Miscellanous LinkedIn (and Facebook) Roundup

Miscellanous LinkedIn (and Facebook) Roundup This is a very small roundup with some very cool resources: Want a makeover? It seems that Ive inspired Scott Allen, author of The Virtual Handshake, guide on the entrepreneurs site at About.com, columnist for Fast Company and even executive editor of my new book (coming soon) Im On LinkedIn Now What???. He is starting a LinkedIn profile makeover and will probably do them monthly. Go on over and leave a comment on this post to put your name in the hat wouldnt it be cool to have him do a makeover for you? Hes quite a bit smarter than I am, and very analytical, so Im sure that it will be done in good taste and youll get good value out of it. Recommend someone to nurture your relationship! The next link came from Scott, pointing me to Naina Redhus blog post about writing recommendations on LinkedIn. Seems like a simple thing but Naina provides excellent advice on how to write an effective recommendation. I strongly encourage you to read it and then apply it today. Beware, using social networking sites can be hazardous to your (mental) health! Finally, there was a policy and feature change at LinkedIn a couple of months ago (I didnt see this on their blog). Heres the deal if I invite you to join my network, you have the option of saying I dont know you. Seems like no big deal, right? Well, it is a big deal. Currently (Im expecting this to change), if I get five people that click on that little I dont know you button then my account gets suspended!! Still no big deal, right? What if I go into my Outlook Contacts, with 200 contacts, and invite them all? Many of them either dont know me, or wont remember me Im pretty sure I would get 5 clicks from that and my account will be suspended. Ive heard LinkedIn users cry foul!! about this feature since it came out. The intention is good, but the implementation is rotten. Think this is limited to LinkedIn? Its not. Harry Joiner, the Marketing Headhunter, has just been banned by Facebook for uploading his Gmail contacts. Granted, there were 4,600 contacts in his Gmail account but the bottom line is that his account was permanently disabled. Harry cant play at Facebook anymore (unless he goes under another name and e-mail and fakes them out). Its not that uncommon, apparently. There seems to be a big question mark with regard to this kind of policy right now companies are saying you cant do that while users are saying isnt this what the site is all about??. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I cant imagine that this is going to be a big deal for big companies in the limelight like LinkedIn and Facebook, but when you cross the line with a recruiter who blogs (and, btw, who all recruiting bloggers have immense respect for) you kind of have to be careful. At least they are getting publicity. Here are some of the others that are blogging about Harrys problem: RecruitingBloggers.com Seattle Recruiting Recruiting Animal College Recruiter Wireless Jobs Facebook Observer MarketingProfs Dave Mendoza The bottom line is, use it, have fun, but beware of little gotchas that can wreak havoc on your mental health (for example, even though there is an Outlook plugin for LinkedIn, I wouldnt recommend you use it to invite your contact book until this is resolved) Good luck Harry! Miscellanous LinkedIn (and Facebook) Roundup This is a very small roundup with some very cool resources: Want a makeover? It seems that Ive inspired Scott Allen, author of The Virtual Handshake, guide on the entrepreneurs site at About.com, columnist for Fast Company and even executive editor of my new book (coming soon) Im On LinkedIn Now What???. He is starting a LinkedIn profile makeover and will probably do them monthly. Go on over and leave a comment on this post to put your name in the hat wouldnt it be cool to have him do a makeover for you? Hes quite a bit smarter than I am, and very analytical, so Im sure that it will be done in good taste and youll get good value out of it. Recommend someone to nurture your relationship! The next link came from Scott, pointing me to Naina Redhus blog post about writing recommendations on LinkedIn. Seems like a simple thing but Naina provides excellent advice on how to write an effective recommendation. I strongly encourage you to read it and then apply it today. Beware, using social networking sites can be hazardous to your (mental) health! Finally, there was a policy and feature change at LinkedIn a couple of months ago (I didnt see this on their blog). Heres the deal if I invite you to join my network, you have the option of saying I dont know you. Seems like no big deal, right? Well, it is a big deal. Currently (Im expecting this to change), if I get five people that click on that little I dont know you button then my account gets suspended!! Still no big deal, right? What if I go into my Outlook Contacts, with 200 contacts, and invite them all? Many of them either dont know me, or wont remember me Im pretty sure I would get 5 clicks from that and my account will be suspended. Ive heard LinkedIn users cry foul!! about this feature since it came out. The intention is good, but the implementation is rotten. Think this is limited to LinkedIn? Its not. Harry Joiner, the Marketing Headhunter, has just been banned by Facebook for uploading his Gmail contacts. Granted, there were 4,600 contacts in his Gmail account but the bottom line is that his account was permanently disabled. Harry cant play at Facebook anymore (unless he goes under another name and e-mail and fakes them out). Its not that uncommon, apparently. There seems to be a big question mark with regard to this kind of policy right now companies are saying you cant do that while users are saying isnt this what the site is all about??. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I cant imagine that this is going to be a big deal for big companies in the limelight like LinkedIn and Facebook, but when you cross the line with a recruiter who blogs (and, btw, who all recruiting bloggers have immense respect for) you kind of have to be careful. At least they are getting publicity. Here are some of the others that are blogging about Harrys problem: RecruitingBloggers.com Seattle Recruiting Recruiting Animal College Recruiter Wireless Jobs Facebook Observer MarketingProfs Dave Mendoza The bottom line is, use it, have fun, but beware of little gotchas that can wreak havoc on your mental health (for example, even though there is an Outlook plugin for LinkedIn, I wouldnt recommend you use it to invite your contact book until this is resolved) Good luck Harry!

