The debate rages on: Is a premium LinkedIn account worth the cost?

Given the current raging spamming issue, I believe a premium LinkedIn account offers greater value and security than ever before, at rates so low they’re aren’t even worth worrying about.

Here are 10 LinkedIn Premium Account Features that can truly change how you generate leads and build visibility with LinkedIn:

I bet you never knew your Premium LinkedIn account offered so many great features. And there’s more!

I have had both the free and premium accounts and, honestly, the premium account is well worth the $30 or $50 monthly if you are committed to getting the very best results from LinkedIn. Why not sign up for a month, see if you like it and use the features and, if not, simply cancel out?

Have you been keeping up with the “Fake LinkedIn email” crisis? If not, here’s a quick update:

“Be advised that there are fake Linkedin invitation reminders in circulation sending users to a BlackHole exploit which attempts to drop Cridex onto the PC. Cridex is a rather nasty piece of work that does everything from target… banks and social networking accounts to a little bit of CAPTCHA cracking…”

Simply google ‘fake linkedin emails’ and many recent posts will share the details.

The criminals (spammers) have developed superior methods that look suspiciously like the real thing. Just as the drug lords always outfox the cops, LinkedIn spammers stay a step ahead. The logo may look right; the colors are true; the wording seems legit and proper English is used. There may be nothing about the notice that sends up red flags in your mind. This is step 1 in “how to trap unsuspecting LinkedIn users”.

Often, the ‘urgent reminder’ appears by way of your email inbox. You might feel you’ve been accidentally rude to another member, so you quickly hop on and accept the request. This is step 2 in the trap.

The emails may look like this:

Courtesy Steve Tylok, www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com (Thanks, Steve!)

How can you protect yourself? Here are 5 ways to stay safe out there:

1. Do not accept invites from people you don’t know or those whom you cannot verify as authentic. When in doubt, choose one of these 5 options for accepting/rejecting a LinkedIn invitation. The newest option allows you to reply and ask questions before accepting the invite. So…no excuses!

2. Consider switching to a premium account. For $30, $50, or $100 monthly, you get 3, 10 or 25 InMails. Among other awesome features of the premium account, InMails allow you to connect securely with any one of LinkedIn’s 150 million members in 200 countries. If your InMail is ignored, (rarely), the credit is returned to you to be used again. Does this seem like an expensive option? It’s not. On how many things do you spend $50 a month without blinking? Morning coffee, perhaps? $50 a month is an insanely small investment in your business…especially when you enjoy all the other features of a premium account. Compare premium LinkedIn accounts.

 3. In line with point #1, create a quick set of ‘rules’ to govern your invitation acceptance. For example, I won’t connect with someone who has no picture, whose picture is of a family, whose picture is too fuzzy or far away to see the person’s face, or outdoor pictures of the personal type (hunting cap on, rifle in hand). I won’t connect with someone who has less than 10 connections or only 1 or 2 recommendations. My goal is to connect with likeminded professionals — “professionals” being the keyword. Create your own rules. You’ll be surprised how easily and quickly you can manage your invitations.

4. Remove your birth date, personal interests, and marital status from the page. Just because the blanks are there doesn’t mean you have to fill them in. These items are ‘TMI’ and have nothing to do with your value as a professional. While I do advocate sharing contact information, make sure you share only your business contact information. If you work from home and do not have a business contact information, don’t share. The exception would be your email, which is hopefully yourname@yourcompanyname.com rather than something like choochooboy@yahoo.com. If you don’t have a bonafide business email, I urge you to correct this immediately.

5. Know how to manage your account settings. Do you know where to go to remove connections? What button will ‘flag’ an offender? How can you turn off your broadcast feed to stop updates from appearing on your home page? Have you ever posted a question in Answers to get fast help with common LinkedIn or business problems? Where would you go to change your email, or select who may see your activity feed or your connections?

There are 1001 ways to control your profile/account, instead of allowing it to control you. Use them!

Yes, there is an influx of LinkedIn spammers. LinkedIn tells me they are working on better controls. But at the end of the day, isn’t it the responsibility of each member to understand the platform and use it wisely to protect personal information and visibility?

All the tools are there. Perhaps, for a bit, we should stop worrying about creating better profiles and, instead, learn the “back end”.

What do you think?

Think LinkedIn is complicated?

Don’t know what to do once your profile is complete?

These 5 LinkedIn tips are simple to implement and will get you closer to your goal of finding new business or landing that dream job.

1. Ask Questions That Count

Which email would you rather receive?

“Dear Sue,

Please connect with me on LinkedIn.

Joe”

or

“Dear Sue,

I noticed you work in Chicago. I grew up on ABC Street, just a few blocks from your office. Are you a longtime resident? I’d like to connect with you.

Sincerely,

Joe”

People like to talk about themselves, so show interest in a way that doesn’t require a credit card number. Be human. Ask questions. Find things in common. It’s easy to ignore a generic email, but we feel almost compelled to answer direct questions. This was true in 1937 when Dale Carnegie penned How to Win Friends and Influence People, and it’s even truer today, amid the inherent anonymity of our digital age.

