How Do You Get Recommendations on LinkedIn?
Posted on May, 01, 2013 by Kerry Rego -
Getting recommendations on LinkedIn is a subject that comes up a lot in my individual and corporate training sessions. Here my advice: Take a look at who you are connected to and pick out those you’ve enjoyed working with either as a volunteer or on the job. Then it’s easy write a sincere review of your working relationship (and it really comes through in the writing). Hopefully, that person feels the same about you, and they will return the favor. That’s not the main reason you should be writing recommendations and it feels good to sing someone’s praises without being asked.
Should I ask for recommendations?
You can ask absolutely ask people for recommendations, if you like, but I like this approach better because you are giving to get. It doesn’t pay off 100% of the time but it’s awkward for everyone involved if you ask and they don’t provide.
A woman I know well socially asked me to write one for her and I had to respond that I would be happy to once we’ve worked together on a project. Knowing someone from networking isn’t enough and I won’t put my name on the line if I have no reference to a person’s working style.
I’m on a committee with a man that’s the least dependable person I’ve ever met. He’s bailed on every project he’s been assigned, he whines about everything, interrupts people constantly, and is always “busy” when it comes to pitching in. He has asked me repeatedly for a recommendation and I simply cannot. At some point he’s going to ask me why I haven’t and I’ll have the opportunity to be honest with him. You’d think he’d figure it out after half a dozen requests but he hasn’t.
I believe that giving to others is the best approach because it creates goodwill and better relationships with your network. and If you don’t expect them to give back, it’s a bonus to your reputation (and your mood) when they do.
Managing LinkedIn Endorsements
Posted on January, 21, 2013 by Kerry Rego -A lot of people seem irritated with the game that LinkedIn is playing trying to force endorsements on everyone. If they annoy you and you’d like some advice on how to manage them, check out my screencast, linked below.
Who Has Viewed Your LinkedIn Profile?
Posted on November, 23, 2012 by Kerry Rego -LinkedIn just recently offered the ability to see whom has viewed your profile. This used to be a paid level of service. They tease you with some basic information but, of course, try to upsell you to learn more. When I look at this feature from a client’s profile, I can see a lot more than I can from my own. Take a look to see who’s been checking you out.
Navigate to your profile>Right hand column>Who’s Viewed Your Profile>Your Profile Has Been Viewed by X People….(click here)
They also give you trend information. This graph shows how many times your profile has been viewed over the last 90 days. It’s useful in guiding you as to what behaviors you undertake on LinkedIn affect viewings.
This is also one of the places where you can change the settings of how you appear when you look at others profiles. Check out your current setting and make a decision if you want to alter it. Remember, if you are intel gathering, recruiting, or checking out your competition, you can be seen here (if those people are aware that this feature is available to them).
Another option is to see how many times you’ve appeared in Search. The bonus of filling out your profile 100% is because it increases that amount of times you are served in searches.
How to Change LinkedIn Group News Digest Settings
Posted on October, 26, 2012 by Kerry Rego -I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you get WAY TOO MANY group digest emails from LinkedIn. Am I right? Every single time you join a group, check your settings. The default setting for digest emails is daily. You can belong to up to 50 groups. Ugh. That’s too much inbox action for me. I like them weekly. Here’s how to change them:
Group>More tab>Settings>Delivery Frequency>Weekly. See below.
*Sidenote - Do you see the Member Messages option in the image above? It says to “Allow members of this group to send me messages via LinkedIn.” Do you realize what that means? Free accounts receive 5 InMails. These are private messages, or emails, within LinkedIn that you can send to people you aren’t connected to. They run out fast and they want to charge you to get more. If there’s someone you want to connect with specifically, check the groups they belong to. See if you can join one so you have it in common. Once you belong to the group, you can send them an internal LinkedIn message because you can message them through the Member section (if they have the Member Messages option you see above selected).
But what if you belong to a lot of groups and want to set this in batch form rather than one at a time? Here are the steps:
Click on Your Name (upper right hand corner)>Settings>Groups, Companies & Applications (bottom left hand corner)>Set the frequency of Group Digest Emails
The Fastest Way to Get Help from LinkedIn
Posted on July, 27, 2012 by Kerry Rego -
Click ^ for video on getting help from LinkedIn
I have a client that requested that I claim their pre-existing LinkedIn Company Page, update it, and make it spiffy for them. I said the fatal words, “This is a really easy project and shouldn’t take me long at all.” Well, 4 months later, I was shaking my head at how simple turned into painful. See my video on the subject.
There were a variety of factors that created a delay but much of the wait had to do with radio silence from LinkedIn. The first challenge was the fact that I was working with a department of a government. Actually, I’ve worked for this department many times and they really are awesome (I think Jeff Boland has something to do with that). So the speed at which things occur is on a completely different cycle than for for-profit organizations.
The second issue at hand was that the government body uses one domain for ALL its departments and employees. LinkedIn has a requirement to claim a company as an administrator that your primary email address must contain the domain of the company. Makes sense right? Well, it does to me too but it created a headache for me. We had to purchase the domain just for this purpose then create and confirm the email address. I insert this *new special email just for LinkedIn* (can you hear my high pitched crazy tone of voice here?) and make it the primary email. My expectation was that LinkedIn would recognize this new address and allow me to claim the page.
It did not work.
I filed a support ticket. Help? No.