Personal Branding Interview Dharmesh Shah - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Dharmesh Shah - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Dharmesh Shah, who is a co-founder at Hubspot and co-author of Inbound Marketingting: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs.   In this interview Dharmesh goes over what inbound marketing is and how it differs from outbound marketing, results hes seen from pushing content out through social media tools, and more. How do you collectively define inbound marketing and why is it relevant in 2009? We define inbound marketing as any activity that helps an organization get found. Where as outbound marketing involves in taking a particular message or offering and spending resources to spread that message to as many people as possible (most of whom dont care), inbound marketing is focused on increasing the probability that those people that are looking for you will find you. Inbound marketing is relevant today because as consumers, we have gotten better and better at blocking classical outbound marketing like junk mail, spam and telemarketing phone calls. In order to reach us as buyers, marketers need to find a way to become part of the natural interactions we have when we are searching for information and products. Do you think there will come a time where there will be no more outbound marketing in use (advertising)? Unfortunately, bad habits die hard. We dont expect outbound marketing to go away complete anytime soon. Marketers will continue to use traditional methods to try and reach customers. Our hope is that as marketers get smarter, they will shift their energies more and more to inbound marketing over time. Its a more efficient and more sustainable way to reach people. What results have you seen as a company (Hubspot) from using inbound marketing? Not surprisingly, HubSpot has been passionate about inbound marketing from the day the company started. The results have been fantastic. Today, a majority of the 15,000+ leads we generate every month are a direct result of our inbound marketing efforts. Weve experimented with many different forms of content to help draw in customers. Our blog has grown steadily in readership and is now one of the top 50 blogs about marketing online according to the AdAge Power 150 list. The blog has over 13,000 subscribers over RSS. In addition to blog articles, weve created cartoons, music videos and humorous skits. Another very effective method to reach customers has been our free set of marketing tools at grader.com (particularly website.grader.com). In terms of inbound marketing, well try just about anything that we think has a chance of engaging our audience. Your show HubSpot TV has helped build personal brands, in addition to HubSpots brand. Was this your intention? Balancing the promotion of HubSpots brand and the people that help create them is not without its challenges. In the case of HubSpot TV is not that surprising that Mike Volpe and Karen Rubin (the stars of the show) are becoming well recognized personal brands in their own right. What has made the show successful is that the audience connects with our personalities. Were thrilled that the show is doing well and hope Mike and Karen become online superstars. We think the professional and personal brands can grow together. What is your vision for the future of inbound marketing? Our hope is that others will join us in the mission to help educate marketers everywhere on the potential for inbound marketing. Were doing everything we can to educate, train and catalyze inbound marketers everywhere. We think this is a noble cause as inbound marketing is not only a more effective way to reach customers it increases the overall happiness of us as humans. Dharmesh Shah is the co-author, with Brian Halligan of new book, Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs, an actionable how-to guide to getting found via Google, the blogosphere, and social media sites. Dharmesh is the founder and Chief Software Architect of HubSpot, a venture-backed software company offering a hosted software service for internet marketing. Prior to HubSpot, Dharmesh was the founder and CEO of Pyramid Digital Solutions, an enterprise software company in the financial services sector. Pyramid was a three time recipient of the Inc. 500 award. The company was acquired by SunGard Data Systems in 2005. Dharmesh is also the author of OnStartups.com, a top-ranking startup blog with some 13,000 subscribers. Nore from Dharmesh: A PDF excerpt from the book is available on inboundmarketing.com/book. Also if you enjoy this subject matter, theres a community of inbound marketers growing online at inboundmarketing.com.

