As I referred to on a previous post (LinkedIn? Locked Out More Like) many people join LinkedIn because they have heard it is an important place to be. But with no real knowledge about how LinkedIn really works a large number of users fail to reap the real benefit of LinkedIn. As  a business professional LinkedIn is a great personal branding tool, a fantastic way to network, nurture existing business relationships and even source and develop new business opportunities. So it may be worth investing more time in developing your LinkedIn profile and demonstrating why you are “Amazing” at doing what you do!

Here are 15 things to make you look more Amazing on LinkedIn:

1. Make sure your profile is 100% complete. (Good photo and well written bio). Spend time writing your summary. Make sure it clearly explains what you do and highlights your experience. Ensure that it will attract the attention of your prospective customers and make you as an individual stand out above your competition. Invest in a professional photo that represents the “business” you. (No Facebook style photos!)
2. Make sure you have a unique LinkedIn URL and add it to your business cards and email signature. Eg.  http://ie.linkedin.com/in/gregfry
3. Why not rename “My Company” to the name of your company eg. “Careers Coach Website” and add your Twitter, Blog or even a link to your Facebook Business page (if appropriate) to your profile.
4. Rearrange your Linkedin profile to stand out. You may want your “Amazing” blog to be towards the top of the page and not at the bottom. Here is a link to show you how to move you sections around – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6nJ_SVg
   
5. Update your status once or twice per day. Every time you update your status on LinkedIn it shows up on your connections feed. So regular relevant updates can ensure that you will not be forgotten by your connections. NB. Warning -Too many updates can have a negative effect and may annoy the very people you are hoping to impress. I would suggest that you never link your Twitter account to update automatically with LinkedIn. I recently “disconnected” with an individual whose status was updated 20 + times a day via Twitter and discussed irrelevant info such as what he was having for dinner.
6. Always personalise your LinkedIn invitations. If you want to connect with someone show them the courtesy of writing a personalised invitation telling them why you want to connect and what value you can offer them.
7. Convert as many business contacts on your offline database online to LinkedIn. Every relevant business card you receive, take the time out to connect with them on LinkedIn.
8. Build up a number of quality recommendations. Ask every happy customer or client to recommend you. Many people’s recommendations are limited to work colleagues and friends. These recommendations are far less impressive than ones from your customers.
9. Join and participate in relevant Groups. Eg. If you are an expert in Environmental Engineering find groups in that sector. You will never get noticed unless you participate in the group. Start discussions, share your blog posts, ask questions and comment on other people’s posts. Be Amazing and showcase your expertise.

10.  Demonstrate your capability by answering questions.

11.  Add slides or even video to your LinkedIn profile using Slide Share. (www.slideshare.net) or Google Docs. You could really stand out by adding a professional Video showcasing your talent to your profile.

12.  Use the Events section to find relevant offline events. LinkedIn may be an online social media site, but it is one of the best resources for finding local industry specific business and networking events. Tip - If you have good connections a great way to find events is to click on the “See Events Your Connections Are Attending” link.

13.  Demonstrate knowledge by recommending books. What are the “Amazing” books about business or your industry that you have read? Why not be associated with them by endorsing them on your LinkedIn profile?

14.  Drive traffic to your website by adding a Blog feed to your profile.

15.  Nothing in business will every beat face to face interaction. Make a conscious effort to meet influential connections off line. Our online relationships are often strengthened by off line meet ups.

What other tips would you suggest to the Business Professional that wants to look “Amazing” on LinkedIn?

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

So, how to make a business amazing?  I can spout off the A-Z of Business Studies I learnt many years ago but honestly it was over 20 years ago and I can’t remember it all now.

I have been involved with the successful 020 London for the last six years and recently I have worked hard to help set up Whatswhat.ie and put that on the right path for future success. So from that basis I will just make a few suggestions that I think will help a business have a standing to hopefully become successful and maybe even amazing. Obviously there are so many outside factors that can help or hinder but maybe if you have these basic principles you’ll have a good footing.

Hard Work

Be prepared to work very hard, especially in the set up of the business and subsequent first few years. Having your own business is miles apart from working for someone else.  You never stop thinking and even dreaming about the business – new ideas, better strategies, more fluid procedures plus lots more. A good friend of mine once suggested that everyone should run their own business for at least two years to realise the hard work that has to go into it and make you appreciate what your boss is going through.  I previously wrote “Working Nine to Five, What a Way to Make a Living!” and I still stand by that in respect to being prepared to work far more than nine to five if you want your business to be successful.  Hopefully the overtime and hard work doesn’t last too long of course.