I filed another support ticket. Help? Not even close.
I filed another support ticket. Help? Hahhhahhhahhhhhhhhaaaaaa (craaaazy laughter)
I decided to go postal on this one. I went to Twitter and called them out in the loudest voice I could muster. I didn’t want to but I knew it would work. I have to say again, publicly, I really like LinkedIn and I’m grateful they were able to help. BUT my suggestion to you is, if you need help from LinkedIn, call them on Twitter using @LinkedInHelp.
Using LinkedIn and Facebook to Advance, Slideshow for WICT
Posted on July, 11, 2012 by Kerry Rego -
Women in Cable Telecommunications WICT Southern California hosts the Wednesday Webinar Series and July 11, 2012 was “Using LinkedIn and Facebook to Advance” by Kerry Rego. She talked about consumer use of search engines, reputation management, social media marketing strategy, tools available, personal branding, professional use, and action items for leveraging social media.
Google Author Tag
For the question on how to get the author tag, here’s the link with step by step instructions on how to do it. http://www.devonwebdesigners.com/3278/relauthor-step-by-step-for-wordpress/
How to Get Back LinkedIn Invitations
Posted on May, 15, 2012 by Kerry Rego -Why hasn’t that person accepted your LinkedIn invitation? I’m sure it’s not that they don’t love you or that you aren’t fabulously skilled. It might be that they’ve created themselves multiple accounts (quite common) and don’t check the email that you sent your invite to. They may simply not use LinkedIn. It could be they’ve forgotten their password and haven’t checked it since they turned on their account. You only get 3000 invitations on LinkedIn* so use them wisely!
Here’s how to get back some of the outstanding invitations you’ve sent:
- Navigate to your LinkedIn Inbox
- Click on Sent in the left hand navigation bar
- Select each line that has Accepted after the name and Delete (I deleted over 200)
- You will be left with the invitations that haven’t been accepted
- At the top of the list, you can select All and click on Delete to get back those invites
You can also use this “take back” if you’ve invited someone by mistake or have second thoughts about connecting. I was testing a Connect button during a LinkedIn lesson with a client and accidentally invited someone I totally did not know. I went and took back the invite the next day.
Simply connecting with others on LinkedIn doesn’t make magic happen. This is a digital representation of your physical network. When you need information, services, help, or work, your network is where you go. LinkedIn simply makes it easier to know the skills and abilities of your network. See this blog about why LinkedIn is the place professionals do business or read my LinkedIn blog category to get your fill on the subject.
*I have heard that you can request more from Customer Service, though I don’t know how effective that is but here are two emails I’ve found for this need: customer_service@LinkedIn.com or cs@linkedin.com
How to Assign LinkedIn Group Managers
Posted on March, 07, 2012 by Kerry Rego -Do you manage or own a LinkedIn Group? I noticed an issue with a client recently that was unable to manage her group any longer. I provided the other group manager this set of instructions on how to reassign a member as a manager or moderator.
- Navigate to Group
- Select Manage
- Select Participants
- Select Members tab
- a. Select the member you want b. or search for them by name
- Change their role
LinkedIn Tools & Functions
Posted on February, 09, 2012 by Kerry Rego -Overall Site Functions
- Reputation Management
- Connections
- Groups
- Job Posting & Search
- InMail Communications
- Company Profiles
- Events
- LinkedIn Today (customized news)
- Signal (network updates)
- Questions & Answers
View more Kerry Rego Consulting blogs about LinkedIn
LinkedIn Profile Functions
- Creative Titles
- Status Updates
- Website Listings
- Custom URL
- Summary
- Applications
- Job History
- Education/Certifications
- Volunteer Experience
- Skills
- Custom Sections
- Groups
- Recommendations
- Contact Info/Preferences
Applications
- WordPress/Blog Link (content)
- GitHub (projects)
- Real Estate Pro
- E-Bookshelf (learning)
- My Travel
- Polls
- Lawyer Ratings
- Box.net Files (cloud storage)
- Portfolio Display
- Legal Updates
- Google Presentations (slideshow)
- Events
- Reading List by Amazon
- Slideshare Presentations (slideshow)
- Projects & Teamspaces (collaborative)
WishList
- Better Analytics
- More Applications
LinkedIn Privacy Settings You Should Know About
Posted on December, 30, 2011 by Kerry Rego -I spend much of my time either researching or training. I love to dive into settings for my clients. I like to quickly take care of the most nefarious and get their settings optimized right away. This is where I find many people run out of steam and give up because it’s simply too much and generally confusing. I found a few privacy settings I think you should know about on LinkedIn.
- Log in to LinkedIn
- Hover over your name in the upper right hand corner and Settings shows up on the drop down list, select
- At bottom left, look for Groups, Associations, and Applications, select it
- Under Privacy Controls, there is “Turn on/off data sharing with 3rd party applications”. Select or deselect at will.
- Again under Privacy Controls, there is “Manage settings for LinkedIn plugins on third party sites”
- This one is important: on the Account tab, there is “Manage Social Advertising”. This is where you select whether or not LinkedIn may use your name and photo in social advertising.
I recommend you read each of these carefully but I would bet money that you don’t know these settings are even there. Make sure you know where your data is going. I actually chose to keep the first two I mentioned but I opted out of social advertising. Be educated. Knowledge is power.