The biggest problem of Linkedin users

About 600 people in my Linkedin network have over 500 connections. That's great.

But assuming that most people eventually will have such a great number of connections, the real problem will be the following: How do I monetize my connections?

In fact, the problem can be more accurately formulated this way: What product do I offer to all my connections?

It doesn't even matter at what price you offer a product. For instance, if you offered an ebook priced at $5, then with 500 connections, you'd be making $2,500. And that's not even including the consulting gigs that might come from your readers, who are now (hopefully) convinced that you are the undisputed expert in your field.

However, if you do not have a product to sell to your connections, then having 10,000 connections will not help. Indeed, 10,000 X $0 = $0.

You could even have 100,000 connections, it still would not help you economically.

So why is it that Linkedin users do not sell a product like an ebook capturing their precious knowhow and expertise? Why don't they just hire a ghostwriter to interview them and put down on paper what they actually know, so they can begin to sell their ebook (which can be 20 pages long or 500) to their connections on Linkedin?

Mind conditioning.

People have been conditioned to think that you only earn money by working personally, that is, putting in the hours (whether you work from home or at the office).

We have never thought about the possibility of earning money WITHOUT working (that is, earning passive income through the selling of a document, whether it's an ebook, a DVD, etc.).

It's a bit like what Copernicus discovered, that the Earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around. Similarly, we will all soon discover that our wealth is based on our knowledge in physical format, NOT on our personal services delivered to an employer.

This is not some fantasy of mine. Just look at the facts: authors like Anthony Robbins, Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, Wayne Dyer, etc. became rich because they wrote books.

Personally, I don't know any employee who has become rich. In fact, the friends I have who are rich have created their own business.

So there you have it. The biggest problem of Linkedin users: How to create a product that can be sold through their Linkedin network.

Turn your network into a private army 0:12

Ultimately, we all want our network of connections to work for us.

In other words, I would LOVE IT if I could turn my personal network on Linkedin into my "private army." Since I have 850 connections, that would mean a private army of 850 soldiers and mercenaries working for me.

Is this just some fantasy of mine or could it become a reality some time soon?

I think it could become a reality. Recently, I exported all my contacts into an Excel spreadsheet and began to segment my connections into groups, like:

1. People with more than 500 connections (I've about 600 connections who each have more than 500 connections)
2. People who are CEOs (I've about a dozen)
3. People who are VPs (I've about 30)
4. People who are young, beautiful, single and talented ladies. I'm just kidding.

The next step is probably to contact these people and propose a deal with them. Sort of like "I'll scratch your back if you'll massage my feet" kind of thing.

Actually, let's keep it strictly business. I will do THIS for you if you'll agree to do THAT for me. Fair enough?

This, I believe, is the kind of blunt, candid, honest, down-to-Earth and direct approach most likely to yield business results.

But this requires that you know exactly what you're trying to do in your career, and therefore what you need from your connections; it also requires that you know precisely what you have to offer to others.

Of course, what you offer and what you need, will vary depending on the group you're talking to. In my case, the groups (as listed above) will be able to help me or benefit from me in different ways.

For instance, the VPs can get me into their corporations because I'm selling a valuable, exclusive and revolutionary career management framework that will help them in their war for talent.

The people with 500+ connections, on the other hand, could become affiliates and sell my products via the Web (in which case they make 30% on sales).

My point is that it is possible to turn your network into an army who will work for you IF you will work for them. But to know precisely what you can do for them, and what they can do for you, requires a systematic method of segmenting your "population of connections."

In other words, creating such homogeneous groups will make it easier for you to talk to them and offer them something that they find relevant and useful.

Intellectual employment 0:13

If you had to choose between being employed vs being unemployed, I'm sure you would choose the former. This is because having a job will give you money.

However, the challenge of most Linkedin users is not finding a job; most already have a job.

But not all jobs are equal. For the sake of this discussion, I will distinguish between two types of jobs:

1. A job where you use your brain creatively
2. A job where you do not use your brain creatively

Jobs in category 1 include: graphic designers, architects, engineers (especially those who designs stuff), writers, consultants, high-level and creative sales positions, etc.

