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Asher Abraham
Really excited to be here. Thanks for having me and want to make sure Mark, can everyone see my screen? First of all, I'm assuming that's A yes. So LinkedIn is really a topic that's been on my mind for years and something I'm very passionate about. The first time I was back in 2006 when I was working for Liberty Mutual Insurance. And after that I didn't really use it so much. I just used it for researching potential companies as potential clients. I was selling business insurance at the time. But when I really got into LinkedIn was when I started becoming a recruiter. And because LinkedIn is basically a database of people, I got really good at finding the right people to talk to. And I spent countless number of hours on LinkedIn. I mean that was my job. And so what I learned is that there's a method and a strategy to LinkedIn, it's not just another social network. And I'm really excited to share some of those psychology, the strategies and you know, if you're someone who's in a marketing role or sales role or an entrepreneur or really just any professional, a really unique insight. And some of this you already might have heard from other people, some of this may be new to you. Doesn't matter how experienced you are or how new, you will get some golden nugget. And my mission with my work is to really help professionals and companies at every level to use LinkedIn strategically and to make them more productive and create a positive and lasting impact on their life. And so one thing I want to clarify is I do not work for LinkedIn. I'm an independent consultant. I have no official affiliation with LinkedIn Corporation, though I do like to take a picture in front of their building. It was really fun visiting their headquarters. So here's my background. I worked for several years as a sales and business development professional. Started off at Liberty Mutual, then became an executive recruiter at AC Lion. Actually before then I was in vector marketing. Some of you know of Cutco knives, those are high end quality kitchen products. And then I went into B2B sales with net Translators, the leading localization company. And I called and prospected software companies to provide them with our language services. More recently my wife and I started the Brand Builders, which is a boutique email marketing service. And I also blog at Asher Abraham. The name of the blog is Asher Abraham Live With Intention, Love youe Life, which is basically where I write about LinkedIn, sales, psychology and so on. I got so into LinkedIn I wanted to actually meet the people behind this company. So I went to visit the headquarters and I really got to see not just who's behind the scene, but I spoke to some of the folks there and understood their plans for the future. And I can tell you that they're just getting started. What they've built is amazing, but they really have a unique plan to see where they're going to take it. So I think what happened was I started using LinkedIn so much I started realizing that I could help a lot of people. People started asking me questions and as like a sign. LinkedIn sent me this email back in 2012 that I was the top 1% most viewed LinkedIn profiles and 1 thing led to the next, I decided to start writing about it. So that's where, that's where I write. My blog is where I write about LinkedIn and anything related to the strategies and the sales and marketing of LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn as a platform and feel free to check out some of the blog posts. I think you might find it valuable. I do a lot of consulting now. Some of the companies I work with are on the screen here and my goal is to really take LinkedIn and customize the strategy for my clients so that they can use the platform the most efficient way. I am not a professional psychologist and in fact when I started using LinkedIn I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't always good at using LinkedIn. Years ago I was actually very intimidated by it. I think many people feel this way in the beginning and maybe still do. I was afraid to network with people. I was afraid to post anything because I was thinking to myself, who am I? Why would someone want to listen to me? Or I'm not professional enough for this or I can't connect with high level C level executives. And all these thoughts that can stop people from actually playing full out on LinkedIn because it is a little intimidating as the professional social network. And so I call it the inferiority syndrome where people feel a little inferior and are afraid to post something or to connect with some professional looking people on LinkedIn. But what I realized over the several years I've been using, number one, everyone is human. Doesn't matter how important a person is for their company, it's just another person and we're in a very connected economy and it's not really such a great idea to put people on a pedestal and think that they are better than you just because they have a nicer profile. So that's number one. And number two, we all have important expertise. Doesn't matter what you sell, what you provide, what information you have, you have something that provides value to the marketplace. Otherwise you wouldn't be in business, you wouldn't be employed. And so whatever skill or expertise you have, that must be known, that must be reflected in your profile and your activities. Number three, we have the ability to help other people. And if you really want to succeed in life, you have to help other people first. And that is something that, you know, I've heard recently that the amount of money that you will make in your lifetime or your company will be directly correlated to the number of people that you help. And I think that's so true. Where people can tell right away if you're just trying to sell them something and do marketing or you're really trying to help, there's