Archive for the LinkedIn

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Today’s post is a little different.

Every now and then, I will get an email from Steven Burda if he likes a particular blog post. Just an acknowledgment, but I started to recognize his name. So when he sent an email today with a request to blog about this issue, I took notice.

Steven is a LinkedIn evangelist.  He is a Super Connector, has over 2500 (yes – two thousand five hundred) recommendations and 500+ connections (what does that mean?). Unfortunately, he has reached the LinkedIn-imposed “limit” of connections he is allowed in his account.

To that end, he has written a letter to the LinkedIn Executives, and with his permission, I am reprinting it here:

Dear Linkedin Executive:

I’d like to ask you to please take the time to read this letter in its entirety and follow up…

My name is Steven Burda and I am not your average Linkedin member/user. I am not a LION, but a SuperConnector.

I want you to recognize that I am a diehard Linkedin member/user and evangelizer who spreads goodwill to thousands of people concerning Linkedin and social media arena. I have become a power-user and networker to the point that I became “over-connected” from the perspective of Linkedin. I have tried to use Linkedin in good faith according to the User Agreement and TOS, but I’m at the point where there is a major restriction placed on my account that I feel I are being discriminated against. I would like to resolve this issue with Linkedin through direct dialogue with an Executive. If Linkedin cannot respond to this request within a week of receipt of this correspondence, I will have no choice but to get back to my contacts in the mass media of the situation (which I don’t want to do) especially since I am featured in September 2009 book: “The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life” (Wiley & Sons, Hardcover). I received numerous awards, publications and recognition for the work that I’ve done in professional field, as well as being the Connector, a blogger and groups Moderator/Manager.

I work full-time for The Boeing Company in the finance department, but as an addition, I have stakes in two businesses: Burda Consulting Co (non-profit, registered in PA) and Burda Photography (recent business, started with my wife Alla). In addition, I am a public figure, published person and a mentor to many. I do speaking engagements on the benefits of mentoring, professional networking, social media and Web 2.0. I deal with and in contact with hundreds of professionals on a monthly basis. Because of me, I believe thousands of professionals have joined Linkedin or became more active in networking. I hope you do see what kind of buzz, and free viral PR/marketing I bring to Linkedin for the benefit of the good. Each person I connect with offline and online is a business opportunity!

Your company (Linkedin) and the management has placed, in my opinion, a harsh and an unwarranted cap on my account because I’m so well-networked and connected, thus, doing a disservice not only to me, but to those who want to be part of my network. This strict limitation is hurting my credibility, visibility and profitability. Those people who have sent me invitations are still awaiting my acceptance – and they are, but not limited to: my sister Yael, my father Lev Burda, as well as many real-life friends, neighbors, past/current colleagues, classmates and even former managers and teachers. Those people want to recommend me for the work I did and also want to be professionally associated with me – but they can’t due to this severe and unwarranted limitation. Also, there are hundreds, even thousands of people that I mentored over the years, and those who want to do business with me – those that want to be part of my exclusive network. As you see, currently I cannot send an invite to them – but more importantly, cannot accept their invites. This is very counterintuitive to networking and collaborating concept, and goes against your own motto “relationships that matter” – wouldn’t you think?

What about the fact that I cannot accept my dad, my sister, my current/past colleges and even my boss into my direct network on Linkedin is mindboggling!! I have over 2,300 recommendations and endorsements on my Linkedin profile for my work and service that I provide – wouldn’t this show that I am a legitimate, hard-working and consummate networking professional that makes things happen? As evangelist of Linkedin, I freely promote Linkedin at all the networking events, places and workshops that I attend. I’m 100% capable of managing my own network.

Would you be able to make things happen? Or is this becoming an issue similar to the censorship and limitations Google has experienced in China? Please confirm the receipt of this letter. I ask and encourage you to give me a direct call at [deleted] or e-mail me at: [deleted].  We need to talk this through, on the phone or via email. It has been since January 15th, 2009 that I cannot accept any and all of the invites from trusted people that are currently have pending in my inbox, and both I and the sender want it to be accepted ASAP for the mutual benefit and professional business dealings and exchange of ideas. This is a unique case, and hope it won’t be ignored. All I am asking is one of two things: 1) get a call from an Executive of Linkedin for a ten-minute phone discussion on this issue or 2) have the ability to accept my pending invitations I currently have in my Inbox.

I feel that only by giving an honest assessment of the situation and showing the desire to resolve outstanding issues, from both sides, will solve any potential misunderstandings, as well as future opinions and perceptions of what is really going on, and why.