Jobs in category 2 include: operational managers, accountants (a "creative" accountant is one that probably will land in jail!), customer service, low-level ("order-taking") sales positions, etc.

Why is it important to distinguish between these two types of jobs? Because one leads to wealth while the other perpetuates economic enslavement.

In other words, people in #1 jobs are able -- if they wish to -- become independent professionals or free agents. They can also launch their own professional practice or business ventures. There are in the U.S. about 21 million such businesses run by a solo owner / operator.

#1 jobs lead to wealth because not only do you make money from doing your job, you also create "intellectual capital" which you normally own if you run your own business, or whose ownership you explicitly transfer to the employer if you're an employee. This transfer of intellectual property rights is not necessarily bad since that's the fair price to pay for having an employer organization that provides you with the tools, resources, working environment and clients so you can practice the art of intellectual capital creation.

Linkedin can be quite useful for a person who currently has a #2 job and wants to find a #1 job, that is, one where he can develop his creative abilities and generate new solutions.

#1 jobs are more secure in the new global economy because most uncreative jobs will be outsourced, automated or handled by expert systems and artificial intelligence.

Secret strategic plan

Have you ever wanted to see the secret strategic plan of a multimillion-dollar Internet startup?

Now you can. At http://pkstrategicplan.wordpress.com. (Password: worlddomination).

I know it sounds crazy that I'm sharing with the world my secret business plan. It does feel like some sort of commercial harakiri.

But this idea is not as crazy as it sounds. Perhaps you can even do something similar to get your Linkedin connections engaged in a mutually beneficial conversation with you.

(By the way, that's another secret on how to use Linkedin effectively: it's not just about connections, it's mainly about conversations. Connection (or agency) is mostly a male thing while conversation is a feminine thing. And a feminine approach to Linkedin might be more effective. Why? Because connection is about the possibility of cashflow while conversation is about the probability of cashflow. I say cashflow but it could be something less liquid yet still useful, like cooperation or collaboration. More on this later.)

Okay, here's how it works: Any person who submits by email a good comment or insight or interesting feedback on the PK strategic plan, will receive the new password (updated on a weekly basis) so he/she can continue to read new versions of the strategic plan.

This makes sense: If a reader is not submitting feedback, he/she is not interested in reading more of the strategic plan. On the other hand, those who submit good feedback are "rewarded" by having access, the following week, to updates of the strategic plan.

Of course, I'm not so crazy as to share trade secrets or any proprietary information in the strategic plan. But it is obviously in my interest to share as much valuable and strategic knowledge as possible with the smart people who submit feedback on my strategic plan.

After all, there are dozens of CEOs and Vice Presidents in my Linkedin network. I'm bound to learn something valuable.

How to become a serial skiller

Employers respect only one word -- skill. And they understand only one language -- capability.

Therefore, to ensure his economic survival and financial success, a Linkedin user has to become a "serial skiller." That is, a person who's capable of learning and acquiring new skills rapidly and efficiently.

Since most people have a limited professional development budget, here's an idea to consider: join a group on Linkedin where people exchange skills with one another.

Better yet, create a group on your own (call it a "skills exchange club" or SEC) and invite your Linked connections to join the club, so everybody can share their skills with everybody else.

To make it fair, a member should talk (on the phone or in person) with another person for one hour. During the first 30 minutes, one person picks the other person's brain, and during the second 30 minutes, it's the other person's turn.

This is a good way to become a serial skiller and ensure your long-term professional success.

For example, if you have 100 people in your SEC, then every person could conceivably learn 99 different skills. Oh, and nobody pays anything!

Plus, every person will gain a greater awareness of what knowledge or skills he/she has which are really useful to others. He/she can then focus efforts on developing those skills or knowledge areas, thus increasing his/her own market value.

Catch 22: No product, no networking; no network, no product development

There are only two ways to get wealthy: do a lot of innovation, or do a lot of marketing.

Of course, the really wealthy people (like Steve Jobs) do both innovation and marketing. In fact, Apple's marketing comes FROM its highly developed innovation capability.

