We live in interesting times, Switching Industries No Longer Means Starting Over. Last year on April 16th, 2014 I made the decision, after my first-born daughter, that I was going to change my life. I wanted to make a career transition. I made the decision to make a commitment and expose myself and run myself as a start-up. Not knowing anything about running my own business, I was determined to learn and make mistakes. The tool that was going to help me attain this goal was LinkedIn.
Social Selling & LinkedIn has literally helped transform my life. And I’ll explain shortly and provide you 5 step process that will revolutionize your life if you apply all of 5 lessons you’ll learn shortly. But for those who are not familiar with Social Selling are probably wondering…
So what is Social Selling? A lot of people have a different definition, but what I consider Social Selling to be, it is traditional sales incorporated with modern marketing. Social Selling allows you to open relationships that will endure and deepen over time. We live in a new economy, and all the rules are being re-written. Sales and Marketing departments will soon merge. This is the new era of the hybrid economy. And I have news for you Social Selling and LinkedIn is not here to pass, it’s here to stay, this is just the beginning.
So what does this mean? How will LinkedIn contribute to this?
The economy is not changing, it has changed! LinkedIn will play a huge role in the Business World by maintaining and creating professional relationships in the world of tomorrow. An example would be with LinkedIn acquisition with Lynda, the transaction is valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
The mission of LinkedIn and the mission of lynda.com are highly aligned. Both companies seek to help professionals be better at what they do,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “lynda.com’s extensive library of premium video content helps empower people to develop the skills needed to accelerate their careers. When integrated with the hundreds of millions of members and millions of jobs on LinkedIn and Lynda training videos this can change the way in which people connect to opportunity and start building new skills and running their lives as a start-up.
In what Way Will LinkedIn Create The World Of Tomorrow?
When I first started seeing myself as a start-up, I wanted to become a “LinkedIn Expert, Guru, etc” and get extra money on the side consulting. I dived in unprepared and studied for hours, days, and continued for months. I registered for training courses, subscribed to private webinars, and to monthly subscriptions and reached out to influencers. This was a new world to me and the possibilities were endless.
I did not want to theorize about these concepts; I wanted to see it in action. I wanted to test my skill set and understand how to position myself doing this. I was scared, I started to doubt myself, what if this just sounds good in theory? And I can’t do it? I’m not prepared yet, I need to learn more and then I’ll find clients.
I needed to get intelligent data and noticed that I was just making excuses. I decided to face my fear and registered for a business networking meeting. Not knowing anything about LinkedIn or how to generate leads I exposed myself as a LinkedIn and Twitter consultant. I wanted to get involved in projects and understand the process of how this all works in real-time. I was learning as I was doing.
I remember the first person that took a real interest and wanted to pay me for it. I explained to him that I could help him generate leads and grow his business using LinkedIn and Twitter.
He wanted a proposal to get this moving, but I did not know anything about how to write a proposal?
“For my first client this job was too big for me to handle alone. I did not know what to do”
I did not even have a tax ID, I just wanted to test my theory and if there is a need for these skills in the market and this confirmed it great, but now what?
I did not want to waste the client’s time or risk losing the relationship because of my lack of experience. I came clean to the client and explained to him that I am still new to this, but I was genuinely interested in the business and solving his problem. I was able to tap into my network and my twitter followers and set up a personal meeting and introduced my client to CEO of Social Sales Link and Best Selling Author Brynne Tillman
I could not have done this if it were not for LinkedIn or Social Selling.
One of the first lessons I learned from making myself a start-up was that I had to think bigger. I just don’t want to be a LinkedIn guru, expert; I want to change the world and do it through LinkedIn. The platform is evolving with the economy. I never felt a more fulfilling role than with the potential of this platform you can change people economic situations. What higher purpose could there be than trying to give someone peace of mind by teaching them how to survive in the world of tomorrow?