authenticity that comes through it. And if you can portray that authenticity, you can become very successful on LinkedIn and in life. And number four, what I learned is that it's worth getting good at it. It's really good, worth getting the practice out of the way. And repetition is the mother of skill. Let me repeat that. Repetition is the mother of skill. Which means that even if you don't know what you're doing right now on LinkedIn or you use it regularly, but you can do a better job at maintaining and managing your network and your profile, it's just a matter of practice. I'm not better inherently than anyone. I just use LinkedIn a lot more than most people, and that's why I got good at it. And I'm sure there's people who are better than I am, but I've gotten to a point where I can teach people strategy and advice and real techniques. So, as you know, LinkedIn is the largest professional social network in the world, with over 270. This number is probably already off since last week. But the problem that I noticed by talking to people is that Most people categorize LinkedIn as just another social network. It's a social media icon that you see on the websites that there's Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Google and LinkedIn. And so it's identified as just a social network. And I think there's a lot of misunderstanding or misuse of LinkedIn. Maybe it's something that LinkedIn can do a better job doing. If anyone here is from LinkedIn, maybe you could spread the message that. I think there's something unique about it, see your approach to LinkedIn as a tool, which is. That's really what it is. It's just another tool. It's technology, really your approach to it determines its function. So take a hammer for example. If you approach a hammer as something to build a house with, obviously you will be using it one way, but if you approach a hammer as a weapon, you can use it another way and you can hurt people. So your approach really determines what you do with the tool. And the Same goes for LinkedIn. How you view LinkedIn and how you approach it will determine what you do on it and the results that you get from it. And I hope that really resonates with you because this is the key to LinkedIn. So how do we know how to approach LinkedIn? All we have to do is go to the company vision and the company mission. Company vision is to create economic opportunities for professionals worldwide. And the company mission is to connect the world's professionals to enable them to become more productive and successful. And I'm emphasizing that on purpose because that's the uniqueness of LinkedIn connecting the world's professionals and making them productive and successful. There are a lot of social networks trying to connect people, but LinkedIn is the only one that is making them productive and successful. So if people think of LinkedIn as a resume, that's not necessarily because a resume is very past oriented and LinkedIn is very future oriented to become productive and successful so that you can use your current skills, your current talents, current products and services and help people and grow your business now into the future. A resume is very past oriented. A lot of people compare LinkedIn to Facebook, which is also very inaccurate because you can't compare a YouTube concert, for example, to a TED conference. It's just two different worlds. So yes, they're both connecting different people around the world, but the context is so different that there's no point in saying it's like Facebook but professional. No, it's nothing like Facebook. It's just another website and a tool which is, yes, like Facebook, but the purpose of it and the context of it is so different, it's worlds apart. So we've all heard the saying, it's not personal, it's business, right? And so I think what people may be confusing sometimes is what is a personal relationship? What is a professional relationship? So just a quick minute about that. Facebook is personal. It's all about family, friends. But in a professional relationship, that context is so different because a mutual benefit has to exist for both parties. This is not about favors. A professional relationship is about a win win situation. It's a win win or no deal. That's from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. And it usually comes in the form of time or money. Your products and services, your skills can help someone, a company, a person, make more money or save them time. Then you're valuable and they would be willing to pay you for whatever you're offering. That's a win win deal. So as you're exploring the world of LinkedIn and using it, even if you're doing it as a company, everything I'm saying, by the way, applies to you. Whether you're an individual or a company. It's the same principles. It's very important to think what's in it for the other person, for the marketplace, it's got to be a win win. It's not just about what I can get, but what I can give. To get into networking psychology, I want to point out two books. One is called Linked, which is an amazing book about how everything is connected to everything else and what it means for business, science and everyday life. That's a great book, I highly recommend it. And the other one is the startup of you. And both books are lots of ideas. So I just want to focus on one of them, which is the idea that networking is really all about the transfer of trust and credibility. Just as a base line to start off, remember that people do business with people that they like and trust. Okay? This is who people want to do business with on LinkedIn. That's the first step to get the like and trust aspect. Even if you're a brand, you need to be liked and trusted as a brand. So what does it mean, transfer of trust? If you're in the middle and you know Mr. A and you know Mr. B, they both trust you. But if Mr. B and Mr. A don't know each other, by you making an introduction, you transfer