LinkedIn’s Annual Top 10 Most Overused Profile Buzzwords

How “creative” is your LinkedIn profile? Your profile is intended to distinguish your skill-set from other professionals. Are you truly accomplishing this?

LinkedIn released their annual list of the top 10 most overused profile buzzwords. Despite adding 50 million new members since the last analysis, “creative” topped the list again.

Here is the top 10 list for the United States:

1. Creative
2. Organizational
3. Effective
4. Motivated
5. Extensive Experience
6. Track Record
7. Innovative
8. Responsible
9. Analytical
10. Problem Solving

Do any of these buzzwords sound familiar? Take a moment to review your profile to ensure it doesn't heavily reflect these overused words.

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: TheSeafarer

Will Facebook Be A LinkedIn Contender?

Although not confirmed, it is speculated that sometime in the latter part of the summer, Facebook will launch a searchable job board. The job board would function as an aggregate of job postings from various third parties.

There are still a lot of questions about this – but the concept is already circulating through the media. Is this in an effort to get a piece of the estimated $4.3 billion global online job-recruitment industry? It just might be…

Details have not been released as to how the job postings will appear for the 900 million plus user base (i.e. within the News Feed). Regardless, this could make for an interesting battle between LinkedIn and Facebook.

Many people would probably agree that they do not prefer to have their personal and professional online presences comingled. However, many employers may prefer to see a potential employee’s “real life” – and the intersection of your Facebook presence and their job postings may be the answer to that.

What benefits do you see in Facebook’s potential job board?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: arazaphotography

Mashable's Social Media Day Celebrated Worldwide

Saturday, June 30^th, is Social Media Day! What is Social Media Day, you ask? It’s a movement started by Mashableas a way of acknowledging the digital revolution in all its glory. This is the 3^rd year in a row that Social Media Day is being promoted as a worldwide Mashable Meetup. It’s also an opportunity for social media enthusiasts connect in their local communities to discuss social media and tech in person.

While some people believe that social media creates more isolation in a disconnected world, these Meetups are a way for people to deepen relationships within their communities. It also helps people form new relationships that may not have happened before sites like LinkedIn and Facebook made online networking possible. 

The Mayor of Tampa, Florida recently declared June 30^th Social Media Day, joining many other cities around the world. To find a Meetup in your area, check out http://www.meetup.com/Mashable/or watch this video for more information about Mashable Meetups. 

There are approximately 408 communities hosting Meetups for Social Media Day with 4,072 members. Will you be attending a Social Media Day Meetup on Saturday?

New LinkedIn iPad App with a Fresh Design

A couple months ago, LinkedIn launched a new iPad app. I didn’t download it right away, but as I continued to hear more and more about the app – I decided I had to check out for myself what all of the buzz was about.

LinkedIn has 150 million users with more than 22% of LinkedIn traffic coming from mobile devices, up from 8% a year ago (CNN). Their mobile platform is the fastest growing consumer service on LinkedIn. As a result, the iPad app was born.

What’s my first impression of the app? It has a beautiful design and was built with usability front and center.

The home screen starts with three paths:

1) Updates: Get a snapshot of your professional updates, news, and information all in one place
2) Profile: Access your profile, connections and activity dashboard with a quick swipe
3) Inbox: Send and receive your LinkedIn invitations and messages in one place

Built with HTML5-based mobile web technology, the app supports the new iPad’s Retina display affording a very elegant design experience. For example, you will notice the “updates” feature is similar to Flipboard – allowing for content to be easily digestible to the eye.

Another main feature of the app is its calendar syncing capabilities. The app allows you to pull in details from your Google Calendar or Exchange Calendar.

Of course, there always tends to be a few areas that need improvements with newly launched apps. So far, the main concerns that have surfaced includes: inability to edit your resume, the lag time you experience when you have a significant amount of connections, and limitations with the management of groups.

Overall, I feel this app makes strides in engaging the professional on a more regular basis. LinkedIn has done a good job in consolidating the experience – read timely news, check your calendar, and know what your peers are up to – all in one place.

