The failure to connect meaningfully - how well do we appreciate Value Added Networking?
Andy Lampard
Apparently many see me as “The Networking King” Recognition unsought but appreciated. Here to serve. Providing investment brokering services to UHNWI I Also Mastermind Founder
Bland!
Lifeless!
Homogenised!
Is this person real?
How often have you read a profile that leaves you cold?
A perfect profile is probably not possible. However, it can incrementally evolve. In our highly competitive world, think of your profile as a valuable piece of Cyber Real Estate. And it's free. How good is that!
Your LinkedIn profile will almost certainly mean that you are on that other piece of priceless Cyber Real Estate - Google. It's important that in this attention deficit society to grab attention in a mere 8 seconds. Does your profile do that? Does min? You will now be motivated to be the judge. I have set myself up for that. I put my head above the parapet. But I do that to help those in and beyond my network. As I said " work in progress" According to research by Microsoft, the average attention span has decreased 12 seconds in 2000 due to advances in technology.
What can I do to help YOU?
I am not holding my own Profile up as the perfect model. However, I hope that it stands out amongst the rest. I hope it communicates passion. I keep working on it, learning from great examples I discover. Indeed, I spent time this weekend crafting improvements. It's always a work in progress. I hope it expresses the heart of a true professional networker "What can I do ... to help you".
Givers Gain
The founder of the BNI, largest professional networking organisation, Ivan Misner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Misner) coined the phrase, "Givers Gain" others have a similar concept "Pay it Forward". Others say "What goes around comes around" I avoid that since it rarely used to emphasise the positive, unlike the previous two phrases.
So what does this have to do with LinkedIn profiles? Everything?
I appeal to everyone whether in my network or beyond don't use LinkedIn as a virtual CV. You will be lost in the crowd. So many profiles give the impression they are treating their current role as a stepping stone to the next opportunity. That may be that case. What impression would my profile have on my boss or my colleagues? Please don't let your profile give the impression that you are desperate to leave the company. Respect the fact that they did recruit you, invested in you, and are at least paying for your current lifestyle!
Another question;
Would it excite a head-hunter - if that is indeed your objective? What would make them stop long enough to find out about your career path to date? You almost certainly have exceptional skills and abilities. What makes them choose to scroll down your profile and find your endorsements and more importantly those invaluable recommendations
Call to Action
Where is what those in marketing term the CTA - the call to action. What compels the casual reader to reach out to you or accept your connection request. Pause a moment to reflect.
I finish with a quote I have pulled from a very helpful article that inspired a very helpful article from www.bizjournals.com
"Although he never lived to see LinkedIn (or even the internet, for that matter), Dale Carnegie knew what he was talking about when he wrote these words in his 1936 bestseller " How To Win Friends and Influence People:"
Why talk about what we want? That is childish. Absurd. Of course, you are interested in what you want. You are eternally interested in it. But no one else is. The rest of us are just like you: we are interested in what we want. So the only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it."
When it comes to LinkedIn, you must build a profile that talks about what your potential clients or employers want, and then shows them how working with you helps them get it.
President Meryl Moss Media Group--Publicity, Marketing and Social Media / Publisher BookTrib.com and CEO Meridian Editions
3 个月Andy, thanks for sharing! How are you doing?
Lawyer. Brisbane & Tokyo. I founded Crowdify, Air Deliver and now Jointly. Author of The 7 Pillars Book, The Power Of Connectedness, Preventive Not Reactive & Disruption. Also a VC, longevity and business coach
5 年I told my father about Dale Carnegie when I was about 40. He laughed and said he had given me the book "Making friends and influencing people" when I was 18. Unfortunately I was heading overseas at the time and never packed it. It got lost and I spent 22 years without the wisdom
Lawyer. Brisbane & Tokyo. I founded Crowdify, Air Deliver and now Jointly. Author of The 7 Pillars Book, The Power Of Connectedness, Preventive Not Reactive & Disruption. Also a VC, longevity and business coach
5 年Good thoughts Andy thank you. 3 years ago I founded an alternative to linked in which had multiple aspects to the profiles. We were massively successful but got hacked down by staff who also stole the $15 million we had raised by members and our savings. I am rebuilding our social network now and will incorporate some of your ideas
Developing Rainmakers. Helping Independent Consultants GAIN Clarity, Control, Confidence & Conversations. Running the Rainmaker community I started pre-pandemic. Interested in #AI for Consultants.
5 年I'm seeing LinkedIn as somewhere where we can express our Purpose Andy. As individuals and as businesses. It may be a self-centred purpose - to make money. However Value must be offered in exchange for money. So, the process of rewriting our LinkedIn profile is an opportunity for us to re-consider our value to others. To give an example, I've defined my purpose as "To help experts and specialists to be more successful through LinkedIn, Social Selling and Business Development".
Marketing Strategist?? Corporate and Small Business Mentor ?? Integrated Joined-Up Marketing for Lead Generation ?? Expert in Referral Marketing ?? AI Savvy ??#75hard
5 年I’m going to come to this from a different angle and suggest that your profile is exactly the way you dress and the way you stand in a crowded room. It simply acts as a magnet to catch someone’s eye and maybe raise a look of interest or at best a smile. It does no more than that. Visibility. The rest is about engagement - smiling back, holding out a hand and saying how are you. Fancy meeting you here. In any networking event, your first impressions count but after that it is about engagement and this is where all too many people fall down. A profile that appeals to you may not appeal to me but also be of interest to Mark. So the profile should not be designed to appeal to everyone. And it doesn’t need to. The answer has to be in the engagement that the initial interest solicits. You can have the best profile in the world but without engagement it’s wallpaper. I’d be interested in Mark’s comments as he knows far more about LinkedIn than I do.