By Karen Emanuelson Business can learn a lot from chocolate
Pricing
- Some customers will pay more for the prestige of owning/using your product/service (Godiva).
- Some customers will buy the cheapest version available (generic chocolate-flavored baking chips) because quality just don’t matter to them, because a premium price point is higher than anticipated, or because that is what they can afford or chose to afford.
Packaging
- Sometimes it’s how you package your products and services that encourages purchases. (How many colors of M&Ms can you think of? Trust me, the green ones taste just like the red ones!)
- Sometimes it’s how you bundle your offerings (individual Cadbury eggs or a 3-pack). Encourage “add-on” purchases by making it easy for customers to buy more without having to think.
Creative Marketing
- The Milk Chocolate Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand
Use a tagline that will emphasizes your Unique Selling Point (USP) and is memorable.
- Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t
Know your audience and adapt your marketing message and product/service offerings to the media — postings appropriate for your business Facebook wall probably shouldn’t be used as LinkedIn updates
- Gimme a break…Gimme a break…Break me off a piece of that…
Make your brand more than just a product or service. Tell your audience how your product can transform their lives and attitudes, if only for a moment.
What have you learned from chocolate?
By Karen Emanuelson With more than 100 million people on LinkedIn, how can you stand out?
Differentiate yourself using these three easy techniques:
1. Personalize your connection requests
Modify each LinkedIn connection request. Instead of the standard “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” email, tell your prospective connection why you want to connect. Some ideas: where you met, what you like about her LinkedIn profile, how you know her, and, most importantly, why you want to connect.
2. Respond to connection requests
When you receive a LinkedIn connection request, respond promptly. Read the profile of the person sending the request. If you decide to connect, send a quick follow up email immediately after you accept the connection. LinkedIn makes it easy. Once you’ve accepted the invitation to connect, click “Send a message” to start your new relationship on LinkedIn.
Thank your new connection for her connection invitation. Comment on something you know about her — either from her profile or her background. By clicking “Send a message,” you are continuing the email string from the connection request and have the ability to scroll down to see the sender’s original message, making it easier for you to personalize your response.
If you don’t know why she reached out to you, ask! Here is the response I received when I asked Jeff Hill, a recent LinkedIn connection of mine, why he reached out to me:
What made me want to link with you…first thing that got me interested was your last name. Its kind of rare and I know a guy in Dallas with that name. Then, I looked at your profile. Wow! Very nice! 16 people have recommended you. Very, very nice. Incredible, really. Your use of the Summary section–awesome. Tons of info; plenty of white space.
Wow! How cool is that? Thanks, Jeff! What a great way to start our LinkedIn relationship. Now instead of being just another connection, Jeff stands out because he took the time to differentiate himself.
3. Offer to help
Instead of asking for introductions to someone else’s contacts, be proactive. Reciprocate. Share what you know. Offer to help. Reach out to your connections — new and old — and ask them who would be a good connection for them.
Virtually introduce your LinkedIn connections who might have synergies. Both parties will be grateful to you for your thoughtfulness and will reciprocate freely.
Networking online through LinkedIn shares many of the attributes of traditional, face-to-face networking. Spending a few extra minutes to differentiate yourself in the sea of LinkedIn users will go a long way toward your success.
By Karen Emanuelson  If you have not already jumped on the LinkedIn bandwagon, it’s time. LinkedIn just announced it has reached 100 million members, and one new member is joining every second. LinkedIn members, representing all Fortune 500 companies and millions of entrepreneurs, in industries from aviation to zoology, join LinkedIn for the common purpose of networking.  LinkedIn 100 Million Campaign
Click on the ad image above to check out the other 99 success stories. While you’re there, be sure to click on the blue “Submit Your Story” button for your shot at being included in the next LinkedIn advertising campaign.
Contact Karen today to find out how you can take advantage of LinkedIn and LinkedIn groups to kick-start your company.
By Karen Emanuelson 6 Quick LinkedIn Tips for Success
Researchers have found we have just one-tenth of a second to make a good impression .
As the premier site for professional networking, first impressions are extremely important on LinkedIn. Here are six quick tips to help ensure you make the first impression you want.