Delegation

Ensure the owners and staff work to their own strengths and expertise. Don’t waste time trying to do something that someone else can do far better and quicker. If you’re good at sales concentrate all your efforts into that. If you’re good at logistics, accounts, administration etc then stick with those. This is ideal if more than a one-man-band business however you can outsource if needs be.  If accounts or admin is your worst nightmare then why try and wade through it for a week when someone else can do it in a day? Your time can be better spent doing what you are good at and could therefore cover the possible expense of outsourcing.  As a very simple example when I lived in Dublin and just doing sales from home for 020 London I used to have a cleaner plus get my shopping delivered.  Thus saving me at least six hours a week – in those six hours I could have earned a lot more than I was paying the cleaner or delivery cost. Also avoiding the horrible chores which was a bonus

Efficiency

Always do your best to be efficient. Customers love it and it gives you pride in your work.  I have been called many things regarding my work ethics (and on a personal basis I’m sure) but the main consensus is that I am quite “anal” in getting things correct – spelling and grammar, accounts balancing to the penny (is there any other way?), rules and regulations adhered to, etc. If you can have pride in your work then other people will see that too and that can’t be bad, can it?

Belief

Finally, believe in your business and colleagues completely. If you don’t believe then how can you expect customers to believe in it?  The whole Positivity versus Negativity comes in here – law of attraction. It’s quite obvious to me that if you are being negative about something then other negative things tend to happen. And of course the opposite for positivity bringing all good things. Well that’s what I have found the majority of the time and I’m sticking to it.

I think with these fundamentals in place if you have a viable business idea then this should give you a good basis to work from.  There is so much more to cover which is why books have been written on this topic many times over. Financing, PR, advertising, costs, market, pricing… The list is endless but I hope my basics make sense. I’m sure you’ll let me know.

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, Generation Next or Net Generation. Characteristics of this generation vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions.

However, it is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. Is your business engaging online with Gen Y? Do you have a presence to attract students, graduates-the possible future hire of your company?

It’s September. Universities and schools are back in action and those graduating this year will kick start their career hunt. My guess is that they will take this hunt into the online domain of social media interaction. They will seek your company out! Do you have a social media or new media marketing campaign in place, do you have a plan to engage online with the future of your company?

With Gen Y making up 30% of Internet users how can you liven up your marketing plan to keep this audience demographic engaged. Do you utilize your company website to the best of it’s ability? Are you present on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, BraveNewTalent, YouTube? Connecting to them through these channels will give them more of a personal connection and will also give opportunity for customers to recommend your business to their friends. From a candidate perspective how cool would it be to get the opportunity to engage with your HR team or even marketing team through online interactions and conversations? How cool would it for you to understand this audience, engage with them and identify potential hires?

Companies need to gauge entry into a market by investing more time in identifying trend makers/trendsetters among Gen Y as a target group. Gen Y may not only be your future employees, they may be your future customers.

Regarding your presence on social media platforms ask yourself the following:

• Do you have a dedicated team member managing your social media strategy? If so, are they familiar with Gen Y
• Are they social media savvy themselves?
• Are you taking part in dedicated discussions online to engage?
• Is your company branding attractive, consistent-do you stand out amongst your competitors?
• Do you update these platforms on a regular basis?
• Do you have buy in from the business regarding social media?

Take your online campaign offline also. Get out and meet Gen Y. Be a proactive member of the University programmes. Engaging with your future audience will make your business amazing! I am a fan…..are you?

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

Time to talk about project management and your business.

Don’t  Yawn!

This is more than relevant (hopefully!) and will help make your business great.

So grab a coffee and let’s proceed.

Outside of the traditional retail outlet or manufacturing business, most of us are engaged in the provision of client services whether as an individual or part of a bigger business.

Accountants, engineers, designers, florists, landscapers, software engineers, architects, web designers, marketers.. the one thing that they all have in common is that they are all project managers.

(Have a sip of that coffee and keep going – you’re doing great!).

They don’t often call themselves project managers or indeed describe what they do as project management.

But it is!

A florist as a project manager? Get real.

Ok, I grant you that the daily operations of creating a beautiful bunch of flowers is not project management. The flowers for someone’s big day are a project though.

A florist meets the clients, designs the flowers to be used, gets the design approved, goes to the venue and gets it all setup and gets a sign-off from a client once the job is done. During this activity, the florist will encounter as many problems or hiccups that can be found in what is deemed to be the more traditional description of project management in IT or engineering.

Think about your own service delivery – especially those of you who don’t call the work a project. Does it have these standard elements (or something close)?

• Client engagement,
• planning and design,
• creating something from that design,
• giving that “something” over to the client for approval and acceptance,
• closing off the piece of work and
• getting paid.

