Social Business Success

Daily reading and listening to positive and motivating messages will help an individual reach new heights.  This was the theme that Bill Lewis talked about at Pink Slip Mid-Michigan’s quarterly Pink Slip party.

Bill Lewis talked about that individuals are conditioned not to succeed.  In order to overcome this, people need to flood their brain with positive messages, consistently every day.  The older the person is, the more ingrained the messages are not to succeed.

Mr. Lewis started his presentation by discussing that in order for an individual to attain a specific goal, a person first needs to have that hunger to achieve that goal.  Hunger must be part of the person’s foundation.  He said he focuses on three areas:  Character, task and relationships.

Mr. Lewis also discussed visualization.  He said that professional athletes visualize making the shot in basketball or getting that hit in baseball.  People need to visualize their success in their own professions.

Mr. Lewis’ presentation was very inspiring and the audience was very appreciative of his presentation & time.  Bill Lewis is the co-founder of LIFE that launched in 2011.

Attendees at the Pink Slip party networking.

The first part of the event was broken down into workshops.  The workshops included “Finding Your Networking Comfort Zone”, “Resumes that Shine” and “Cover Letters:  What’s Your First Impression”.  There were a number of professionals that donated their time to conduct these workshops.

The event was well attended.  After the main speaker, the attendees spent the remainder of the evening networking with each.  The attendees practiced what they learned in the “Finding Your Networking Comfort Zone” break out session.

LinkedIn has been rolling out its new interface and Contacts application over the past couple of months, which means more users have the new interface and the Contacts application.  People are talking about LinkedIn more than now they’ve had in a while.  It seems it’s the topic of conversation for the time being.  Over the past couple of months I’ve been approached quite a bit about LinkedIn from individuals to colleges to businesses.

I have numerous LinkedIn trainings scheduled this summer, as I will be working with colleges and businesses.  The number one topic I get requests to talk about with LinkedIn is networking.

Spend sometime getting comfortable with the new interface and Contacts application.  The Contacts application works like a mini CRM program.  LinkedIn wants its users to import their contacts from their email address books. In the Contacts module (where your contacts are listed), LinkedIn will ask you numerous times to import your contacts from your other address books. After a while I felt like saying enough already.  Stop asking me to import my contacts.  Whether you do that or not is up to you. There are some LinkedIn power users that love the new  Contacts application. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you need to review the fundamentals?

I was asked to speak for the Michigan Shifting Gears current cohort (13) about LinkedIn.  When I gave my presentation to the members Cohort 13, I was amazed at how this program is still one of the best kept secrets.

This was a sharp group and I was challenged a number of times.  The questions that were asked were challenging and direct to the point.  I could tell by the questions asked that this group not only wanted to learn but take LinkedIn to the next level.  The training turned out to be one dialogue after another.

Cohort 13 of the Michigan Shifting Gears program attending a presentation.

The training consisted of two parts of LinkedIn.  The first part was discussing how each section of the profile should be written and why.  The second topic was how a person markets him/herself on LinkedIn. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you have a philosophy on how you plan to build your LinkedIn network?  Are you a person that will send out invitations to everyone you run into on LinkedIn to join your network?  Or a person that accepts every invitation that you receive?  Maybe your philosophy is you don’t accept an invitation until you meet or speak to that person.  Whatever your philosophy is, it’s the correct one if you feel comfortable with that philosophy.

I find the different philosophies interesting the longer I am on LinkedIn.

When I train people on building their LinkedIn network, I explain the various philosophies I’ve encountered.  I go on to say that you will find the philosophy that you feel most comfortable using.

When a person first starts out on LinkedIn, they are concentrating on building their network to that elusive 500 number where they become a “super connector”.

What is your philosophy for adding people to your network?

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Tuesday night’s networking event put on by Network2NewWork was inspiring.

The event started out with 30 minutes of networking.  The program for the evening was a panel discussion of success stories.  All of the six panelists were unemployed within the last 18 months.  All but one of them landed a new a position.  The person that is still in transition is new to the Grand Rapids area.  However, this person is out networking and is volunteering with the organization called EARN.  All of the panelists that landed a position did so through networking.

