LinkedIn Superhero

I was able to attend the Social Media Club Louisville monthly event last night and I’m really happy I did, because I had a great time. Lewis Howes was the speaker and the topic was everybody’s favorite Professional (not social) Network: LinkedIn.

As lame it sounds, I had a revelation about on-line networks and Search Engine Optimization. On-line networks all have a search capability, therefore profiles should be optimized for search. NEWSFLASH!

I should really try to start getting to bed on time, huh?

Keywords

One of the things Lewis talked about was making sure that your keywords sync up throughout your profile. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before, and that is why I’m up late typing this post… I’ve been reformatting my LinkedIn profile all night with renewed vigor and zest for the platform.

The Book

I also started reading Lewis’ book called LinkedWorking tonight and have to say that although it is only about a hundred pages, so far it has not disappointed. My soon to be new boss, Greg, (I won’t just be a matrixed asset anymore w00t!) actually won a copy as a door prize and had Lewis sign it to hallicious. BOO-YA!

Groups

Something that really impressed me about his presentation was the way that he uses LinkedIn as a mini CRM tool with the Groups feature. Essentially he makes groups around the country focused on topics that he speaks about and then throws events and invites his group members to attend them. Brilliant!

Recommendations

The other thing Lewis talked about that opened my eyes was recommendations. He just made a list of the people who had impacted him and started writing recommendations for them. Those people then started reciprocating, and he has nearly 70 recommendations on his profile today. I think that’s pretty cool.

After the event, Lewis answered some questions I had about Ning and LinkedIn Groups coexisting. He came across as a genuine guy and offered some solid insight. I appreciated it, and think that I’m definitely going to set up a LouisvillePM group, again. I want to see if the 100 or so Louisville based project managers who have not joined LouisvillePM will at least join the group on LinkedIn.

The thing about social media is that there is always something to tinker with…

You can check out the presentation Lewis gave below. I’m curious to know what you think of LinkedIn and how you are using it.