Respectfully,
- Steven Burda, from Greater Philadelphia Area (Pennsylvania) | www.linkedin.com/in/burda

Steven also sent these links where others have written about the same issues. Perhaps it’s time that LinkedIn ListensIn.

http://tinyurl.com/WhyLimit

http://tinyurl.com/BlogOnLimit

http://tinyurl.com/WhoInvite

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Social networking websites have come a long way in development with all of them starting in their beta stages. Now, most of them being packed with more features than the founders originally planned. This is normal for social networking sites because visions can always change as their member base continues to grow and social networks have always been about the people that are in it rather than the service themselves.

LinkedIn fits into that category because LinkedIn shares the same concept to other social networking sites that have millions of registered users. However, LinkedIn has a history of its own due to its vision to redefine the social networking community by targeting a certain crowd – professionals.

Back Then…

Before the advent of LinkedIn, there were already plenty of websites that allowed people to sign up and look for careers online. These sites had so many visitors because they were the largest sources at their time with many jobs available and with the increasing number of people going online, the numbers just keep growing.

Then in 2003, after five people started planning things out in fall 2002, LinkedIn launched and started out with 300 members with the month ending at 4,500 due to its amazing concept, which was combining the social networking trend to grow businesses. By the end of December 2004, LinkedIn reached a huge milestone with over a million registered users and a good chunk of them coming from places outside the US.

The interesting thing about this figure is that LinkedIn doesn’t seek to compete with the other social networking sites out there, because those sites are there to keep friends in touch and generate a “cool” trend for leisure purposes. LinkedIn set a new standard in social networking and was sure to expand even more from there.

Now and Beyond

With companies investing so much money for advertising throughout the years, LinkedIn had no problems in keeping up with the uptime costs. Still premium plans were eventually introduced to frequent LinkedIn users who want to take advantage of more features and tons of different features were added to allow more people in the community to keep in touch with each other professionally.

Right now many of the online application services and a few programs are already providing support and integration with LinkedIn due to more people signing up for their services. Especially with the economic downturn taking place all over the world, more people will flock to LinkedIn in hopes of getting in touch with old colleagues and finding new opportunities without breaking a sweat outdoors.

LinkedIn already has 35 million members since February 2009 and that number is expected to grow making it in-line with many of the top social networking sites on the web. Developers are working hard to implement new features like the LinkedIn Polls along with a set of other applications since they launched their new applications platform back in fall 2008.

With so many members registered there throughout its history, it should be very easy to find a few people that you know in LinkedIn so you can immediately get started and join the millions of other professionals that are thankful of LinkedIn’s existence and legacy.

While LinkedIn is a free service, plenty of other extra features are available only to paid subscribers. Purchasing a monthly or yearly account in LinkedIn is one way to support their development while enjoying the added features that can make your business connections grow more efficiently. There are different plans available ranging from different prices. Since money will be spent, it is important to follow these steps if your mind is set on upgrading.

Be familiar with the service

If you’ve been a member for a couple of months, it is recommended to continue using the free account until you realized the need for extra features. Make sure you have put all the free features to good use such as filling up your profile and adding others to your network. Many of the millions of members survive with free accounts simply because they are happy with what they have. You may be too if you consider yourself as a LinkedIn expert.

Understand the added features of paid accounts

There is a comprehensive chart found on the link to upgrade your account. You can be the judge in deciding what account is best for you, but in case you are confused, then focus on the 2 critical features that make up most of the upgrade – ability to send InMails and membership to the OpenLink network.

InMails is a special form of message that can be sent to any person in the LinkedIn network with added security and professionalism. This message appears on their homepage and is guaranteed for the recipient to respond in at least 7 days otherwise the InMail is credited again. This is very useful for reaching out to others without being ignored.

The OpenLink network is a restricted network available to paid members only. This network is for LinkedIn users who want to find other professionals that want to meet new people. These people can be contacted by means of a special OpenLink messaging system. As long as you maintain your account, you can receive unlimited OpenLink messages.

The other features listed grant greater quantities of existing features, but it is best to upgrade for the sake of many features rather than just one feature. Of course the rest of the decision lies on you.

Compare the packages

All you need to do is to figure out how much time you are willing to spend on LinkedIn. The three packages there only differ in the quantity of some of the bonuses. For example, a “Business Plus” account allows you to send 10 InMails instead of 3 on the business account.

