How to create the best LinkedIn page...

It really is worth sepnding some time on creating a great LinkedIN page, the reason for this is that it is often used as a way of meeting and introducing yourself to new contacts and potential customers. Below are 10 quick tips on how you can improve your existing LinkedIn page.

1. Make your profile client focused

* LinkedIn is often the first impression you give to potential clients. Therefore, it is useful to think of your LinkedIn page as your own personal advert or website rather than copying your CV.

* Things your prospects might want to know include; who you help, what problems you can help to solve or results you can help them to achieve.

* You need to design your profile to have an impact on any potential connector.

* Don't take Linkedin's category names too seriously; use whatever space you have to give an impactful connection and first impression. For example, the 'Specialities' section is a great place to list the services or products you offer.

2. Get Connecting...

Linkedin works on connections. The most powerful use of Linkedin is to find new contacts and business partners through the search function or directly via your contacts connections.The more direct connections you have the more opportunities you will have to connect.

3. ...choose your connection strategy carefully

There are two very different strategies to connecting on Linkedin. "Open Networking" and "Trusted Partner Networking".

LIONs - Linkedin Open Networkers - these focus on creating as many connections as possible and growing the size of their network. This can often be very helpful to recrutiment consultancies.

The disadvantage is that you may not know these contacts very well if at all, essentially using Linkedin as a giant address book. This isn't necessarily a bad thing it just means that you'll have lots of shallow connections, which you are unlikely to get a strong referral from them.

Alternatively you could use the "Trusted Partner" strategy, here you only connect to those people you know and trust. With this strategy you are less likely to find people via the search facility becuase you have less face to face or trusted connections. But when you do link to someone in this way this enable a strong referral mechanism and more likely to put you in contact with the person you want to be able to link to.

Both strategies can work, but you must be consistent. It pays to think which way might work best for the type of industry you work in.

4. Use search to find potential clients and business partners

Linkedin allows the ultimate in specificity. You can search for exactly who you want to be referred to by - company, geography, by name, by job title etc. And you can search across your entire network at once. Or you can look at the contact list of an individual to see if there's anyone you'd like to be connected with.

Once you've identified people you'd like to be introduced to or referred to, rather than trying to connect to them directly, give your mutual connection a call and ask if they can connect you. That's much more polite than going directly, and it's much more likely to be successful.

5. Give testimonials to them

Testimonials are very helpful to have on your profile. They're a clear indication of the quality of youe work and the relationships you form.

6. Have a helpful headline

When people find you in searches on Linkedin, the initial thing they see is your name, photo and your headline. Most people have their job title as their headline. Much more powerful and useful is to have what you can help that person to achieve if they connect with you.

So I have my name Helen Coldicott, my photo and my headline is "Helping companies make Google and CRM work for them through training and advice".

You can edit your headline through the edit my profile option.

7. Join Linkedin Groups to connect and interact

Linkedin groups are essebtially discussion forums for particular interest groups. they allow you to find out the latest news and join in debates on topics of interest. You need to join groups that are of interest to you but also where your potential clients 'hang out'.

8. Use status updates to subtly remind your contacts of what you do

Linkedin status updates are a nice way of helping to stay top of mind with contacts. If you were to call or email all of your contacts everytime you did something interesting, it could start to get a bit irratating! But updating your status is a non-intrusive way of getting a reminder out.

9. Watch others' status updates and initiate contact

For example, if something have a change of job title or starts a new venture, these can be signals that they may need your services, or a signal to wish them well and keep in touch.

10. Proactively link others together who you think may benefit

Don't wait for others to initiate a request to be linked up to your other contacts. Review your contact list regularly looking for ways to add value to them.

In conclusion...

These suggestions are ways in which you can improve upon your existing Linkedin page. It is hoped that by making these improvements it will also improve the likelihood of you making business connections in the future.

If you have any other recommendations of improving the way Linkedin works and making it work for you, please feel free to leave a comment...

HCFT - Homepage

Please take a look at our new webdesign, we have already gratefully received lots of helpful advice on how to improve the look, feel and professional image portrayed by our site and would like to hear what you think too...

HCFT - Homepage

ACT Online Taster Sessions...

During October 2010 Coldicott Freelance Training are offering 60 minute Live ACT Training sessions.

6 great benefits in just 60 minutes - what are they?