What is your first impression of the app?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

The Future of Social Networking

For me, reading Twitter and Facebook in the morning is equivalent to reading the morning paper in the 80’s.  I can catch up with local and global news, entertainment and even the sports section in less than 30 minutes. The first thing I saw this morning was an urgent call from a trusted source (Mashable) to change my LinkedIn password amidst claims of a major leak by a Russian hacker. And this comes after recent “reports that its iOS app potentially violates user privacy by sending detailed calendar entries to its servers…”

After changing my password, it got me thinking about the state of social media today. Although still evolving, the world of social media is often overwhelming and convoluted with all its integration, mobile capabilities and privacy issues.

Photo credit: socialmediahq

Facebook stock basically fell on its face after a much-hyped IPO and now there’s a question of whether or not Mark Zuckerberg engaged in insider trading. To add injury to insult, a new study that came out yesterday claims that engagement on Facebook has fallen with 35% of users spending less time on the site, and also that 4 out of 5 users are not influenced by ads run on the site.

And then there’s my favorite, Google, which has been putting all their eggs in the G+ basket. It’s not that I have anything against the flailing social network. It’s just that I think it came too late to the party and hasn’t differentiated itself enough. The only people I know that really use it are those in the social media industry. But if Facebook does fade out, G+ could be perfectly positioned to take over if it can hold out that long.

I think that most people do love to feel connected – not only to their friends, but to the rest of the world. Social networking is here to stay. What do you think it will look like and how will it evolve in the years to come? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents How to Generate REAL Business on LinkedIn

This Wednesday Webinar provided by Neal Schaffer, Senior Vice President of Social Media Strategy for Social 5150 and Vice President of Social Media Strategy for Green Dream Social, will include expert strategies for generating business on LinkedIn.

The webinar will cover strategies including creating a sales-oriented page, generating connections to help you drive business, the power of groups, and much more.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, November 30, 2011 from 12:30pm EST – 1:30pm EST. To register and for more information please visit: How to Generate REAL Business on LinkedIn

Volunteer Work Now Included In LinkedIn Profiles

Announced this week, LinkedIn will now allow its users to add “Volunteer Experience & Causes” to their profiles. This new section of LinkedIn profiles allows users to answer, “What causes do you care about?” and “Which organizations do you support?”

Mashable reports, “The company polled nearly 2,000 U.S. professionals and found that 41% said that when they are evaluating candidates, they consider volunteer work just as much as paid work. Of the hiring managers surveyed, 20% said they gave a job based on a candidate’s volunteer work experience.”

I see this feature as an enhancement to LinkedIn profiles. This has the potential to give causes and organizations additional exposure to gain even more volunteers. And for those who prefer to keep their volunteer work private, this feature is completely optional.

Do you think this feature will give LinkedIn users an incentive to volunteer more? Leave your comments below.

Yes, Yet Another Button: LinkedIn Job Application

I don’t know about you – but to me, there seems to be a lot of buttons launching lately. From the Google +1, Klout’s +K button, and the Facebook Send button, LinkedIn plans to premiere the LinkedIn Job Application button this month.

This LinkedIn button called, “Apply with LinkedIn,” will allow job candidates to submit their LinkedIn profiles as resumes on employers’ websites. This plugin will use a job applicant’s information to sort candidates for an employer automatically. Companies will also have the option to use additional templated questions, ask customized questions, or the ability to request a cover letter.

LinkedIn continues to dominate the professional sector, reaching over 100 million members this past March, and going public last month.

Although this button may not completely revolutionize how companies accept applications just yet, it is absolutely a stride in a more social direction. As we continue to evolve with our always plugged in lifestyles, this is a smart move for LinkedIn.

Do you see your business implementing a LinkedIn Job Application button?

Image credit: nanpalmero

LinkedIn Plans to Go Public May 19th

Tomorrow will be another big day for LinkedIn – it goes public. LinkedIn currently has over 100 million members and is used in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. It continues to grow at a healthy pace and now will be backed with additional working capital to further its products. LinkedIn reports it will use the funds from the offering for general corporate use such as working capital, sales and marketing, capital expenditures, acquisitions investments in complimentary technologies and general/administrative matters.