LinkedIn and Social Selling exceeded my wildest expectations. Now, a year later, as I was in my living room feeding my daughter and wondering how can I create economic opportunity for my family through LinkedIn by helping others? How can I show others how to use LinkedIn to leverage and deepen relationships with their network? How can I teach or even help people that experienced economic ruin and show them that it’s not over, that they can meet new people to help them come up on top again using LinkedIn without sounding ridiculous? Let’s face it, people are the ones that control resources, opportunities, and information.
The employer-employee pact is over, and traditional job security is a thing of the past and this is not just affecting the U.S, it is Global. So after putting my one-year-old daughter to bed, I jumped on Google because I wanted to know what was LinkedIn plan for the next 5 to 10 years? How does LinkedIn plan to create economic empowerment for the rest of the world?
LinkedIn is a powerhouse for professionals. As a matter in fact LinkedIn is the first U.S. company to enjoy Internet success in China. LinkedIn Cracked the Chinese Market. LinkedIn just opened its platform in China and it is at the center of one of the professional networking site’s fastest growing regions representing one of its biggest opportunities. While LinkedIn has only 5 million members in China (if you combine its English and Chinese language sites) the country is home to more than 100 million professionals who are potential future members.
I see a 100 Million professionals that I can build and deepen relationships with from across the globe and do it in the comfort of my living room while playing reruns of Breaking Bad on Netflix.
Can you imagine that now more than any other time we can reach people through LinkedIn and other regions of the world and teach them how to prepare for the world of tomorrow through social selling and this is just the beginning for LinkedIn.
If one thing that history has taught us is that “All human beings are entrepreneurs. When we were in the caves, we were all self-employed … finding our food, feeding ourselves. That’s where human history began. As civilization came, we suppressed it. We became “labor” because they stamped us, “You are labor.” We forgot that we are entrepreneurs” – Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and micro finance pioneer
Regardless if you believe in yourself or not and whatever the case is, you need to prepare yourself or get left behind if you’re not giving your digital brand the attention it needs. No more excuses, every excuse you make is like knocking on the devils door, knock on the devils door enough, and one day he’s going to answer. And then your going to be in a world of hurt.
This is the truth, hashtag #Realtalk
The career ladder, escalator and elevator is packed at every level. Unemployment rates are still high. New ideas are disrupting and shaking every industry to its core. The competition for jobs at a global level is fierce. The world has gone digital therefore if you want any chance of surviving in the digital world of today, the key is to manage your career as it were a start-up business. Your start-up should be a living, breathing, growing start-up of YOU.
Why Start-ups? Why do corporations want to hire entrepreneurs? Why are corporations demanding employees to have an entrepreneur mind state? Let’s look at an Entrepreneurs Psychology. Entrepreneurs invest in themselves. They build their professional networks. They take intelligent risks. They make uncertainty and volatility work to their advantage. They are problem solvers.
These are the very same skills professionals need to get ahead today.
By seeing yourself as a Start-up and Incorporating Social Selling You Can Achieve The Following;
- Create a flexible career path for yourself, since companies are changing, the people around you change and industry changes so must you.
- Develop a competitive advantage to win best job offers and create new career opportunities
- Deepen your relationship with your professional network by building and nurturing powerful alliances
- Explore unique breakthrough opportunities that massively accelerate career growth by tapping into your network and using that information to make better decision.
How do I get started? By following all these five steps together not only will you accelerate your career regardless of what industry you work for. You will also be ahead of the curve. In order to get the most out of this article, follow the instructions, click the links , read the articles , take massive , massive action and remain consistent, and you will see different results in your life from here to the next 12 months.
Step 1: Understanding Why Your Doing This
Before your going to take massive action I need you to understand the importance of the situation. I notice that people are not lazy, it’s just that most people don’t understand the why behind things. Once you identified the why? This is when massive action starts building up. And when you run out of steam your why will keep you in the game and recharge you.