1. Quick - It only takes 1 x hour of your time

2. Bespoke - It's your agenda, ask all the questions you need answers to

3. Convenient - It's online meaning you'll be sat at your desk with a cup of tea!

4. No travel - No travel costs, no time lost out of the office

5. Your system - The software we use enables us to see and use your ACT database

6. Expertise - Ask the ACT experts for their advice

How to make the most of your 60 minutes.

1. Write a list of things that you would like to cover and email them to us before your training session.

2. Print this off and have it ready

3. Make sure you have a pen and paper to make notes

4. Make sure you have your ACT system running and that you have diverted the phones.

What you'll receive:

1. We'll agree the agenda beforehand.

2. We'll record the training session and email you the recording.

3. We'll email you a summary of what was covered during your bespoke session.

How much does it cost?

Each 60 minute Live ACT Training sessions costs £50.

If you want to find out more or book your spot, please email helen_coldicott@hotmail.com or call Helen on 0770 410 5954. Reserve your 60 minute spot before someone else does!

Impact of Training on Project Success

A report entitled, ‘Impact of Training on Project Success’ written by the International Data Corporation (IDC) highlights the importance of investing in training to ensure your IT implementations are a success. It says,

”CIOs and IT managers diligently monitor and justify every investment they make, they must make every effort to ensure that each project succeeds and produces quantifiable benefits no matter how complex the deployment. During difficult economic periods when pressure increases to produce more with less, IT managers may see training programs as a place to cut costs. But cutting training will backfire", warns the IDC.

IDC research shows an undeniably tight link between training, team skill, and project success. It says,

“IT organisations that successfully deploy projects are more likely to use certifications as part of their IT professional development program. They also consistently make training available to every IT professional throughout the organisation”.

In addition:

• Projects that met most or all of their objectives provided each team member with twice the amount of training as projects that failed or only partly succeeded.
  
• Projects allocating 7% of the budget to training were significantly more successful than projects where only 4% of the budget went to training.

The IDC surveyed over 375 IT projects over 24 months. IT Managers were asked questions related to their team’s achievement of its significant goals and ability to meet major milestones. That information was plottedagainst the team’s skill, training budget, and hours of training provided to team members.

Select the link for the full report 'Impact of Training on Project Success'.

If you would like to share your project success story and how training investment played a part, it would be great to hear from you.

Why is investing in CRM training so important?

Why is CRM Training so important – The bigger picture:

Many organisations face the challenge of developing greater confidence, initiative, solutions-finding and problem-solving capabilities among their staff. Organisations need staff at all levels to be more self-sufficient, resourceful, creative and autonomous. This behaviour enables staff to operate at a higher strategic level, which makes their organisations more productive and competitive. This means that your staff efforts produce bigger results. It's what all organisations strive to achieve.

Why do we need CRM training – The detail:

There are many reasons that organisations benefit from investing in good CRM training programmes for their staff, in terms of CRM these include:

• Improve your level of Customer Satisfaction
• Improve business performance
• Improve reliability and accuracy of statistics and reports
• Improve financial reports and ratios
• Improve your performance against competitors
• Enable better management feedback for employee appraisals
• Enable staff assessment and training audits
• Director-driven policy and strategic priorities
• Enable Key Performance Indicators to be recorded
• Ensure good return on investment
• Ensure quick results
• Measure the success of the project
• Ensure you can rely on the data being input
• Encourage good adoption of the CRM system
• Ensure consistency across the organisation
• Improve staff understanding of the system
• Clarify the CRM objectives
• Enable staff to better manage their time
• Enable staff to prioritise their workload
• Enable staff to be more effective

If you have experienced either great training which ensured your CRM project success or maybe lack of training investment which resulted in a poor CRM implementation, please let me know.

Still need convincing? Please give me a call on 01905 23902.

Worcester Expo was cool!

I'd just like to thank everyone I met at the Worcester Expo for their time today, as promised here are the photo's of you and your exhibition stands. If you click on any of the large photos it will take you to a photo viewer where you will see the person's name and/or website link.

I thought the Expo had a great buzz about it. It was great meeting lots of likeminded business people all keen to share their time, knowledge and experiences with one another. I thoroughly look forward to meeting the contacts I made again soon, so we can share more advice and hopefully make some great referrals to eachother as well.

