See Received and Given Recommendations on LInkedIn

LinkedIn Lets Others See Who You’ve Recommended

Tweet LinkedIn Profile viewers now have the ability to see not only who has given you recommendations and who you have given recommendations to. This is a new development and lets those who are checking your resume and work history to see the deeper relationships you have had with LinkedIn connections you have taken the… Continue reading »

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How to Spread Event News on LinkedIn

Tweet The LinkedIn Events app was removed recently from LinkedIn, probably because few people were signing up for events. Having this removed, however should not deter you from announcing and sharing events on LinkedIn. Seminars, Webinars, Networking Mixers are excellent events that should be shared on LinkedIn. Events on Your Web Page Savvy LinkedIn fans… Continue reading »

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Skills listed with Endorsements prompt above LinkedIn Profile

How to Give Endorsements on LinkedIn

Tweet LinkedIn announced a new feature today, Endorsements, in hopes of garnering more value for talent search and increasing engagement between connections. It certainly doesn’t require the time commitment of a written recommendation and your peers can easily give you the equivalent of a thumbs up on one or more skills you have listed in… Continue reading »

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LinkedIn Lets Others See Who You’ve Recommended How to Spread Event News on LinkedIn How to Give Endorsements on LinkedIn

Jan
23

LinkedIn Lets Others See Who You’ve Recommended

by Carol Hagen

See Received and Given Recommendations on LInkedIn

LinkedIn Profile viewers now have the ability to see not only who has given you recommendations and who you have given recommendations to. This is a new development and lets those who are checking your resume and work history to see the deeper relationships you have had with LinkedIn connections you have taken the time to recommend.

These “received” and “given” numbers now appear in the upper right corner in your Profile’s recommendations section. Just what does that say about you? Do you have friends and co-workers that you’ve helped? What is some of your recommendations have become a big success. Recognize that recruiters, your business associates and prospects with connections to you may be digging deep into your profile to find out about who you are, your generosity and your ability to write – after all recommendations can be eloquent, simple, and engaging so immediately reflect on how you correspond with others.

Also note that it shows how many recommendations you’ve given and received. Is there a balance to your generosity. Do you only recommend those that have recommended you? It’s something you need to consider.

If you are looking for more LinkedIn insight or want help in leveraging LinkedIn for business development, Let us know. We’re here to help.

Nov
30

How to Spread Event News on LinkedIn

by Carol Hagen

The LinkedIn Events app was removed recently from LinkedIn, probably because few people were signing up for events. Having this removed, however should not deter you from announcing and sharing events on LinkedIn. Seminars, Webinars, Networking Mixers are excellent events that should be shared on LinkedIn.

Events on Your Web Page
Savvy LinkedIn fans were using the LinkedIn Events app to simply hyperlink to their full event details. They also used the individual profile status update and the LinkedIn company page update to spread news about upcoming events. The key is to have a URL with the event details and an eye appealing image so your connections will notice. Some create their event on their own website, this is acceptable, but doesn’t capture the local event power searcher. It will however work well for private events coupled with an invitation to your preferred client list.

Understand the Event Power Searcher
The power searcher is usually looking for a specific event topic or industry related activity. They may be looking for CPE credits, places to network or a quick way to beef up their education. If you want to find an event on BIM or every upcoming event in Phoenix related to the construction, a google search is cumbersome to craft. Power searches turn to the big event solutions EventBrite, Lanyrd and Plancast to find what they’re looking for. They Think keywords so always include your industry, acronyms and business lingo.

Choose an Event App
Personally I use Eventbrite frequently for local event announcements. Many organizations and associations post their local chapter events here and have found new member prospects simply by posting and sharing these events through social media. If you happen to be a public speaker, Lanyrd offers more amenities that may be a consideration too. Plancast is growing too but had a later start. It’s worth your time to consider each of them as they all have their niche. By creating the event with all it’s details using one of these solutions you can create a specific URL for your event. Using the URL created by these apps, you have a Link and picture to help attract more connections to your event announcement.

Spread the News
Once you have your URL in one of these event apps and you’ve posted your status update, have a friend or colleague (or your association board of directors) share it in LinkedIn Groups and with their connections. Take the time to organize this activity by designating who posts to what groups and increasing the volume with likes and shares throughout your network. Sharing can cross social networking sites so don’t forget to Tweet and post on Facebook too if your prospects use these sites.

