Hedgehog & Fox Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 7

The following is an archive of this issue of the newsletter pretty much exactly as it would appear in your inbox. Subscribe to receive it there on a monthly basis.

Jeff Cobb – Hedgehog & Fox  Newsletter – 12.09 – Essential Tools of the New Web: LinkedIn

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1. Quote of the Month
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Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pens
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won’t come again.
And don’t speak to soon, for the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no telling who it is naming.
For the loser now will be later to win,
And the times, they are a changin’

– Bob Dylan

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2. A Brief Note from Jeff: The Times Have Changed
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The times have been changin’ for a while now. We went from a mass
media newspaper-radio-TV world to a Web world that, at first,
promised more of the same. More of the same didn’t happen because
of one powerful word – and  that word is not Facebook, or Twitter,
or even “blogging.” Those are all symptoms of a more fundamental
shift.

No, the word is “access.”

If there is one fundamental message I could offer to business
leaders as we approach the new year it would be this: “Recognize
that access to your market, your customers, your members, your
employees is now perpetually up for grabs, and act accordingly.”

That’s what “Web 2.0” has done. It has made it possible for nearly
anyone with the right combination of expertise, creativity, drive,
and time to make a go of it. Not that getting the mix right is
easy. Easy is the new hard in many ways – but that logic applies to
newcomers and incumbents alike.

Given the Dylan quote above, I should add that these are not
prophesies I am peddling. I am looking at history, not the future.
The times have already changed.

The one prediction I will venture is that 2010 is the year when
those who are still mired in the mechanics of the tools and tactics
– or worse yet, haven’t even gotten to that stage yet – will start
falling behind.

There was a time when simply having a blog, or a Twitter account,
or a Facebook page might offer an early adopter advantage. Those
times are gone.  Specific Web 2.0 technologies no longer matter, to
borrow a bit of Nick Carr’s thinking. What matters is understanding
the new environment they have wrought, and adapting accordingly.

On that note, I’ll add that I wrap up my “Essential Tools of the
New Web” series with this newsletter. 2010 will be the year to
really put those tools to work in service of your strategy.

As always, I look forward to any comments or questions you may send
to jtc@jeffthomascobb.com

Jeff
jtc@jeffthomascobb.com
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com

P.S. – I’ve missed a couple of months on the newsletter owing to a
lot of consulting commitments. So, this one is a bit more packed
than usual.

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3. Essential Tools of the New Web: LinkedIn
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This is the sixth installment in my “Essential Tools” series, which
has so far covered Web video, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs (in two
parts). It is also the last one that I will publish in this
newsletter. See Section 4 below, however, for a “missing
installment” covered elsewhere.

Arguably, it is both ironic and fitting that I am getting to
LinkedIn last in this series. On the one hand, it was the first
social network that I joined – I really can’t remember when anymore
– and I suspect the same might be true for many readers. On the
other hand, it tends to be the last thing I am asked about – if I’m
asked about it at all – when I speak or consult. Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube and others tend to steal the thunder.

It may not be as sexy as some of the other social media darlings,
but for my money, LinkedIn is probably the biggest “no-brainer”
there is when it comes to leveraging the new Web. Setting up a
profile takes relatively little time and effort, making use of it
over time can flow pretty naturally from your typical business
activities, and there are some very concrete, straightforward ways
to get business value out of it. What’s not to like?

(I’m going to assume that anyone reading this newsletter has at
least some idea of what LinkedIn is and/or is capable of going to
www.linkedin.com, setting up an account, and getting the gist of it
pretty quickly.)

LinkedIn offers an increasingly rich feature set, so as the title
of this series suggests, the following tips are only the ones that
I feel are most essential. As you are reviewing them, you may also
want to bring up my profile as an example – I do my best to
practice what I preach: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffcobb

1. Think about your profile from the viewpoint of your “customer”
As with Facebook, your profile is the core of your presence on
LinkedIn. Use the process of setting up – and revising – your
profile as an opportunity to think strategically about your
business. You can apply that advice to all of the other platforms
I’ve written about, but I think it is particularly important on
LinkedIn, where business opportunity is the overt goal of your
connections.

Think from the perspective of your market and your customers –
whether those are actual customers, or members, or donors, or
potential employers. What value do you offer them? Make sure the
“headline” underneath your name reflects this value somehow (Don’t
just accept the default headline that LinkedIn generates from your
title and company.) Make sure your Summary also articulates this
value clearly and concisely. Don’t write a summary that reads like
a dull resume cover letter – make it action oriented and focused on
the results you can deliver.

Finally, make sure you upload a decent picture of yourself –
something that shows you in the way you want to be thought of by
your customers and colleagues.

2. Be as easy as possible to find
Make sure your summary and all the other parts of your profile are
peppered with key words and phrases that prospective customers
might use when searching for the types of value you provide. People
search frequently on LinkedIn, and if you configure your profile
appropriately, they can also find your LinkedIn profile when
searching Google and other search engines.