the trust that they have with you to each other. And that's very powerful because then, because people do business with people they like and trust, now they can do business and now they can engage in professional relationship. I think Reid Hoffman, the co founder of LinkedIn, said it best. He said your network is the people who want to help you and you want to help them. And that's really powerful. And that's the demonstration of what networking is all about, people helping each other. Now the fact is that today with the online world just even not LinkedIn, just in general, transfer of trust transformed our economy. Just look at the growth of peer to peer companies like Airbnb and relay rides and HomeAway. Boathound is a new one. They have a lot of technology and features that build Trust, you can leave a review, you can vet customers and vet people. On Airbnb, they have different ways that people can build trust with each other without having that aspect of proximity. They could just be around the world and basically, peer to peer asset sharing is just taking an asset, underutilizing it, and creating a systematic place for transferring the trust. So if I'm going to be renting a summer vacation home somewhere in the world and I don't know the owner and they don't know me, Airbnb put a system in place to create a trust system system. It's not just about transferring the money, because I can do that with PayPal. It's about creating trust. Pictures, reviews, and so on. But what I want to point out with this is that your network is actually one of the greatest underutilized assets. Okay? So it's not a home, it's not a boat, but your network is an asset also. And so I want you to think of LinkedIn as a platform, just like Airbnb that is there for utilizing that asset more. And it's there to build trust so that you can utilize that underutilized asset. Because your network has a lot of opportunities that you're not even aware of. We don't even know how much opportunity is in our network. But if we use LinkedIn strategically, we can actually create more trust with each other, more trust with our network, with our peers, with our customers, with everyone, and be more efficient with our business because we'll create more trust with each other. Put LinkedIn in a category with other companies that create trust and share the asset. For example, OurCrowd is a new way to invest in startups. It's all about sharing resources and sharing the network so that people can have access to great investments. Okay? And also contribute with their network to the startups. TaskRabbit. We're not talking about a boat or a home. We're talking about sharing people's time. You have time. I need a task. Done. Let's share. It's all about sharing a platform for sharing assets. Next door, next peers for gaming people share entertainment as a form of an asset. Kickstarter, you know that. So the point is, look at LinkedIn as a place as a platform to build trust. And really as a trade show or the largest conference in the world that's open 24 7, 365 days a year. All you have to do is get more active and really take advantage of this platform so that you can build more trust with more people and advance your personal or professional career or your mission or whatever it is that you're doing, and find the people that process and find the people that you can help with whatever it is you're offering so that they can pay you for it. Okay, so a trade show, a conference, we've all been to them. How much do they cost? Hundreds, maybe even thousands if you include flights, hotels and so on. How much is LinkedIn? LinkedIn's open 24. 7. And. And it's free. Absolutely free. Yet so many people underuse this amazing platform that's open to all to just go ahead and meet the right people out there. And I think one of the biggest fears that people have is that they don't want to become a networker and just meet lots of people. Because that's kind of like the cliche, nobody wants to be that guy. But I think there's a huge myth around that about networking. Networking is such a valuable business and life skill that just because there's someone out there who doesn't know how they're doing, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it. Right. So what's really the basis of networking? Building trust. So how do you build and establish trust with people? It's important to understand this. So I came up with this phrase called intentional networking. Intentional networking is a different way of looking at it because it's not just networking. It's really intentional, thought out and valuable. So we're going to talk about what to do on LinkedIn to really get intentional with your networking, what information to provide, what kind of value to provide. And understand that everything takes time. So many people are eager and rush to get that sale, to get that new client. But you can't build trust over a day. Just like dating, it takes more than one date to close the deal, right? I find it amazing when I connect with someone on LinkedIn and the first thing they do is ask me to do something instead of asking first. Give. That's how you build trust. You show your value. Just like Reid Hoffman, again, like he says, a network of likes to meet people. I don't. I like accomplishing things in the world. And when you do that, you meet people. Sorry, you meet people when you want to accomplish something. And I love this quote because it's really all about first, what it is you're trying to accomplish and then being intentional about who it is that you can include in the mission. Because none of us can do amazing things on our own, we need people to help us in the process. So look at LinkedIn as access to new relationships and access is really the key, I think it's just a platform for accessing. And then you can build trust by using the technologies and understanding that it can take some time. So to sum up, the concept of intentional networking is