each other. Nice way for you to stand out and . . . It has this way of encouraging the recipient to return the favor.

Six super simple ways for you to stand out without spending a dime of your money and without having to spend a ton of time on LinkedIn. Once again, jump over to Paul’s original article and you will learn a lot more.

Photo by TheSeafarer

Your LinkedIn profile image should be professional not goofy

By Sean O'Shaughnessey | Comments 1 comment

What does your profile image look like on LinkedIn? Is it a profile image that you are proud of or is it a profile image that makes you proud?

A profile image you are proud of could be one where you are on the 18th hole of a favorite golf course. Or, maybe it is you hauling in a big bass. On the flip side, a profile image that makes you proud makes you look like a successful business person ready to give advice to your prospect as a trusted adviser.

Regardless of what you put on Facebook, your LinkedIn profile image should be a professional looking image. It is fine to put a profile image with your best friends at a game on Facebook. Facebook is for friends. LinkedIn is for work. Don’t confuse the two social sites! Your LinkedIn profile image is supposed to make you look like a mature adult that is ready to give your prospect sound advice. It is also supposed to give prospective employers the feeling that you are trustworthy and ready to help them achieve goals.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time or money to get a good profile image. Choose a neutral background, put on professional clothing (at least from the chest up), and have someone take a couple of shots from their smartphone. Take a couple head-on like a mugshot but also take a couple slightly so that your shoulders are not square with the camera. You may also want to take a couple shots where the camera is a few feet above your head and a few shots where the camera is looking up at you. Don’t forget to vary your smiles from a big toothy smile to a small grin.

Avoid using the photo that your company uses for the identity badge. Let’s face it, it looks like a photo that is used on an identity badge (or worse the image used on your driver’s license).

Watch the video below to get some other ideas and understanding on your LinkedIn profile image. Nick Miller of Clarity Advantage explains the importance of having a professional image on LinkedIn.

The image at the top of this article is my current LinkedIn profile image as I write this article. I don’t see a lot of value in changing it too often as Nick advises but I do change it every 6-12 months. As you can tell, Abercrombie is not going to hire me for their next marketing campaign, but that is okay. Surely, your profile image looks as good or better than mine so put it up there and look professional.

LinkedIn Profile Tips – The 10 Mistakes You Want to Avoid and Why

By Sean O'Shaughnessey | Comments 0 Comment

Guest Article By Neal Schaffer

A lot of people tell you what you should be doing, but what about what you shouldn’t be doing?

LinkedIn is the place to not only find others but also to be found. And that is why you need a LinkedIn Profile that not only helps you get found but also will entice people to contact you once they view your profile. I see many people making fundamental mistakes that actually work against them in this aspect. If you’re going to spend time putting together a LinkedIn profile, I assume you want to maximize your chances of being contacted by the right people, right?

With that in mind, I have created an easy-to-understand list of a few things to check for with my reasoning. If it sounds like an exercise in search engine optimization, you are on the right path. Just like any website owner, you want your LinkedIn profile to stick out and be found!

Enjoy my LinkedIn Profile Tips!

1. Not Displaying Your Personal Photo

I wrote an entire blog post about why you should include your photo in your LinkedIn profile, but it all comes down to having social media credibility or not. There are too many fake profiles on LinkedIn, so you want to show that you are real. If you have taken the time to complete your LinkedIn profile, why wouldn’t you display your photo? It just raises too many potential questions. And company logos or photos of pets obviously have no value here

2. LinkedIn Profile Headline is Not Branded Enough

See that space underneath your name? That is your “Professional” or Profile Headline. It will appear in search results next to your name, as well as next to any questions you ask or answer. It is, in essence, your elevator speech in a few words. Are you just putting your title and company name here? Don’t! This is the place where you need to appeal to anyone who finds you in a search result to reach out and look at your profile. Your Profile Headline is the single most important piece of real estate on your LinkedIn Profile, and you need to brand it as such.