This is a great visual in how to start seeing yourself as a start-up company. It’s important to start thinking yourself as a work in progress. Here LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman provides a small visual comprehensive guide in creating action steps in preparing you to see yourself as a start-up company.
How to Apply it With Social Selling:
Building a lasting quality reputation through your start-up using content marketing and social media won’t be easy. you have to be consistent, concerted effort and always constantly work to create or curate , share post, align with other influencers and keep dialog open. But if you see yourself as a start-up and your commitment in building your start-up, you will reap massive rewards – and you will end up as an industry thought leader.
These two articles will help you on your way becoming a thought leader and guide you in further investing in your personal brand.
I. How To Build A Personal Brand On Social Media : You’re a brand. I’m a brand. We’re all brands, whether we aim to be or not. Personal branding, then, is the process of managing and optimizing the way that you are presented to others. And social media is one of the keys (if not the biggest key) to managing your personal brand online. Once you created your personal brand story, you want to start telling your story, but telling it the right way through LinkedIn and social media. Kevan Lee goes through an overview of tips and strategies to creating your personal brand online.
II. 40 + Social Media Tools for Personal Branding: As you being to expand your brand, you will need tools that can help you save time and help bring you closer to creating a home court advantage. Brian Fanzo provides a great list of tools to use in how he created his own personal brand. This guide walks you through different phases when creating and maintaining your brand
Step 2: Be Bold In Finding Your Dream Job
Be bold, I interviewed so many people and the last thing I want is for the job interview to feel like a job interview. You are selling yourself , you are in the literal sense the marketing and sales department of your brand and your offering me a proposition on why i should go with you. Grand Cartone is fast hitting truth about how you should stand in front of your future client/job. Pay close attention to tip number 10.
You’ll be more successful once you switch the roles instead of considering yourself the employer of your company and what they can do for you, and start seeing your employer as a customer of yours and what you can do to exceed their expectations.
Grand Cardone – 12 Tips To Get Your Dream Job
How to Apply it With Social Selling:
Target companies you want to work for not entire industries, avoid the HR departments and social media instead get in front of decision makers. Use Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and LinkedIn to target who you want to work for, who is hiring, and who you need to see but leave getting the jobs to these KILLER proven tips on how to get a job.
There are many tools you can use the job search assistance, monster.com, career builder, Craigslist, newspaper, the ladders, a staffing agency but at the end of the day getting the dream job will result in what you do to get in front of the right person and then sell that person that you are the right person, and no other tool compares to getting you in front of the right person than LinkedIn. I don’t care, your making a mistake if you’re not incorporating LinkedIn to the start-up of you.
Step 3: Complete Your LinkedIn profile
Make sure that you have a complete LinkedIn profile. The first impression we want to give people is “WOW! who is this? I need to get to know them” You want people to take action when they visit your LinkedIn profile.
I. 10 Simple Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out (Overall message): Job seekers can make their LinkedIn profiles stand out from the crowd with simple changes like updating their information regularly, and posting and sharing content. Here is a 3min video with LinkedIn director of corporate communications and career expert Catherine Fisher, who gives 10 tips to help bolster your profile.
II. LinkedIn Profile Checklist for Job Seekers (Job seekers): Your LinkedIn profile is your first impression and the foundation to any professional job search tools. 92% of Business-to-Business (B2B) Hiring Managers will Google or search a candidate on LinkedIn before they ever reach out to them. So, the very first thing you need to do is Google yourself and see what comes up. Follow Brynne Till man checklist.
III. The 31 Best LinkedIn Profile Tips for Job Seekers (Tip for Job Seekers) everything you need to know about tricking out your LinkedIn profile—from crafting a stunning summary to selling your accomplishments, projects, and skills—in one place. Read on for expert-backed ways to make your profile seriously shine—and start getting noticed by recruiters
IV. How to Transform Your LinkedIn Profile Into a Marketing Tool (For Marketers): If your not a Job Seeker and want to use your LinkedIn profile to expand and leverage connections to your current organization. These simple marketing tips by Kristina Jaramillo can help you.
