Welcome to episode 139, this week I’m mainly exploring a subject which many people find a real challenge - how to promote you or your products/services without appearing cheesy or being too pushy!

But first….

Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week

The three articles I refer to are shown below;

• Microsoft set to win EU approval for LinkedIn buy
• LinkedIn files suit to stop bots from data scraping its site

I also have a further update on the article about LinkedIn being banned in Russia I covered in last weeks show. It seems LinkedIn have been somewhat arrogant in their handling of this issue which could have been sorted out before going to court (according to a contact I have in Russia).

The Art of Social Selling

A good rule of thumb when selling or promoting something on LinkedIn is to take your lead from off-line behavioural norms.

You wouldn’t walk into a networking event and think “right, how am I going to sell sell sell to this lot”!

In reality you would ‘work the room’ talking to people, asking questions, building rapport and getting to know them. You probably wouldn’t try to ‘sell’ anything unless they enquire.

This is how it works on LinkedIn.

In this section I explain my thoughts on how trust is built on LinkedIn, the actions that we take to generate a magnetic profile where prospects feel motivated to come to you.

The New Sales Navigator Inbox / Messages experience.

This is a big improvement to this area of Sales Navigator so I made a short video to demonstrate what is new and different.

Welcome to episode 138, this week I thought I would address the issue that many are talking about…Facebook’s perceived threat to LinkedIn.

Facebook Vs LinkedIn

As far as I see it, Facebook will never be a realistic alternative to LinkedIn for online business networking.
This however, is not a view held by all and the debate has recently resurfaced due to Facebook's entry into the job advertising market as well as the publication of a recent survey which suggests that C-suite executives are more likely to get thought leadership articles from Facebook.

Read the article here;
Senior executives use Facebook more than LinkedIn when seeking thought leadership, report suggests

You will find a link in the above article where you can download the full report from Grist but the main sections I refer to are below.

The most important number here is that only 28% of C-level executives source leadership material from social media.

It is surprising but out of the 28%, more are influenced by Facebook but in truth we are only talking about 44 versus 38 executives.

I can't imagine a world where we are comfortable engaging with business Contacts, Family members and personal friends from the same profile and on the same network.

That's my view but I'm not saying I'm right!

I would love to hear your views on the subject.

Let me know by sending a voicemail via the link on the right edge of this page or you can email me at mark@linkedinformed.com.

LinkedIn’s Q3 Results

These results showed a continued slowing of LinkedIn growth to just 23% in comparison to the same period last year.

LinkedIn could be banned in Russia

Interesting report suggesting that the 6 million members in Russia could be frozen out of the site unless LinkedIn can negotiate some sort of solution….I think they probably will.

You read the full article below;

LinkedIn faces ban in Russia after court ruling

Question:

I have a list of approximately 5000 first degree connections but I have never kept in touch with them or indeed kept on top of them. I'm now looking at this massive list and wondering how I should engage with them.
I would like to introduce them to a new products that I have but I obviously don't want it to be spammy. That said, sending out an individual messages to all of them will be impractical.

What do you think is the simplest, most practical and least invasive way of getting my message out to these people?

I answer this question in detail towards the end of this episode. Click on the play button at the top of this page to listen to the show.

Welcome to episode 137. Well what a crazy week it's been, quite possibly one of the craziest weeks in living history!
I thought I would take this opportunity to answer some of the many questions you have been asking regarding the new desktop user interface.

But first…..

Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week

LinkedIn Record is rumoured to be rolling out soon to all members. I haven't seen any official confirmation of this from LinkedIn and I'm not exactly sure how it would work but the opportunity to post 30 second videos to our followers would be great!
You can read the article I refer to here;
LinkedIn’s Big New Feature – Native Video

Facebook have announced that they will provide ways to advertise job openings on business pages. Journalists are getting excited thinking that this is in some way a threat to LinkedIn not realising that the majority of LinkedIn's success in recruiting is through its search capabilities not recruitment advertising!
You can read about here;
Facebook threatens LinkedIn with job opening features