3. LinkedIn Status Update is Not Appealing

This is that “What are you working on?” box that I refer to as a “Status Update.” Assuming someone finds you and looks at your profile, chances are they are going to be looking at what you write here simply because that it appears just underneath your Headline Profile. What do you write here? Many people in transition note that they are looking for a job here. What do you use your LinkedIn Status Update for? It is part of your branding exercise, and it should be something appealing that will both inform the reader of your latest activities as well as hopefully add to, not subtract from, your LinkedIn Brand.

4. Don’t List Enough Companies You Worked At Or Schools Attended

One of the ways you are found on LinkedIn is through searches on company names or schools. If you are only listing your current company and/or not even displaying your college, you are missing out on potentially being found. Check this out: I did my Junior year of college abroad in Beijing nearly 20 years ago. I had been out of touch with all of the 15 or so Americans that were there that year. Two of those 15 have found me on LinkedIn! And another high school friend who I lost touch with found me this week on LinkedIn. They would not have found me had I not listed my Junior year abroad school and high school name on my profile. Companies are even more important in that there are potentially more colleagues that may be trying to find you or recruiters trying to network with you! You may be missing out!

5. Not Having Three LinkedIn Recommendations

This is the same as not having your personal photo on your LinkedIn profile. Why? When you sign up for LinkedIn and first fill out your profile, LinkedIn recommends that you write three LinkedIn Recommendations. You need to do this in order to get your LinkedIn Profile to 100% Completion. Job postings on LinkedIn similarly require three LinkedIn Recommendations. These recommendations can only work in your favor, so why don’t you have at least three of them?

6. Too Few Connections

This is a topic for debate, but too many people have too few connections on their LinkedIn Profile, and thus are not getting found. The idea is simple: when you do a search you will see results from your network. And vice-versa. So the more connections you have the more search results you will appear in pure and simple.

7. Not Listing Three Websites

LinkedIn gives you the ability to list three websites on your profile. Are you taking advantage of it? Do you have a Twitter profile or other social networking profile that you want to advertise? Company website? A blog that you enjoy reading? Anything that you would want associated with yourself should be listed here. You will be adding to the search engine optimization of your own websites just by the fact that you list them here!

8. Not Claiming Your Personal URL

When you sign up to LinkedIn you are provided a public URL which you can then include on your email signature or wherever else you want to lead people to your LinkedIn Profile from. You can customize this when you edit your profile. Claiming your name here is one of the first things you should have done on LinkedIn. If you have a common name, make sure you claim your LinkedIn URL before others do!

9. No Branded Summary Rich with Keywords

Assuming that someone finds you in a search result, likes your Profile Headline, and isn’t scared away by your Status Update, the next most important part of your profile will be your Summary. This is the chance to fully brand yourself and ensure that any keywords that you want associated with yourself are found here. You also want to write something compelling, just as you would in the Executive Summary of your resume. This is your stage to tell the world who you are and what you can do! Utilize it to your fullest advantage!

10. No Job Descriptions

Even if you’ve listed positions at companies that you previously held, it means nothing if you don’t have any job descriptions. Job descriptions provide you the perfect opportunity to pepper your profile with keywords that will help you get found. Why aren’t you taking advantage of this?

Did I miss any that you’d like to share? Let me know! And if you didn’t make any of the above mistakes, congratulations! Your LinkedIn Profile is in good shape!

Neal Schaffer is an internationally recognized social networking guru helping companies and individuals embrace social media for personal and business applications. His experience in creating the Windmill Networking Blog – a social networking world that has become so vast in one year that it constitutes one of the widest read LinkedIn blogs world-wide-resulted in his upcoming first book Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn. Schaffer is a highly sought-after speaker and consultant noted for his energetic and passionate presentations. His development of Windmill Networking and the LinkedIn potential parallels two decades of success in sales and business development in the technology sector, concentrating on the Asia-Pacific region He is the former Director of Sales, Asia Pacific East for Datapath, and Regional Vice President of Asia Pacific Sales for Espial. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College in Asian Studies and is fluent in Chinese and Japanese. He resides with his wife and two children in Newport Beach, CA.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neal_Schaffer

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Traits of Top Salespeople

Tag: LinkedIn

Evernote as a business card reader

By Sean O'Shaughnessey | Comments 0 Comment