Start out small

A good start is to try a single month of a business account for $24.95 and evaluate the features from there. Make good use of the month and then decide on what yearly package to get that best fits your budget. Yearly packages can grant you 2 additional months free giving you some savings.

Remember that you are not obliged to upgrade and upgrade accounts should be geared towards advanced users. Find out your goals with LinkedIn and figure out exactly what you need to attain the goal. Who knows, you may have all the tools you need as a free member.

All the professionals by now should realize just how much of a revolution LinkedIn has brought among the top companies. This is why jobseekers and employers fully utilize LinkedIn’s services to develop both themselves and their respective networks professionally. Since LinkedIn is a free service and upgrading your account is optional, LinkedIn gets a lot of the revenue through advertising sales. There is no way to remove these ads whether you upgrade your account or not so you can be sure that all 30+ million members will see advertisements in LinkedIn.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to take advantage of because these 30+ million members aren’t ordinary people, but they are professional members that usually have an average household income of $100,000. If a serious brand needs to be promoted by a specific crowd, LinkedIn may be the perfect network for maximizing your ROI since it is in-line with LinkedIn’s objectives.

Paid Advertising

Whether you are on a tight budget or wish to pump up something big, LinkedIn provides the right advertising solution for you. Text ads are proven to work for small to medium advertisers and should work even better since just about all the profiles and sections of LinkedIn have professional content in them. A lot of the banner advertisements can be very annoying in other sites, but LinkedIn only seeks professional quality to best attract the right people towards the brand or opportunity that you are promoting. This limits you to your creative skills in dishing out the best and professional looking banner and LinkedIn does the rest by displaying that to the target that you selected. The new Expanded Reach feature can also be used to reach specific audiences by using its highly-accurate targeting technology based on the profile fields.

Free Advertising

LinkedIn also grants you the opportunity to advertise your profile as well. By simply updating your profile whenever necessary, your profile gets indexed quickly. LinkedIn has a high Google page rank and by beefing up your profile with tons of relevant information, you have better chances of topping the results with more keyword phrases. Make sure you set your profile to public so both registered and non-registered users can see your page. This is a great way for people to discover additional information about you and your company.

To gain even more exposure, you can utilize the various widgets and 3rd party widgets available to promote your LinkedIn page in blogs, forums, and other social networking sites. These are all free advertising mediums that can give you some extra traffic.

LinkedIn claims to have at least one new member signup every second with existing members coming from all the Fortune 500 companies. If you have a huge brand to promote, you can target these individuals directly and be rewarded quality traffic and leads. All the success depends on how well you design and present your ad, but LinkedIn takes a lot of the hassle out of finding the audience because that’s what LinkedIn is all about giving you high chances for your ads to fly.

The internet is a great source for finding some general information regarding the profile of a given company. Knowing these things is important especially when joining the ranks of top corporations because grabbing the wrong opportunity at the wrong time may lose your chances of getting that back. It is also important to stick to whatever job you are doing for the duration of the contract so you can move on to bigger roles smoothly.

The problem of researching online for these businesses by traditional means is that the details are pretty scarce and often times, there is no line that allows you to communicate with the author of the information given. There was also no center point for professionals to gather and share ideas about companies until LinkedIn came along.

LinkedIn doesn’t show its face as a directory of companies or some corporate encyclopedia. Instead it takes the face of a social networking site where you can build your network of professionals. It is these professionals that give you the necessary information regarding the company in question and since you are dealing with people who are directly involved with the company, you are sure to get accurate and relevant information that cannot be found anywhere else. LinkedIn also allows professionals to fill up their past companies allowing those people to be consulted regarding their experiences with the company during that period.

If you filled your background to the best you can, you should also be able to find new people who could be your partners or colleagues one day that are involved with businesses that you never heard of before. The best thing about LinkedIn is that it remains a free service so you can spend as much time needed gathering as many companies as possible for comparison.

Perhaps the most powerful feature in LinkedIn is the LinkedIn Answers. If you start to struggle in finding the information you need, you can use this service to ask questions about any business related topic. This question can be directed towards your network alone for trusting answers or can be given to a wider audience for varied opinions. With over 35 million LinkedIn members and counting, your question is sure to have some feedback after the first 24 hours. And again, LinkedIn is all about business so you know that you won’t be bumping into any internet trolls that steer the discussion off-topic.

Once you have gained enough experience thanks to the information brought to you by the LinkedIn community, you can start building your reputation as well and help others get their questions answered. LinkedIn is all about helping one and another professionally and building careers together.

