Personal Branding and LinkedIn: facts for each other

This week I have been present at three events where Personal Branding and LinkedIn have been the protagonists.

• The personal brand course in Ferrovial, with six years of travel. There the attendees valued the importance of this network for active professionals.
• In Vassis Conseil I had the opportunity to hold a talk about Personal Branding and LinkedIn for professionals hungry for change. In fact, I owe Marion Suffert the questions posed in the article.
• And in a session in Barcelona to IESE Alumni Career Services I gave a workshop on personal branding and value proposition linkedIn was very present as an element of Networking.

I don't remember turning a post to an online platform. The time has come to do so, and start with the queen of online networking: Linkedin. If you're short on time, here's a one-minute summary:

The three stages of LinkedIn life

2003-2007: Virality phase.

Founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly and Jean-Luc Vaillant,was launched in May 2003 in the US, the U.S. and the USA. These years LinkedIn grew from 500.000 In 2003 To 13 millions of users In 2007. Like all startups, growth is essential and the challenge is obvious: grow or die.

Here I want to emphasize that LinkedIn was created as a contact-promoting network and to project and develop our personal brand. At first many thought it was a place to hang the CV. That could be a means, but not the end.

2008-2011: Systematic growth phase.

LinkedIn began to invest more in growth. The company created a team that multiplied the number of x10 users, Happening of the 14 millions to 140 Million. The company identified its main growth channels by studying the user experience and how they found the website. Virtuality and search engine optimization were key to LinkedIn. In 2008, we were able to create the profile for the citizens of outside the US, the U.S. and the U.S. USA, which clearly contributed to growth.

2011-2019. Big data phase + Microsoft

Improved data usage to increase growth rate, creating a CRM that improved customer experience beyond your income on the net. Added metrics about acquisition, Activation, Connections, Retention. Improved measurement led to the creation of Sales Navigator, the largest known networking business tool. The entry into China was a breakthrough (20% of the world's population), And also Microsoft's purchase June 2016 By 26.200 millions of dollars. Russia banned 2016 access to this network.

The three keys to a good profile

Full profile

A full profile (Stellar) means an improvement in personal brand projection and one of the keys to the increase in business potential in the network. To do this, should be considered:

• Updated photography. Some sources claim that visits multiply x14.
• Professional title beyond the business card. Ideally with a summary value proposition.
• Sector activity (x15).
• Extract, no repetition of the experience, but a detailed description of the value proposition, of achievements, competencies and a more personal part including securities, purpose and passions.
• Detailed description of the Experience, differentiating the stages within the same company, and defining job description and achievements over the period (keywords).
• Include the Training carried out and detailed implies 10 times more visits.
• Including Skills (Skills). A profile with them achieves 13 times more visits.
• Volunteering: are taken into account as an essential part of the curriculum.
• Groups Professional: Join and participate in groups (x5).
• Create profiles in other languages helps build international relations.
• Request and write Recommendations (Sincere) it's a symbol of recognition.
• Having a minimum contacts value for a more dynamic timeline.

Going from "being" to "being"

Think of LinkedIn as a sports or business club. Being a member is of little use. Going and socializing has a prize. LinkedIn favors those profiles that are active, that generate and share valuable information that connects. The keys here are:

• Cure content: share valuable content from our industry with a personal brand "plus", as a comment, a critique…
• Create content: LinkedIn has its own blog, Press, driving engagement. It makes sense that LinkedIn prefers you to comply with "Link in" and not "Link out".
• Comment on content: it's not just about leaving a mark by providing content, but commenting and sharing other people's content. It's what we call engagement.
• Share insights: you don't always have to share links or blog posts, sometimes a simple Insight can be a generator of good communication threads.
• Follow and interact with companies it's a knowledge accelerator
• Live streams providing tips and solutions to problems are the ultimate exponent of engagement within the network
• Use the metasearcher it is vital to find not only people but also high-value content, Companies…
• Companies can hire LinkedIn Elevate, an automatic content program that is turned into an easy-to-use app

Connect, Connect, Connect

Let's not forget that LinkedIn's origin and ultimate goal is to promote qualitative networking. In fact, more than half of our ability to sell (social selling) in this network comes from proper contact management. The keys there are:

