Everyone - EVERYONE has something to share...

I'm back from a short break.  

Had a lovely relaxing time, and reminded my self how important breaks are and a goal for 2018 will be to take more Michael time.

So, on this break I met and talked, often at length (those that know me will be nodding sagely), to lots of new people.  My wife is amazed how by day two I know everyone around the pool, in the restaurant and of course in the bar :D

This blog may leave you thinking I only talk business, far from it and quite the opposite, I learn many other things from my new friends, but this is a business blog, and I really wanted to share this one conversation.

Three conversations, that became relationships very quickly, stood out...

A guy in the commercial air conditioning industry, very driven, successful, 20 teams on the road every day, and over time he shared with me quite detailed insights to his business, the sector, and his approach to business.  Pay attention, listen, ask questions and people will share so much, and as the title of this blog say's, I believe everyone has plenty they can teach me.  So I let them talk, let them share, let them teach me.  Ask me anything about A/C, I am your man ;)  Seriously though, ask me about the sector, trading conditions, the challenges businesses face in that sector and margins that are possible, margins that are likely and break-even points, and I'll have a considered view thanks to my new friend.

I met a building site project manager, a Manchester United fan ... from Manchester!  I know! I'd read there was one - and I have met him ;).  Great guy, we had a lot in common, mostly bloke stuff - like football, cars, F1, his dog...  But the conversations moved around and he taught me a great deal about the construction sector, not the least the huge difference between projects in the North West and projects in London.  You see, I know someone who is a site manager in London. and he had already taught me a lot about his industry, so I had a benchmark.

But, the most profound conversation I had was with a 70 something Norfolk farmer, working a small farm, surrounded by enormous 'mega' farms, a softly spoken disarmingly gentle man, completely at peace with his life, who as we talked over time told me, and taught me, more and more about rural Norfolk life, farming, business and ... sales.  Sales!  My 10p is you weren't expecting that, neither was I.  He had so many stories about land deals, seed purchasing, produce sales, equipment purchase / lease / loan - when a combine harvester can cost £500k+ you have to be sure you need that one, sure you can afford it and be very good at negotiating... 

He had been sharing anecdotes and stories for a few days, he was as keen to know about me and what I do as I was to learn about him.  He had a wonderfully open mind.  Then the day we parted we were talking business again, and he said this, (I can't type in a soft Norfolk accent - but oooh I wish I could)

"The thing is Mick... You have to let people buy"

Boom, right there, my philosophy in three words.  Let People Buy.  And... he's been doing this since before I was born!!  So, nothing is new, we forget more than we learn, and everyone - EVERYONE has something to share... Its for us to respect everyone we meet, not to judge, listen and... learn...

I'm not sure my farmer friend will ever read this, judging by his mobile phone, he's not an early adopter of leading-edge technology, and prefers a newspaper to 'that there google', and I am not about to suggest he's wrong there, mainly because I'm not sure he is, life's a mix and it takes all sorts, different strokes etc. 

I love Norfolk and he is very likely to get a visit sometime soon, I'm toying with giving him and Amazon Echo and seeing who wins ;)  So long as he lets me have a drive of his tractor - he has by far the best toys - so seems a fair swap.

Mick

Lets connect - 

I am on Facebook here - www.facebook.com/mick.holloway

I am on Twitter here - @mick_holloway 

I am on LinkedIn here - linkedin.com/in/mickholloway

And Steve - you can write to me at the Business and Technology Centre, Bessemer Drive, Stevenage, Herts, SG1 2DX

www.24-7.so 

"Yes, I'm on LinkedIn, oooh but ... my Profile needs updating..."

How many times have I met people at networking events, shows, meetings etc, and I hear, 'Ooh, yes I am on LinkedIn, <sigh>, but my profile needs updating'?


Why would you do that?  Why would this be OK?  Particularly if LinkedIn is an important part of your Marketing Mix?  You are better than that, you're worth more than that, I mean, would you give out an old business card, from a previous position?

Yes I'm on LinkedIn, <sigh>,
but my profile needs updating

Maybe that comes across a tad harsh, it's not meant to be - I am all about encouraging, enabling and inspiring, so focus on the 'You're worth it' - hmmm handy catch phrase that...

The thing is, its not a huge investment, but the ROI is massive. Think about it, keeping your LinkedIn Profile up to date costs nothing more than a little time?  OK - maybe you need a 'LinkedIn Update Strategy', but more likely just start thinking of your Profile as a pivotal part of your Marketing Mix.
Everyone updates their profile if you are using Linked to find your next job.  We need to be more strategic, especially if you are using LinkedIn as part of your Marketing Mix, get into the habit of updating your profile whenever those marketing messages change.