leveraging existing relationships to develop new ones by transferring trust and credibility to relevant people who can help you accomplish something valuable. What I call your professional mission. So how does LinkedIn work? Let's talk about that for a second. Because maybe some of you aren't that familiar with it, or maybe you are, but now that we have this in context, this could look a little bit different for your specific activities. So if this is you on the left, your network is actually made out of three levels. First is the people you're connected with. Second is the people that they are connected with. And then third is when you have two levels in between. And then the way LinkedIn is set up is such so that if you are looking for someone and they are not in your network, they're not in your first, second or third level, then you're not going to be able to see them or find them. You're going to get this message, this. If you look for a specific name, I've gotten that before. I came back from a trade show, LinkedIn. For some reason they were just out of my network and so I couldn't connect with them. And that's why it's always so important to intentionally networking all the time. Because the larger your network is, the more people that you will be able to talk to and work with. But if they're not in your network, they're out of your world, they're just non existent in your LinkedIn. Okay? So it's very important to understand this and understand that it's how LinkedIn is set up on purpose so that there is trust there and it's transfer of trust. Unlike Facebook where you can just find anybody, connect with anybody, it's got to be done through the system of transfer of trust. And so how do you do intentional networking on LinkedIn? Number one, you have a clear end in mind. What is it that you're actually going after? Are you looking for a customer? A partner, an investor, an employee? What is it that you are looking for? Not just randomly connecting with people, but be very clear on that. One of my. Sorry, one of the things that I tell people a lot is really get clear on specific and the right and specific people look for, not just for a customer. Think about the type of customer who is your low hanging fruit, who's the actual absolute best customer? Because there's so many people on LinkedIn. Why settle for a small client when you can really go after the big clients? Or why settle for a client that's high overhead and high maintenance when you can go for a client who really appreciates what you do and what you provide? It's really important to understand your target market because it's all about you become a lot more efficient with your work. One of the things that people say about salespeople is that a great one can sell ice to an Eskimo. And I think that is such a waste of time. Why would someone want to sell ice to an Eskimo when they can sell ice to the people in the desert who really want the ice? Alright, so when you think about your services, your products, your skills, don't try to be that salesperson who thinks they're so good because they can sell ice in Eskimo. That's in my opinion, that's such a waste of time. I wouldn't consider that person to be a good salesperson. That's not efficient. That's not where people are looking for the product and service. Right. So who and where is very critical to your question of accomplishing your mission on LinkedIn. And LinkedIn is a technology that means that they allow you to take all this all over the world and get clear on specifics using algorithms and keywords and so on. So it doesn't matter who you're looking for, they're all there. You can use it in groups to find those people. You can use the advanced search functions. And that's the beauty of LinkedIn is that they kind of set it up so that they make it easy for you to build trust and credibility with the right people using technology. Okay, so number three, leveraging your network for introductions, which is obvious because that's already an existing network and they already have some trust there. So that's intentional networking. And if you don't know there's actually a feature to get introduced to someone, you just go to the profile of the person that you want to meet. Obviously this is good if they're second degree and then you look at who's in between and you pick the best person that you know personally the most, trust the most credibility, the most appropriate. Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, says there's 3.3 billion professionals in the world and LinkedIn wants the professional digital identity for all of them. LinkedIn's also very also wants every company in the world to maintain a profile on LinkedIn and use the service to hire, market and sell. So what they're going after is really become the economy. This isn't just another social network. It's going to become the economy. That's what they're going after. Not just for high tech, not just for specific industries, for everyone. And it's been working. And many people have seen this before. LinkedIn generates the highest visitor to lead conversion rate, almost 3%, three times higher than both Twitter and Facebook. So we're talking about lead generation that's more efficient. Harvard Business Review reported that top salespeople use LinkedIn to sell more. And I know that from my experience. LinkedIn is really a huge book. And those who don't meet new people on it only read the first page. Just so you understand the magnitude of LinkedIn, this is a slide that I have to update. It's 277 million active members over probably 100 million right now in the US over 200 countries. Every second two people join LinkedIn in the world, there's close to 2 million groups in specific areas of expertise and markets and industries as of last week. And in 2013, they did over one and a half billion dollars in revenue. And the company is just 10 years old. LinkedIn is also one of the few companies that performed