Legal Tips for Starting Up Everything You Need To Know (PODCAST) - Classy Career Girl

Legal Tips for Starting Up Everything You Need To Know (PODCAST) So many women are scared to start a business because they dont want to get into legal trouble. Am I right? If you want to know what a lawyer has to say about what steps you need to take first, you are definitely going to want to listen to this episode. I’m excited to introduce you to Christy Westerfeld today. She’s a lawyer and health coach, and her mission is to help you protect your business and learn a little about the legal side of things along the way. Christy has been in your shoes, starting her own health coaching business so she is here to tell you what you need to know when starting up to protect yourself legally. Thanks, Christy! Christy Westerfeld Attorney and Legal Resource for Online Entrepreneurs and Coaches christywesterfeld.com Legal Tips for Starting Up: Everything You Need To Know (PODCAST) Christy helps make the legal aspects of running an online business UNcomplicated, understandable, and empowering. She has been in the corporate legal world, as well as online as a certified health coach, and understand the legal intricacies of starting and running a business online, especially as a coach. Her goal is to help you learn how to legally protect your business, in ways that are easy, simple to understand, and don’t create another headache for you. She’s a lawyer and health coach, and her mission is to help you protect your business and learn a little about the legal side of things along the way. Christy has been in your shoes, starting her own health coaching business. It can be so overwhelming, and the last thing you want to hear is that all your hard work is NOT legally protected. I know this is something that overwhelmed me too when I was starting.   That’s why Christy is here! Today, she is able to combine her passion for the law with her coaching and entrepreneurial knowledge to help you keep your business protected, while actually learning the basics of why you’re taking legal steps. So welcome Christy thank you so much for being here today. Subscribe  on  your favorite platform below: iTunes Google Play Music Stitcher Radio TuneIn iHeartRadio Sound Cloud Some questions I ask: How to write amazing terms conditions, privacy policies, and fool-proof return policies. Trademark process for course/program names, etc. How does copyright protection work?   How to not fall into a trap in regards to coupons and discounts? How to determine the best business structure sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, etc.   What are the legalities around sponsored posts?  What are the legalities around affiliate marketing? What are the rules and best practices to follow to ensure you are following the rules from the department of labor when hiring an unpaid intern?   How do you createe terms for coaching clients to agree too? What  Legal forms that should be filed for an LLC In This Episode, You Will Learn: The first legal steps to take when growing a business. Episode Resources: Website for legal tips: www.christywesterfeld.com Check out Christys Templates Check out Christys Beginners Bundle You may also like these episodes: How to Start a Website with WordPress Get Started With Facebook Ads Thank you so much for listening to this episode on legal tips!!! I am thrilled you are here and I would love to know what you thought of this episode. Please leave me a comment below. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it on social media. You can also leave a 5-star review on iTunes so we can help more women find career fulfillment TOGETHER!

