What makes a good LinkedIn profile?

[MyTailorIsRich]

Originally Posted by Stazy

I have a comment regarding the statement that "you create need". I think this is a common misconception amongst marketers. Marketers do not create need. Rather, the goal of marketing is to communicate how a product/service meets a need. For example, the need for entertainment. Marketers didn't create this need. It exists outside of marketing. Where marketing plays a role is communicating how a product meets one's entertainment needs.

I think that is an old school definition. It is very common to have business development included as part of the marketing organization and considered within the marketing scope. Think about the modern marketing function of Product Evangelist. Biz dev and prodcut evangelism is all about demand creation, which is turn is part of a "pull" marketing strategy. Try Googling "marketing demand creation" and you'll get a few million hits.

 

[Connemara]

OK, this does not make a good LinkedIn profile.

Excerpted from an acquaintance's past job:

Analized and drafted amendments for legislation,

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by Connemara

OK, this does not make a good LinkedIn profile.

Excerpted from an acquaintance's past job:

Hey, they were a "team player".

 

[unjung]

Originally Posted by Connemara

OK, this does not make a good LinkedIn profile.

Excerpted from an acquaintance's past job:

I read that as "annalized" and thought "that's a pretty creative way to say 'wrote down'".

 

[unjung]

Okay, some recent successes on LI:

-Posted an update on an upcoming trip to a couple cities on the other side of the continent. Got a message from someone who wants to do business who I likely wouldn't have found otherwise (as his firm is in a space we don't really touch right now);
-Got an add from a guy in a firm who can potentially supply deal flow. This isn't actually what I do for my company but now he knows us, because of my LI profile, as far as I can tell;
-Had a contact from my personal life see my profile and realize that we're in a similar business and he may know some sources of capital for me.

For the record, I have about 600 contacts, about 250 of which are in my industry. I have a lot of contacts I don't know but who I added so that I would be able to see their contacts - "building my network." I have a few recommendations but I don't think anyone takes those seriously. I am also a member of 50 groups - the maximum you can join - and a few subgroups, all related to my industry or geography.

 

[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by unjung

Okay, some recent successes on LI:

-Posted an update on an upcoming trip to a couple cities on the other side of the continent. Got a message from someone who wants to do business who I likely wouldn't have found otherwise (as his firm is in a space we don't really touch right now);
-Got an add from a guy in a firm who can potentially supply deal flow. This isn't actually what I do for my company but now he knows us, because of my LI profile, as far as I can tell;
-Had a contact from my personal life see my profile and realize that we're in a similar business and he may know some sources of capital for me.

For the record, I have about 600 contacts, about 250 of which are in my industry. I have a lot of contacts I don't know but who I added so that I would be able to see their contacts - "building my network." I have a few recommendations but I don't think anyone takes those seriously. I am also a member of 50 groups - the maximum you can join - and a few subgroups, all related to my industry or geography.

Do you find joining all those different groups is actually beneficial? I ended up leaving several groups because I couldn't keep track of them and they seemed to just be taking up space, and they didn't seem to have useful contacts for me.

 

[unjung]

Originally Posted by yerfdog

Do you find joining all those different groups is actually beneficial? I ended up leaving several groups because I couldn't keep track of them and they seemed to just be taking up space, and they didn't seem to have useful contacts for me.

No. I just do it so there's a higher likelihood I can connect to someone because we share a group. There are a few groups that are okay. Niche industry groups are good - the niche I'm in has several groups devoted to it and I use those to figure out who's doing what in the industry. I also just joined an Asian alternative investment group tonight that I plan to use to find some contacts to assess interest in a new fund my firm is launching in HK and SG next month. So in that case, I basically joined so I could find some people to cold call...