really well in the stock market. I'm talking about Internet companies. The stock soared more than 70%. Now, there are industries that are more relevant to LinkedIn, but it's changing now because everybody's realizing that LinkedIn is a place that's worth being and active on. So these are the five. But it doesn't mean that if you're not on the list that it doesn't matter. Company pages. Over 3 million company pages. And overall, their mission, to help you become more productive and successful. I can tell you from my own experience, it's been incredible. But let's talk about productivity for a second. What does it mean to be productive? LinkedIn is very cool, actually, because over the years, they created so much more than just a database of people technology. They also created a whole database of information with the LinkedIn influencers, with their app that you can customize the information that you receive every morning that's more relevant to your industry. Talking about Pulse, of course. And what's cool is that what you can do is work in the productivity zone because of LinkedIn. LinkedIn has that technology aspect. It has the people that are relevant to your mission. It has the information that's relevant to your specific industry and your specific role. So it Allows you to really be productive, because those are the three areas that allow you to be in the productivity zone. And that's where LinkedIn operates. The key though, is to have a purpose under it all. If you're just on LinkedIn looking for people and using the features and reading information, that's really great. But it's got to be narrowed down to a specific purpose. Something that's going to drive you to a mission to really be effective and efficient. So that's really the beauty of LinkedIn is that it operates in a place of productivity and if you have purpose under it, you're golden and you really can become more productive and successful. So I think I made the point clear. It's not just a social network, it's a really valuable life skill. So let's get into the five step based on all of this, five steps that anyone can use. How do you become more productive and successful? How do you get real results on LinkedIn? You take these five steps. Number one, branding. Number two, positioning. Number three, intentional networking, which we discussed. Number four, listen, listen, engage. Number five, take it offline. So number one, branding. Communicating your mission and value for others. Look at your profile right now and ask yourself, does it clearly communicate my professional mission and the value that I provide in the marketplace? And here's how you evaluate this. You look at eight different things. Do you have a high quality photo? That is everything to build trust. If you don't have a photo, it's like wearing a ski mask. Trust and credibility based on the words that you say. What you say matters on your profile so much. And leaving it blank is even worse because people just assume you can't express yourself. Number three, optimization with keywords. So people can find you clarity and value in the marketplace, meaning you clearly explain what value you provide. Differentiation, how you differentiate yourself from your industry. Social proof, endorsements, recommendations. Number seven, contact information. It's so frustrating to find somebody that can really help. You know, it's like a great match, it's a win, win, but there's just no way to really get in touch because they're outside of the network or something. There's no one really that can make an introduction. And it's a shame because it's amazing to me how many people don't provide contact information because of the fear of some spam or some. It's like such a limiting, it's limiting their ability to attract opportunities. Visual media people are visual today and LinkedIn allows you to put videos and photos on your profile. And so many people don't use that feature. So ask yourself, look at your profile and ask yourself, if I was on the other side, how would I be showing up in someone's world? Right? We are the stories that we tell. So what story are you telling people on LinkedIn? And it doesn't matter if you're in your own business or work for a company, you are your own company, you are your own product. You really have to treat yourself like an entrepreneur, just like in the startup of you. The main point of it is that you are a startup and you got to manage your career the way you manage a startup. An entrepreneur takes responsibility for their growth, development and results. They're up to something in life. It's not just a title, it's a mindset. It's a way of being, it's a lifestyle. So your profile is the current professional you, right? It's not a profile of you, it's your current. It has to reflect who you are today in your career, in your mission. Personal branding. What it comes down to it is that personal branding is ensuring that your identity currently matches the best version of your real you offline. So as you learn more skills, as you become better, more advanced, you should be upgrading your profile. When you publish something, when you learn something, when you get a promotion, don't wait till you need the profile, but constantly upgrade your LinkedIn profile as you upgrade yourself. So when someone sees your profile, basically what I'm saying is that it's just like you're shaking hands in a conference. They know everything about you, you know everything about them. Now we can talk. And it's important that they understand your actual mission. As a professional, how are you helping people achieve their goals? It's how basically your value of the marketplace. So when they meet you, it's very clear to them, okay, I get what this guy is doing. I get what this woman is doing. They're helping these people achieve their goals this way with their product, service skills. And it's very easy that way to build trust and credibility and start a