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Tuesday

LinkedIn - Extreme Makeover Edition

So I read Guy's post about remaking your LinkedIn profile for better search results.

It's funny, because I never think about LinkedIn and search engine results at the same time because, well it never occured to me.

Why would anyone search the Internet specifically for me and find LinkedIn?

Now if you use LinkedIn and search for keywords in my profile and find me, then that makes perfect sense.

So back to Guy's post. Someone at Linked In helped Guy redo his LinkedIn profile to make it more exciting and search worthy. Here are the things suggested and how I fare based upon those suggestions.

1) Suggestion One - "Add your voice. Generally, your profile is boring".
What the heck does "your voice" mean? The suggestion box is over Guy's name. Do they mean "create a better identity of yourself through your entire profile?" That "voice" business everyone talks about these days.. sheesh.

2) Suggestion Two - Write recommendations, ask questions.
Regarding recommendations, guilty. I have not written enough and need to write more.
Regarding questions, I cannot from my account. I have written to customer care.

3) Suggestion Three - (connections) Connect with old colleagues.
Done that. Have a bunch of contacts. Next.

4) Suggestion Four - Get a vanity URL.
Done that. Has my name.

5) Suggestion Five - Add substance.. this is your elevator pitch.
Mine is five paragraphs. Hope its a tall building.

6) Suggestion Six - Add specialties.. (people search on this).
Done. Have about 20-30. As many as I could squeeze in.

7) Suggestion Seven - (experience) Explain what Garage does and what you do there.
Done.

8) Suggestion Eight - (previous employer) Explain what you did there.
Done.

9) Suggestion Nine - Add board and advisory positions.
Good idea.

10) Suggestion Ten - (education) Add more context
Did that. Added some more about what I did at university.

11) Suggestion Eleven - Get more recommendations.
Ask others to write them for you. I need to do this too.

12) Suggestion Twelve - Additional Information (add websites, etc.)
I have my three and other stuff added.

13) Suggestion Thirteen - Customize why you want to be reached.
Did that already.

Okay, most of what the LinkedIn experts suggested, I had done already before reading this article. So I checked my search results.

Google - 8 pages of results so far and no mention of me on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn - I show up, but about 10 spots down.

Disappointing - I am officially nobody. :) Not really, but I go back to where I started; I don't think about an application (LinkedIn, Squidoo, Plaxo, etc.) increasing my Google (or other) search engine visibility. I know, I know, it sounds ... out of touch, non-technical, whatever.

But this makes sense when I compare it to any Web 2.0/social networking platform. Lots of work does not equate into a higher profile. That takes interaction with people.

I need a new wireless phone

I have to get a new phone in the next 30 days.

- My contract is up, so I can get a good deal on a phone by re-upping my contract.
- My last phone went toilet diving.
- I am using an old phone which is no bueno.

Caveats:

I use T-Mobile and have no plans to change carriers. (I only use GSM and cancelled ATT when it was really ATTWS before they were acquired by Cingular now known again as ATT).
I want mobile email. I have to have it for my work and because I like to stay in touch.
I like Bluetooth, but can learn to live without it.

Here is what I am looking at*:

The Blackberry 7290 - the Classic Connected Cell Phone


The Blackberry Pearl - A good deal available for this phone through T-Mo



Sidekick 3



I know I will have to add a data account and "push" service if I get the Blackberry. I also know I want a phone which really works well.

Will let you know what happens.

* Amazon Links? I did not want to take links from T-Mobile for copy write reasons. Plus Amazon has features and stuff if you click on the links. No, you don't have to buy anything - besides nobody makes any big money on Affiliates any longer.

Social Network

I saw this on Mashable this morning and wonder if it is something I have been looking for.

I belong to several social networking sites with a particular emphasis on business networking (MySpace just does not do it for me).

Everyday I look at my gmail inbox and see the updates from Ryze and Ecademy and realize I have not updated my profile, or in some cases, have not added anything to them since I joined.

I want to take my LinkedIn profile and export it to Ryze and the others with one or two clicks. There must be a way to do this because everyone must hate copying and creating new profiles!

So I checked out socialnetwork.in and no, it does not do what I want it to do.

Firefox has an Autofill widget on the toolbar for filling in online forms. There must be something like this for SN sites as well.

Any ideas? (Great Web 2.0 service, hint hint).
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