- Use a consistent name
The same name that appears on your business cards should be used as your LinkedIn name. With that said, if you have a common name like “Bob Smith,” you might want to use your formal name and add your middle name “Robert Logan Smith” so your contacts can find you easily.
- Include a professional headshot
You don’t need to go to a professional photographer. A cropped headshot from a family photo will work, just make sure the uploaded image portrays you best. If a picture is worth a thousand words, be sure your LinkedIn profile has a photo – and make sure the photo you upload is saying the correct 1000 words about you.
- Maximize the impact of your professional headline
The text under your name on your LinkedIn profile is your Professional Headline and serves as your introduction. Edit this field to reflect your areas of specialization and to enhance your professional branding and image. “Attorney at Bob, Bob, and Tom, LLC” doesn’t have nearly the impact of “Partner at Bob, Bob and Tom, LLC; Registered Patent Attorney practicing in electronic, laser, and software arts” or “Business & Legal Solutions Strategist | Intellectual Property | Risk Management | Litigator | Investor | Philanthropist”
- Create a custom URL
LinkedIn allows you to create a custom web address for your Public Profile. When editing your profile, simply follow the prompts. Directing someone to connect with you at a specific address is much easier than asking them to “find” you on LinkedIn. For example, there are four Karen Emanuelsons on LinkedIn. But I’m the only one with the custom URL: www.LinkedIn.com/in/karenemanuelson
- Customize your website listings
This tip is easy and shows that you know how to use LinkedIn. Edit the “Additional Information” section of your profile. At the “Websites:” option, choose “Other.” A new field appears allowing you to enter custom text before the website link. Be specific. Enter your company name, blog or even your Business Facebook page. For example: Reciprocate Blog or Reciprocate on Facebook.
- Complete your profile
Look for the box on the left of your profile for LinkedIn advice to guide you toward this 100% completeness goal.
These six quick fixes will improve the first impression of your LinkedIn profile. Do you have any additional tips?
By Karen Emanuelson Keywords linked to LinkedIn success
Recently, I received a phone call from a local HR rep asking me to interview for a position — a position that paid $100K. I hadn’t applied and, at the time, I wasn’t even looking for a job! Turns out, the HR rep plugged a few keywords into LinkedIn’s search function and my profile came to the top! It wasn’t a good fit, but the moral of the story is that people are using LinkedIn to research and find potential employees and potential business partners based on words used in their profiles.
Makes you want to re-word your LinkedIn profile, doesn’t it?
LinkedIn released a list of the top 10 buzzwords used in LinkedIn profiles. Here are the Top 10 Buzzwords translated into a LinkedIn professional headline:
Problem Solver with Extensive Experience as a Results-Oriented, Innovative, Motivated Team Player. Proven Track Record in a Dynamic, Fast-Paced Entrepreneurial Environment
Unfortunately, this is about 50 characters too long to fit in the 120-character limit of a LinkedIn professional headline, but imagine what could happen if your professional headline included keywords that are actually being used to find people, products and services in your industry. These are the same keywords that are used in Google, Yahoo, and Bing searches everyday.
So how can you find keywords that could work for you?
Google has a very good instruction guide for creating successful keywords. You can use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to see which keywords are most popular for your industry.
In addition to using keywords in your LinkedIn professional headline, Summary and Specialties and Employment title and descriptions, use these keywords throughout your website and online directory listings for even more impact.
By Karen Emanuelson Share button available for LinkedIn
It’s nice to share — and LinkedIn now offers an easy way for visitors to your website and recipients of your email marketing campaigns to share your website pages, products, and services with others on LinkedIn.
What’s the advantage?
The LinkedIn Share button is powerful. It provides an easy way for others to post your company information as a personal update, as a post into a discussion group, and as an email sent to individuals. With more than 85 million members on LinkedIn, this new Share button is a “must have” for every small business marketing effort. According to LinkedIn, just one individual with 345 connections has potential connections of almost 6 million individuals!
How does it work?