Personal Branding Interview Hugh MacLeod - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Hugh MacLeod - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke with Hugh MacLeod, who is a cartoonist and the author of Ignore Everybody.   In this interview, Hugh briefly talks about his new book, how he got started drawing on the back of business cards, some creativity tips and how to inspire people with your ideas. Hugh, can you explain the title of your book, Ignore Everybody? I believe that nobody can tell you whether youre idea is any good or not, especially in the beginning. All you can do is soldier on alone. ignoring everybody. What got you started drawing on the back of business cards and how did you turn it into a business? I was sitting at a bar one day, and realized that I had forgotten to bring along my sketchbook. So I grabbed the next best ting available- some business cards. The rest is history A lot of people think that if you build something, people will just come. Why is this false? Its not always false. Its not always true, either. But one should be prepared for either outcome. What are your top three tips for being more creative in all that we do? Three tips? Three nouns: Talent, discipline and stamina. Especially discipline and stamina. How do we inspire other people with our ideas? By executing on them. The more unlikely it is to succeed at the beginning, the more adversity that is overcome in the process, the greater the triumph, the more people who will be inspired. - Hugh MacLeod is the author of Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.   He is a cartoonist and professional blogger, known for his ideas about how Web 2.0 affects advertising and marketing. After a decade of working as an advertising copywriter, Hugh started blogging at gapingvoid.com in 2001. He first started off just publishing his cartoons, but as time wore on he started blogging about his other main interest i.e. marketing. Since mid-2006 Hughs main occupation has been helping a small South African winery, Stormhoek rise above the clutter in the wine market by using Web 2.0 tools to get the word out.

What Persona(Role) Have You Performed in your Career - Career Pivot

What Persona(Role) Have You Performed in your Career - Career Pivot Copyright: iqoncept / 123RF Stock Photo What Persona Have You Performed? We all take on a Persona when we go to work. You may be saying, “Huh … what is a persona?” Dictionary.com defines it as “the character(s) in a play, novel, etc.” You are an actor at work. Whether you like it or not you go to work and you play a role or apersona. Childhood As kids, our behaviors and self-imageare shaped by our parents, school, peers, society, media, and many other external forces. We learn to play a role at a very young age. How much we morphour behaviors to fit that role will depend upon our upbringing. I was talking with a good friend the other day who said to me: “I was always told not to be a starving artist. Therefore, I never followed my creative side.” My friend will write a post on this topic later but this is a classic example. She went ahead and pursued aMaster’s Degree in Health Administration. That path was unfulfilling and she would later pursue being a technical writer, trainer, and instructional designer. She was good at it but it was all an “act.” After several career pivots, she was sick of the persona that she had chosen. She wanted to be an artist and is working on making a living from it. I call her alogical creative. Her persona was chosen for her starting in her childhood. Persona at Work For myself, my persona developed over time while working for IBM. Listen to the most recent episode I joined IBM in the late 1970’s after receiving a Computer Science degree from Northwestern University. IBM assigned me to be aprogrammer writing software for a couple of different IBM Word Processing systems. I hated it! WAIT! I just spent 4 years in college developing programming skills. Yes, I had the skills. However, to write low-level software 8-hours a day, 5-days a week was torture. YUK! But, I could not say that. I was very highly compensated, bought a house when I was 22 years of age, and I was successful â€" and miserable. This was not me. Some of my story is chronicled in my postBaby Boomer Walkabout â€" A Moment of Clarity. I was playing a role that I hated. I had chosen a persona out of ignorance. What If You Do Not Know You Are Playing a Role? I have had several clients in the past where their persona (or facade) had become real to them. They believed that they were that persona. In my 22 years at IBM, I convinced myself that I was an extrovert while I am really a closet introvert. Why did I take on the role of an extrovert (public speaker and trainer)? I got paid more! In fact, I got paid a lot of money. I was an articulate, “techno-weenie” or geek that could speak. It was only in my last corporate gig, working for a tech startup, that I realized I had taken on that role and could no longer keep it up. It was exhausting. I really had no idea that I was playing a role. Everything, eventually, came crashing down in exhaustion. It was only then I realized it was all an elaborate charade. I could no longer play the charade. I was good at it but it consumed massive amounts of energy to play the role. What is Your Persona? Are you an actor? Admit it. We all have done it to some extent in our career. Some of us have learned to be expert actors and build these elaborate personas. Our own self-image is wrapped up in maintaining that persona. I want you to go back to your childhood. What were you like when you were in 1st grade? Were you shy or social? How active were you? Did you love books or music? Compare how you were as a kid to how you are now, or more importantly, how you are at work. What is different? When did you change? Why? That should give you a hint of the persona that you are playing. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...