“Social Media has nothing to do with technology.” Loved that line from Kevin Knebl‘s recent LinkedIn Presentation in Denver. So true! It’s about people and connecting.
I was so excited to finally meet Kevin in person after years of being connected with him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a quick actual phone conversation one time (yes, people, you can pick up the phone and call Grandma!)
Here is our interview and I have some more little nuggets of wisdom from his talk below!
1. LinkedIn is a database. He definitely hammered this one home and I think it’s a great point – you can find amazing things on LinkedIn! Use it to search and find people you want to connect with. Use the Advanced search to really take advantage of the platform (better than Match.com as Kevin says in our interview)
2. Your Profile is the most important part of LinkedIn. Fill in the summary, use keywords strategically, add skills, and smile in your profile picture – no one wants to connect to a sourpuss. Take a lo0k at some of my tips on How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Attract More Customers.
3. Build up your Recommendations, Endorsements are not as important. Many people are giving out Endorsements left and right. But Recommendations are much better in the long run. Many people don’t think to ask for Recommendations but if you have done a great job, it’s a good idea to gently ask someone for a recommendation. Whatever you do, don’t do it like this: How NOT to Ask for a LinkedIn Recommendation.
4. Keep connecting. Loved another line of his “Most people don’t have a social media problem, they have a discipline problem.” Small efforts over time give massive results.
5. Have a system. Have some prewritten messages that you can personalize to connect with people. He had a document on his desktop that had several snippets that he could then personalize to send to someone when connecting, when asking for recommendations, and for asking for LinkedIn introductions. Smart!
6. Be real. Kevin is a master and using humor (sometimes off-color and I think that’s why I love him!) and getting personal on his social sites. He spent some time talking about Dale Carnegie’s Principles and how they apply to social networking. Great stuff!
Kevin’s LinkedIn talk spent about 30 minutes going over LinkedIn and 2 hours talking about the principles of networking. Which makes perfect sense. Because as he said, “Social Media has nothing to do with technology.”
Make sure you connect with Kevin at www.KevinKnebl.com he’s fantastic! Tell him Grandma sent you! And take a look at some of my recent LinkedIn blog posts for more tips.