2. Recommendations: What Do You Really Want?

The best recommendations provide hard facts about your value, using specific information instead of vague references to your ‘greatness’. Don’t be shy about asking for what you want. If your solution increased a client’s bottom line by 4.3%, ask him to say so. If your client sold an additional 10,000 units because of your compelling copy, request this be included.  What others say about you carries far more weight than what you say about yourself. Don’t take recommendations lightly.

3. “Contact For” Section: Did You Forget Something?

You know that tiny segment way down at the bottom of your profile page called “Contact [your name] For”? When you first completed your profile, you probably checked off all the little boxes to let others know your interests. But did you notice that little text box at the bottom? Here is where you can include a personal message telling people how, why, when and where to contact you. You do want people to contact you, right? It’s like a “sign-off” that completes the picture.

One note of caution: Do not display your birth date or marital status. This isn’t Facebook. These items have no bearing on your value as a professional.

4. Summary: Who Are You?

Have you read summaries that address people in the 3^rd person and begin with “I”? Yawn. If we can’t bother to be a bit creative in our self-promotions attempts, how can we expect to engage others to do business? You don’t need to be a highly-trained copywriter to craft a decent summary. Take the focus off yourself, try to avoid beginning every sentence with “I” and tell readers how your amazing skills can solve their most perturbing problems. Oh, and try to keep it to 2 solid paragraphs. After that, you’re likely to lose ‘em.

5. Your Profile: Step Away from the Wall, Flower

How much time have you spent prettying up your profile vs. engaging in groups, marketing to target lists, or enjoying the rewards of being a connector? How many articles have you read or steps have you implemented to make your profile better, while ignoring more important tactics? Just like the shy kid at the prom, it’s time to step away from the “wall” and ask someone to dance! Your profile is merely the foundation that helps you bloom in the marketing garden. Stop procrastinating! Get your profile completed. Get help with optimization if it’s not your thing. Then step away, and get busy using LinkedIn tools that really bring results.

Questions? I’m here to help. Contact me to learn more about no-cost and low-cost LinkedIn marketing solutions that really get results.

LinkedIn is not a platform known for its support of volunteerism. But this may be changing.

“Volunteer Experience & Causes” is the new profile section catching buzz. For those who wish to highlight volunteer or non-profit experience, it’s great.

For college grads and near grads, it offers a new profile dimension which solves the problem of having little or no job experience to flesh out one’s profile, as well as a chance to prove one’s passion.

This new section also makes it easier to recruit volunteers, supporters and staff, improve social influence, grow relationships and networks and, perhaps most importantly, connect with donors.

Adding the Volunteers & Causes section is simple. Below the first section of your profile is a link, “Add Sections”. Click on it, and a list of options appears. Scroll through and click on Volunteers & Causes to add this section to your profile. You will have an opportunity to add detail as well about your specific experiences.

Not only can this new feature help you share more about your expertise, but non-profit organizations can benefit in myriad ways as more members make use of this section. Clearly, it’s time for non-profits to get on board and engaged with LinkedIn, for greater public visibility, improved outreach, networking and cause promotion.

What business owner doesn’t want a bit more fame? As we approach the new year, many business owners are thinking “How will I do things differently?” Follow these top 10 tips to get started.

1. Don’t make people dig for who you are and what you do. You know why? Because they won’t.

2. Tell people why they should care about you. Tell people how you can help, whether your services make life easier, save them money, or cure warts. Sing it loud and proud!

3. Do not, under any circumstances, take your own ‘professional’ picture. Do I really have to explain this one?

4. Make your point and get out. People are busy. Skip the long-winded Intro to Business 101.

5. Be authentic. Talk like a real person, not a corporate robot. Be honest. Be you! If that’s not good enough for one person, it will be more than enough for the next.

6. Avoid doublespeak. If you offer copywriting services for history buffs, don’t refer to yourself as a digital anthropologist. This is no time to get overly creative. No one knows, no one cares. If you are unclear on this point, reread point #1.

7. Engage. People are not likely to find you if you don’t find them first, or at least put yourselves in their path. Who are your peers? Who are your colleagues? Who are your mentors, your competition, your vendors, business owners of related services? There is no lack of people with whom you can connect. Stop wondering if you should do it and just do it already.

8. Help people for no good reason. I know self-promotion is a hot topic, but…when you help someone just because you can, it is both personally satisfying and commercially rewarding. I’m not suggesting you do everything for nothing. I’m suggesting you look for opportunities to ask “How can I help?” and then actually help…without the promise of reward.

9. Contribute. You know those groups you joined on LinkedIn? When is the last time you contributed, instead of just watching everyone else do the heavy lifting?  I mean, why are you there in the first place? If you are unclear on this point, reread point #7.

10. Ask people, “What do you think?”, “What is your opinion?” We all love the sounds of our own opinions. But this is more than that. It’s about getting others to open up, get involved in a conversation, share their thoughts…and, in the process, you might just learn what you can do to help (point #8)…which could lead to new business, or simply the making of a cool new friend. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it ten thousand times: people don’t care what you have to say about yourself. They care about what others have to say about you.

Those celebrities who seem to enjoy “overnight” success really don’t. They’ve been starring in B-movies and bad sitcoms for years, scratching and clawing for the one part that might changes their fortunes and their lives. Remember this when it seems like your own wheels of fame are turning far too slowly. Engagement and relationship building happen over time. Slow and steady wins the visibility race.

Expose yourself in 2012, and watch what a difference it makes!