The Transcript

13 LinkedIn Power Tips from the First 9 Episodes of The Missing Link

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Mica Gadhia: This is The Missing Link with your host, the insufferable, but never boring, Sean Jackson.

Sean Jackson: Hello everyone, it’s Sean Jackson, the host of The Missing Link. I am joined as always by the eclectic Mica Gadhia. Mica, how are you today?

Mica Gadhia: I’m doing excellent, Sean. How are you?

Sean Jackson: I am actually super excited. Normally I’m fantastic, but today I am excited. And I’ll tell you why — this is our tenth show, Mica.

Mica Gadhia: I know. I know.

Sean Jackson: Nobody believed that we could get to ten shows. But we did. We made it to the tenth show.

Mica Gadhia: We did it.

Sean Jackson: It makes me laugh, because when we first started together on this journey, Mica, and we were putting this show together — I want to let our audience on a little secret. I was terrified.

Mica Gadhia: Right.

Sean Jackson: I’ll tell you why. Because I knew that I was just going to be terrible for ten shows. That’s why the tenth show was so important to me. Because I told everyone, “I am just going to suck for the first nine shows.”

Mica Gadhia: Yup.

Sean Jackson: “Hopefully by the tenth one I will suck less.”

Mica Gadhia: Yeah, I remember.

Sean Jackson: You remember? I think we’re getting better. I don’t know if we’re good yet, but definitely we’re getting better. I want to thank all of our audience who has been listening to the show on a regular basis. Cannot thank you enough. For today’s show, what I think, Mica, is we should do a recap of the past nine shows. What do you think?

Mica Gadhia: That’s brilliant. Brilliant.

Sean Jackson: What we have found in this journey together, Mica, is there’s a lot of great information out there. That our community has been contributing to us. To the interviews that we’ve had over the past nine shows. We just have so much great information that I think the tenth show, as an homage to our previous past, we should go ahead and talk about the tips that we have learned in this journey for the past nine episodes. You like that, Mica?

Mica Gadhia: I love it.

Sean Jackson: What’s really interesting to me is the fact that we have been able to come up with this compilation.

Mica Gadhia: Right.

Sean Jackson: It’s just amazing that we were able to come up with it. What really gets me, Mica, is the group that we have.

Mica Gadhia: Yeah. They are amazing and active and interactive, and asking amazing questions. And I think that my favorite thing to see is that people are actually having success on LinkedIn because of The Missing Link.

How to Join Our Super-Secret LinkedIn Group

Sean Jackson: Exactly. That there are real results that people are able to achieve by listening through and participation in our group that we have out there. I would encourage everyone listening to the show to sign up on our very private LinkedIn group called “The Missing Link Show.” But you know what? You have to know the secret to get in. Right, Mica?

Mica Gadhia: Exactly.

Sean Jackson: What is the secret of getting in to our group that has all of this great information?

Mica Gadhia: The secret if you are in the continental United States is to take out your mobile device and text 41411. Then the keyword there is going to be ‘mylink,’ with no spaces — ‘mylink.’ And we’ll immediately get you set up with the group invitation and you’ll start seeing the promotions and things of that. If you are outside of the continental United States you will need to send us an email.

Sean Jackson: Yeah, right.

Mica Gadhia: That’s going to be at MissingLink@Rainmaker.FM. We’ll take care of you there.

Sean Jackson: You will want to do this, because again, a lot of the tips and tactics that we’re going to cover in this episode are going to be found in that LinkedIn group that we maintain, that super-private group. Get out your phone. Send an email. Come and join us as we go through this LinkedIn marketing journey together. When we come back from the break, we’re going to go through the 13 power tips that we found in the past 9 shows. Stay tuned, everybody.

Mica Gadhia: Podcasting is a great way to build your online authority. The key to success is to publish online and the Rainmaker Platform makes that easy. Rainmaker is the complete online marketing solution that makes it easy and simple to execute your online marketing strategy. So whether you need a design, landing page, or a simple way to publish your own podcast, Rainmaker is the solution for you. Head on over to Rainmaker.FM/Platform right now and sign up for your free 14-day trial. Because this is the same tool that we use to publish The Missing Link, and if Sean and I can use it, then so can you.

Sean Jackson: Welcome back, everyone. This is Sean Jackson and Mica Gadhia, and we are going to go through 13 power tips that we have learned from the past 9 episodes of the show. Mica, I really asked you when we were preparing for today’s broadcast to come up with a list of things that we’ve learned. I’m going to kick it off to you because you did all the hard work, I just get to talk about it. I’m going to let you go ahead and bring us into what you have discovered. Let’s get this kicked off.

4 Excellent Ways to Create Your Best Profile

Mica Gadhia: You got it. I will tell you I didn’t come up with just nine. I thought about doing one per show, but then I went through our Missing Link group and found amazing tips. This is not all of them, but these are just the favorites that we picked out to share on the show. Then we put them into three different categories. Sean, I’d love to start out — every single show talked about having a clean, compelling, and up-to-date profile. We’ve got four tips I’d like to talk about within just setting up an excellent profile on your LinkedIn page.

Sean Jackson: It’s so funny. If you look at almost all the advice out there — from us, from anyone else — it all starts with the profile.

Mica Gadhia: Yup.

Sean Jackson: Let’s go through the top line ones. Of course the past shows we go into a lot more detail. Let’s pull out a couple of them first. First off, Mica, I think it is the head shot, right?

Mica Gadhia: Yup.

Sean Jackson: What is it about the head shot that people need to know about?

Mica Gadhia: Cleanliness.