If you would like to know what inspired me to take photo's of everyone yesterday, well I had read an article about being an effective networker, in summary these were the pointers:

• Create a good first impression
• Be prepared - know what you want to get out of the day
• Build relationships - ask questions and listen to find out what you have in common
• Stand out from the crowd
• Give something back - share something useful that you know
• Be a Connector - introduce people who you think will benefit from knowing eachother
• Don't be shy
• Keep in touch
  
  It would be really nice to know what you thought of the event too and if you would like to promote your products and services on my blog please feel free.
  
  My Website - http://coldicottfreelancetraining.com/worcester-expo.php
  
  The Photo Gallery - http://helencoldicott.smugmug.com/Events/Worcester-Expo/13697320_sYZWa

Tips on Writing Good Tweets

The aim of this Tweet is to help people who are new to Tweeting or to remind those who Tweet regularly how to increase your following through writing Good Tweets.

These are just guidelines, but they are particulalry aimed at people who want to promote what they do whether it be their interests or their business.

I must admit, that personally it is sometimes just interesting to find out what the latest celebrity gossip is and they are perfect tweets, as they are often brief, shocking or scandalous. Thankfully, we do not all have this level of drama, or fame to our advantage so these are aimed more at everyday, 'normal' people. Just like me!

If you find yourself hesitating whether to send a Tweet, first ask yourself the question 'Why am I writing this?' if the answer is it will be interesting, relevant and useful to my followers click 'Publish Post'. If it serves purely to feed you ego, this still might be OK if you're Gordon Ramsey for example, but otherwise you may end up putting people off!

Tips on Writing Good Tweets

1. Be Useful - Create Value for you followers and tweet about something that will help them. You can offer them advice, inform them of something new on the market. Some examples might be, an event they may want to attend, a new project you're involved in that may interest them, money saving tips, anything that will add value to their life or help make life that bit easier, funnier or more interesting...
   
   
2. Engage your Followers - If you were one of your followers, what would you want to hear about? Don't think what do I want to sell or promote. If you're a customer you might want to know what special offers are available, how you can use your existing products longer, how you can get the most return from the product or service, how you can share ideas with other customers. You might want to know what special offers are currently available, what free events and semionars there are to attend, etc...
   
   
3. Be Descriptive - For example, you might want to tell your followers about an event you will be attending that may also be of interest to them. You may offer to meet them for a coffee or a Q & A session. You can tell them what will be there that might be of interest to them.
   
   Here are some examples - it would be great to here your suggestions for great Tweets or which version you like the best and why below:
   
   a. Just on my way to The Good Food Show at the NEC...
   b. Can't wait to see the Hairy Bikers and taste some of Jimmy's Farm sausages...
   c. Is anyone else going to The Good Food Show today? I can't wait to see the Hairy Bikers, how about you?
   
   Engaging Tweets that enable you to interact with your followers is what Twitter is all about, and is valuable even if your Tweet doesn't have a direct link to your website. Over time you can build up recommendations if you try your best to have an informative, interesting and value adding Twitter page.
   
   
4. Be Interesting - Taking some sound advice from Darya Pino author of Summertomato she regulalrly responds to other people's tweets. For example in response to the question "What is the most interesting thing you have ever eaten?" she immediately replied with "The most interesting thing I have ever eaten? Sharks Lips" (repeating the question so that it is easy for her followers to track her conversation).
   
   "This reply sparked several minutes of vibrant 'twitversations' with various people about food, travel and ecological concerns." She adds, "The people I interacted with as a result of this tweet may not remember the details of our communication, but it is likely they went away with the general impression that I'm an interesting person worth following and recommending."
   
   She said this single tweet helped strengthen her network.
   
   
5. Save Time - If you also have a Blog and Website, link them altogether and by just updating your Blog all three will be updated at once.
   
   How?
   a. Create your blog. The Most popular, free blog software are Blogger.com and WordPress.
   b. Create your Twitter account by just filling in the online form.
   c. Get you RSS Feed from your Blog and make it into a Feed using Feedinformer
   d. From you Twitter Account obtain the feed information to add to your website and your blog.
   

If you have any questions or advice on writing great Tweets, I would love to hear from you. I would like to compile a Top Ten Top Tweets list - so if you would like to submit your most popular I look forward to reading them... Happy Tweeting :-)