The trick to maximizing your research is to fill in your profile completely and ask your questions professionally. Observe proper netiquette the same way the other members do and you should be fine. Don’t forget to stay in touch with your first and second degree contacts as they may provide you with valuable information regarding your next company lead.

Once you have finished learning the ropes of LinkedIn, you can give yourself a pat in the back because now all you need to do is find people that you trust and connect with the ones that you know personally. Some people have a hard time in doing this even after they have filled up their profile completely and tweaked all of their settings. The reason may be because the people in your area may not be very familiar of LinkedIn. A good number of small businesses use other social network sites as a means of communication simply because they are popular and do not know of the existence of LinkedIn. As an existing member of LinkedIn, you can make the difference by following these steps.

Introduce them to LinkedIn

If you are actively chatting with friend either online or offline, you can simply say that you know a nice website where you can connect with people professionally. The most important thing in this step is giving the site address. The homepage shows more than enough information to get anyone to sign up right away.

Import your Contacts

If you have a huge address book in your webmail, you can add all of them to your LinkedIn address book and optionally send them all invites. You can also find any existing members of LinkedIn that matches your imported address book. If you see their profiles bare, they may be experiencing the same problems as you. Show that you are around by messaging them so they can give LinkedIn a second look. When inviting new people on board via e-mail, make sure you personalize your invite message to convince others to join without hesitation.

Add your invited Contacts to your Network

This should be done automatically if you invited them through e-mail, but if you gave the address instead, you should ask the person’s e-mail address so you can add the person to your network. Make sure you do this right away or else the person may lose interest with the service.

Show your Profile to the others that you have invited

To demonstrate the full capabilities of LinkedIn, you can use your profile as an example. Providing that all the information and details is complete, new members can easily grasp the idea on how valuable LinkedIn is. If you are an upgraded member, you may end up convincing others to upgrade as well in the long run.

Teach them how to complete their Profiles

This is an easy step since LinkedIn offers a meter illustrating how complete your profile is. This meter can be missed by new users so all you need to tell them to do is click the small “Edit” button below the meter and complete their profile from there.

Encourage them to look for others

Once they are all finished, you can finally encourage them to find other colleagues that they may know by using the search bar on top. If the person manages to forge some connections of his own, that means more 2nd degree connections for you. By then, the person should be deeply involved with LinkedIn and willing to grow from there. Try to get more people on board for even better results.

There are a lot of social networking websites on the internet that aim to bring people together. Many of these services offer messaging capabilities and the ability to add a user as a contact or a “friend” so profile updates and other alerts can be sent to other users that are linked to that particular contact. A lot of online social activity develops as more members start to join the service and connect with one another. Searching for people is as easy as typing in keywords based on name, location, interests, and other fields. Depending on the social network, the service may incorporate additional features such as blogging, profile widgets, games, entertainment, mobile access, and other social related features.

LinkedIn has a similar set of features to these social networking sites, but has a few interesting features of its own that separate it from the pack. Knowing these differences can be useful for convincing your colleagues. Even existing members can find this information helpful as many do not know the full set of features that LinkedIn has to offer. Here is why LinkedIn is a unique and different service that deserves attention.

A Network of Professionals

Social networking sites are usually geared towards younger audiences, but LinkedIn encourages employed people with professions to join the circle. Most of the profile fields that are to be filled up are mostly business related which is just enough to keep the non-professionals at bay. Currently, there are over 35 million members from all over the world that are seeking to link with other professionals. In addition, all the top executives representing companies found in the Fortune 500 list are registered in LinkedIn.

A Place to Seek Professional Help

While the common social networks offer a bulletin board that lets anyone in the network share ideas, LinkedIn takes it a step forward by allowing users to ask questions in a Yahoo! Answers style fashion. Since LinkedIn is a professional network, only business related questions are encouraged. These restrictions make LinkedIn a lot more stable in its field than other networks that offer a free for all in terms of topics and theme.

A Job Fair for the Masses

Linked in is not only a place to get to know other people for professional socialization purposes, but it also serves as a great way to find your next job. Thanks to the special profile fields, it is quite easy to find others with the same work background as you so you can partner up with them with ease. Because LinkedIn supports company profiles, you can also find out where people go from one company to the next. With the millions of people registered in the LinkedIn, the possibilities of finding a job are endless.

If you neglected your LinkedIn account because your other contacts are active in other social networks, perhaps it is time to introduce them to LinkedIn and tell them the professional potential of the network. It will help forge deeper connections in both a personal and business perspective.