In contrast, Microsoft's innovation comes from its highly developed marketing clout. Indeed, since the very beginning when Bill Gates struck a deal with IBM to develop DOS, he has sought to saturate the market by using and leveraging more established players.

Okay, enough about those multibillionaires, let's talk about ordinary folks like you and me.

The situation faced by most people (and by myself prior to August 2005) is a Catch 22 situation: without a product that you can sell, you don't really have any incentive to network extensively as an Linkedin Open Networker (also called "LION"). So you are likely to have only 2 to 50 connections or, at best, 150. These connections are usually people that you've met in real life, and they come from your personal network or your professional network (coworkers, colleagues, clients, suppliers, etc.).

Since your network of 2 to 150 is relatively small, you don't feel any incentive to develop a product that can be sold and shipped to them. Since you have no product to sell, you have no incentive to develop your network, and so on and so forth.

This is the Catch 22 problem, and the overwhelming majority of Linkedin users are facing that big challenge.

Only a small minority of users on Linkedin make significant money, and that's because they have a liquid product (the job offers or opportunities sold by headhunters and placement counselors are considered as a "liquid product" also because it can be sold "as is.")

How can you, as a hard-working professional, manager or executive, get in on the action and make money too by using Linkedin?

The best way is to liquefy yourself, and then liquidate yourself.

I know it sounds a bit horrible, but here's what I mean by "liquefy yourself": capture your tacit knowledge and expertise into EXPLICIT knowledge and expertise. That is, write a short eBook of 20 pages containing the best of what you know which could be useful to other people.

"Liquidate yourself" means sell that document, via Payloadz, etc. to people that you think might benefit from it. At this point, don't be greedy; just set a price that allows for market penetration.

For example, charge $10-20 for your document. Then, from the feedback you receive from readers/buyers, improve your little eBook. Also, write a second eBook and sell especially to your current customers.

Alternatively, you can also buy many eBooks on the Internet that are sold along with reseller rights, meaning that you can resell the eBook and keep 100% of the profits.

I will write more in detail about those reseller ebooks, but my point for now is that the Catch 22 challenge afflicts perhaps 95% of the 18 million Linkedin users.

A person must honestly and bluntly confront this challenge if she is to overcome it, and be able to leverage Linkedin as an economic platform for creating significant wealth.

Cubicle = value, Classroom = wealth 0:08

Wealth happens when you transition from the cubicle to the classroom.

In other words, employees create value, teachers create wealth.

I don't mean teachers who work for the public education system, but strategic teachers who are able to impart valuable knowledge to millions of people through the Internet (or, in the context of this blogzine, through Linkedin. Facebook, by the way, has 67 users and is growing at a weekly rate of 3%, so it will likely reach 200 million users by the end of this year).

Wealth is superior to value in the same way that a river is superior to the water flowing in it.

So when you're a teacher, you create wealth because not only do you create value (and are paid for it by seminar or workshop participants), but you continually increase the width and depth of your "river" so as to create MORE value (more water flowing) in the future.

This is why Linkedin is so critical: it enables people to connect to thousands of other people so that when, one day, they are ready to teach, there is a global, multinational audience ready to hear what they have to say.

For instance, for over two years, I built a network of over 850 connections on Linkedin, and a few days ago invited them all to subscribe to this blogzine. Tons of people have subscribed already and are reading this blog. I have nearly 300 subscribers. More are coming. Eventually, I expect the 18 million people on Linkedin to subscribe.

In your case, you may not have a blog or even something valuable to teach, but trust me, one day you will. So it's important to prepare for that day by connecting, right now, to as many people as you can.

It is indeed no possible to become rich while working in a cubicle, because you never own the intellectual capital you help to create. But as an independent teacher / trainer, and with the Internet to back you up, you can create enormous wealth as I do right now, using the teaching materials I've developed for over two years at Talentelle.com.

The overwhelming majority of Linkedin users do not yet understand this, so if you do, you are way ahead of everybody else.

My point is that Linkedin can unleash enormous wealth for you, but you've got to use it strategically and start doing it right now. There is a compounding effect at work, so the earlier you start using Linkedin strategically, the greater the financial payoff for you.