conversation. So it's not just for professionals. It's really anybody who's committed to what they're doing, whether you're even a volunteer, which LinkedIn has actually a platform for volunteers, or you work for a big company or even a student, it doesn't matter. Anybody who's fully committed to what they do is a professional. So as you leave this webinar, ask yourself, what's your mission and who can help me get there? And you're just right. My mission is to help your target market do whatever it is you want them to do so that they can become more xyz. And as you write your profile, definitely think of the person, the ideal person you want to see reading your profile. The best customer, the best partner. Keywords in your headline. Very important. Create credibility, create curiosity. Professional photo. Create the trust. Smile. But not just with your mouth, with your eyes. Be inviting. People want to see a person, an authentic person. And we're no longer in a B2B or B2C. You can't hide behind a brand anymore and you definitely need a photo. If you have no photo, you have no trust. So we already accomplished that. So I'm going to go through a few slides that are not too important right now because we're running out of time. But I do want to focus on a few key. Actually we have several steps still, so let's run through this in the next 5, 10 minutes. Four ways to differentiate yourself. Specific niche market specific and measurable results. Unique details about your product or your company or yourself. And social proof recommendation is huge. Tell your story. Differentiate yourself. Share your accomplishments. Ask what you do for others, why you do it, how you do it, who you do it for. And all that information needs to be there and definitely contact information. So let's the next step is positioning, Demonstrating your subject matter expertise. And the key to networking well is really generosity. And the difference between selling and educating is you come from a place of helping people and it will come back to you. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. So when you're on LinkedIn working it okay, it's really all about what you can do for others. Actions speak louder than words, but not nearly as often. So when you post something, you definitely want to be clear on your intention and come across as trying to add value to your network. Trying to add value to people in this market. It's a community. So always think about what can you post that's helping other people. And then you could position yourself as an expert with what you know. Because. Because you're providing good information, because you're providing helpful information. Step number three is intentional networking. We already covered most of what I wanted to say, but you gotta be active on this because opportunities don't fall from the sky, they come through other people. So always be connecting. Step four is listening. Listen a lot. Listen to what people are saying. And when you have an opportunity to engage, go for it. Size of your network. I know I focused a lot on how big your Network is earlier, but it's really a better question is the quality of it and how valuable are your relationships in it? Because people will go the extra mile to introduce you to people that matter. If you build those relationships. And remember we're talking about professional relationships, you don't have to send them birthday gifts necessarily, it's a good idea. But we're talking about being a subject matter expert, being a valuable connection. And when you have a chance to engage, go for it. Because all relationships have to start with a conversation. And LinkedIn gives you a tool, an actual tool under contacts to stay on top of things, congratulate people when they get new jobs, when they have birthdays, when they have any unique updates. The key is to use it. Here's another relationship tool that a lot of people don't use. You can write notes about the person after having a conversation, how you met, you could tag them. Really helpful tools. So last step is taking it offline. I think the goal of using LinkedIn is to get off of LinkedIn. If your relationships stay on LinkedIn but you never actually have the call, have the meeting and have something a lot more personal and intimate, then it's all for a waste. But the whole point of it is to build your trust, credibility in a way that at the end of the day will allow people to connect offline off LinkedIn. And it's kind of ironic, but I think the goal of using LinkedIn is to get off of it. So here's the new definition I'd like to propose for the largest professional social network known as LinkedIn. Based on everything I said, it's a global group of fully committed profession professional entrepreneurs. Right? Because we're all professionals and committed to what we're doing and we have a mission, but we're also an entrepreneur. Everyone's an entrepreneur these days who work together and transfer information, trust and credibility from one to another in order to accomplish their mission and become more productive and successful through the collaborative efforts of the group. I think if people realize that LinkedIn is a platform, that if we just work better as people and work together as a team more efficiently and follow these guidelines, all of us will benefit from it, all of us will become more productive and successful and all of us will ultimately achieve our professional mission. And remember that if you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want. So again, my mission is to help you professionals, companies use LinkedIn strategically in order to make a positive, lasting impact on your business and life. So if I can do that for you get IN Touch on LinkedIn. Get in touch on my blog. I would love to strategy and really apply what we've just discussed. And if you have any questions, we're going to take the next few minutes to answer them. I'm going to hand it over.
