Tuesday, November 16, 2010

To use Linkedin properly, forget about Linkedin

Before I explain the rather strange, perhaps even self-contradictory title for this post, allow me to share a few free ebooks which I'm releasing at http://entrepreneuracademy.wordpress.com.

The last one is The Art of Excellence.

Now, before you view those ebooks, please be advised that they are NOT what people refer to as a normal non-fiction book, that is, a substantial and research-driven book containing lots of facts, theories, frameworks, concepts, etc.

A normal book takes at least a year to write, and perhaps 6 months or so to find a publisher (if you're an established writer).

So my idea for an ebook is quite different and, I dare say, fit for these times when everything is happening so fast and people have no time to read a lengthy book.

Indeed, my ebooks are written in less than 90 minutes. I rarely edit myself. I simply write out what I think, as clearly and bluntly as possible.

This was the trick used by Isaac Asimov who, in his lifetime, wrote 300 books (yup, 300!). His trick was to use a typewriter, not a word processor. He wrote in a straightforward manner, both fiction and non-fiction books. I consider him to be a "master writer."

So what does this have to do with the title of this post, "To use Linkedin properly, forget about Linkedin"?

It means that a professional will benefit the most if he/she strives to become EXCELLENT at ONE THING, and promote his excellence on Linkedin.

More importantly, he/she should practice this ONE ACTIVITY every day.

This, as you know, is how Tiger Woods became THE Tiger Woods, or how Michael Jordan became THE Michael Jordan, or how Anthony Robbins became THE Anthony Robbins (Robbins used to practice, every day in his tiny appartment, a motivational speech in front of an imaginary audience).

Rare are the Linkedin users who clearly write, in their profile, what exactly they EXCEL at.

So that's why I submit that using Linkedin profitably requires that a person "forget" about Linkedin (that is, multiplying connections, or doing what one is expected to do on Linkedin).

The person must focus on identifying ONE thing that he/she does best, and then focus on practicing it, and sharing the results of the practice (if appropriate) with his/her Linkedin connections.

This idea of preparing and training to become really EXCELLENT at something, is not new.

The great and wise Abraham Lincoln once wrote, "If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 7 hours sharpening the ax."

This ax, in today's knowledge-based economy, is your mind.

What is your mind sharpest at? Where do you TRULY excel? What are you practicing every day?

Becoming excellent at one thing, might require sustained efforts and focus and much self-discipline.

But once you've achieved mastery, most people will seek you out. They will pay you a premium salary. You will earn money rather easily, since you will have little competition in your field.

On Linkedin or anywhere else, people always love to connect to the very best. They love to connect to the elite.

There's an old saying, "Everybody wants to win, but few want to PREPARE in order to win."

It's the same on Linkedin. Everybody wants to get connections, but few are ready to prepare and practice in order to become the BEST at what they do.

Incidentally, when you become the best at what you do, not only will you be popular on Linkedin, but you will never have trouble finding a job or finding clients.

The trick is simply to identify ONE THING that you love to do and then commit to practicing it every day until you become the best at it. It's actually quite fun, too!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Crazy! Licensed content publishing!

Friends, you won't believe this! I discovered this POWERFUL method of publishing my content "virally" using a free blogging service like Wordpress.

This will be useful to you if you want MORE connections on Linkedin, or if you wish to promote yourself, your products and/or your services to your existing Linkedin connections and THEIR connections.

Basically, the idea is to create a master blog (ex. http://entrepreneuracademy.wordpress.com) and then to REPLICATE that blog by exporting and then importing it into a second blog.

For example, the SECOND blog of the above master blog, is at http://entrepreneuracademy2.wordpress.com. This blog is IDENTICAL to the master blog!

It only take 3-5 minutes to EXPORT the content of the master blog, and 3-5 minutes to IMPORT that content into your NEW blog.

So if you're an expert (ex. coach, consultant, trainer, specialist, entrepreneur, investor, etc.) and you have a blog, you can license it to others so they get the content and share it with THEIR connections. You win because all readers will want to connect to YOU, the expert.

The licensed publisher (who has a blog containing YOUR content) wins by offering valuable blog content to his/her Linkedin connections. He also wins by putting his profile or website in the sidebar on the right (to promote himself to the incoming readers).

Everybody wins!

Why is this Licensed Content Publishing (LCP) better than traditional blogging?

Because with traditional blogging, a person writes articles (and these might be good or not so good), but the problem is, there are few readers!

In short, the content is there, but circulation is not!

Note: Circulation refers to the number of readers. Newspapers, for example, typically have circulation of more than 20,000 copies.

Interestingly enough, connectivity is the greatest asset on Linkedin (connectivity could be considered as "potential circulation"), so you can leverage that asset to promote YOUR content.

If you're not yet an expert, you could promote someone else's content, so you continually offer something of value to your connections.

Now, will the creator of the master blog charge you something for using HIS content? Not necessarily.

Remember, he gains enormously by having YOUR connections read his blog articles. He might get contracts from YOUR connections, so he might be most willing to give you his blog content for free.

Anyways, I'm planning to launch a Career Blog which I will give to my Linkedin connections (more than 1,100 so far) so they can share the valuable information with THEIR connections.

This LCP model is exciting because it allows Linkedin users to share valuable information from people who are experts in their field. It makes Linkedin a richer environment.