As a LinkedIn profile writer and strategy specialist, I train professionals on how to leverage LinkedIn effectively. During my LinkedIn Strategy sessions, I always talk about the POWER of LinkedIn recommendations. Recommendations on LinkedIn are an amazing way to get other people to SELL YOU! Recommendations ripple through YOUR network and the network of the …
by Donna Serdula 
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members. Your LinkedIn profile offers a unique opportunity to brand yourself as a polished professional and yet so very few professionals leverage this amazing tool. Think of it this way, if your resume is your career history, your LinkedIn profile is your career future! This is where you want to DELIVER VALUE and SELL YOURSELF! You wouldn?t go to a job interview or a prospective client meeting half-dressed? so why is your LinkedIn profile not complete?
by Donna Serdula 
The LinkedIn questions keep coming! This LinkedIn question comes from a woman who purchased my book, LinkedIn Makeover: Professional Secrets to a POWERFUL LinkedIn Profile. Her issue is a common one. Many people mistakenly create duplicate accounts on LinkedIn and can’t figure out how to get rid of them. If you have duplicate LinkedIn accounts, breath easy… you are in good company! Here are the steps to take to get rid of your duplicate LinkedIn profile!
Donna:
I have your wonderful book and I’m eager to update and improve my LinkedIn profile.
But, I’m having a terrible time with customer service. It seems I have duplicate accts and it has generated some significant problems for me.
Customer service will not respond. It has been a week since my initial inquiry plus a phone message.
By chance, do you have a direct contact name at the company who could be of assistance to clear this up?
With appreciation,
Lisa
by Donna Serdula 
This post has been updated here: You won?t believe what LinkedIn did to their discounted premium plan I have bad news! It seems the LinkedIn Personal Plus Premium Account is no longer publicly available. This was the account type I recommended to my clients and it’s the account type I use myself. The cost was …
by Donna Serdula 
While I was doing my morning one on one LinkedIn Makeover session with a client, I noticed there was a change in the way LinkedIn presented the Skills section. LinkedIn used to provide the opportunity to list your proficiency level and years of experience along with the skill. This has changed and now you are limited to just the skill. It makes sense. Those fields added very little value to the profile because everyone listed themselves as “Experts” regardless of their years of experience or true proficiency level.
Here’s what the new Skills section looks like now:
by Donna Serdula 
It wasn’t that long ago I was at a networking event and I met a Sprint Representative. I had recently switched from AT&T to Sprint mainly because of their unlimited data plan with GPS included. The Sprint Rep was very friendly and I couldn’t help but ask if he knew of any way I might be able to save additional money on my Sprint cell phone bill.
Mr. Sprint Rep said, “Well, there is the IBM Friends and Family discount. It’s 25% off your monthly bill AND any additional store purchases. Do you know anyone who works at IBM?”
“I might, let me get back to you”
by Donna Serdula 
Most people use the default URL for their LinkedIn profile. It’s rather ugly and looks like this:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/your-name/31/54a/b91
It certainly isn’t a URL that you can remember easily or market offline.
Don’t worry, there’s hope! LinkedIn allows you the ability to customize your LinkedIn profile address!
Here’s a short (less than 2 minute) video that shows you how to customize your LinkedIn profile address:
by Donna Serdula 
Even though I am a LinkedIn Profile Writer, I do spend time on Facebook. It’s my guilty pleasure! One of the things that I often see are spammy links deposited on my Facebook wall that promise the ability to “see who has viewed your Facebook profile!” Apparently this is extremely tempting to people because they giddily click on the link only to find themselves in a rat’s nest of spam, viruses, and Trojan horses. I am going to let you in on a little secret… Facebook DOES NOT allow the ability to see who has viewed your profile. If you see a link promising that ability, run the other way!
ON THE OTHER HAND, LinkedIn allows you to spy on your profile readers! Yes, it’s true! You can see who has viewed your profile!!! Wait! Don’t get too excited. There is a caveat.
by Donna Serdula 
Your LinkedIn profile shouldn’t be stagnant. As you go about your business career, things happen: promotions, successes, new opportunities, business deals, etc… As your career unfolds, your LinkedIn profile should reflect these changes. Case in point: I recently wrote a book and it was published. My profile referenced that I was writing a book but now it was time to announce that the book is published and available. I opened up my profile and began editing when suddenly I was faced with that dreaded error message:
by Donna Serdula During one of my LinkedIn-Makeover Plus sessions today, I had an interesting conversation. My client asked me to add “Dynamic and Energetic Leader” to the Summary section. I refused. And here’s the reason. It’s fine and dandy to put that into a resume, it’s practically expected… but your LinkedIn profile is NOT your resume! Your LinkedIn profile allows you to tell a story. So rather than saying, “I’m a dynamic and energetic leader” tell a story that conveys that sentiment. Talk about your guiding philosophy. Talk about your core management values. Tell a story about how you motivated a team out of the doldrums and into amazing sales! Let your reader come to the conclusion that you are a dynamic and energetic leader.
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