If for you your LinkedIn Profile is a Marketing Tool and a precious piece of Marketing Colateral. Then, when there's change (maybe a new focus, new product launch, new direction, new web site) that requires new Marketing Messeages, drop by your LinkedIn Profile and make sure that its updated too.

LinkedIn approve of regular updates and fresh content, so do the search engines,  But far more importantly so will those visiting suspects and prospects who are doing their due diligence on you, your product/service or brand.  If when viewing your profile vistors don't recoginse what they see as what they were expecting, 'boing' of they bounce.  WOW - there's an idea, maybe a metric LinkedIn should provide us is our Profile View 'bounce' rate, how long a visitor spends on our profile would be a very interesting metric
This is all part of Effective and Efficient Social Media, your Social Media Strategy should have clear and direct connections back to you business Goals and Objectives (and no mixed messages).  That way - you know your investment in Social Media directly supports delivering your business Goals and Objectives.  And your LinkedIn Profile will form part of your suspects/prospects due diligence! Think about that ... you are being considered, they are about to be reaching for the phone - don't drop the ball so close to the finish line.

So, there you have it ... keep your LinkedIn Profile aligned with your Marketing Messages, doesn't take long.

I know!  Go take 10 minutes NOW, if your profile needs updating, go do it now.  A few things will happen - 

• You're Profile will be up to date :)
• LinkedIn likes activity and engagement.
• You just invested in YOU, way to go, take a bow, high five :)
• Everyone knows you are investing in YOU - as those following you will be told of the update.  This does depend on your settings, check them by going to 'Privacy and Settings' => 'Privacy' => 'Sharing profile edits'.
• And, bless you for reading my blog and acting on it so quickly, YOU have made MY day.

If you need help with creating a world class, optimised, LinkedIn Profile.  One that supports your sales and marketing, helps with your conversion ratio's and gets YOU FOUND, we have worksbooks, tutorials and training courses that can help. 

Leave your email in the comments on this post and I will send over my 20 page 'Step by Step guide to preparing the content for your LinkedIn Profile' work book.  No obligation, your email won't be saved to a database (unless you want me too - in which case there's an email capture box top right of this blog) because, if you like my work and could do with more help - "you" know where "I" am :D

Mick

Lets connect - 

I am on Facebook here - www.facebook.com/mick.holloway

I am on Twitter here - @mick_holloway 

I am on LinkedIn here - www.linkedin.com/in/mickholloway

www.24-7.so

Connecting on LinkedIn - "How do you know Mick?"

My gander is ... up.

Not often that happens, pretty casual, easy going guy, not much rattles my cage - unless I find Marmite in the kitchen!

So, what's up Mick? I'll chuffing tell you what is up.  I just invested an hour of my life sitting through an online training course that promised to show me how to get in front of  'X' hundred targetted LinkedIn prospects.  That I picked up little new, is fine, its always good to see how other people use LinkedIn.

LinkedIn ask 'How do you know....'

Whats rattled my cage was the connection strategy proposed by our hero.  Having carried out a targetted search, the advice was to reach out to the 2nd degree connections in the results.  Fair enough.  But the advice was to send invitations to connect, again - fair enough.  Then, to get around what to do when LinkedIn asks, as they always do, "How do you know Mick ?" the advice was to simply click on  "We've done Business Together"  REGARDLESS of whether that was true !!

Moreover - the presenter claims there was a 'bug' in LinkedIn that lets you do this and hence allows the invite to be sent!!

Lorks-a-Lordy, wrong on so many levels.  Its not a bug in LinkedIn! LinkedIn assume you will be honest, so do I!  It is not alright to make a claim to a relationship that isn't so, don't you think the recipient will know if you did or didn't work together?

Now, here's the thing, above all else, what are you saying about yourself if you are so willing to start a relationship with a... LIE !!

Good luck with that,..

What should you do?  Use Inmails, find their email address and click 'Other' and use that route, failing that see if you can engage via groups.  If all else fails, and you really must lie, then in the least customize the invitation text and apologise, excuse your actions by confessing to using the 'backdoor' method to invite.

So, note to self's - bear this in mind, if you are open to invitations to connect, make it easy for people to invite you to connect, and that's so easy - how about putting your email address in your LinkedIn Profile?  After all, for any invitation, you can always say NO.

Am I alone with this one? Is it just me?

Mick

Lets connect - 
I am on LinkedIn here - www.linkedin.com/in/mickholloway

I am on Facbook here - www.facebook.com/mick.holloway

I am on Twitter - @mick_holloway

Mick@24-7.so
www.24-7.so