Welcome to my Linkedin connections!

If you're connected to me on Linkedin, then you probably received an email inviting you to visit this blogzine.

Welcome!

Please subscribe now so you don't miss any important information since the most valuable posts are deleted within a few days. I do this so that my subscribers get premium content.

This blog is not about the technical aspects of Linkedin; most users are smart enough to figure out how to use the features and functionalities on the site.

This blog is about the strategic issues that, if fully understood and mastered, can make you rich.

Indeed, my cyber-doctrine is that the Internet is "programming space" and that a person can program it so as to massively create value and thus become a financially sovereign individual.

In other words, Linkedin -- which is a very organized and civilized and professional part of the Internet -- is not just a virtual "Rolodex." You CAN use it to create value and wealth for yourself.

This blogzine will teach you how.

Enjoy and let me know if you have questions: omnidigitalbrain@yahoo.com

How to use Linkedin Answers to establish your credibility

If you click on the above picture, you'll see my "track record" as an answerer on Linkedin Answers.

When I first started using Linkedin Answers, I indiscriminately answered any question that seemed interesting. This has resulted in my being labeled an "expert" in many areas.

However, it was a mistake to try to cover too many areas.

So I began to answer ONLY questions in the Career Development section. This has resulted in my getting 23 Best Answers and, as far as I know, my being perceived as one of the top advisors on career matters in the Linkedin community.

In fact, many people wrote to me privately asking for career advice. A lot of people also want to connect to me because of the high number of Career Development Best Answers.

So that's one strategy I highly recommend: focus on answering questions in ONE area so that you get better and better at writing answers in that area.

A second strategy is to try to figure out exactly what kind of information the person is asking for. Knowing this will help you to formulate an answer that has a great chance of being voted Best Answer.

Third, try to answer only serious questions. There are a great many questions that are very trivial or, to say the least, not very serious. These questions will not push you to work hard mentally and intellectually, hence they have very little value. (Unless you just want to socialize and write what's off the top of your mind).

In the end, Linkedin Answers is REALLY the place where you show your intellect, your reasoning skills, your expertise and your professionalism. Many people don't know this. For instance, many answers are filled with typos and/or are not even coherent!

Your attitude towards work, life, other people, etc. is also revealed, so don't write something that you would be embarrassed about a few days later. Sadly enough, some people show a very negative attitude (through the tone or style of their writing), not knowing that what they write down cannot be deleted or rescinded.

Fiction kills friction

On my Linkedin home page, it says I have 851 connections, and that they link me to 7,645,400 professionals.

That sounds like a really big number! Maybe I should start my own country and ask these folks to vote for me so I become their duly elected President.

This is not as farfetched as it sounds. Cyberspace is, in many ways, the new frontier. The World Wide Web is the new Wild Wild West.

And Linkedin is like a new town built by people of goodwill right on the edge that separates civilization from wilderness.

In other words, cyberspace is becoming more civilized, and the Internet is becoming more humanized, more socialized.

So I think there's a need to distinguish between the chaotic Internet and the more civilized and socialized area within the Internet. Hence, I've coined a new word to refer to "socialized cyberspace": syberspace.

In other words, if cyberspace is made up of computers linked through networks, syberspace is made up of people linked through relationships, both formal (e.g. Linkedin) and informal (e.g. Facebook).

Obviously, due to the human element, there is more friction in syberspace than in cyberspace. It is indeed easier for computers to connect and talk to one another than for humans to connect and talk to one another.

"Friction" simply refers to a person's inability to network with as many people as he'd like, due to various factors.

For instance, if you have 1 to 50 connections, and are at a loss as to how you can gain more connections, you are indeed facing a "friction" problem.

One solution is based on the idea that "fiction kills friction."

In other words, reinvent yourself and become a more interesting person. Become someone worthy of being connected to.

Be a little daring! And don't worry, you can always change what you write in your profile. It will never be set in stone. Experiment a little bit.

I'm not suggesting that you lie about who you are; just focus on the parts of you that make you stand out.

My point is, if you don't stand out on Linkedin, you're not playing the game right.