Additional details include:

• Anticipates raising near $274 million this week
• LinkedIn will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNKD
• Shares are expected to trade in the $32 to $35 range
• 7.84 million shares will be available

I do think LinkedIn will continue to grow and establish itself as the social media site for business executives. One aspect of the site that I do hope to see further improvements on is the advertising platform. It still feels like it’s in its infancy but could be a big win for LinkedIn, if they get it right. LinkedIn ads can be laser targeted by job title, job function, industry, geography, age, gender, company name, company size or LinkedIn Group – but I’m still looking for success cases with the ad platform. Hopefully this IPO and the influx of funding, will aid in the development of the ad platform for the future.

Image credit: mariosundar

LinkedIn Reaches Milestone: 100 Million Members

Yesterday, LinkedIn reported they have officially reached 100 million members worldwide. In celebration, LinkedIn posted 100 member stories explaining their individual experiences with the platform.

LinkedIn is currently used in over 200 countries and territories around the world. Interestingly, it is experiencing its fastest growth internationally with 56% of their users being outside of the United States. Dominating the social business sector, LinkedIn now reports professionals are joining the site at faster than one member per second. Not bad for a social media site catering towards the niche of business professionals!

When using LinkedIn, be sure to establish your presence within the platform and amongst your peers. You can do so by participating in LinkedIn Answers, updating your status often, and if appropriate, linking your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts to provide further updates on your LinkedIn profile.

Check out this neat Infographic LinkedIn put together illustrating their growth statistics.

Please share your tips for effectively using LinkedIn within the comments below.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents How to Build Your List and Make More Sales with LinkedIn

Join Lewis Howes, the LinkedIn Expert, as he presents, “How to Build Your List and Make More Sales with LinkedIn.” Join one of LinkedIn's biggest unofficial ambassadors as he teaches you the essentials for LinkedIn success.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Why is LinkedIn so powerful and why should someone take notice of it over the Twitter and Facebooks of the world?
• Proven methods for professionals utilizing LinkedIn
• How can someone use LinkedIn to get more targeted leads?
• Using LinkedIn to build a community
• Understanding how to use LinkedIn to convert a community onto your email list
• Advanced applications to take your profile and brand to the next level

Lewis Howes has written two books on the topic of LinkedIn, has given over 300 webinars and live speeches on the topic, and has hosted over 20 LinkedIn networking events all around the world. He is considered one of LinkedIn's biggest unofficial ambassadors and has helped thousands of professionals and small businesses receive more leads, publicity, and sales all by harnessing the power of LinkedIn.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, February 16, 2011 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: How to Build Your List and Make More Sales with LinkedIn

New LinkedIn Share Button

As a business professional engaging in social media, LinkedIn is absolutely one site you want to establish your presence on. LinkedIn has over 85 million members in over 200 countries with a variety of expertise levels. You can even find executives from all Fortune 500 companies on the site. LinkedIn is geared towards business professionals connecting one another, maintaining business relationships and affording the ability to make new business connections. Incredibly, a new member joins LinkedIn approximately every single second!

Similar to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon etc, LinkedIn has now launched their own “share” button. Offered in three orientations, vertical count, horizontal count and no count, the question now remains will it gain popularity as the other sharing buttons so late in the game.

Will you be implementing the button on your site?

LinkedIn Adds New Profile Sections

LinkedIn is now offering even more ways to enhance your professional online profile. This week, the business-oriented social networking site launched 5 new profile sections allowing its 80 million users to add even more robust content to their profiles. Here's the basic rundown:


1. Publications: This one is especially useful to my writer friends. Now you can provide links to your published works as part of your profile.
2. Skills: Have a skill writing code in any number of languages? Know your way around a Windows Server? Are you the world's most talented juggler? List it here.
3. Languages: In the melting pot of South Florida, this one is a big advantage. Tell the world you speak another language... or several.
4. Certifications: MSCE? CPA? CFP? CCNA? MFC? DTR? List all those handy certs on your profile and feel good about that re-certification course you just aced. (and, yes, those are all REAL certifications. Look 'em up!)
5. Patents: List your pending and granted patents here.

What's the marketing angle? Well, if I'm trying to reach individuals with a particular skill set, language or certification, LinkedIn can serve up a more targeting advertising module for my marketing plan. Isn't this the social network where people are actually trying to do business together, after all?

