Leveraging LinkedIn for Professional and Business Networking Matthew J. Weaver, PMP, CSM, ITIL Project Weavers, LLC November 14, © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 1

Matthew J. Weaver, PMP, CSM, ITIL Founder, instructor, coach, and consultant at Project Weavers – Teach project management skills, PMP and CAPM exam prep, and Microsoft Project classes – Expert in project management, best practices, methodology definition, and process improvement – Manage projects and proposals – Over 30 of years of IT and technical, project, service, and general business management experience – Began as Navy Nuke ET, completed undergrad at Cal State Fullerton, grad work at American University On LinkedIn – Over 11,200 mostly relevant connections – Around 50 recommendations – Member of 50 groups – Own, manage, or moderate over half-a-dozen groups with over 200,000 members – Participate in group discussion – Actively network and promote via LinkedIn – Nearly 100% of new business since January 2010 is traceable to LinkedIn © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 2 Introduction:

Attendees Do you use LinkedIn? – For professional or business networking? – For job search? – For recruiting? How many connections do you have? – Friends and colleagues? – Relevant? – Non-relevant? How many recommendations do you have? How many groups do you belong to? Do you participate in group discussions? Have you found benefit in using LinkedIn? © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 3 Introduction: The LinkedIn community – Washington DC Metro Area Just over 21,000 include PMP in their profiles Nearly 63,000 list current or past title “Project Manager” Nearly 375,000 members in the area – US and Worldwide As of September 30, LinkedIn claims 50.5 million members in the US and more than 187 million worldwide

Objectives 1.Create an effective LinkedIn profile 2.Customize settings and profile 3.Use groups to improve your visibility and build your network 4.Get more out of networking 5.Invite and connect faster with more people © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 4 Introduction:

Create an effective LinkedIn profile Key concepts and concerns Profile Specifications © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 5 Objective 1: Create an effective LinkedIn profile

Key concepts and concerns Use keywords, include alternative words Check your spelling! Avoid passive voice Be consistent (e.g., LinkedIn profile vs. your resume) Recognize that LinkedIn profile length is not an issue as it is with a printed resume © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 6 Objective 1: Create an effective LinkedIn profile

Profile Specifications Experience – Company Name, 100 – Title, 100 – Time Period – Description, 2,000 Education – School Name, 100 – Degree, 100 – Field(s) of Study, 100 – Dates Attended – Activities and Societies, 500 – Additional Notes, 100 Recommendation – Written recommendation, 3,000 © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 7 Objective 1: Create an effective LinkedIn profile Basic Information – First Name, 20 – Last Name, 40 – Former/Maiden Name, 40 – Professional "Headline“, 120 Summary – Professional Experience & Goals, 2,000 – Specialties, 500 Additional Information – Interests, 1,000 – Groups & Associations, 1,000 – Honors & Awards, 1,000 – Contact Settings, 2,000, Not Searchable

Customize settings and profile Add a good, complimentary photograph Customize your LinkedIn URL Set your usage and privacy settings Add Sections Add Applications © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 8 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile

Add a good, complimentary photograph © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 9 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile

Customize your LinkedIn URL © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 10 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile Original Default Update

Set your usage and privacy settings Profile – Privacy Controls Activity broadcasts Activity feed Reporting profile view Viewing your connections Profile photo and visibility ‘Viewers also viewed’ © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 11 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile – Settings Twitter settings – Helpful Links Name, location, and industry Profile Manage recommendations

Set your usage and privacy settings Preferences – s Types of messages Frequency of messages Who can send invitations Frequency of digest s © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 12 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile – LinkedIn Communications LinkedIn announcements LinkedIn research invitations Partner InMail

Set your usage and privacy settings Groups, Companies, & Applications – Groups Group display order View groups Frequency of group digest Group invitations – Companies Companies followed © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 13 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile – Application View applications Add applications – Privacy Data Sharing LinkedIn plugins

Set your usage and privacy settings Account – Privacy Controls Advertising preferences – Settings Profile photo and visibility Show/hid profile photos Customize updates Language Security settings © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 14 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile – & Password Add/change addresses Change password – Helpful Links Upgrade account Close account Get LinkedIn content via RSS

Add Sections Sections – Certifications (Certification Name is searchable) – Courses (Not searchable) – Honors and Awards (Title and Description are searchable) – Languages (Not searchable) – Organizations (Not searchable) – Projects (Project and Description are searchable) – Patents (Title [255] and Summary [2,000] are searchable) – Publications (Title [255] and Summary [2,000] are searchable) – Test Scores (Not searchable) – Volunteer Experience & Causes (Role and Description are searchable) © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 15 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile

Add Sections Applications – Blog Link – Box.net Files – Creative Portfolio Display – E-Bookshelf – Events – Google Presentation – Lawyer Ratings – Legal Updates © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 16 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile – My Travel – Polls – Projects and Teamspaces – Reading List by Amazon – Real Estate Pro – SAP Community Bio – SlideShare Presentations – WordPress

Add Other Skills & Expertise (Skill is searchable) – No real value – LinkedIn now allowing anyone to “endorse” skills – Statistics count to 99 and thereafter simply reports 99+ © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 17 Objective 2: Customize settings and profile

Use groups to improve your visibility and build your network Join 50 groups Use groups to access and invite connections – A shared group eliminates the need for address Participate in groups by starting discussions and joining discussions © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 18 Objective 3: Use groups to improve your visibility and build your network

Use groups to improve your visibility and build your network Groups with maximum members (and maximum spam) – Jobs (over 1,000,000 members) – Linked:HR (over 750,000 members) – eMarketing Association Network (nearly 500,000 members) – Social Media Marketing (nearly 500,000 members) – The Recruiting Network (around 400,000 members) – The Project Manager Network (around 370,000 members) Quality groups (No spam) – Project Manager Community (over 150,000 members) – PM Link (about 40,000 members) – Real World Project Management Practices (around 3,000 members) – PMIWDC (over 5,100 members) – Any others with ‘discussions in month’ of tens or hundreds © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 19 Objective 3: Use groups to improve your visibility and build your network

Get more out of networking Networking strategy – Old School. Search and connect with people you know – New School. Search and connect with anyone relevant to you – Waste of Time. Connect with anyone and everyone Make your searches relevant – Use keywords; filter by locations – Use Advanced search – Be systematic © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 20 Objective 4: Get more out of networking

Make your invites personal LinkedIn default invite states: I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. Make it personal, relevant, and meaningful. For example, use the full 310 character invite: Carla, I invite your connection on LinkedIn for our mutual business and business networking. I have 30+ years of IT experience and my company specializes in project management training worldwide. Thanks, Matthew © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 21 Objective 5: Invite and connect faster with more people

Thank you! Your feedback is important – Please share anything and everything so that we can improve – Share feedback to Matthew at Project Weavers at Please contact us regarding project management training © , Project Weavers, LLC. All rights reserved. | (855) | Skype ProjectWeavers 22 Review and Final Thoughts: The content of this presentation is the sole responsibility of the author and is not necessarily endorsed by PMIWDC.