How to Apply it With Social Selling:
The most important skill needed with the new economy is the ability to sell, not only is this skill the most important tool for your survival, it is the only tool that you own that no one can take from you. Knowing how to sell is truly your only asset. We are all in the business of either selling products or services. However, more importantly, we are in the business of selling ourselves first. In future having a LinkedIn profile will be as important and professional as having an email. Add lots of visuals on your profile that support the start-up of you and let your profile offer value.
Did You Know?
72.6% of salespeople using social selling as part of their sales process outperformed their sales peers and exceeded quota 23% more often. (Source)
2/3 of companies have no social media strategy for their sales organizations. (Source)
93% of sales executives have not received any formal training on social selling. (Source)
Get on board with LinkedIn and Social Selling and become the go to person in your industry or use these skills to accelerate growth in the start-up of you. Here are 23 Killer Social Selling Statistics thanks to my buddy Jeff Zelaya for creating this.
Not convinced that here are 125 + Amazing LinkedIn Statistics
Step 4: Digital Resume
Its time to get creative with your resume. I do not believe a piece of paper can encapsulate your awesomeness. Lets be humane, entertain, and inform. A resume and cover letter is boring – your digital resume shouldn’t be.
Nina Mufleh story inspired me. Nina, did everything right. She wanted to work for Airbnb. And what she did was incredible. Nina Mufleh create a custom digital resume. Nina Mufleh wanted to work for Airbnb and she decide to create a Digital Resume to make it look like Airbnb’s homepage to serve as a presentation of her ideas. Through the website’s there are dozen of slides, she conveys what she knows about the travel industry, what she can bring to Airbnb, and she proposes a new possible avenue that Airbnb could further develop their business. Her innovative idea caught not only the attention of the internet, but it also dazzled Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky and CMO Jonathan Mildenhall.
Here is the article speaking about Nina Mufleh Airbnb Resume and here is Nina Mufleh Digital Resume
How to Apply it With Social Selling:
Be creative! These days it’s never been easier and affordable to create a blog. You can use ThemeForest.Com and browse through different resume templates and buy one for as little as $12 dollars. If you need someone to install the templates you can can hire a freelancer. You can visit Odesk, Elance, or Fiver and send a freelancer the link of the page you want and request a quote.
I would recommend fiver.com to get your feet wet. And as you want to enhance your start-up brand you can scale it higher by adding analytics to provide intelligent data where your visitors are going on your page. I would create a private Digital Resume with Analytics and include some case studies in your industry send it directly to decision makers at companies you want to work for. This way you can see how many people visited your page , what they read , and how long they stayed on your page. This is great because by the time your called in for an interview you can avoid the corporate and interview jargon and focus on whats important – getting the job, and getting it done right!
Case Study: “How I Nearly Doubled My Salary As An Introvert”: This is a great case study on how to prepare yourself in 4 steps in creating your Digital Resume and doubling your salary.
Step 5: Reach out and connect
Every invite you send out make sure to personalize it. Do not send out genetic invitations. These guides will help you build your LinkedIn network.
5 way to work a Room Using LinkedIn: If you’re going to a conference or networking event, LinkedIn is a must-use tool! There are many opportunities available to you when you use LinkedIn in coordination with events. Here’s a timeline for how to use LinkedIn, to work every room at the event. Celina Guerrero walks you through the process next time your in a networking event.
7 Tips For Writing A Great LinkedIn Invitation: Whether you’re new to LinkedIn or you’re a seasoned user, connecting with new people can be a challenge, especially when you’re not sure what to write in your LinkedIn invitation. Ariella Coombs provides you with 7 tips i think can help you perfect your LinkedIn invitations to connect.