Networking is all about the other person

Every member of the panel spoke about how they went about working their job campaign.  Each member said they concentrated their efforts on networking the correct way. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you confident?  We talk about confidence everyday, but are you really confident in your abilities?  You know if you are confident when you are talking with your manager or a potential employer.  You’re feeling good, your voice is strong and doesn’t quiver, you’re enthusiastic and you believe in yourself.

Dictionary.com defines confidence as belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance.  Think about this situation.  You are talking with a car salesperson about purchasing a car.  You start noticing the salesperson’s voice is shaky, has poor eye contact, has no enthusiasm and is fidgeting.  What are the odds that you are going to purchase the car from this salesperson?  The odds are you probably won’t purchase the car one of the reasons you’ll say is the salesperson wasn’t confident.

What are the non-verbal signs of a confident person?  Sharon Chapman of Affinity Counseling references seven non verbal signs of a confident person.

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Are you on LinkedIn or do you use LinkedIn?  I can’t tell you how often I hear people ask that question to others.  Or people will say “you really need to be on LinkedIn”.  If you aren’t “using LinkedIn”, in all probability you haven’t been informed what the program can do to enhance your career.  Once you understand why you should be using LinkedIn, you then need to be trained on how to use the program.

It amazes me how many people say “you need to be on LinkedIn” that they assume that you know how to use the program.  Take the time to explain what LinkedIn is and how it can be used.  The next step is finding a class to take so you can take advantage of the program.  When people say “You should be on LinkedIn” it is similar to people saying “You should be networking”.  What I mean by that is once a person says you should network or be on LinkedIn, they assume that you know what to do and understand how to get to the final result.

Photo is from an article found on Tekk Buz.z

When I talk with a person that is not on LinkedIn I determine how that person can benefit from being an active user of the program.  I take the time to fully explain what LinkedIn is and how the program can help that person attain their professional goal(s).

I’m amazed how many people today either don’t have an account on LinkedIn or have a profile and are just collecting contacts every now and then.  LinkedIn is a tool for virtual networking to take place and for you to inform your network what you are doing.  The precepts of in person networking also hold true for virtual networking.  That’s a simple explanation; however there is a lot of work to get to that point.

I had the same experience as many people have.  A friend of mine told me I should use LinkedIn.  My friend didn’t explain how to use LinkedIn or the benefits I would be able to reap from using the program.  My friend just told me that I should be on LinkedIn.  So for the first three years I was on LinkedIn, all I did was collect connections every now and then.  I didn’t know how to use it until I attended a class.

There is a lot that goes into developing the LinkedIn profile.  It is difficult to accomplish your objectives on LinkedIn with a poorly written profile.  The more I read about the program and all its different sections and how they should be written, the more an individual should take a class on how to use the program.

The point of writing the profile is to make yourself attractive to other people so they will view your profile.  Whether you’re marketing yourself as a business owner, business professional or a job seeker, one of your goals should be to get people to view your profile.  You want people to know who are and what you can offer them.  Take your time to write each section of the profile.  Believe it or not, your LinkedIn profile is one of the best ways to market yourself.

One question that most people are afraid to answer because they don’t know how to answer it properly is “What do you do?”  This is a very popular question that is asked at any kind of gathering such as a networking event or a family celebration.

Here in the United States, we seem to want to know what a person does for a living.  It’s important that we answer that question properly in order make a good impression.  The same is true with writing the headline in our LinkedIn profile.

When hiring managers are searching to fill a position or find a person to connect with to do business, people will search by key words.

To help you write your LinkedIn headline, one way to start is think of how you would answer the question what do you do?  Research the different job titles in your field.  Put yourself in the hiring manger’s shoes if you needed to find a person that does what you do.  What are all of the different positions called that do what you do?  Read job descriptions for positions to which you apply.  Might there be some words in that job description you would be able to use in your headline?

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Does speaking in front of a group of people send shivers down your spine?  If it does, you’re not alone.  The number one fear that people have in speaking front of a crowd.  This fear prevents people from reaching their potential says Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur in an article in Forbes.  If you can overcome this fear, your potential is unlimited.

As a professional, you are going to meet people and it’s vital that you speak well one-on-one, in groups and in front of a number of people.  I learned long ago that everyone would sell one of three things in life, if not all three.  They are a product, a service or themselves.

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