41:06
B
Hi, Asher. That was fantastic. So we've been receiving questions throughout the webinar and everybody can feel free to shoot questions over while we're doing this and we'll take as many as we can. But I'm going to start with this question from Stephen who says, how can the transfer of trust happen when Many people on LinkedIn connect without any knowledge of other person? Example lions capitalized. L capitalized.
41:35
Asher Abraham
I capitalized. Yeah, the whole lion phenomenon. And by the way, understand that the way people approach LinkedIn is different than the way I approach LinkedIn. Some people just want to have the largest network. So that, I don't know, maybe there's an award out there that I'm not aware of to have. But I think it's a good idea to be aligned, connecting within your industry. In other words, the industry that you serve and the industry that you're a part of, if you're, let's say Oktopost is a software company, but they also are a marketing industry. Right. They're selling their software to marketers. So it's important to be aligned within those two industries, software and marketing, because you never know where the next opportunity will come from. At the same time, connecting randomly with people all over the world, there's no value in it. It's just a distraction, actually, because then you see a lot of irrelevant information coming on your news feed, a lot of irrelevant emails and a lot of noise. My suggestion is to be a lion within your industry and the one that you serve, but not to be a lion in a general sense, just to collect a huge network. There's no prize for that.
42:56
B
Great. So this next question comes from Eitan, and it's actually a question that I would want to ask as well. I've been endorsed many times by people who have no idea who I am. This makes me skeptical of the endorsement feature on LinkedIn. What's the regarded view on endorsements and what value do they actually provide?
43:16
Asher Abraham
So that's a great question because endorsements have been discussed in many different contexts. But the way I look at endorsements is like a compliment. You don't have to know someone to compliment them. Oh, pardon me. You don't have to know someone to compliment them about something. And you don't have to. And it doesn't necessarily need to be a true thing. I've been complimented on things that are not true. But I would say that with endorsements, it's just a little added factor of trust and credibility. Because the fact is that if you look at someone's profile and they have no endorsements, that's a red flag. It's a huge red flag that people are not endorsing them. That just means something to me. But I expect people who have a lot of expertise and credibility to have a lot of endorsements too. It's not the individual endorsement, the amount of endorsements and the amount of people endorsing. I think that's the key here. But again, people can have different ideas. I just think that it's little added feature to increase trust and credibility.
44:28
B
Here's another question I think is a great question as well. What are your thoughts on springing for the premium level package for LinkedIn as opposed to just having the standard?
44:39
Asher Abraham
I think it's a great idea. I've been using premium for a long time. However, I wouldn't do that as a first move because there's so much available for free. If you're someone who's been using LinkedIn for a while, like six months, a year, two years, you know what that is for you and you feel ready, you feel like, okay, more of it. I know the features, I want more. Then you'll get a lot more. And I really, I love it. I mean, I use it all the time and it gives you a lot more filters with advanced searches. It gives you access to third level connections, full profiles and a lot of added, you know, a lot more search results. There's a lot of benefits to it. But if you're somebody who's not daily active on LinkedIn, I don't think it's necessary. Get there first, get to that level where you really get the value of it and then go for it.