Linkedin is a professional / business environment where you get to express your Brand You, as Tom Peters calls it.

It will take a while before you can craft a solid and memorable Brand you, but it's fully worth it. Brainstorm with friends and coworkers if you wish.

The bottom line is that only by being special will you attract others. Only then will they seek you out and want to connect to you.

Are you a millionaire?

Feel free to answer my question regarding wealth on Linkedin Answers HERE.

I provided stats about the mass affluents, millionaires and mega-millionaires.

In the U.S., there are about 33 mass affluents, 8 millionaires and one million mega-millionaires.

Promote your work, not yourself, Part 2

I wrote previously that one should promote one's work, not oneself, on Linkedin. The key to doing that is to capture your knowledge into a physical or digital medium, like a book, an ebook, a podcast, a blog, etc.

That's what I did at http://realtimesuccesssecrets.blogspot.com, http://superparentsnetwork.wordpress.com, etc.

Indeed, make no mistake: Linkedin is mostly a business tool; people want to know what value you offer. They care less about who you are as a person. They care a little bit more about you as a professional. But ultimately, they care the most about you as a business person.

In short, they constantly ask themselves, "What is the value that this person (you) will or could bring me? Can I do business with this person?"

The only way for them to get a satisfactory answer is if you share your work samples or knowledge products that you've created in the past, such as a technical article, a white paper, a seminar, a podcast, a blog, an ebook, a published book, etc.

In other words, promote your work when you network. Don't promote yourself. There are over 18 million users on Linkedin, and the ONLY way to distinguish yourself is to create a knowledge product that effectively establishes you as an expert.

Indeed, if you tell people that you are an expert, they may or may not believe it. Personally, I instantly doubt all such claims.

However, if you give people an ebook you wrote, then that will make it easier for them to believe that you are indeed an authority in your field -- that is, an expert who can be trusted.

In other words, whatever you say to your Linkedin connections, ultimately, is just a promise. But what you've written in the form of a blog, ebook, article, etc. is a performance -- not a promise.

People believe performances, not promises.

Every minute makes money or loses money 0:12

The expression "time is money" is basically correct, but when you seriously seek wealth, there is a need to go deeper and analyze that statement more, shall we say, technically.

The more technical we get about analyzing the nature, source, limits and power of time, the faster we can become wealthy.

This being said, wealth is truly beyond time (or space, for that matter). A person can become wealthy in a few seconds. The actualization of that certain wealth may take a few months or years, but that is just the manifestation in the physical world of the wealth that the person has ALREADY realized in his mind.

But back to the technical analysis of time as a resource to build wealth in the real world.

Think of it this way: Every minute either brings money to you, or takes money (further) away from you. By money, I mean a big pile of money. Something like $10,000,000. U.S. currency, please.

So every minute that you spend on Linkedin will either bring you closer to great wealth, or pull you away or further from wealth.

Take Linkedin Answers, for example.

Many people participate by asking questions or providing answers.

Every question asked, will either help the asker to attract more high-quality people into his network, or will make other people AVOID the asker.

For example, some questions are:

1. full of typos
2. trivial
3. ambiguous
4. badly formulated

Such askers do not realize that whatever they write on Linkedin, is permanently recorded. It's like a credit report. Once you show the kind of person you are (disorderly, incapable of formulating a good question, disorganized, unfocused, etc.), 18 million users on Linkedin then decide to either connect with you or not.

In other words, many people tend to think that Linkedin Answers is an informal environment, therefore they write whatever comes to their mind without making sure that their professional image is protected. This is a huge mistake that may cost them a job, a promotion, a business opportunity, and in general a lot of money for the next few years.

On the other hand, a few people use Linkedin Answers quite expertly in order to subtly and tastefully promote their expertise, their business, their products, their services and their overall professional or commercial "attractiveness."

In other words, every minute that they spend on Linkedin (whether it's writing to other users or asking a question or providing a thoughtful answer) brings them closer to their goal or to wealth. They use Linkedin strategically and verify, in earnest, the return on every minute they spend on the site.