Sync Your LinkedIn Contacts

I'm tired of my iPhone. I can't wait to stomp it to tiny bits. I know. I know. I KNOW. I am the ONE person on the planet who doesn't drink the "Steve-Jobs-fanboy-Kool-Aid". Shoot me.

I've had an iPhone for 20 months. All of them painful. Dropped calls. Crashing OS. Slow OS. You name it. My contract is up in November and I have been salivating over the new Android phones. Specifically the new Captivate (AT&T) aka Fascinate (Verizon) aka Epic (Sprint). I'll be keeping my GSM technology and loving the high def video. It actually makes me want to watch a video on my phone. And what internet marketing person doesn't love the new frontier that is video content?

And the best part is I won't have to give up all my handy little apps. Consider this new little nugget called ConnectIn developed by Rdio which will allow me to sync my LinkedIn contacts (and I have over 400 right now) via my phone. It will sync

- Phone numbers

- Status Updates

- Photos

- Headlines

It will even let me open a profile in my browser. The app is only $0.99 and available now via The Market. I think this will be one of the first apps I try when I get my shiny new phone. It will make keeping my business contacts updated THAT much easier.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Microsoft Brings LinkedIn to Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail (readwriteweb.com)
• Regarding That Facebook Phone That Still Isn't Being Developed (mashable.com)
• Why Now's the Best Time to Buy a Business Smartphone (nytimes.com)

10 Powerful Social Media Tools to prepare for a job interview or sales call

Before you go to to your next job interview or sales call get prepared!



You can know an amazing amount about a company and the person you are meeting by spending about 15 minutes online searching. Here are some powerful tools to find out a lot of info about the company, and the person you are about to meet.

Oh, first a handy tip. Take screen shots (use the 'print screen' button on your keyboard to grab the images) as you do your research, copy these images into a PowerPoint presentation and keep it in a file you will take to the meeting. If the opportunity arises, share some of the knowledge you have about the company and show the person how diligent you were. You should keep personal and company information separate, many people would be surprised and possibly uncomfortable about how much you can dig up about them personally.

1. Get to know their website. A good place to find recent information is the News or Press Release tab and read recent newsletters stored on the website
2. Do a Google search for the company and the individual you are meeting
3. Google the company name plus 'reviews' and 'comments', print out any negative information you find, and if it is appropriate share this info. with the person you're meeting. They might not have Googled themselves and they might need an Online Reputation Management program.
4. Find the person you are meeting on LinkedIn. Do any of your friends know him or her? This is a great opportunity for your friend to put a good word in for you. Plus, knowing a bit about their history might keep you from putting your foot in your mouth like I once did. I met an executive at a packaged goods company and I went on and on about how much I knew about banking before I found out she worked in the banking industry for ten years - oops!
5. Check them out on Facebook. Does the company have a Facebook Fan Page?
6. Is the company and/or the individual active on Twitter? Are they current? Is there any news you can learn? What are they passionate about? Colleges? Sports? Volunteer Activities? What common interests do you share. Do a search.twitter.com for their name as well, what are other people tweeting about them and the company? Post a Tweet and ask if anyone at the company is listening to test if they're monitoring Social Media.
7. Check their Compete.com traffic, Google Page Rank, Alexa Score, SEMRush.com for number of SEO results, How many links do they have to to their site? SpyFu.com will tell you about their Pay Per Click advertising activity.
8. Check these scores for their competitors.
9. Are they blogging?
10. And perhaps my best tip, from my friend Harvey Mackay, download the Warm Call Center Toolbar, it is amazing what this tool will reveal about the company and the individual!

Good luck and please comment below:

- What tools do you use to prepare for an interview or a sales meeting?
- Did you try any of these ideas? What did you find out?

Good Luck crushing it in your next meeting!


Photo credit drewleavy flickr.com

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Ten Success Strategies for Generating More Business in LinkedIn

Join Erika Barbosa of Ten Golden Rules and Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules and Author of The Ten Golden Rules Of Online Marketing Workbook to learn the "Ten Success Strategies for Generating More Business in LinkedIn."

This presentation will share the 10 best strategies to use LinkedIn to build an effective business network, and how to use this network to increase your business.