Engage with Your Likers, Sharers and Commentors
Once someone likes or shares your event, strike up a conversation in the comments or group discussion. Ask if they’ve been to any similar events, know the speaker or have any questions. Invite them to attend as your guest and soon you’ll find others noticing your conversation and joining in.

Once you’ve mastered these basics, learn all the ins and outs of the event app you are using. They have many features that the LinkedIn Event app never offered. Soon you’ll be hosting webinars, and event Google Hangouts for your target audience and reaching worldwide!

Please share your comments and success stories if you put these suggestions to use. We love to hear from the people we’ve helped.

Sep
24

How to Give Endorsements on LinkedIn

by Carol Hagen

LinkedIn announced a new feature today, Endorsements, in hopes of garnering more value for talent search and increasing engagement between connections. It certainly doesn’t require the time commitment of a written recommendation and your peers can easily give you the equivalent of a thumbs up on one or more skills you have listed in your profile. The process is simple, just follow these steps to give a Linkedin connection an endorsement:

How to Give LInkedIn Endorsements

1. Go to the LinkedIn profile of the connection you want to give an endorsement to.
2. If they have skills listed you’ll see those skills listed in a new prompt section (likely to be removed as LinkedIn adds new features in the future). Here’s what that prompt looks like:Skills listed with Endorsements prompt above LinkedIn Profile
3. Remove any skills from their list that you do not want to endorse them for by clicking the “X” next to the skill, then click the Endorse button.

If you scroll down to your connection’s Skills and expertise section you’ll see your endorsements to them and those of others.
Here’s what my friend has showing after I gave him a few endorsements:LinkedIn Endorsements show in the Skills and Expertise section

5. If you visit a profile and the prompt above the profile isn’t there or you want to see the details on how many endorsements your connection has, try scrolling down to the Skills and Expertise section and click the plus (+) sign next to the skill.

Easy and quick. So what are you waiting for? Give a few endorsements out and if you’re connected to me, thank you in advance. I appreciate it!

Sep
18

Social Media Love

by Carol Hagen

If you don’t love people, don’t get into Social Media. It amazes me how social media sites are only looking for likes when you need to develop a stronger connection. If you like a post on Facebook are you 100% committed to that statement or photo? Perhaps you agree more than 50% but you must realize you are stating your reputation publicly…you better be all in! This is why it’s even more difficult to receive “likes” on LinkedIn or the coveted “Share”. Business reputations are on the line. Does it align with corporate culture, the marketing brand and does it pass the mom test (Your mom would be proud knowing what you just said or posted this content)?

Imagine a proposal that was proceeded by I love you 60% and like you 40% for a 100% total. Would you commit? It’s the same on social media. The full commitment is a matter of trust, respect and reputation. Next time you comment on a blog, post a status update or tweet your opinion, I hope you’ll be thinking about this post, its message and the video below.

You’ll want to watch this Steve Harvey Show clip recently aired on TV – starring my friend Greg. He understands the importance of 100% – guaranteed to make you laugh and love!

Aug
16

Social Media Business Development: Call Me Maybe

by Carol Hagen

Social media has become ubiquitous in a fast and furious frenzy but few businesses have mastered the art. Connections and introductions are a great way to warm up a cold call for business development. The same holds true in social networks, but what I like the most is how you can instantly know so much about a person before you speak with them that you can maximize your effectiveness.

Do Your Social Media Homework
In business development this is paramount to success. Doing your homework tells a prospect, customer or referrer just how much you care about them and their business. To prove my point, Microsoft has announced that LinkedIn will be “built-in” to the new Outlook and Office. If you are a B2B firm, LinkedIn is the ideal place to start. However, sometimes you just don’t have a connection to get you to a warm introduction. Sending a blind invitation to connect is more likely to get you pegged as a spammer than get you an appointment. Unless they are an open networker, don’t ruin your chances. You also must customize your invitation to connect so don’t start connecting using the LinkedIn app from your smartphone – there’s no way to change the invitation message there.