If this describes you then you are a project manager and what you do is project management.

(Another quick coffee sip – fair play, you’ve stayed awake this long – nearly there!)

So what you ask?

So what indeed! Now you understand that what you do is project management, then there are lessons to be learnt from traditional project management that you can apply to your business.

Why? Because the processes and checks/balances that project managers put in place, when not stifled by poor business management practices, will help you deliver a better project for your clients.

Project management will give you the capability to honestly track and manage your projects so you can better understand how effectively you deliver and continuously improve.

Most service business managers don’t need professional training to be a project manager. The trick is to learn and understand the basic principles of project management that apply to your particular business. Any more than that creates unnecessary overhead.

There is a huge amount of detail to be read on project management. Take some time out and see how you could apply some of the learning to your business.

So go on all you newly identified project managers, be great in your project delivery!

If you enjoyed this post (or stayed awake long enough to get to the end), please give it a vote on Bizsugar.  Thanks for reading!

Photo(s): @John, DavidW , Navicore

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

This autumn marks the end of the king of reality TV – “Big Brother”. What will the reality TV junkies do with all this new found spare time? No more late nights watching housemates sleep in their beds. No more squirming at the embarrassing scramble for 30 seconds of fame. My advice to those needing a new fix – set up your own Big Brother experience. The cameras that monitored the Big Brother house may get turned off, but the cameras that monitor your online personal brand can get turned on. This would be a more constructive use of your time

Cameras for sanity (not vanity) – I recall telling my wife I checked online to read what people were saying about me (and my company Measurability). She informed me that spending hours looking into a mirror was bad enough, but this was taking the biscuit. I tried to defend my actions, but this was met with sarcastic humming to the tune “You’re so Vain”. It’s nothing to do with vanity, I swear Ok – it’s nice to read positive comments online, but there is more to it than this. Ignoring your online presence is sanity. Potential employers Google you, so you need to know what they read. Potential employers could be looking for you (or your expertise), so you need to help them find you. A positive online presence can enhance your career, just like a negative (or minimal) online presence can cost you job opportunities.

Keep the cameras rolling – The question most people ask – how do I monitor my brand online? It’s pretty straightforward. There are many online tools to assist monitoring online presence  and online reputation. There is the old reliable – GOOGLE ALERTS. There is SOCIAL MENTION, to capture mentions on social media sites. Others tools; BOARDREADER for forums, GOOGLE BLOG SEARCH for Blogs, and TWITTER SEARCH.

Don’t get evicted – Developing a strong personal brand is essential in the new world of careers. It can take vast amounts of time, and energy, to build a strong personal brand. Therefore, it is important to monitor and protect what you have successfully built up. The outlined tools can help you monitor your online brand, bask in rays of positive online presence, and identify any negativity that requires action.

Are you mourning the imminent end of Big Brother? Are you void of options to fill the spare time? Come join Measurability Careers & Jobs Club on LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter.

Are you a people pleaser?  Do you go out of your way to be nice to everybody in the hope that they will like you?  Does it work for you?  Or are you so busy pleasing everybody that you’ve no time to notice whether they do or not?  Do you run your business the same way?  Are you always doing your utmost to please your customers, all  the time, regardless of the cost to you?  Have you weighed that up in your balance sheet?

I ask because sometimes it’s better to not please a client.  To be bluntly honest in their best interest, even at the cost of upsetting them.  A perfect example of this was a hair-dresser I used to go to.  I wanted a particular style and she point blank refused to do it saying: “That style won’t suit your face, your hair is too fine to support it and I’m not putting my professional reputation on the line over it.” When I asked to sign a disclamer she refused saying “I don’t offer disclaimers, trust me on this, I do know better on this issue.” Thankfully I did trust her.  I continued to use her services until I moved away.  Why? Because I valued her honest opinion instead of simply agreeing with me.  She was prepared to lose me as a customer rather than compromise her professional standards.

There are times in our professional lives where we are called to on to be brutally honest which can leave us feeling less than nice, even vulnerable to losing a client.  How we do it can make all the difference between keeping them or not.

When I get a new enquiry from a client I have a short conversation with them over the phone.  There are various reasons for doing it,

1) To find out what their issue is

2) To find out their expectations

3) To find out if they are suitable as a client

Yes, I screen my clients before agreeing to take them on board.  I’ve stated before I’m not for everybody, because quite frankly, I’m not!  I’m forthright, honest, niggly and often in-your-face-blunt.  A client coming to see me, expecting results is in no doubt that there is nowhere to hide.  Despite that I am kind, considerate, compassionate and extremely effective!  I help them get their results and I do it with honesty, sometimes they don’t like to hear it at first, however, as they start to make the changes they were looking for, they realise they needed that honesty to help them move on their issues.