Related to the last point, make your full profile publicly
accessible unless you feel like you have a really good reason not
to and make all of your profile information visible. You do this by
clicking on the “Edit Public Profile Settings” towards the top
right of your profile page.

Note that when you edit your profile settings, you also have the
opportunity to edit your “Public Profile URL.” Take that
opportunity and change the default LinkedIn gobbledy gook to
something that makes sense – like your name. (As you may have
notice above, my profile link is
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffcobb)

Finally, be sure not to skimp on what you put in your profile.
Things like past employment and education matter. You may find some
of your best opportunities through past colleague or fellow alumni,
and you want to be sure these people can find you.

2. Make it easy for others to connect to you
There are many ways to put up walls in LinkedIn. My view is that
doing so defeats the purpose of using the platform. Unless you
really find yourself to be frequently pestered by total strangers,
you should make it as easy as possible for anyone who finds you on
LinkedIn to connect with you AND communicate with you.

Click “Edit Contact Settings” towards the top right of your
profile. Make sure you are set to receive both Introduction and
InMail (basically, for people willing to pay to contact you). Also,
check off as many of the Opportunity Preferences as you feel are
reasonable for you.

Finally, some readers may consider this a bit extreme, but I
actually go ahead and put my contact information in the “What
advice would you give…” box that you can edit on the Contact
Settings page. This doesn’t show up on your public profile, but it
is visible to anyone logged in to LinkedIn. Personally, I have not
found this to create any unwanted contacts or “spam,” but it sends
the clear message that I am open to connecting – and makes doing so
as easy as possible.

3. Work at it
As with most things in life, you will only get out of LinkedIn what
you put into it. I’m certainly not suggesting that you start
pouring significant amounts of time into it each day, but don’t
just set up a profile and log out never to return either.

LinkedIn provides good tools for importing current contacts,
whether from a Web-based e-mail program like Gmail or from a
desktop e-mail application like Outlook. To do this, click on
“Contacts” in the left hand navigation, and then click “Add
Connections” to the top right of the page that appears.  On the
page that comes up, you can enter a Web e-mail address (e.g.,
jeffthomascobb@gmail.com) or click a link to import a
comma-delimited file from Outlook. (Instructions are provided on
how to do this.)

Once you’ve got addresses imported, you can go through them and
easily select ones you want to add to your network. For people you
know reasonably well, I find that using the default LinkedIn
message is a common practice. For those you don’t know as well,
though, you should modify the default message to make it a bit more
personal.

That’s a start, but be sure to keep at it. As you meet new people,
one of your standard follow-up habits should be to invite them to
join your network on LinkedIn.

4. Update your status on a regular basis
You will notice on your Home page (just under Network Updates) as
well as on your Profile (just below your picture) page that you can
type in some short text to let your network of connections know
what you are doing. Doing this regularly is a good idea, as those
updates show up on your connections’ home pages, and in their
inboxes if they haven’t turned off the “Weekly Digest E-mail”
feature. (Check under Account & Settings > Receiving Messages if
you are wondering where that is.)

Naturally, you will want to type in things that might actually be
of interest to your network – particularly your “customers” – and
possibly provide links to valuable resources. (You may need to use
a link shortener like www.bitly.com.)

Note also that you can now easily hook one or more Twitter accounts
into LinkedIn and use Twitter as a means of updating your status.
You will see this option if you scroll down your Profile page just
a bit.

5. Take it a step further
Here’s where we start to veer into the wide range of things you
could do on LinkedIn to get more value out of it – but also sink
more time into it. I’ll just hit on a few big ones, and I won’t
provide any detail – you are now at the point where a little
learning by doing is in order! Also, which ones will really reap
returns for you will depend on your circumstances and goals, so try
them all out, but then pick one or two that really seem to fit your
needs.

– Select “Search Groups” from the drop down next to the search box
at the top right of the screen and type in words that relate to
your business. Join one or more of the groups that comes up in the
search results.

– Take advantage of the new (still in beta) Companies area and set
up a profile for your organization.

– Check out the Answers areas, and potentially chime in to answer a
question or two. You will boost your visibility and perception of
your expertise.

– Use the “Recommendations” feature under Profile to ask colleagues
for recommendations.

LinkedIn vs. Facebook?
Finally, you may be wondering about LinkedIn vs. Facebook. The
standard line, bordering on cliche at this point, is that LinkedIn
is more “business-oriented” than Facebook. I don’t think that
viewpoint really captures the essential differences between the
two.

Facebook, in my opinion, is geared towards the expression of
personality or brand, LinkedIn is more focused on pragmatic use of
connections to get things done – whether that means getting a job,
getting a lead, or getting an answer. Either may serve the goal of
your organization, or particular parts of your organization. The
key questions to ask are (a) where are the people we are targeting,
(b) what are our goals with them, and (c) which platform seems to
provide the best tools set for achieving those goals.