- How to create a profitable profile
- How to build and nurture your relationships through LinkedIn
- How to optimize your profile for findability
- How to create and participate in Groups
- Our single favorite LinkedIn's function for business
- Strategies for incorporating LinkedIn with other marketing activities

This free webinar will take place on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Ten Success Strategies for Generating More Business in LinkedIn

What Type of Apps Do You Want for LinkedIn?

According to a breaking story on Mashable, today brings big news from LinkedIn, which finally invited developers to contribute to its social media platform. The new LinkedIn Developer Platform is expected to spur the onslaught of new apps you can use with LinkedIn – much like those available for Facebook and Twitter. In fact, you can expect integration with TweetDeck as early as this week, according to the article.

What does this mean for Internet Marketing?

We’ll have to wait and see, but for those of you that currently leverage social media to network and market your business, it appears you will have even more options. Of course, instead of Roller Coaster Kingdom, Farmville, Mafia Wars and the other time-suckers you can find on Facebook, I hope we can expect more useful business oriented applications.

For starters, I'd like to see a way to sync all my friends (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) so I could group (segment) them more efficiently, and communicate (market) to them from one application, with the ability to choose my platform (medium)...

What types of apps would you like to see for LinkedIn?

The best strategy to learn Internet Marketing "Just Do It" !

I am often asked by people who have a traditional marketing background how they can get into the new marketing.

My best advise is to: "Just Do It!"

As Nike says in their marketing, you must jump in and immerse yourself in the new tools and technologies, it is free and so easy a 10 year old can do it.

Get set up with your own WordPress blog right away so you can practice the different internet marketing skill sets. It only takes about 15 minutes! Pick a subject that you are passionate about and start developing blog posts. Learn how to link, set up Google Analytics and track how many people visit your blog and where they come from. Set up and track your own revenue generating programs such as affiliate banners and Google AdSense Ads - Yes you can make money from a simple blog!

Get involved with one or more of the popular social media sites. Pick one that people you know are always talking about among Facebook, LinkedIn, You Tube and Twitter. I love Twitter, if you'd like some basic tips on how to start a Twitter account and learn about this exciting new communications world read my Ten Tips Twitter Beginners Guide.

Good Luck Just Doing It - Please let me know how it turns out.

"What can you do to market with Social Media in emerging countries?"

I am often asked "What can you do to market with Social Media in emerging countries?"

A number of tools are available for emerging countries. First of all, while Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are not not as developed as they are in the United States, other social networks like Google's Okrut and Hi5.com (amazing number 35 site in the world on Alexa!) and Sonico.com are all in the top 200 websites in the world according to Alexa and they are incredibly popular in different regions!

Another opportunity is mobile. While computer access at home and work is not as prevalent, the mobile phone is fast becoming the common access point for many people in emerging regions.

New To Social Media? 3 Sites To Get You Started

As someone who seeks out the most up to date trends and news on social media, I tend to feel a bit overwhelmed at the new sites that come up. I’m used to the sites that I use on a regular basis. If you’re just getting started on using social media, here are some sites to start with. I’m sure you will find them useful and enjoyable.

Facebook – It’s definitely a step up to MySpace, another popular social networking site. With Facebook you can connect with people you know already, and even people you may have lost touch with. Personally, I find it useful in keeping touch with friends who live all over the place, and without Facebook, I probably wouldn’t be able to connect with people I lost touch with. If you’re concerned about privacy, there are many ways to hide and limit people from seeing information you don’t want them to see.

Twitter – This site has gotten increasingly popular over the course of the year, mainly because more celebrities and news media outlets have been using it. I’ve found twitter to be useful in getting breaking news before the news outlets even get it, interesting information I wouldn’t know about if I wasn’t following certain Twitter users, keeping in touch with friends, and even meeting new ones. If you're new to Twitter, read The Beginner's Guide to Using Twitter for 10 steps on how to effectively use it.

LinkedIn – This site can be compared to your online resume, with a feature to network with other LinkedIn members online. At this website, you’re required to be more professional, but it could help you if you’re looking for a job or trying to find business connections.

The best thing about these sites are that they are all free, and you really can’t lose with them, except spending lots of time on them!