That leaves 2 LinkedIn Experts eating crow…

Listen carefully to the experts, even if you are one yourself. They not only have the knowledge that can help you, but they have the life experiences to back it up. A number of Colorado’s leading LinkedIn Experts and Social Media Experts gathered in Denver on Sat. June 6 at a special National Speakers Association (NSA) training session featuring on-line marketing.

The Denver Athletic Club played host to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert Heather Lutze, founder of The Findability Group. She started the day off with a roar!  Being an authority on LinkedIn Expert myself (We have trained 7,000 people in 400 LinkedIn training sessions), I wasn’t sure that I would learn much.  Boy was I wrong. I came home with 5 pages of notes.  Being an expert and being a great speaker often do NOT go hand in hand.

Viveka von Rosen, a fellow LinkedIn Expert (@LinkedInExpert), and I (@MikeOneilDenver) are taking a new approach to our LinkedIn names as a result.  Viveka is now “Viveka von Rosen: LinkedIn Expert & Speaker“.  Her LAST NAME is entered as “von Rosen: LinkedIn Expert & Speaker”.  It is still searchable in LinkedIn, and Google supposedly likes it a whole lot more. See how it looks on Viveka’s LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn Expert and Professional Speaker Mike O’Neil

LinkedIn Expert and Social Media Expert Viveka von Rosen

I am trying a slightly different approach.  I put “the LinkedIn Expert” as my former or maiden name so I am now “Mike (the LinkedIn Expert) O’Neil”. See how it looks on my profile.

We will both be independently reporting on how this LinkedIn search and Google search works out and will pray that the forces of the mighty LinkedIn do not come down upon us.  See Viveka’s blog post on this topic.  She has a wealth of other great information on her www.LinkedIntoBusiness.com blog site.

Also “on the bill” Saturday as a co-headliner was Steve Spangler of Steve Spangler Science.  Steve is well known to the public from his 9News appearances showing interesting science experiments.  See Steve blowing up soda bottles with 9News reporter Kim Christianson.  It has had over 1.5 million views!

When Experience Matters…

Unless the profile belongs to a job seeker who understands that they need to show potential employers their skills and talents, many LinkedIn profiles are lacking in a very important area, experience. Showing on the profile below Summary, Specialties and any plug-ins may give one a false sense of security. However, the important point is that by including as much employment history as possible makes one more findable.

Here’s why. Many people are found on LinkedIn because of keyword searches. A profile robust in keywords and phrases is much more findable. So, with 750 characters available for each position added, a profile well built-out is much more findable than one just listing previous employer and title.

People ask what should be included. After all, this is the area of LinkedIn that is most like a resume.  That may be so, and it is important that positions correlate with ones resume. However, being found is the most critical focus of this section. So here’s the methodology practiced at IA and recommended to our clients by the most experienced LinkedIn business strategist in the world, IA Founder, Mike O’Neil.

Answer these five questions when completing each position:

1. Who is the Company?

• For example, not everyone realizes that ACN is a distributor of video phones

2. What do they do?

• To carry forward the example, ACN distributes video phones and sells internet-based telecommunications solutions

3. Where do they do it?

• Nationwide, Regional, Locally?

4. Who do they do it for?

• Individuals or Companies, B2B, B2C, etc. What does a customer look like?

5. What is your role at the company; what makes you special?

• Briefly describe your responsibilities and one or two special achievements

This methodology is proven time and again in conversations with recruiters and employers who want to know that potential candidates have what they are looking for. It is also proven by sales, marketing and business development professionals who want to show potential customers that they and their company has the experience needed to get the job done.

For more information: check out Mike O’Neil’s LinkedIn Profiles Guide.