Here’s what your readers will see when they click the LinkedIn share button:
4 Places to use the LinkedIn Share Button
- Add it to your website
- Include it in email newsletters
- Add it to your email signature
- Add it to your blog
If you are comfortable adding html code to your website, a visit to the LinkedIn publishers’ site provides three options for “share buttons” and instant access to the html code. It took me less than 5 minutes to add the share button to my WordPress-based website as a widget. Check it out (above right, under the “search” box). If you prefer, your web developer can add the Share button easily. Either way, make sure you include adding the LinkedIn Share button to your marketing “to-do” list.
If you are a small business owner or a member of a nonprofit organization and aren’t active on LinkedIn, you probably should be. Check out these additional blog postings for other tips for maximizing your impact on LinkedIn.
By Karen Emanuelson With more than 75 million members on LinkedIn, how can you stand out from the crowd? Start by telling your story in 120 characters that have people wanting to know more.
Which 120 characters?
Your LinkedIn ”Professional Headline.”
Your professional headline follows you everywhere on LinkedIn – when you post a status update, when you join a group, when you add or comment on a group discussion, and when you connect to someone else on LinkedIn.
In addition to being displayed prominently under your name at the top of your LinkedIn profile, your professional headline pops up every time someone hovers over your name or photo anywhere on LinkedIn. LinkedIn uses your current position title as your professional headline unless you change it. To edit your headline, click the “edit” button next to your name when you are on the “Edit My Profile” page.
Which person are you more likely to want to connect to and network with?  
Jeff Perry who piques your interest with his professional headline or David who just lists his title?
It probably wouldn’t surprise you to find out that Jeff has 500+ connections on LinkedIn and David is struggling to reach 50.
The key to an effective headline is to be creative, yet professional. Create a headline that has LinkedIn members wanting to know more about you, your company, your interests, your passion.
Using consistent keywords throughout your LinkedIn profile will help you rise to the top in LinkedIn keyword searches. Creating a captivating professional headline will be to your benefit every time someone hovers over your name on LinkedIn to find out more about you.
How creative can you be in 120 characters?
Here’s a few more curiosity-piquing professional headlines that stand out from the crowd that have I’ve come across on LinkedIn:
- Community builder, Storyteller. Ryan Rudd
- Courageous Coach, Precocious Procurer of Talent and Fantastic Facilitator Ericka A Butler, PHR
- Business Visionary…Able to bring competitive funding to almost any project worldwide. John Busser
- Catalyst for Revolution at Catura Creative Michelle Schwantes
- Forward Thinking Print Sales and Marketing Professional Jared Martz
Are you or any of your connections taking advantage of a creative, attention-getting headline? Share the best LinkedIn professional headlines you know in the comments section below.
By Karen Emanuelson
Once you have completed all the sections of your LinkedIn profile and believe your profile represents the best “you,” it’s time to engage the LinkedIn community.
This is the first in my series of LinkedIn Strategies. With the goal of increasing your professional network through LinkedIn, over the course of the series I will share a number of tips including profile settings, the importance of connections, activities and networking, joining groups, and how to use special features to help you stand out and be noticed.
#1: Profile Settings:
Set your profile to notify your connections of your updates
Both the Member Feed Visibility and Profile and Status Updates settings are accessed through the “Settings” tab on the very top right of the LinkedIn screen.
 Select "Yes, notify my connections" for both your profile and status updates  Set Member Feed Visibility to "Everyone"
Set these three simple settings properly for maximum exposure and impact.
Member Feed Visibility displays a condensed version of your recent network update activity including status updates, connections, and recommendations. To see your recent activity, click on “View Profile.” A list of your activities appears on the right side of your profile.
The Profile Updates setting will let your connections know when you have received a recommendation, made a change to your profile (including adding a new position and changing a title as well as editing changes). Your connections will also know when you choose to follow a company.
Status Updates are key to engaging your connections. Status Updates are an easy way to tell your connections what you are working on — the final touches to a major project, research you are conducting, meeting preparations, and seminars you are attending. The Status Update area very valuable PR real estate that can be used to promote you, your image, your products or services and your company.
- In keeping with the rule for all social media, this is NOT the place to sell. This is the place to share what you know and what you are working on. Subtle self-promotion is acceptable.
