Linkedinformed Podcast. The Linkedin Show

Welcome to episode 224, this week I want to mainly focus on company pages. A feature of LinkedIn that I have often been very critical of. LinkedIn have announced their Top Company Pages of 2018 list so I thought I would take a closer look at some of those companies to try to understand what benefit they are gaining from LinkedIn. I also want to return to the new groups experience as I now have the new features and thought I would add some further thoughts and things I have experienced. For the full notes go to http://linkedinformed.com/episode224

Thanks for all your feedback from last weeks episode about a wishlist for the new design of groups, well we didn't have to wait long did we? Well, to be more precise some of us do need to wait longer (myself included) to be able to play with the new design but on Tuesday this week, LinkedIn started rolling out their long-awaited new design that they are hoping can reinvigorate this much-maligned area of LinkedIn. More about new groups later but first. Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week Very little news about LinkedIn this week apart from the following article that I saw in multiple places The US accuses China of 'super aggressive' spy campaign on LinkedIn    New Groups Design I told you it was going to happen this week, didn't I?! New groups have started rolling out and several people have been in touch to share their thoughts. I'm really frustrated to not be included in the early stages of the roll-out. I know these things are supposed to be random but I also know that they can add people to the rollout if th

Welcome to episode 222. I hope you find this episode enjoyable and informative. LinkedIn have recently announced that their new re-designed groups section will be launched at the end of August It's taken them over 18 months including much user consultation to get to this point so we are entitled to expect something special. As of the time of recording, nothing has transpired so I thought it would be timely to create a list of all the things that we, as users want to see and then we can compare it to what we actually get! More of that at http://linkedinformed.com/?p=2531&preview=true

Welcome to episode 221, after a weeks break while I was hiking around the Swiss Alps. If you have never been I would highly recommend it, as you can see below, the scenery is breathtaking!   Interesting Stuff I saw This Week LinkedIn Groups Announcement Thank you for your continued dedication to your LinkedIn groups. As you know we are fully rebuilding Groups and reintegrating it into the main LinkedIn website and mobile apps. We are excited for you to experience the new version of Groups which will start rolling out to all members at the end of August. We've heard from many of you over the past year that boosting engagement and enabling vibrant discussions in your groups is important, so we've prioritized features that support this including: Making it easier to access Groups right from the LinkedIn homepage and improving visibility of group conversations in the main LinkedIn feed Giving you the ability to manage your group on the go in the LinkedIn iOS and Android apps Helping you stay up-to-date on group a

Hello everyone and welcome to a new episode. This week I have had messages from several people about an article doing the rounds that details how the LinkedIn algorithm works – “Wow, that sounds very interesting” I thought….then I read it and felt somewhat cheated. It’s not what it purports to be but I do think it’s worth covering so that will be the main subject for this week More of that later but first….. Go to http://linkedinformed.com/episode220

Hello everyone and welcome to a new episode. After two weeks of discussing Pods we are moving onto pastures new. This week I want to focus attention on the continued development of #LinkedInLocal with LocalX. I was lucky enough to get to attend the launch party of LocalX in London recently and wanted to share my thoughts on this new initiative and also why I think LinkedIn have really missed an opportunity with LinkedIn Local. More of that later but first…..

Welcome to a new episode of LinkedInformed. The main content this week is the second half of my recent interview with Lynnaire Johnston about LinkedIn pods plus my conclusions on the subject. But first…… Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week How to beat LinkedIn : The Game This spoof article made me chuckle…enjoy! Microsoft quotes from their latest earnings call about LinkedIn Taken from this article from The Motley Fool Microsoft’s 2016 acquisition of LinkedIn is increasingly looking like a winning bet. Sure, Microsoft had to fork over more than $26 billion to acquire the company, but LinkedIn continues to see incredible momentum nearly two years after the social network for professionals was acquired. Over 575 million members strong, fiscal 2018 was a record year for LinkedIn. Further, Nadella said LinkedIn’s year-over-year revenue growth accelerated for the fifth quarter in a row in Q4, to 37%. “We saw record levels of engagement and job postings again this quarter, with sessions growth up 41% year-over-year,”

What are pods? Sometimes they are called engagement or amplify or boosting pods. The basic premise is that a group of active users form a group/community somewhere online (LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack or any other online community site) and announce (with a link) to the group everytime they publish a post or article on LinkedIn. The agreement is that everyone in the group then engages with that post (Liking and/or commenting). This has two effects; It spreads the post to a section of their followers which is likely to increase views and engagement The algorithm will give an extra boost to more of your followers if it believes the post is popular. This calculation seems to be made within the first hour after posting.   Pods are sometimes managed by one individual with strict rules and procedures and others are managed much more loosely. Some pods have hundreds of members and others are much smaller. I first came across them last year when a listener directed me to a Facebook group that was set up for this purpo

