We’re rising in the work hierarchy, we’re breaking glass ceilings all over the world. We’re leaning in, we’re leaning out.
Some of us, anyway.
The reality is, as a gender, we’re still not as comfortable shouting our genius to the world as our male counterparts are. Ladies, we’re losing business because of this.
The Facts:
LinkedIn has over 225 million registered members and 77 million of those make their home in the U.S.
It takes at least 36 thousand 1st degree connections to crack the top 10 most connected on LinkedIn.
Only 5 women are in the top 100, 2 are in the top 10, and 4 are in the top 20.
Speaking as a woman here, I know we are often not as comfortable at promoting ourselves, asking for testimonials/recommendations, as well as receiving praise. Believe me I know it can be difficult, this is why I loved LinkedIn. This platform makes it so much easier for us to step into our power, to claim our expert status, and promote our business genius with personal branding.
A fully fleshed out profile with an attention grabbing headline noting exactly what and who she is. At a quick glance we know if we would want to hire her, sell to her, be her friend, and why
Her summary is clean, easy to follow, highlighting relevant numbers for her field (e.g. 23K+ Twitter followers), relevant experience and where to find her
There are visuals: photos and links to articles and websites that again highlight her expert status
Specialties section is being used so we know exactly what she feels she is best at
Experience sections are chock full and engagingly written in first person with enthusiasm – notice the titles – very specific – again we know her expertise
Recommendations section is active – she has 25 which is not an unreachable number for the rest of us
Her awards and honors section is full and again establishes herself as an expert in social media, recruiting and connecting, with links to appropriate articles to back it up
As a speaker she lists her 2013 schedule – we can ALL list classes and conferences attended to pack in credibility in our own way
Her endorsements are plentiful – endorse 5 people a day each time you are working in LinkedIn and you will be surprised how fast your own list grows
Advice for Contact section is very clear – she wears multiple hats – which most of us do – and the well thought out, as well as personal, contact section shows anyone easily: how and where and why to get a hold of her
She shows interest in volunteering and causes which helps us know she is a real person
She is a member of multiple groups (37 or more) and while we don’t need to be as prolific even a handful of groups rounds out the profile picture of who you are and why you are here
You CAN be influential with a small number of connections, but the most influential of all have large networks and one of the easiest places to build yours is LinkedIn. Think of it as a virtual trade show or conference where you make real live connections.
Having a larger network enables you to show up in searches of people you might otherwise never have met! So claim your power, spruce up your profile, and let your genius shine! Then slowly build the network you deserve.
LinkedIn is being called THE go-to Social Media site for 2014.
Does that strike fear in your entrepreneurial heart? We’re getting the hang of Facebook, and expertly bemoaning the drop in post reach. We’re even tweeting, using Twitter to reach our target market, our business idols, and to get a quick customer service response. And who doesn’t love Instagram’s fun platform?
But LinkedIn – it’s on your list to get to soon. You know you have to figure it out. You have maybe a few hundred connections, kind of a mish-mash of people you used to work for and your family and friends. Every now and then you come across a really great LinkedIn profile and think “I need to contact her and find out how she got her profile done”.
I talk a lot about the components of a great LinkedIn Profile. Today I want to talk about size.
YES, size does matter with LinkedIn.
If you’re going to establish yourself as an expert in 2014, your LinkedIn profile can support and accelerate that status. The number of connections you have is an important part of that. Here’s why.
Reason Number One
Unlike all of the other Social Media sites, you only need 501 connections to be considered in the elite tier. Your connections won’t know if you have 501 or 50001, they’ll just know you’re a player, because when they see your profile, they see that 500+ connection count. It’s not that hard to surpass that mark! Find ways to connect with people. Regularly post this on your other Social Media platforms: “Are we connected on LinkedIn? www.linkedin.com/in/yourname” You’ll start getting more connection requests right away. Get involved with Groups, other members will start connecting with you. There are so many creative ways to get more connections. Once you surpass that 500+ mark, your followers will believe you are GOOD at this LinkedIn stuff.