• The Social Selling Index tells us our current ability to build relationships that end up in business. It's a Gamification exercise powered by Microsoft with an idea: the more and better you use this network, more and better business you can do.
• We mustn't accept everyone: incomplete or potentially Spammers should be discarded
• Linkedin promotes networking suggesting contacts through your CRM. This tool should be harnessed.
• It is possible to see who has visited our profile. You can usually see people, in case of premium profile is unlimited.
• It's not all contacts, Also we can "follow" whoever we want and be aware of its contents.
• The KPI's generated by each post provide valuable data that needs to be taken into account: companies that read it, charges that read it, major cities, People (with mombre and surnames) who share.
• The engagement with someone unknown helps generate proximity and connections.
• A contact can be passed to the customer if the commercial aggressiveness is measured well and value is generated continuously.
• Devirtualizing contact multiplies the chances of closing a business.

Three tricks you need to know to use LinkedIn well

The rule of 1.000 real fans.

That rule was explained by Kevin Kelly, (Wired) and expanded it Carlos Rebate in his book Influencers (Active Company, 2017). It's about achieving 1.000 real fans, willing to share and comment on content (recommendations or recommendations likes they're not useful), willing to buy our products or services, Books, white papers, online courses etc. The key to LinkedIn is not quantitative, it's qualitative. When sharing valuable content, it's easy to identify our 1.000 true fans do you know yours?

Sell on LinkedIn

It's very difficult to sell on LinkedLn with a strategy "Push" Conventional. Attraction marketing, through content, generates the breeding ground for a high-value networking that ends up for sale. If an organization's manager shares a content from us, it's easy for two things to happen: 1. A connection is generated 2. After a while a proposal for collaboration can be put forward, Services...

Incorporate it as a daily routine

It's not about going in from time to time to see what's there. LinkedIn is a great place to find valuable content, to interact with professional groups, to share, Interact, hire and connect. Ideally, be consistent and make it a habit.

How to take advantage of publications?

First we need to know what information our potential stakeholders are looking for. There are many tools to do so. There's a great one: www.answerthepublic.com With that we know what material is worth curing or creating to share it then.

Then it's worth working hard with keyword strategies and attractive titles. For example: "The theory of 1.000 real fan" works, but it lacks claw. Instead, would work better "10 keys to sell on LinkedIn based on your 1.000 real fans". As for keywords, we tend to be excessively spat on the information we provide in the extract section, business experience, Volunteering. And in each of these sections we can generate a story rich in keywords that would cause a better "finding" towards our profiles.

Also, conveniently label people who appear for allusion in our comments multiplies the dissemination of our content clearly.

One thing we use little is the native video, I mean, upload a video file instead of a link to YouTube achieves LinkedIn favoritism, because the audience can enjoy viewing without leaving the network.

And speaking of video. The live streams, well-planned and on an established schedule, are unbeatable. A good content calendar is needed, experience in the live of a camera and know how to manage comments while you are talking.

Other support awarded by LinkedIn is Press, the network's own internal blog. If we compare the engagement that generates an article published in Pulse or another that links to an external site, the difference is x10. That's because LinkedIn favors content that can be read without leaving your network.

Should it be premium?

Depends on your position, industry and business model. I am obliged to be because of my status as a consultant in personal branding. But it's worth thinking about, the benefits are very powerful for a not excessively high share.

The main advantages LinkedIn Premium, For me:

• Access to LinkedIn Learning: One of the largest platforms for knowledge on any subject.
• Inmail messages: being able to communicate with anyone on the network, regardless of your separation degree ratio. In some cases it's very useful, especially in level contacts 3.
• History of who has seen my profile: It is usually limited to 5 Views. In premium, it's unlimited, which allows you to analyze what kind of audience you're capturing and whether it's in line with your professional strategy.
• Remove the search limit you can do. The main limitation on non-premium accounts is what LinkedIn calls the "commercial limit". This is a limit to the number of searches you can do each month.
• You can generate, if you think it's appropriate, a "open profile"and thus allow everyone to send you a message.
• Detailed information about jobs, companies and managers. An essential feature for HR professionals.

How would you recommend looking for work if LinkedIn did not exist?

Pareto's principle of employment 80/20

Applying the Pareto Principle of the 80/20, we know that only one 20% offers work; And that's where they fight 80% candidates: it's a dead end.