Where were you last week? Unexpected holiday? Did I miss an episode? Ooops…sorry about last week folks, this episode didn’t happen last week because, well to be perfectly frank…I had the podcasters equivalent of writers block! But I’m back on it this week and this is a tricky subject that probably effects all of us at some time. Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week I’ve scanned the internet for interesting articles about LinkedIn and there really is very little but this one instigated a rant from me…just a little one! Dear LinkedIn, Did You Forget You’re a Business Site? What a load of C*** or codswallop as some posh English people say! Why do people feel the need to dictate how LinkedIn should be, based purely on their own preferences. LinkedIn should be inclusive to all people. Some people love emojis and others hate them…that’s fine but just because you hate them, that isn’t a reason to prevent others from using them. Some industries and some users of a certain age love using emojis. If you are sent one then

This weeks episode is all about something that is right in front of us, every time we log in to LinkedIn but it's something that most of us take very little notice of......and I think that's a missed opportunity. I'm talking about data - about companies and their employees. Companies that are our competitors, customers or prospective customers. I think we should all be taking more notice of this data, more of that later but first........ Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week Unveiling Translations in the LinkedIn Feed When you click on 'See translation' you see this And here's how it compares to Google translate Conclusion: A fantastic feature that will be really beneficial to people who operate in countries like the Netherlands where you want to reach an English and native speaking audience with your posts. It will also be very handy when someone @mentions you in a post that is written in a foreign language - this happens to me at least twice a month! It's not as accurate as Google yet but should improve with

Welcome to episode 214. Due to time constraints, this will be a much shorter episode than normal but I did want to focus on company pages and specifically the issues that I have with them. But first..... Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week WikiLeaks publishes identities and information about ICE employees amid intensifying anger   LinkedIn Kudos - My thoughts The day after I published last weeks episode, I got the new kudos feature (and the Q code, see below). Having played with Kudos for a while, I'm not that impressed. The graphics are truly awful. Who do LinkedIn employ to do this stuff? It's purely an activity, a post so there is nothing permanent about it. It doesn't show on your profile and there it's not searchable. I haven't seen many Kudos posts, my guess is that it will be largely ignored and fizzle out.   I also got the new QR code feature This is pretty useless until it's full rolled out to all users. Once the above has happened it can make connecting easier when you meet someone. People often

Welcome to episode 213. A big thanks to everyone who contributed with ideas of LinkedIn mistakes/disasters that I can use in a book I’m considering writing. If you have any other stories, please let me know by either sending me a message on LinkedIn (it’s free even if we are not connected) or leave a voicemail (link on the right side of this page) or email me at mark@linkedinformed.com. Some ideas so far; Employees using LinkedIn to get their own back on former employers and vice versa Political posts or comments from someone who is in business - what does this achieve? Posting pictures in factories that may include commercially sensitive material that contravenes an NDA (commonplace in China). Overly religious posts or comments. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs but LinkedIn is not the place to preach! @mentioning someone who does not speak your language! Keep them coming! I have been spending some of this week getting familiar with the new communities feature on LinkedIn and I’m so excited by it that I

Welcome to episode 212. A big thanks for all the feedback from last weeks show. Most of you seemed to enjoy Marjorie’s information about ProFinder although I was surprised by a couple of people who felt I shouldn’t have been promoting a service such as ProFinder - the premise being that LinkedIn are creating a market that is free to use (even though it isn’t) and once people are dependent on ProFinder as a source of work, they will start to charge more for it. I massively struggle with that mindset - I can remember people in recruitment saying exactly the same thing about LinkedIn “Don’t support a business threat” was a common view and look at where we are now? You can’t put your head in the sand on things like that, a perceived ‘threat’ can become an opportunity but only if you embrace it. This week I’m looking for your help… I’m thinking of writing a book about my famous ‘rants’ about LinkedIn - I want to focus on the things that people do wrong or the things that go wrong on LinkedIn. Ideally from a humoro

Welcome to episode 211, this week’s episode is dedicated entirely to understanding LinkedIn ProFinder. I haven’t used ProFinder as it is currently only available to users in the United States so I found an experienced (and award winning) user who could tell us all about it. Let me introduce Marjorie Kavanagh What is LinkedIn ProFinder? ProFinder is LinkedIn’s own professional service marketplace’ where users can search for freelancers, small business owners or interim executives who can provide expertise in a variety of specialist disciplines. You can access ProFinder by going to the ‘More’ menu on LinkedIn desktop Freelancers can apply to be accepted as a ‘Pro’ in up to 10 of the 140 categories available in proFinder. These are broken down into 17 broad categories. Freelancers can apply to be accepted as a ‘Pro’ in up to 10 of the 140 categories available in proFinder. These are broken down into 17 broad categories. How to become a ‘Pro’ To be a successful applicant your main LinkedIn profile must satisfy f