11 Pet Peeves Recruiters Wish They Could Share with Job Candidates: Seeing resume after resume and performing interview after interview means recruiters get to know a lot of people and their job-seeking habits. And like anyone in their own particular industry bubble, some repeated job application mistakes can really start getting to you. Interesting and humorous article about what recruiters have to deal with from bad job seekers. Avoid these 11 mistakes and you’ll be on the right path in no time.
How to Apply it With Social Selling:
We finally arrive to the last step, Let me tell you that LinkedIn & Coffee… Go Perfect Together! By following these 5 steps together you met Melonie Dodaro 3 prerequisite in order to do Social Selling for 30mins a day.
These are the three prerequisites before starting your social selling campaign:
- A complete, professional and search optimized LinkedIn profile
- A minimum of 3-5 recommendations on your profile
- Join up to 50 LinkedIn groups that your target audience will belong to
Now that you have a better understanding of running your career as a start-up of you, your ready to go. Start Social Selling for 30 Minutes a Day. Melonie provides you with a visual step by step guide and simplifies Social Selling and how to apply it for 30 mins a day.
A Year Has Past , Whats Next?
A year ago I did not know anything about Linkedin or Social Selling. Now, LinkedIn and Social Selling has revolutionize my life. I was given opportunities in consulting for 500 companies, I worked with decision makers, venture capitalist, start-ups , I became an author to MillenionalCeo.com based on my engagement and was given an opportunity to use this amazing platform to voice my opinion and provide value.
I made the most amazing friends that actually get ME! This could not be possible if it was not for LinkedIn or Brynne Tillman introducing me to Social Selling. Its been a great ride and i’m very blessed. I say this not to brag, or inflate my ego. I say this because I am currently unemployed and no longer working in the corporate world.
Even though i had a few job offers, i respectfully declined them because i decided I wanted to take some time off the labor market to reflect and make adjustments in my life and work on a few projects as i continue building and working on the start-up of Me.
With the amount of free time on my hands I notice that a lot of people are desperate for jobs and feel they are stuck in a career that no longer makes them happy. I’m sure it’s not a pleasant feeling, as most of us can relate in some form or another. I wanted to provide some kind of service for the millions of americans out there that are sill unemployed or looking for career transition. so having this amount of free time i wanted to provide a service and create a manual of curated content to help you accelerate your career and welcome you to the world of tomorrow. I feel that millennial are shaping the workforce, and i want to be part of it.
What Is The Best Way To Get The Most Out Of This Guide?
Apply it! Take massive action, every article above requires you to take action. I’m not telling you what to do, but I’m also educating you how to do it. Create a support group , it’s the start-up of you. I want you send this guide to someone you know who is off the labor force, or wants a career transition but doesn’t know how to start. I will appreciate if you can send it to youth that s unemployed looking for work ,or anyone who has entrepreneurship talents or will be going to college soon. The reason I say teenagers is because LinkedIn has dropped its age requirement to 13 years old. Teenagers are early adopters and in the future online personal branding will be a norm.
I think it was a great idea for LinkedIn to drop the age requirement to 13 years old because youth employment rates have decreased dramatically over the past decade as the economy has faltered and the youth population has grown, in New York City unemployment rates among youth are especially acute during the summer. Spread this to youth centers in neighborhood communities too.
If you stay consistent by taking massive action and follow all 5 steps together you are bound to see some interesting results in your life. Regardless of what age or industry you’re in. If you enjoyed the post, please click the thumbs up icon above and let me know! Please let me know if you found this useful. Follow me on Twitter @RonnieCuriel and lets connect on LinkedIn and explore ways in where we can help each other out. Even if we decide not to work together, I am confident our conversation will be full of insights and strategies to help you leverage LinkedIn more effectively.
We have a few months remaining until 2015 comes at a close and we welcome 2016. Stay Sharp, Stay Focus here are 30 Things To Remember To Help You Become Successful In 2015 to end it with a BANG!!
Lift someone up today. Be a friend. Together we can move mountains and make greatness happen! – Carlos Gil
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