- Begin each Status Update with a lower case action verb.
- Include links, if appropriate, to your website, an article that highlights your point, registration information for a seminar you are conducting, or a presentation you gave.
In addition to being displayed in the top portion of your profile, Status Updates are also sent to your direct connections and posted on your direct connections’ home pages under Network Updates. This feature is similar to the way Facebook posts are displayed on your Friends’ pages. Connections on LinkedIn are also able to comment on your Status Updates.
Recommendation: Turn these three settings to “Nobody” and “No” when you are initially creating and editing your profile. When your profile is complete, turn the settings back to “Everyone” and “Yes.”
The power of LinkedIn starts with the proactive use of the Member Feed Visibility and Profile and Status Updates. Checking these three settings is an easy first step to ensure you receive maximum exposure for your time and activity on LinkedIn.
By Karen Emanuelson Reciprocate shared a few simple tricks to maximizing your impact on LinkedIn with members of the Saint Paul Firestorm. The presentation is below:
Pay particular attention to the areas of your profile highlighted with red arrows. Use key words here for maximum impact.
Additional information on building a optimized LinkedIn profile is available under the LinkedIn tab above. In particular, check out
LinkedIn: Network While You Sleep.
Reciprocate. Share What You Know.
By Karen Emanuelson You can showcase your experience and business to more than 65 million people across the world including executives from all Fortune 500 companies — while you sleep. That’s the networking benefit of a LinkedIn profile.
Why you need to be LinkedIn
According to LinkedIn, a new member joins their online network approximately every second. Whether you are a professional looking for new potential business contacts, a currently un-employed or under-employed jobseeker, or a college student getting reach to launch a new career, you need a LinkedIn profile. As with most social networking tools, there is no subscription fee to join and you can set up a profile in a matter of minutes. The real benefits of LinkedIn are in direct proportion to the completeness and quality of your profile and to the level of your LinkedIn activity. LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. Put your best business persona to work here.
Setting up your account
Use your real name
This name should be consistent with your other professional online listings – and should be unique if possible. Attorney Jeffrey D. Carpenter uses this version of his name to distinguish himself from the other 600 Jeff Carpenters on LinkedIn.
Add a photo
People often remember faces and forget names. Your photo should be a professional-looking headshot. A cropped vacation photo featuring you in sunglasses and hawaiian shirt is probably not the best image for you on LinkedIn (unless you are a travel agent specializing in Hawaiian vacations)
Complete your profile
Don’t just list your position titles and company name. Add in details. Think of LinkedIn as your 24/7 online
resume and business promotion tool. Use positive terms and list your accomplishments – without excessive bragging and selling.
Set controls for maximum networking
LinkedIn allows you to set controls for the information you share with others. For maximum networking, set these controls to “everyone.”
Update your status
LinkedIn has an update section similar to Facebook. Tout your business accomplishments here, using active verbs. Rember your audience: LinkedIn is designed to further your business and career goals – share projects, presentations and new client signings — don’t share your family vacation, dinner plans or personal blunders.
Join Groups
There are more than 500,000 groups on LinkedIn. Think of these groups as communities of people that share something in common. There are groups for Bloggers, alumni groups, groups for small business owners, groups of industry professionals, groups for job hunters, local networking groups and even groups for golfers. Use key words to search for groups relevant for you. Once you join a group, sign up for the group’s weekly email updates. Then actively contribute to discussions. It’s a great way to network.
 Now what?
After your profile is close to 100% complete, decide who you want to connect with. I treat LinkedIn as my online Rolodex. If I’d take your business card and put it in my Rolodex, I’ll add you as a connection. LinkedIn makes it easy to start connecting to people you already know. You can import your email address database from Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail and other sources. Click on the “Add Connections” tab on your profile page for details. As you become more active on LinkedIn, you’ll send even more invitations.
More info
Spend some time building a top-notch profile on LinkedIn that tells your story. Join groups. Make some new connections. Have fun. And once you’ve set up your profile, it will continue to network for you — while you sleep!
Send me an invitation to connect. The power of LinkedIn comes from your connections — and their connections.
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