Reason Number Two
The more first degree connections you have, the more second and third degree connections you have. These second and third degree connections are such a POWERFUL benefit of LinkedIn.If you’ve watched any of my workshops, (free at www.linkedinstars.com) then you know the power of those second degree connections. You literally are one connection away from being able to reach hundreds of millions of people. Maybe it’s for funding, maybe it’s to find someone who has an oxygen bar for your next event, maybe it’s to find a great space in Barcelona to teach a guest yoga class. You have reach to all of that and so much more. The more first degree connections you have, the greater that reach.
Reason Number Three
LinkedIn searches look only for first, second, and third degree connections. If you want to be found on LinkedIn, you’re doing keyword optimization and you’re thinking about what people are searching for when you want them to find YOU. Here’s the thing. You can do hours of keyword work and still not ever come up. LinkedIn’s algorithms put first and second degree connections to the top of the search results. Even if you’re a third degree connection, you’re likely to be way down low, and free accounts will only be shown the first 100 entries. By strategically increasing the number of LinkedIn connections you have, you’re giving yourself exponentially more power to be found in searches.
I do want you to have a strategy for your connections, and of course you can deny any connection you don’t feel comfortable with. By staying active in relevant groups, and by sharing your LinkedIn URL everywhere, you’ll start to build those relevant connections. I highly recommend putting your URL on your business card, so when you’re out at live events you’re making it really easy for the people you meet to connect to you, and to keep that connection warm.
Take a minute today and write down the number of LinkedIn connections you have in your business planner or on your calendar. Then start schmoozing. Grow those connections. Size DOES matter.
Do you have a favorite way to make more LinkedIn connections? Share it with us in the comments below!
If you want to succeed in your business, you need to claim this, own this, BE this.
So often we think that what comes easiest to us is easy for everyone else. That couldn’t be further from the truth! There are things that you love to do, that you lose track of time when you do, that you love to talk about to others. Those are the things that hopefully you’re building your business on, and those are the things that you’re expert at. Or maybe you’re thinking “Yeah Karen, but who the heck needs me to make their eggplant parmigiana?” Let me tell you, people DO. I happen to make an excellent eggplant parmigiana, but I’m busy. So even though I CAN do it myself, I would very likely pay you do make it for me on my busy weekdays. That makes YOU the expert, YOU are the one I’m coming to when I’m hungry. Sounds silly but you can take this same concept and apply it if you design websites, if you’re a health coach, if you’re a personal trainer, if you sell widgets. YOU are the expert and you need to own that.
Step 1 to using LinkedIn to build your expert status: CLAIM it, OWN it, BE it
The first place you want to do this is in your LinkedIn Headline. If your headline says something like “Accountant”, I want you to stop reading this right now and change it up.
Click here to watch a short video I created a few months ago that shows you exactly how to claim your expert status in your headline.
Make sure your headline makes you feel just a big queasy. Put yourself out there in a big way!
No one is going to think “she must be even BETTER than she says”. In order to get clients, your headline needs to make them feel as if they’re in expert hands.
Step 2 to using LinkedIn to build your expert status: Strategic use of keywords
Keywords are important in establishing your expert status. You want to be consistently using the same keywords throughout your LinkedIn profile, leaving no doubt to your readers that YOU are the expert on those topics.
Keep a notebook of what keywords you’re using, review it monthly to be sure they’re still relevant
Don’t forget to use those same keywords in all areas of your Social Media marketing
Step 3 to using LinkedIn to build your expert status: LinkedIn Recommendations
I want you to consistently be building social proof of your expert status through strategic use of LinkedIn recommendations. How, you ask, do I get other people to recommend me? Strategy.
Each week, recommend someone else, someone that might possibly recommend you back.
When your clients send you a nice note via email or a Facebook post, reply back thanking them, and asking them if they would mind sharing it as a LinkedIn recommendation. I bet they’ll be happy to.
Share those recommendations all over the freaking place. There’s a WordPress plugin that will rotate them on your website. Schedule Facebook posts sharing recommendations. Brag about them in your newsletters. You get the picture.
LinkedIn is the first place you should go to establish your expert status. Once you do, you’ll start to see your business changing, you’ll be asked your expert opinion and you’ll see opportunities to grow.
And if you want my help, remember you can still join LinkedIn Stars at the introductory price, and I’ll take you through exactly what you need to do. LINKEDIN STARS
Comment below, share your LinkedIn headline with me. If you want, I’ll review it and make suggestions. Let’s all celebrate ourselves for being the stars we are! Don’t forget to connect with ME on LinkedIn.