Create a Compelling Social Media and Mobile Friendly Presence
Your social networking profile as well as your website needs content that explains why people do business with you. What do you deliver? What’s your story? How can I reach you? Look at your profile now and critique your on-line presence. Does your content make people want to connect with you, call you or learn more about your business? Can they see your phone number on their smartphone, on your blog, your business website, etc. Is the phone number clickable for others to call you easily? You can’t do business until a connection is made. Make it easy fro them to maybe call you or you’ll miss opportunities.

Leverage Twitter
While many business leaders are not yet using Twitter, often their business development, marketing and PR departments are. The hidden gem in Twitter is that everyone there is more approachable. You can follow them, retweet their tweets, start a conversation by adding to one of their tweet topics and soon have them follow you back. Once you both follow each other you can direct message them (that’s a private message on Twitter). I find asking them to lunch, inviting them to a Skype chat or inquiring about my topic of technology is usually welcome once we have established a bit of trust…especially when it’s not a sales pitch. Once you have a connection inside you can open up more opportunities with that firm.

As the lyrics in the song say – I just met you. This seems crazy. Here’s my number. Call me maybe! If you aren’t familiar with the song, enjoy this viral video:

May
30

Google+ Adds New Local Button: Google Places Reviews Incorporated

by Carol Hagen

Google Plus has just added a new “Local” Button that allows you to view the reviews of others and share your own reviews publicly. You can see the new button on the left which gives you access to local restaurants to start, albeit all local businesses with Google Places are sure to follow.

Google Plus Local posts Your Reviews Publicly

You have the option to Help your friends find your reviews on Google+ Local by making your reviews public. It’s an all or nothing but what you really are doing is allowing the local businesses to have your identity (your picture) included with the review as shown below:

Local Reviews from Google Places now appear in G+

Will You Opt-In to Share Your Reviews?

If you wrote a review on a Google Places page (before Google+ existed) those reviews are also included. I’m glad they have this as an opt-in as it shows more sensitivity to privacy than some other social networks. I think Google got this right!

Note that your reviews will also appear in your Google+ profile. Now go share a review of your favorite eatery and keep your local establishments in business.

Mar
01

Facebook Timeline Changes Every Business Needs to Know

by Carol Hagen

If you haven’t heard, Facebook is changing Facebook Pages. It’s eliminating landing pages, adding the “Cover” and allowing you to “Pin” content. All this happens soon, March 31, 2012. If you aren’t aware of the Timeline impact on your Facebook company page, you may be unpleasantly surprised. Josh Constine wrote an excellent overview of what every buisness needs to know and what to prepare for and tips to get ready. I suggest you read it today as I had tweeted this earlier today.


After you’ve read the article in the tweet, share it with your business development and marketing experts as Facebook is planning on making advertising the preferred method for success on their platform. This may just get more people to consider Google+ instead.

Feb
20

Construction Certifications Build Trust on Your LinkedIn Profile

by Carol Hagen

Whether you hold a Certificate in Construction Management (CCM), AGC’s Certificate of Management Lean Construction (CM-LC) or are a Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP), displaying these designations and what they stand for are important in building trust and claiming your expertise. On-line is where it counts the most these days and the social network for professionals is LinkedIn. Most often seen is the alphabet soup after the name in a LinkedIn profile. While this shows the letters, not everyone knows what all these designations are. Sure we know CPA is Certified Public Accountant but most letter combinations aren’t quite as obvious.

To add your certifications only takes a minute and here’s how the certifications section appears on your LinkedIn Profile:Construction Certifications on your LinkedIn profile This will make it clear to those viewing your profile just what those letters after your name mean. It will also add to your credibility.

How to Add Your Construction Certifications to Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn profiles have a new section labeled Certifications, specifically designed to display professional certifications and credentials. This is the most appropriate place to display your status as a CCIFP, CM-LC, CM-BIM, CPA, CCM, CDS, CCA, CPSM, CTS-D, etc. Construction has more certifications that most realize.

This also is good for the insurance and finance professionals with CLU, CFBS, CFS, CIPM, ARM, CRIS, etc.

Step 1
In LinkedIn, select “Edit your profile” (found under the profile tab), select the “Add sections” link (just below the options to Share PDF or Print), and a box will appear with available sections to add to your profile.

