If you’re using LinkedIn to network and help increase the online visibility for you or your business, that’s great! It can be a very good place to find like-minded people, jobs, people who will buy into your products, etc. If not done correctly though, you may end up spinning your virtual wheels.

Whether you want to connect or email someone to ask about a job, a business venture, or some other topic there’s a bit of an art to contacting people on LinkedIn. Keep in mind that many people on LinkedIn (like you, perhaps) are quite busy. They may get a large number of connection requests and emails, and probably don’t have time to respond to every one of them. It’s more likely they’ll respond to one that states exactly what’s what. If your email is a bit cryptic, or doesn’t state clearly what you want, it’s likely to be deleted.

Joshua Waldman made some very good points in this blog post, 4 Essentials for Reaching Out to Strangers on LinkedIn. He shows an example of an excellent letter he received through LinkedIn and tells why he responded. His top points are:

1. Lead with something in common
2. Get to the point, fast
3. What makes him qualified?
4. What do you want from me?

Because of the way the guy wrote the email, it was obvious he had done a little homework first, wasn’t wanting to suck the life out of Joshua, and covered the four points above in a brief email. And even though this particular letter was regarding a job, the same ideas hold true regardless of why you’re contacting someone. Be brief, friendly, and to the point and you’re likely going to get better results than if you’re vague about why you’re writing.

When emailing someone through LinkedIn, you’ll have the option to hide your email address from them. If you hide your email address from someone who has their LinkedIn account set up to forward emails to their inbox, they will need to login to LinkedIn to respond.  Letting them see your email address means they’re more likely to hit the respond button and reply to you right away. This short video goes into a bit more detail, and shows how to ensure your email address is viewable to the recipient.

I get quite a few emails every day, and like to respond as soon as possible. But when I get ones sent through LinkedIn without a return email address, quite often I’ll let those wait til the next time I login to LinkedIn. I’d much rather email right away and get it taken care of, but there are times when I just don’t want to break my stride and switch to LinkedIn.

It’s time for another social media teleclass!

How to use LinkedIn to Bring in More Business / Connect with Potential Clients

Date: August 25
Time: 5:00pm PST / 8:00pm EST
Cost: $20 (register by August 18) or $30 (register August 19 or later)
Register here

If you’re not using LinkedIn yet, you’re missing out! I’ve been active on LinkedIn for quite a while and have made many great contacts – pet sitters as well as people in other businesses. Some have turned into clients, while others are people who I share a common interest with – and sometimes we’re able to help each other in one way or another.

LinkedIn is a place to find like-minded professionals, businesses, and opportunity. It’s a place where you can be found as well. Boasting more than 40 million users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It literally puts networking at your fingertips, so that you can connect with trusted colleagues throughout the world. And, because of the unique tools offered by LinkedIn you’re able to streamline your search process when looking for business leads, potential clients, or collaborators.

Here’s what I’ll be talking about:

• How you can use LinkedIn to grow your business
• Tips on how to use LinkedIn to drive traffic to your website
• Why you and your business need to be on LinkedIn
• How to establish yourself as an expert in your chosen area
• How to create a powerful LinkedIn bio that will attract attention
• What to include in your headline, summary, and job descriptions
• How to effectively use the advanced features of LinkedIn
• What recommendations are, how to ask for one, and who to recommend
• Why discussion groups are so important
• SPECIAL BONUS: LinkedIn Tips and Tools list to get you started after the class

Whether you’re interested in finding employees, getting the word out about your business, or simply enlarging your own personal network, LinkedIn is a powerful tool you can’t afford to ignore.

Kristin Morrison, from Six Figure Pet Sitting Academy is hosting the class. Learn more about the class and register here.

Whether you’re in the pet care business or some other business, you’re welcome to join in. This class is for anyone who wants to learn more about LinkedIn – regardless of your occupation.

Technorati Tags: LinkedIn teleclass, pet sitters, social media, social networking

Lately I’ve been getting a number of requests from people on LinkedIn wanting me to recommend them. I’m happy to do them for the people I know, but there are others that I simply don’t know well enough. From the little I know about these people, they’re all very nice people but I just haven’t interacted with them enough to give them a recommendation.

I’m pretty particular about doing recommendations for people on LinkedIn, and suggest to others they should be as well. Whenever you recommend someone on LinkedIn, it’s a statement from you that you think that person is a fine, upstanding individual to do business with. And, like anything else you put online, it’s out there for all to see, so it’s in your best interest to feel super comfortable giving someone a glowing recommendation.

Tips for asking for LinkedIn Recommendations

Ask people know you…

Ask for recommendations from people you know and who can make valid and honest comments about you. The simple fact that you’re connected on LinkedIn doesn’t always mean they know you or your work well enough to recommend you.

Personalize your request…

Sending the default “can you endorse me” message doesn’t show the person you really value their time or what they have to say. And, if you don’t have time to put together a well crafted, polite email asking for their recommendation why should they take the time to write one? Put some thought into your request and let the person know what it is you’d like them to focus on. Something like, “I’d love it if you could recommend my (fill in the blank) services since we’ve worked together and you’ve been pleased with the results,” will make it much easier for the person to write the recommendation.

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Not necessarily…

While giving a recommendation to someone may get you some positive juju in return, don’t make that your motivation for writing one. It may be that the way you interacted with that person was a bit one sided, leaving them without enough information about you to comment on. And, on the other hand, there may be times when people recommend you but you just don’t have enough knowledge to reciprocate.

The key is to ask for recommendations, and give them, when you know the result will be real, and not done simply out of a sense of obligation.

Technorati Tags: LinkedIn, recommendations, social networking