LinkedIn Makeover: Profile Optimization Blog

Over the last few days, I've been trading emails with LinkedIn Technical Support. It all has to do with their cheap, discounted premium plan, Spotlight (previously named Personal Plus). You see, I am a huge proponent of paying for LinkedIn. I believe in what LinkedIn is doing, I understand the value, and I feel it's important to support the company that allows us to network in our pajamas. (And if you are looking for more reasons to upgrade, click here) In my blog, consulting with clients, and w

LinkedIn is busy making big changes to the LinkedIn profile page.  Editing will now be done inline.  Also, The Profile Strength measurement is at the upper right showing your progress as you improve your LinkedIn profile.  LinkedIn has also made it much easier to turn off profile update notifications to your network. The biggest change is the inline editing.  Instead of having to click the little pencil icon to make edits, all editing is done instantly.  By simply hovering over any section of yo

Connecting on LinkedIn has gotten harder. LinkedIn has always stated: "Only connect with people you know and trust." But that's so limiting! Sure, most of us try to connect with only people we know and trust but there are times when we want to connect with someone new. When you connect with a person on LinkedIn, you typically have to state how you know the person. When connecting with someone you don't know all that well, it doesn't seem right to choose colleague or friend or schoolmate. But the

Within the last few days, I've received a ton of calls and emails from clients and connections wanting to know why they can no longer request an introduction to a 3rd degree connection. Turns out, when you view a profile of a 3rd degree connection, the Get Introduced link no longer appears on the How You're Connected section. I investigated the issue and found that LinkedIn decided to remove this functionality. Why would LinkedIn do this? Well, this is what LinkedIn says: "We've recently made a

LinkedIn stores information on you that you cannot easily access. Information like your activity and account history, who invited you to join, or the last time you logged in. Curious about the information LinkedIn has on you? LinkedIn now gives you the ability to request an archive of this hidden information. Watch this video for more info or scroll down to read more: Your LinkedIn Archive of Hidden Information The data available in this LinkedIn Archive includes: How Do I Request My LinkedIn Ar

I was checking out an infographic on LinkedIn, when I was suddenly met by a cartoon version of me dressed as a Jedi. I blinked in disbelief, thinking it was a hallucination. The image didn't go away. IT WAS REAL. And then I began to laugh. :-) I am a HUGE Star Wars fan, so this totally made my day. What am I saying? It made my YEAR! The best part of this is the infographic is awesome! The information is right on and helpful. I am so glad to have been included. Thank you, Michael del Castillo for

It was a few Fridays ago at around 6:00 in the evening. My phone rang and I was about ready to let it go to voicemail when something inside of me pushed to answer. A friendly voice on the other side of the phone said, "Donna! You picked up! I want to interview you on my radio show!" It was Annmarie Kelly. Annmarie has a fun radio talk show called Friday Happy Hour where she explores the lives of women in mid-life — including everything from the trials and triumphs of life reinventions and restar

LinkedIn recently introduced the ability to upload a customized LinkedIn background image to your LinkedIn profile. Currently it's only available to premium LinkedIn members but will be rolled out to free account holders shortly. In the meantime, free LinkedIn account holders can request early access. For the longest time, the LinkedIn profile, although chock full of great information, looked quite dull. Especially when you compared it to Facebook, Twitter, and G+. Thankfully, LinkedIn decided t

I often get the question, "What's the LinkedIn profile strength status after All-Star? What do I have to do to get it? How do I attain the next one?" On the right hand side of your LinkedIn profile is LinkedIn's Profile Strength meter. This is LinkedIn's way of showing you how "robust" or POWERFUL your profile is. The more content you add, the more the strength of your profile will increase. There are 5 levels to profile strength: Beginner Intermediate Advanced Expert All-Star All-Star is the hi