You can read the full article here;
Scam Says LinkedIn Team Needs Your Photo ID for Account Verification

Connect 365

This is not a scam but a product that is getting a lot of people excited….. Apart from me!
For "Just" $1497 of your hard earned cash you can buy a lifetime subscription to this product that has three elements to it.
A three module training program (which will be out of date when the new UI is released)
A messenger software extension that will allow you to send Messages to all of your connections on a rotational basis (spam in my opinion and against linkedIn's terms)
An Implementation Group (Facebook group with other customers)

I have several problems with this product;
The price reflects the fact that it is sold via an affiliate network and not the actual value of the product.
The messenger software will not work with the new user interface
The limited time offer is somewhat suspicious given that we know that linking is about to undergo a massive change.

These are just my opinions and you should take a look yourself at linkedinselling.com rather than just take my word for it.
Given the imminent changes with LinkedIn I would not advise anybody to buy any product of this nature (good or bad) until the new user interface is fully released.

The new UI - your questions

In this episode I provide answers, The best I can, to the following questions that were sent to me.

Which of the 17 missing features will return?
I have a business plus account. Is it worth keeping this account now that the new user interface is coming?
Can I opt out of the new UI?
I saw Pro-Finder in the menu in your video does this mean that it's now available outside of the US?
Do we still see a public profile URL in the new LinkedIn profile?
Is the search function exactly the same as it is in the mobile app?

A new scam email has been circulating recently which encourages you to verify your identity with LinkedIn. This is fake and an attempt to steal your identity - be careful!

Hello and welcome to episode 136 at the end of another crazy week in the wonderful world of LinkedIn!

I have spent this week working in the beautiful and sunny Costa Del Sol, it’s my annual escape from the wet and cold of England at this time of year.

LinkedIn have now said that the version of the new desktop UI I have is actually in ‘beta’ ie it’s not ready for general release…..you don’t say!!!

I covered this extensively in last week’s episode and don’t intend to cover too much more now because it’s clear that things are likely to keep changing.

I did mention recommendations which have improved. You can now see ‘given’ and you can now recommend and asked to be recommended and the option to edit your recommendations has returned although this still needs some work.

It’s very frustrating to be in a position to spot omissions and bugs and not have anyone (sensible) to report them to!

New Company Pages

The new design of company pages are now being rolled out, all admins should see the new design.

As far as I can see, the functionality is pretty much the same but the design has be refreshed. One change that will effect all admins is the need to upload a new background image to all company and showcase pages.

Advanced search

I see the removal of advanced search as the key test as to whether LinkedIn have correctly judged the difference between the hunters and the hunted (see episode 134 for more information on The LinkedIn Paradox).

The key question here is on the fringes between hunters and the hunted. LinkedIn need the regular users (the hunted), without them they are nothing and the super users (hunters) have no reason to be on LinkedIn either.

Super users just need to upgrade, no question. But if regular users feel they are being pushed towards upgrading then we all have a problem and LinkedIn have messed up big time!

Do regular users feel they have a need for advanced search?

Have LinkedIn misjudged the definition of a regular user?

Only time will tell but it’s a big call by LinkedIn.

No More Boolean Searches!

Irina Shamaeva broke this story this week. Apparently LinkedIn are dropping the ability to search via boolean from all but it’s top level Recruiter accounts.

Another example of pushing Recruiters to pay more for LinkedIn….the squeeze continues!

Read the excellent article below.

Boolean Is Dead. On LinkedIn Only

LinkedIn Salary

This is a very exciting new feature from LinkedIn and potentially a game changer for recruiters!

Individual users on free accounts in the UK, Canada and US can now check the average salary and benefits for their job (or one they are applying to) against other LinkedIn users.

To do so, however, they need to enter their own compensation information (this will be kept confidential)

This is a fantastic idea, give people highly valuable information but ask for their data in return, thus increasing the quality of the data!

IN addition, and most importantly Recruiters using a Recruiter premium account will be able to add salary as a filter in their searches - genius!

You can read more about this below

Introducing “LinkedIn Salary”: Unlock Your Earning Potential

Or watch the promotional video below