Sean Jackson: Of course. Yes, take a shower. After taking a shower, Mica, come on. What is it about a head shot that is most important?

Mica Gadhia: Comb your hair. Head shots need to say who you are — need to show who you are, immediately. Number one. That is your first impression that you’re going to make on anybody that views your profile.

Sean Jackson: Right. I think that’s where it’s key to have your face fully — almost 70 percent of that little thumbnail should be your face. It should be you. It should be easy to recognize. Not the standard mugshot that you would find on some corporate badge. Something that clearly shows your face because that, I think, is crucial. Of course in our LinkedIn group (which you can get to if you follow our instructions about 41411 or emailing TheMissingLink@Rainmaker.FM), Sandy gave a great link in there on ways to get basically a professional photo done without having to pay a fortune to get it done.

Mica Gadhia: Right.

Sean Jackson: I think definitely look in that LinkedIn group because Sandy had some great tips. A link that she shared. And of course, in episode two we talked about all of the details about your photograph, etc. If you’re going through the archive, go back to show number two where we talk about using LinkedIn the right way. The second thing about a profile, Mica, is — I’m really adamant about this.

Mica Gadhia: Yeah.

Sean Jackson: Underneath your name appears what’s called your ‘professional headline.’ It’s right underneath your name. And any time you connect with somebody or if anyone’s clicking on the little link that has your name, inevitably this professional headline is the thing that shows up. Now, I have seen professional headlines that look like somebody’s resume compacted into 250 characters with “World class leading blah blah blah blah blah.”

Okay. Folks, I’m going to tell you now. Let me tell you what the photograph and professional headline do together. They prove you’re not a bozo. To remove the bozo filter you have to use your headline as a place for authority. Right, Mica? Because again, if I’m on a “Life journey with somebody, blah blah blah blah blah,” that doesn’t really tell me anything. If you are the CEO, the CFO, the Chief Strategist, the whatever, use that professional headline to build authority. Not just regurgitate your life journey through whatever profession you’re doing. Right, Mica?

Mica Gadhia: Right. In the promotions page we do have a link to our free magnetic headline ebook, which I know everyone in our company at Copyblogger probably still references at least once a month.

Sean Jackson: Yeah, absolutely. That’s, again, in that LinkedIn group that we have. Underneath the promotions, where we’re listing all these resources.

Mica Gadhia: Right.

Sean Jackson: The other thing that came up, and I really like this — this actually came from Barry and Michael on our LinkedIn group. Someone asked the question about, “How do I compare my profile to other people in the company?” It was a great question. I thought that was the other tip. Because as you’re working your profile, it’s not just the fact that your profile is strong, you would also hope that other members of your organization have a strong profile as well.

This was a tip that I loved. That you basically go in to your profile to edit your profile, on the right-hand side there you’ll see a title that says, “Who’s viewed your profile.” Just click on that link. And then in there is a tab that says how you rank for profile views on the next page. In the middle of that, you can click on your company and it shows all of the people in your company and compares your ranking for views to everybody else in the organization. I just love that power tip. Because again, it’s not just about the strength of your profile, it’s how do you monitor the strength of other people in your organization.

Mica Gadhia: Right.

Sean Jackson: Then, of course, the fourth power tip is something that Eve Mayer shared with us on show number three and that is, Mica?

Mica Gadhia: That is very, very powerful. It’s to ask for recommendations from your customers and people that you have served and not just your managers and your coworkers. Because the people who are looking for you, they want to know what kind of service they can expect. And that will convert so much more often.

Sean Jackson: Eve Mayer is known as the LinkedIn Queen and this is one of my favorite tips from this. That show number three was great, but especially in this idea. It’s not just the superiors — if you call them that in your organization. It is the customers. The people who you are really impacting through your work and effort. I love that because, again, it makes your recommendations more meaningful. A recommendation that says, “They are a good worker,” is not as powerful as, “This person changed my life.”

Mica Gadhia: Exactly. And, “Delivered exactly what they said plus some.”

Sean Jackson: Exactly. That goes back and builds trust.

Mica Gadhia: Right.

Sean Jackson: Because your LinkedIn profile can help you establish authority and is designed to help build trust. So that when people look at your profile they know you’re not a bozo. They know that you’re not some idiot out there. That’s important, we cannot stress enough. Again, all of our shows — from show number two, show number three — we talked a lot about the strength and what has to be in those profiles.

Mica Gadhia: Yup.

Sean Jackson: Those are the things about profiles that really stood out from the past episodes. Mica, what is next that we were really covering through?

3 Tips for Making Better Connections Right Now

Mica Gadhia: Yeah. The next big chunk we’re going to look at, and there’s three tips that we came up with in this one — is how to make meaningful connections through LinkedIn. These are the people that you’re selling to, that you’re trying to get a job from, and who to connect with and who not to connect with.

Sean Jackson: Yeah. Boy, that was We had a lot of questions coming around. What are some of the ways to reach out to people on LinkedIn in ways that just don’t seem — that aren’t just generic.

Mica Gadhia: And creepy. Right.

Sean Jackson: Creepy.

Mica Gadhia: Bozo does creepy.

Sean Jackson: Yeah, bozo does creepy. That’s it. Let’s go through the first one. And I think this one is very important. Often in the LinkedIn environment you will see recommendations for people to connect to. Some of those people will be people you know very well, and a generic message may just be perfectly fine.

If Mica and I were not connected, we know each other well, we could connect with a generic message. However, in most cases, you may have met someone at a conference or talked to someone in passing, and you’re trying to connect with them. Do not use the generic message at all when you’re trying to invite them to connect with you. In fact, this past week I’ve had to build some connections of my own.

And again, I