If I have an enquiry from a prospective client and I honestly don’t think I am what they need I refer them on to someone else, and I’ll tell them why I’m doing it too.  I have a way with words and can use them effectively, both in and out of business.  Does your way with words work for your business?

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

As a business owner, you have to make decisions on a regular basis. Whether they are big decisions or small ones, every one has an impact on your business. It’s not uncommon to feel a bit overwhelmed.

There is an excellent way to fine-tune your decision making process, one that is guaranteed to keep you from becoming overwhelmed by all of the information and facts and figures that you need to consider before making a decision.

Break each decision down into five manageable steps. This will help you to distinguish each part of the process, to put all of the information into a logical order that will help you to make the best possible choice.

1. Define the issue. When you have to make a decision, it is usually because something has come up and it requires your attention; whatever it is, you need to identify it so that you are absolutely clear on what is happening. Defining the issue, the situation will clarify your thoughts. It will remove any extraneous ideas and keep you focused on the specific issue that you must resolve.
2. Evaluate the options. Once you have defined the issue, you will find that there is more than one potential solution. You have to evaluate each option to determine which will bring you closer to your business vision. Your decision may only bring you  one step closer, but that is fine. You will reach your business goal one step at a time.
3. Make the decision. When you know which option is the best choice, you are ready to make your decision. You know what is good for your business, what will bring you closer to your goals and vision. At this step, it’s natural to want to take some time to reflect on your choice. That’s fine, but don’t spend too much time in a reflective state. Once you are confident that you have chosen the best option, make the decision. There’s no time like the present to take the next step forward.
4. Implement the decision. Once you have decided on the course you will take, implement whatever you need to do to make the decision work. If you have decided to offer a workshop, start planning it now. If you are going to invest in yourself, commit and organise investment. If you are going to write a new sales letter, start drafting it today. Don’t delay. Your decision won’t help you if you don’t actually make it happen.
5. Monitor the solution. The only way to make sure that your decision is moving you and your business forward is to monitor the solution that you chose. If you wrote a new sales letter, keep track of how many clients it brings you. If you’re using a new accounting software, pay attention to how much time it saves you…

Most importantly, it isn’t the end of the world if you find that the decision is not bringing you closer to your goals. Now that you know the steps to follow, you can use what you have learned to begin again. Following these five steps is always the right decision

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This post is part of the HP SugarTone contest: “Making your business amazing”, sponsored by Hewlett Packard

“People are always blaming circumstance for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances.” George Bernard Shaw

Something has happened. You messed up. But hey, John messed up last week, and he managed to wangle his way out of it. So if you could just blame this one on time constraints, or perhaps Jane as she didn’t finish the draft correctly. Or maybe when James didn’t come back to you within the half hour you specified, that would have delayed you also, right?

Wrong! If you mess up, are late submitting a project, or get something wrong – It’s your fault! – own up to it!

A “Blame” culture is all too prevalent in organisations in Ireland. But it is not just up to the Owner or Managing Director to instill a healthy culture in an organisation.

Everyone has a personal responsibility for his or her professional conduct. Consider the potential cost to an organisation if there is a blame culture:

• People running around looking for scapegoats, be they colleagues or other factors
• Procrastinating, distractions, deadlines being missed
• Fear of sharing ideas, fear of being creative
• Managers or the company itself being blamed for problems
• Lack of insight for Managers
• Missed opportunities
• Endless committee and board meetings

Blame cultures are contagious – they can spread within organisations through customers, partners or other outside influences. Positive thinking results in positive behaviour. Behaviour is seen (actions speak louder than words), but does not define a person. Irish companies and organisations (especially public organisations) need to instill personal responsibility in their employees, and not fill the space with committees and boards so blame cannot be placed on one person.

Ever made a mistake?

Managing a team is not leading. Leading is achieved through vision, example and empowerment, and like charity, begins with self.

If you manage a business, own a business or have an influencing say in the running of a business, think about what culture you are supporting. If you find the points above resonate with you somehow, start changing your behaviour and lead by example.

Are you wondering right now how you could get “the others” to change? Stop! Concentrate on your personal responsibility, and how you can change.

Ask yourself “what can I take personal responsibility for today?” Question how you look to others, are they seeing your responsibility shine through?

What evidence are you providing to demonstrate that you are supporting personal responsibility?

What goals have you set recently, and are you prepared to be held accountable for achieving those goals?