45:32
B
Okay, here's another great question. Where do you see LinkedIn in another 10 years?
45:38
Asher Abraham
Oh, gosh, I can only dream. But I think LinkedIn will become the main platform for professional communication. I think they're, they're going to have a lot more features that are obviously mobile friendly. They're going to have, I wish I knew, actually. I mean, some of the things that I can't even imagine. But I think LinkedIn is only going to grow. I think they're going to get to a point where basically every company is going to have to treat it seriously. And just like a website today is not even a question. Every business needs a website. It's going to basically be the same for a professional. Every professional is going to have to have a robust LinkedIn profile that's well connected and that's why it's good to start now. But it's going to be looked at in a very different way. And it's already that way in many industries, especially if you're in high tech, if you're not on LinkedIn, you're just not in the game. But, but I think more industries are going to join that and become that kind of environment for even low tech industries.
46:52
B
So here's a question from Ed about the new LinkedIn publishing opportunities. With the new LinkedIn publishing opportunity being given to a few people, how will that change things? Any ideas and comments on it? I've been invited, but trying to fully understand.
47:07
Asher Abraham
Wow, you are a lucky man. I just wrote a blog post on this, actually, what it means for people. And I think it's a huge game changer because people are going to have the opportunity to really voice their professional expertise and what they're about and gain followers and basically have their own blog on LinkedIn. And what's going to happen is you're going to see people work harder to produce better quality posts because it's going to level the playing field. Everybody's going to have that ability. So in order to be seen and step up and get noticed, people are going to have to really put quality content out there that adds a ton of value. And that's really the key, getting a ton of value. So if you have that opportunity, start publishing good value for your market. I don't know what you do, but if you have some information that your customers would want to know, start writing and posting that information because you can become a valuable source and a subject matter expert and position yourself in a way that if they ever need your product, your service, they're going to go to you because they know that you're knowledgeable and trustworthy.
48:25
B
I definitely agree with that. I think that the opportunity, these publishing opportunities are fantastic. Opportunity to establish thought leadership.
48:33
Asher Abraham
Absolutely.
48:35
B
I think we're going to take the last question here and it's about Pulse and after LinkedIn purchased it and how has it really changed things and what does it offer and what are your comments that?
48:46
Asher Abraham
Well, LinkedIn is becoming a well rounded professional home for people because Pulse allows you to customize information. I don't even think I spend time on any other website for any news or media because I just customize what I want to get from where? And I get what I want to get. You know, I get all the articles that I care about, and I get to share the articles that I think my network and my contacts, my customers care about. So I think that was a brilliant move. And at this point, I don't remember what the specific question. Can you repeat the question?
49:28
B
It was more of a vague question, just about Pulse and how you think it's changed things overall.
49:34
Asher Abraham
Yeah. So, like I said, in the three circles, the information is very helpful for people to become productive and successful. So if you have the right information being fed to you and the right people being connected to you, and obviously all the features and technologies that LinkedIn offers, you can really be unstoppable if you take advantage of it. But it's really up to you to do it. You got to step up and meet them halfway. They've done. They've done the work. They set it up for you. Now you have to customize Pulse. You have to actually get the articles, read them, share them, and use all the features. But I think it's a brilliant move, and I'm very happy they did it.
50:09
B
Okay, I think that just about wraps up the Q and A session. If you haven't had a chance to ask, I have Asher's email here on the QA slide. So you can send him an email or you can tweet them. Again, I mentioned earlier, this webinar is going to be recorded, and we'll be sending out a link a little bit later on. Really appreciate you guys coming today. I hope you guys got as much out of it as I did. I wanted to thank Asher one more time. It was really great.
50:40
Asher Abraham
Thanks for having me.
50:41
B
Yeah, we here at Oktopost, we're going to have these webinars once a month or so, so we look forward to seeing you guys at the next one. And, yeah, just have a great day. And thanks again for attending.