***

So, that’s my take on LinkedIn. As with all the other Essential
Tools I’ve covered, I’m only scratching the surface on this one,
but if you do even half of what I mention above, I feel certain you
will get a good return off of the time invested.

JTC

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4. Essential Tools of the New Web: The Missing Installment
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I’ve now covered a range of tools that help you engage on the new
Web in various ways, but when I speak, I always emphasize that
the the most important thing you can do before you really start
engaging in a strategic way is LISTEN.

How do you listen on the Web? Take a look at these two blog posts
for some tips and tools:

Do This Today
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/2009/07/google-alerts/

10 Tools for Monitoring Your Brand
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/2009/01/brand-monitoring-tools/

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5. The Future in Your Inbox
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As noted in the last edition, my colleague David Houle has recently
begun publishing The Shift Age Trend Report, a semi-annual report
that delivers a wealth of insight about the future. I wasn’t quite
sure what David had in mind when he first told me about the report,
but I was blown away when I finally saw it.

This is no ordinary “e-newlsetter” or analyst research report. It’s
an interactive PDF with with embedded video, Power Points and other
rich media. Reading it is a real experience, and it definitely
delivers the goods when it comes to insights into future trends. On
top of David’s own thinking, the report features interviews with
experts from organizations like Nokia and NASA along with in-depth
market analysis from the Leo J. Shapiro Company.

Finally, in each each issue a CEO writes about leading his or her
company  through a transformation from the way it used to do
business in the 20th century to the way it has to conduct business
in the 21st century. In the current issue Darryl Rosser, CEO of
Sagus International describes the journey of transformation that
now places him at the center of the effort to create the 21st
Century American School.

Here is some sample content to give you a better feel for what the
report is like.

I told David I would highlight the Shift Age Report in my
newsletter because I felt a number of readers might be interested.
For readers who are interested, David has provided the following
discount code to give you $50 off on purchase of the report:

FJTCOBBV

Just go to
https://www.davidhoule.com/shiftstore/trend_item_renew.asp to
purchase the report and enter the code once you are in the shopping
cart.

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6. Upcoming Speaking Engagements
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I’ve been speaking a lot lately about e-learning and blending
social media into events and other educational activities. Here’s
what’s coming in the near future:

NC Association for Medical Equipment Services
Maximum Bang, Minimum Bucks: Leveraging the Internet to Boost Your
Brand and Blow the Doors Off Your Business
January 22, 2010
Greensboro, NC

ASAE Technology Conference
E-learning Panel
February 12, 2010
Washington, DC

Visit http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/speaking to find out more or
contact me at jtc@jeffthomascobb.com if your are interested in
having me speak at one of your organization’s events.

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7. High Value Clicks
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Here are some great free or low-cost resources to help
you boost your success on the Web:

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LinkedIn Resources
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LinkedIn Learning Center
LinkedIn is smart about educating its customers. (You should be too!)
Don’t overlook this resource.

***

LinkedIn Gives You a Better Way to Brand Your Business
LinkedIn has now rolled out custom company profiles. Mashable gives
you the lowdown.

***

10 Tips to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
If you are going to go through the effort to set up a profile,
shouldn’t you optimize it?

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Other Stuff
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Social Media for Business
A great overview from a great all around resource site
(www.ducttapemarketing.com).

***

The Complete Guide to Google Wave
I’ll write more about Google Wave soon, but if you have been
hearing the buzz and are wondering what’s going on, you may want to
check out this guide from Lifehacker.

***

Price and Value: A Marketing Lesson for Life
Pricing is such an important concept in any form of business – and
one that is so poorly understood. Here’s a quick case study from a
successful blogger.

***

Social Media Policies Database
Need a social media policy for your business? You can find some
good examples here.

***

Is It Too Late to Catch Up?
Believe it or not, I had already written the editor’s note above
when Seth Godin came out with this post. It seems like the perfect
extension of what I say above.

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8. Contact Me
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I truly welcome your thoughts on how I can make this into a
newsletter that fits your needs in the best possible way. Always
feel free to e-mail me or call me at
919.201.7460 with any comments you have about the content provided
in the newsletter and suggestions for future editions.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like a
subscription of your own, go to:

http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/newsletter/

For more information about the services I provide, visit my Web
site at:

http://jtcobb.wpengine.com I also encourage you to visit my
blog, Hedgehog & Fox, at:

http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/blog

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9. Administrivia
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All content in this newsletter is made available under a Creative
Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 United States
license. To view this license go to:

http://tinyurl.com/257qks

Any content re-used from this newsletter must clearly indicate Jeff
Thomas Cobb as the author or source, as appropriate, and include a
link to my Web site at http://jtcobb.wpengine.com.