Welcome to episode 210, I’m back after a very restful week in the sun in Cape Verde and was surprised to see very little news about LinkedIn circulating the internet over the last couple of weeks so this is going to be a shorter than normal episode.   Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week Actually not interesting at all! I got back from holiday to an email inbox that could only be described as GDPR hell! A plethora of emails asking me to read a new privacy policy (necessary but annoying) combined with a series of ‘Do you still want to hear from us’ followed by ‘Are you sure you want us to go?” emails encouraging me to opt-in to future emails. I’m not expert but I thought the idea of GDPR was to reduct the number of emails?!! I guess we may feel the benefit in the longer term. I have to say (again not from any position of expertise) that these people who are sending out ‘opt-in’ emails seem to be doing unnecessary damage to their business by culling lists they have built up over years. Here is a post I published

Welcome to episode 209, this week we have a pre-recorded interview with Kris Holland who is a Marketing Manager with a specialist recruitment business called Charlton Morris Kris and I engaged on LinkedIn following on from my posts about content marketing as covered in episode 204. Kris was keen to explain that content marketing had been working well for them so I thought it would be great to get him on the show. Takeaways Content should be designed to start conversations They measure success by engagement but also by looking at Buzzsumo It’s important to develop an understanding of the markets you service When you focus on narrow/niche vertical markets you can ‘tune in’ to your audience and really give value in your content. Recruiters should be doing this. Rule: Never sell in any content you post Great content allows their consultants to be seen differently and with more respect. Content creation forms can be a useful tool to help those who find writing difficult or time consuming Articles often work better

Welcome to episode 208, this week I am revisiting the search algorithm. If you are a long term listener you will recall that I tested the search algorithm a year ago in episode 161 and I promised that I would conduct the same test every year to check if the algorithm had changed……..and guess what, it has! More of that later, but first… Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week LinkedIn Turns 15 Shameless drug dealers using LINKEDIN to sell Class A narcotics. I’m afraid this is classic British tabloid sensationalism! The profile of Scott Bush has already been deactivated and I could find very little other drug selling activity. LinkedIn Updates LinkedIn is now rolling out suggested hashtags in posts as per this voicemail from Lynnaire Johnston. Post of the Week I just love the positivity of this brilliant post from Michael Spence LinkedIn SEO 2018 How easy is it to find your profile in a LinkedIn Search? The LinkedIn search algorithm is a complex and ever changing beast. Search results are highly personalised so how

Welcome to episode 207, this week I had the pleasure of chatting with Simon Bourne from The Hand Dyed Shoe Company. Simon is a classic example of what can be achieved when you use LinkedIn to develop an authentic personal brand.   Takeaways LinkedIn has massive untapped potential to develop your brand Simon developed his visibility because he posted honest, authentic content about his personal and business journey. LinkedIn success is not about View or Share Numbers it's about the reaction you get from followers, on and off line. Quote “it's not about selling your products, it's about developing your brand”. You can be more promotional with your posts once you have built an engaged audience. The power of storytelling. Authentic stories are the way to develop a brand, you must stir emotion to gain engagement. Never follow what other people do on LinkedIn. Be you and show your authentic emotions. Once you are visible and your followers are emotionally invested in you, it becomes relatively straightforward to se

Welcome to episode 206. As the new desktop profile design continues to roll-out to many, I thought it would make sense to cover profiles with you in this episode. Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week LinkedIn’s AutoFill plugin could leak user data, secret fix failed Facebook faces exodus as businesses call time Facebook's new slogan: 'If you think we're not good for your business, leave' Always Customise Your LinkedIn Invitation? Better not? LinkedIn Features The new mobile ‘Find Nearby’ seems to be broken! The settings have disappeared which renders it useless! Post of the Week Following on from last weeks episode on content marketing I thought I would highlight this excellent post from John Espirian. Great advice…and great subtitles too! Refresh Your Profile With the new profile design rolling out to many of you I thought it would be a good time to make some changes to your profile. As a starting point I posted this video this week showing a side by side comparison You might find Andy Foote’s article on the

Welcome to episode 205, this week I’m joined by Robert Indries to discuss content marketing on LinkedIn. But first… Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week The ‘Find nearby’ feature on the mobile app actually works very well (once you have asked others to switch it on) as I found when I experimented with it this week at a course I ran LinkedIn are changing Middle East and African accounts onto US based contracts as from May 8th to avoid GDPR compliance.   LinkedIn Tips to Keep Your Profile Fresh includes reference to new profile design You can now add subtitles to your native videos via desktop, it’s a bit fiddle but the video below explains it very well Content Marketing I chatted with Robert Indries about how content marketing can work on LinkedIn but only if it is done in the right way. Key points Content should be designed to create connections and conversations. Long form content is great for SEO but less suitable for LinkedIn Most LinkedIn content searching is actually"Passive" searching. Most people perce