How to print money

Learning how to print money is really the ultimate fantasy. Indeed, as it says in the Bible (Eclesiastes 10:19):

"A party gives laughter, and wine gives happiness; but money gives everything."

Another author wrote that "money is the sixth sense which enables a better use of the other five."

Okay, now that we're all convinced of the value of money, let's examine ways to design and print money.

Wait, don't call the Feds! I'm not about to suggest illegal ways of printing money! Please put that phone down.

First, let's be clear about what "money" really is. It is just evidence, socially agreed upon, that someone owes you something.

That's where the POWER of money comes from: the fact that someone "owes" you something. (Notice, by the way, that "OWE" appears in the word "POWER").

For example, a five-dollar bill is just physical evidence, socially agreed upon in a particular country where the currency's value is enforced institutionally, that someone owes you something worth five dollars.

So if you were to enter a convenience store and pull out your five-dollar bill and show it to the owner, he would say: "Yup, Mister, I can see indeed that I owe you something worth five dollars. Why don't you look around and find something you like that has a price tag of $5.00? I'd be glad to relieve my debt to you, if you please, sir."

Therefore, the key to "printing money" (and thus become obscenely wealthy -- excuse my French) is to print as much "evidence" as possible that other people owe you stuff.

Here's an interesting fact: Billionaire Richard Branson never carries any money with him, nor any credit card. He probably gets a free lunch and any product or service for free no matter where he goes. The business owners who give him free products or services are not crazy. They correctly calculate that whatever they lose in profit by giving free stuff to Mr Branson, can be recuperated many times over by the possibility of starting a social or business relationship with a billionaire.

You might wonder, "Pete, what does all this have to do with Linkedin?"

Linkedin, my friends, is nothing but a money-printing machine. The fact that most Linkedin users have not yet realized this, doesn't change at all the nature of Linkedin as a perfect money-printing machine.

But how do you use Linkedin to print "money"?

As we saw above, money is evidence that someone owes you something.

So first, you have to connect with as many people as possible on Linkedin. I have 845 connections, for instance.

Next, you have to start giving them something of value. ONLY BY DOING THIS CAN YOU BUILD POWER, THAT IS, CREATE EVIDENCE SOCIALLY AGREED UPON THAT SOMEONE OWES YOU SOMETHING.

Of course, you can charge a small amount for the value you're giving away, or you can just give it away for free, as I do at http://realtimesuccesssecrets.blogspot.com. At the following blog, I actually charge some money: http://superpeterliquidation.wordpress.com.

But my point is, some value must be transferred from you to all your connections. Otherwise, your list of connections is just like a page in the Yellow Pages: names and contact information without much value.

Networking Objects can help you to partner incredibly fast!

A Networking Object is something that instantly convinces a stranger that you are worth connecting to. For example:

1. An award that you've won
2. A book you've written and published
3. An executive position (preferably at a large, prestigious organization)
4. A position of power or influence (e.g. headhunter)
5. A popular blog that you write and that attracts thousands of visitors per month
6. A valuable yet FREE white paper or special report or newsletter that you give to all the people in your network
   

The above list is not exhaustive, of course, but it can give you a good idea of how "power networkers" leverage their strategic assets.

In other words, the more Networking Objects you have, the easier and faster your networking will be. You'll be able to partner with practically anybody.

Why? Because the elite is welcome everywhere.

Elite refers to a person or group which is endowed with a superior quality and is, therefore, favored.

How do you become a member of the elite?

Through focus.

Baltasar Gracian says, indeed, that being intensive is more important than being extensive. In other words, it's better to be the best at ONE thing than to be able to do "okay" at many things.

Through intensive efforts focused on ONE particular competency, you can easily become the best.

And when you're the best, everybody wants you. They all want to partner with you and they all want you in their Linkedin network.

Yet, when I look at the Linkedin profile of most users, I notice that very few people actually write down what they're the best at.

And when people send me invitations to connect to them, they never mention what they're really good at or the best at. They often only mention their huge network of contacts.

Yet, having a huge network of contacts is the easy part. The difficult part is to become the BEST at something.

In future posts, I'll explain more about how you can become the very best in your chosen field.