On the other, The 80% job offers are resolved in the same organization looking for candidates through referrals, Known, mouth-ear.

I think it's essential. have company contacts who can know free applications and thus have priority access to the offer. For that you need to leave an excellent personal brand, that captures the achievements and recognitions of colleagues and clients.

Also a digital presence out of doubt, that when they look for our name they don't find anything that can slow down a decision and find valuable content, from a blog to articles in the sector press.

Dedicate minimal 8 hours a day to look for work it's a critical aspect, and that includes training in supplementary activities, Languages, digital skills…

In short, three big stocks: properly manage your personal brand, and skip the rules of the game and spend eight hours a day, at least, to that work.

What is wrong with the person looking for a job in their relationship with LinkedIn?

Attitude to recruiters

Normally falls into the mistake of thinking that recruiters are there waiting to receive our CV. And the curriculum is LinkedIn's own profile, must be 100% Honest, and an activity of generating valuable content and engagement out of doubt. No value no mark to leave, and if there is, it's negative, or worse, Indifferent.

In active search: how to get them to actively get them out of you

A common mistake is to put as a professional title "in active search". If the average time to read a resume is 15 Seconds, that of a LinkedIn profile sticks to reading the professional title and the first lines of the extract.

If I'm looking for a commercial specialized in the online channel, I won't find you by "in active search" and I'll pass by. Professional title is not current status, let's keep that in mind. Recruiters are not fools, and they know when a person is open to job offers: first because there is no "current company" and second because they will have activated the job search option: settings and privacy > Privacy > Job search preferences.

I remember LinkedIn was not conceived as a place to find work, but to build relationships. Creating value is the beginning of attraction marketing. Don't chase the recruiter, creates value for it to look at you, comments on his articles, become a person in your environment.

How linkedIn has changed the job market?

It's my favorite question. LinkedIn is a personal branding provocateur. I explain myself. The profiles that attract us are those that meet the requirements we have discussed above. And that's nothing more than consciously managed our personal brand or personal brand: that's what we call personal branding.

We need to know each other (brand diagnostics) to know what brand we leave in others. Need develop a strategy (Objectives, Purpose, value proposition and business model) to know where we're going and what we want to achieve. And we need put in value that value proposition to make us known using personal marketing tools, be recognized through our achievements and valuable content, be memorable thanks to our values. All of this contributes to us being elected, which is the end of a personal brand management process.

What is the future of LinkedIn?

Microsoft is a dynamic company, and I'm sure he'll continue to bet heavily on his professional network. I think the advances I'd like to see have already started with LinkedIn Learning, a knowledge platform that will make some universities tremble, but that will also be a great opportunity for value content creators.

Futurists have predicted improvements in various fields, and in my humble opinion, I 'm 100% I agree:

• Improved local searches
• Analysis of profiles using AI
• Improving the sense of community, humanizing ways to connect
• Continuous focus on creating content that adds value
• Prioritize a more authentic and humanized branding staff (Videos, Originality...)
• Boosting live broadcasts
• Affordable coaching services
• The end of email
• Greater focus on sharing results and team successes
• Eliminate spam
• Improving the experience with hashtags
• One-way video preview for job seekers

To learn more about LinkedIn

I can help you work on your value proposition. Very soon you will see in this same blog a specific service.

The Experts on LinkedIn - in my opinion- They're here. I recommend following them closely. In alphabetical order:

• Peter of Vincent, author of the book "Squeezing LinkedIn" and his blog with the same name.
• David Diaz Robisco, Consultant, trainer and author of numerous articles on his site informacionparalaaccion.com
• David Guzman, consultant and trainer specializing in LinkedIn strategy, author of the blog his name.
• Colia Hil, trainer specializing in employment and personal branding, author of her own blog
• Sandra Long, author of the book LinkedIn for Personal Branding and its site postroadconsulting.com
• Alex Lopez, specialized in social selling and Linkedin for business, author of the book Digital customer, digital seller and your own blog.
• Inge Saez, Consultant, trainer and author of numerous online courses by LinlkedIn and her own Blog.
• Alfredo Vela, social media manager, Consultant, Lecturer, author of the blog Tics and Training.
• Naomi Vico & Esmeralda Diaz-Aroca, author of the Guide to creating a perfect profile on LinkedIn IMF Business School.

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