I would love to hear your ideas, especially your answers to any of the questions above. So leave a comment below…

]]> http://bloggertone.com/management/2010/08/26/personal-responsibility-for-our-professional-conduct/feed/ 16 http://bloggertone.com/management/2010/08/20/linkedin-locked-out-more-like/ http://bloggertone.com/management/2010/08/20/linkedin-locked-out-more-like/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:19:39 +0000 Greg Fry http://bloggertone.com/management/?p=2004

Today, I met another job seeker that was struggling to grasp the benefit of LinkedIn. She had recently been to a talk about job seeking and had been convinced LinkedIn was the place to be seen. However a month of being on LinkedIn she had become extremely despondent and frustrated. She had 5 connections and in her own words was more of a “Facebook girl”; she did not know the type of people on LinkedIn. She felt a bit intimidated by the site and was about as comfortable on the site as a gate crasher at an intimate dinner party.

Okay, new LinkedIn members should note that many new users find LinkedIn a bit uncomfortable at the start, but like a new kid in school the onus is on you to make the effort. So make the effort and realise you are not on your own.

One thing that will help a job seeker’s search on LinkedIn is to build and engage with connections. So how can a job seeker get connections, particularly if you are a Facebook girl?

Here are a few ways you can get started.

• Email your friends, school/college contacts, old clients and old business colleagues. Tell them you are on LinkedIn and you would love to connect.
• Connect with the recruiters that you have met and that are representing you in your job search.
• Search LinkedIn for relevant groups to join. Eg. The Career Advice Network or ComputerJobs.ie. Look at the activity on the group, observe who are the key influencer’s and decide who you want to connect to. NB. Take an active role in the groups you join: Ask questions, start discussions and comment on other member’s articles. This will get you noticed and people will be more interested in connecting with you.
• Search the Events section to find relevant off line networking events in your area. There are many networking groups out there where you can meet many valuable contacts. Sometimes you need to go off line and bring those new connections back online.
• Finally, look at your contacts’ connections! Very often our contacts on LinkedIn are connected to top professionals we would love an opportunity to meet. If you see someone you are interested in meeting simply ask your connection for an introduction.

So start adding valuable connections to your LinkedIn account today and do not forget to engage with them on and offline. After all with over 300,000 Irish business professionals using LinkedIn it is a site that ever job seeker should have a presence on.

Ensure you get LinkedIn and not “LockedOut”.

I remember Bill Cullen telling a contestant “everyone is a salesperson”, during a series of The Apprentice. The last 18-24 months has served to emphasise his point. We have experienced a significant reduction in available jobs, and a significant increase in competition for these jobs. This has placed even greater importance on our ability to sell our product effectively. Having said this, I am not convinced that all job seekers accept (or want to accept) this point. I hear resistance on a daily basis – “I’m not a salesperson, I’m ABC”,” If I wanted to be a salesperson, I’d be selling second hand cars”, or “I am no good at sales”. It is time job seekers accepted that WE ARE ALL SALESPEOPLE! Resisting can only lead to one outcome – negative job search results.

Some points to consider…

Ignore the customer – (at your peril). Most job seekers take little notice of company requirements during the job search cycle. Any good salesperson will tell you, understanding the customer requirements is the foundation for any successful sale. Understanding the customer when job hunting is easy – you don’t even have to ask probing questions. The job description outlines the customer requirements. It is important to understand and highlight how you meet these needs. REMEMBER – Company requirements determine CV content and your focus during interview.

Product knowledge is not important – (for those addicted to rejection). Many job seekers cannot communicate their key skills and achievements effectively. If you don’t know yourself, then how can the HR person get to know “you”. Brainstorm skills, experience, achievements, and identify your USP’s. Do this exercise in the comfort of your own home, rather than under the glare of the interview spotlight. Practice talking about your strengths and achievements until comfortable.

Wait for opportunities to sell – (if you have plenty of time on your hands). Opportunities rarely land on your lap. You must go out and generate them. You can’t sell if you don’t have a lead, and you can’t get a job without an opportunity. If you are no on the phone (or meeting people), then you are not selling. Get proactive and get hired.

You can no longer rely on skills, experience and qualifications to get you a job. The ability to package and sell yourself to potential employers is key. If you don’t take responsibility for selling product “YOU”, then you will struggle in the current job market. It is unlikely that someone else will champion your cause. You can become more successful if you learn and practice the skills of exceptional salespeople. Transform your sales ability, and transform your job hunting results.

Do you want to learn how to sell like Hector Sleazeburger? Join “Measurability Careers & Jobs Club” on LinkedIn” (A group dedicated to helping job seekers).