Step 2
In the Add Sections box, select “Certifications” from the list on the left.

Step 3
After selecting the “Add to Profile” button, you can enter your certification details.

In the Certification Name field, enter the certification you hold (I’m betting you weren’t familiar with all these) :

  • Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP)
  • Certificate in Construction Management (CCM)
  • Certified Professional Constructor (CPC)
  • Construction Documents Technologist (CDT)
  • Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA)
  • Certified Project Manager (CPM)
  • Certificate in Management-Buuilding Information Modeling (CM-BIM)
  • Certificate in Management-Lean Construction (CM-LC)
  • LEED AP Interior Design + Construction (LEED AP ID+C)
  • General Health and Recordkeeping Specialist for Construction (HRS)
  • Certified Professional Estimator (CPE)
  • Green Globes Professional (GGP)
  • Certified Construction Marketing Professional (CCMP)
  • Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA)

    • Step 4
    In the Certification Authority field, enter the appropriate organization and if applicable, your License Number (you can leave this blank) and the duration of the certification. Check the box labeled “The certificate does not expire” if that applies.

    Once your entry is complete, select the blue Add Certification button and the certification will appear on your profile. Finish by removing any incorrect reference to your certifications from the employment experience section of your profile.

    You may also want to place your certifications before or just after your Summary or specialties section. To do this, while still in Edit Profile, hover over the “Certifications” Heading. You’ll see cross hairs appear that allow you to drag and drop the Certifications section to another spot on your profile.

    If you found this helpful, please connect with me on LinkedIn, Subscribe to this blog (option in the upper right) or visit Carol’s Construction Technology Blog for more industry specific education. Please share this with your co-workers and business associates.

    If you liked this post you may also find these valuable:

    How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Events

    The Construction Office Imperative: Digitize, Go Paperless and Mobile

    Google Loves LinkedIn

    How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

    Feb
    07

    Facebook Timeline for Contractors

    by Carol Hagen

    Facebook Timeline is Ideal for ConstructionThe Facebook Timeline is ideal for construction. It’s a place to show your success stories, testimonials, community events and causes you support all in one place. While the Facebook timeline is officially available on your personal profile, rest assured, it’s coming to Facebook pages and word on the street is the ETA is Feb 29, 2012.

    Now is the time to prepare and accumulate the best and most interesting project progress photos, before and after comparisons, employees hard at work, and those owners smiling faces. Think of creating a pictoral history and mix in a few videos, show the technology you use before you begin and during the construction. BIM, CAD and scheduling programs show well as do mobile devices explaining that your communication lines are open and that collaboration is paramount to success.

    Commercial contractors have shied away from Facebook, but hidden inside are two valuable gems. Talent Attraction and Community Outreach.

    Talent Attraction
    Employee referrals for new hires ranks “Numero Uno” especially when paired with employee incentives. Having them share job position openings is a first step. There are also apps to investigate like Branchout (http://http://apps.facebook.com/branchout/)which offers a way to post your job (free and paid versions), recommendations to help others find a job position and for the employer, search for prospective talent. Think college students, non-union tradesmen, and office personnel as over 70% of all job seekers are using Facebook to help them locate a new job.

    Don’t make all your Facebook posts about job openings. Mix in Employee of the month announcement, interesting projects, technology they’ll use, and the impact on the community. Tie it back to families, by including the picnic or appreciation event you hold. Paint the picture of why do people work here, why they stay for 10+ years, and show how you care. Safety topics also resonate as spouses want to know their loved ones are safe.

    Community Outreach
    This is a perfect tag along to talent attraction as making a difference in your community also shows you care. Whether you sponsor a team for a walk-a-thon, volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity project, participate in a toy drive or donate a playground swing at a local women’s shelter it all adds up. Using Facebook can spread this message throughout your community as your employee’s friends share how they volunteered too. Designate an employee at each community outreach project to capture photos and video with their smartphones. Post these moments on your Facebook Page and encourage your employees to share their experiences. The appreciation will shine through both of your employees and the love of their city and neighborhood.

    While you’re at it, continue to encourage charity work by promoting your boys & girls clubs, city activities and events, and local charity fund raisers too. Your whole company doesn’t need to sponsor the event for you to help out.