I’m a mom, I have four kids. For years my life consisted of running all over the place. I ran from work to baseball fields, to football fields, to ballet schools, and to assorted schools all over my town.
I know many of you can relate to this, you’ve likely either been the driver or the drivee.
I was BUSY for sure! I wouldn’t trade those days for anything. My kids made friends and learned so much about winning, losing, hard work, and life. I made friends, and learned how to LET my kids learn about winning, losing, hard work, and life! Not always easy, that letting your kids learn about losing part. But I digress.
Often I find myself in charge of things I get involved in. Happily, but because I can be bossy I’m sure. One of the things I ended up in charge of for many years was the snack stand at the Little League field. I went into labor with my fourth child at that snack stand! I spent a LOT of time there. It taught me a lot of business lessons, lessons I still use in my business today.
Lesson One: Be dependable. If a parent shows up at the snack stand to feed their kids during a game, and the stand is closed, they will not show up with their wallet next time. In order to make money, we had to be open when we said we would be open.
In my business, that’s an important concept. I am BUSY, I typically have four or five projects going all at once. I have to-do lists that sometimes seem endless. BUT, when someone is depending on me, I need to deliver. Each and every time. As a business coach, I take that very seriously. My clients are as busy as I am, our time together is precious. I’ll be there when they need me, each and every time. That’s why they come back.
Lesson Two: Set your price and stick to it. At the Little League field we sold all kinds of goodies, from burgers and french fries to Big League Chew bubble gum and ring pops. I’m the biggest sucker on earth when it comes to little kids with a handful of pennies, I gave away my share of ring pops! BUT, if you”re an adult and you want cheese on your burger, it’s another dollar. We put a lot of time and effort into fund-raising at that snack stand, and if you didn’t want to pay extra for the cheese, you could bring it from home. I was AMAZED at the number of people who tried to bargain us for a discount on their food. The price was the price was the price.
In my business, many of my clients become my friends. I get to know so much about them, I’m their biggest cheerleader. I struggle WITH them when they’re developing programs and social media campaigns around those programs, and we work hard to leverage all of the free social media tools available to them. It’s hard, sometimes, to keep from saying “call me in a few days and we’ll go over it again”, especially when I know they’re struggling to make something profitable. I can’t. They are my clients, and I run a business. The price for my service is the price for my service.
Lesson Three: If you need help, ask for it! As you can imagine, coordinating volunteers to work at the snack stand was no small task. It was so easy to fall into complaining that the few regulars were doing everything! You know what? Each and every time I asked someone to volunteer, they said yes. I truly can’t remember a single person telling me no, that they wouldn’t do it. But I had to ASK them! No one was coming up to me and saying “Oh let me stand over that hot grill instead of watching my kids game”. If I asked, though, they would come back the NEXT night when their kid wasn’t playing, and flip burgers for hours. All I had to do was ask.
In my business, there is a LOT to do. I think I mentioned the massive to-do list earlier? There are people who are willing to help me with that list! Often it’s other entrepreneurs, people who have strengths where I don’t, and we can help each other and save time all the way around. Sometimes it’s my friends and family, I have a deadline or a client and the dog needs walking. My business is more successful when I STOP thinking I have to do everything alone. When I remember that there are people around me that are willing to help me, if I ask. None of them have those shiny crystal balls that tell them what I need. I have to ask for help, and they are happy to oblige.
So tell me, what are you passionate about in your life? What do you do in your “free” time?
I’ve met many many people over the years in my volunteer world that can go nose to nose with the CEOs I work with. I’ve seen women who think they have no business sense negotiate deals with book clubs for fund-raisers that would make Donald Trump step back. And let me tell you, if you can corral 100 little boys at a Pinewood Derby, you can organize a high end convention! Pay attention to the lessons you’re learning when you think you’re NOT working, and see if maybe those lessons can help you craft your offerings for your business. In 2013, you can get that business off the ground, and marketed regularly, practically FREE. Look to your passions to find your Rockstar Talent. I can help!
Comment below and let me know what Rockstar Talent you learned in an unconventional way. I want to hear all about it!
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