    Both residential and commercial contractors are using Facebook to attract new business, new talent and build word of mouth – after all the best leads are referrals, and Facebook is an easy way to share.

    BONUS: For those that have read this far, the Facebook Timeline offers a “cover” (A picture at the top of your page) to showcase your business, employees or community. Choose your picture wisely as it’s the first thing everyone will see. It needs to be at least 720 pixels wide. The maximun size for the cover is 850 X 315 so plan accordingly.

    Are you on on Facebook? Share your company’s FB page with us in the comments. We might just tweet about you!

    Jan
    19

    How to Use LinkedIn To Promote Your Events (Construction Industry Example)

    by Carol Hagen

    Events provide educational and networking opportunities and are a way to attract people to what you do. As a speaker, events are also important to fill my speaking engagements calendar. Here are some of my favorite ways to find, promote and attract people to events that cater to Architects, Engineers and the Construction Industry using LinkedIn.

    Post Events in LinkedIn

    Business to business activities can reach a broader audience if you take the time to use the Events Application. LinkedIn makes it easy for people looking for construction events to attend a way to stumble across your seminar, webinar or conference. Paramount to success, the keywords in your event title, description and labels are important as it makes your event findable. Remember to include a phone number as it builds trust and results in a few more RSVPs. Also the Event Organizer’s LinkedIn profile should include their email address and phone. It may also be a plus to use one of the three URL website links on the personal profile as a way of contacting you. I’ve seen some great ideas in the website URL section including: “Connect with Me on Skype”, “Hire Me as A Speaker” and “Best Way to Reach Me” (with a URL to a contact me directly, About.me or Google+ About page).

    Share the Event Across Social Networks

    Once the event is posted you have more work to do as you will want to share the event link with your connections, LinkedIn groups, on Twitter and yes even Facebook. LinkedIn makes it easy to post to other networks and provides an event specific URL so you can promote it everywhere. LinkedIn Event for Construction Financial Management Association 2012
    Other Event Tips in LinkedIn

    Often I see small businesses piggybacking the LinkedIn Event post to another events service like EventBrite.com (free for free events) as the more search engine juice the better. Larger events justify a page on your website and the URL you attach to the event can make all the difference in converting browsers to attendees with a great call to action. National Events are often listed on Lanyrd.com so if you are trying to help promote the event or just want to get the word out that you will be attending, you can direct others to the website or event posting by using your Status Update or Group share and attaching the link. This is particularly helpful for building buzz to a particular speaker session. Adding the Event URL to your email signature can also help drive interest. remember to ask people to share this with others. You’ll be surprised just how many eyes will see your event.

    When searching events, LinkedIn does a good job of suggesting events you may be interested in. With your budget or business travel restrictions mandate may no out of state travel you can also browse and find events by location using LinkedIn Events.

    Blog About Your Event then Leverage LinkedIn Apps
    The Social Media Strategy that’s king isn’t Facebook or LinkedIn, it’s blogging. A blog lets you add social sharing elements and offers search engine juice to the author. It can be added inside LinkedIn using the applications WordPress or Blog Link and can also be attached to your Company LinkedIn profile. Since this is my blog, it’s now time for my event announcement:

    “Critical Trends Driving the Future of the Construction Industry”, with guest speaker Randy Stutzman of FMI Management Consultants is part of a href=”http://www.construction-imaging.com/events/peer-exchange/construction-imaging-peer-exchange-phoenix “>Construction Peer Exchange-Phoenix, coming to Phoenix, AZ on February 24. My firm, Hagen Business Systems is co-sponsoring this event along with Construction Imaging and it is open to all construction owners, CEOs, CFOs, controllers, operations managers, finance and IT staff. There will be two tracks. Track I – Sharepoint and IT strategy. Track II – Content Management Best Practices and training. If your are looking for ways to integrate Sharepoint, tablets, accounting, email and document management this is a must attend event. For additional information and to RSVP, please visit: Construction Peer Exchange-Phoenix

    Please share this with others in the construction industry and help promote all the construction events in your local area. You’ll make more friends, grow your network and increase your influence all at the same time.

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