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The Value of LinkedIn Recommendations

LinkedIn recommendations seem to be a dime a dozen. Some profiles show hundreds of recommendations. Do they really matter?

The answer is YES. Here’s why:

LinkedIn is a fairly static social network that relies on the creator of the profile to provide all of their own information. As such, you could, if so inclined, make up your entire work history, education, specialties, etc.

What you can’t make up is your recommendations. (Well, I suppose by an elaborate scheme, you could…). Other people have to recommend you. Hopefully people who have worked with you, managed you, gone to school with you, done business with you, or interacted with you in some meaningful way. LinkedIn recommendations provide us with a means to TRUST what we read on a profile.

Giving and receiving recommendations on LinkedIn may seem uncomfortable or awkward at first. But don’t let that stop you. LinkedIn is built on recommendations, and you cannot have a complete profile without both giving and receiving a recommendation. It’s the norm.

What value does GIVING LinkedIn recommendations provide:

Giving a LinkedIn recommendation is like putting your footprint on someone else’s profile. It is a link back to your profile. It says something about you, about your communication style, about your willingness to give back.

Every time you recommend someone on LinkedIn, you are cementing a relationship with a connection. The person you recommend is more likely to recommend you in return. You are crafting a circle of influence where your word is trusted and you are seen as someone who is valuable as a connection.

What value does RECEIVING LinkedIn recommendations provide:

LinkedIn recommendations are social proof that you are who you say you are. Recommendations can be from a variety of connections who know you in a variety of areas and can provide a well-rounded picture of you as an employee and as an individual.

Receiving a LinkedIn recommendation, especially unsolicited, signals to you that one of your connections has cared enough to take the time to write something good about you. It also should be a signal that you should return the favor.

A LinkedIn recommendation can say about you things that you cannot (or should not) say about yourself. The fact that someone else said them, is equivalent to that person putting their stamp of approval on your profile.

A few hard-and-fast rules concerning LinkedIn recommendations:

  • Only recommend people that you know well.
  • Only ask for recommendations from people that you know well.
  • When requesting a recommendation, give the writer a specific aspect of your work to recommend you for
  • If you can, reciprocate when receiving a recommendation
  • Keep it short and sweet
  • Give more than you get

This isn’t rocket science. People can’t recommend you if you’ve only met them for coffee once or twice. You shouldn’t be recommending them either. Wait until you have something of substance to say.

LinkedIn recommendations are not like those your professor wrote for you when you applied for grad school. They are about a paragraph. Leave out the fluff, and stick to the meat.

The last part is about generosity. Being generous is one of the unwritten rules of success on the social web. When people see that your are recommending others often, and writing really decent recommendations, they will want to get in on the action. Maybe they will recommend you, and then you’ll recommend them, and the circle grows.

So today, go and look through your list of connections, find a few who you know really well and have something of value to tell others about. Write those recommendations and see what kind of reaction you get. You may find it makes you feel good, and it will definitely make them feel good.

Then make it a habit.

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Twitter and (the illusion of) Free Speech

Last week I was on the periphery of a social media storm. One of my colleagues, Anthony Rotolo, wrote a blog post surrounding an incident on Twitter that involved (mildly) negative tweets, employees from two different companies in hot water, and public relations people in turmoil. There are stories in the news almost daily about someone who has gotten themselves into trouble for tweeting something offensive. The problem is there are so many different ways to be offensive and people that could possibly be offended.

As a result of the incident mentioned above, I have seen people a) protect their tweets and b) change their Twitter bios in order to add disclaimers that say ‘these tweets are my own and do not reflect the opinion of my employer.’ Watching this situation unfold got me to thinking. Who is really free to say whatever they want, no holds barred, on Twitter? Answer: hardly anyone.

This is the bottom line: you are always representing something when you tweet. You are either representing yourself or the entity that you work for. If you work in social media, you are most likely representing both.

Here’s a few things to keep in mind as you tweet:

If you work for a company

  • Know your social media policy. Follow it to the letter. If something goes wrong, you can be sure that the policy will be looked to as a point of reference when considering any action.
  • If there is no social media policy in place, ask for guidance. Simply the fact of asking the question might bring the topic to the fore and precipitate a social media policy being instituted. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
  • Know who your company works with. Who are your compaany’s partners, suppliers, distributors, etc? For example, if I worked for The Capitol Grille, I probably wouldn’t want to repeatedly send negative tweets regarding Red Lobster, since they are both owned by Darden Restaurants.

If you are self-employed or a student

  • Consider who you want to work for. Most students will go to work for an organization, public or private, after graduation. All individuals who are self-employed need customers or clients. In addition, you may need partners, suppliers, etc. Don’t tweet negative comments regarding these potential employers, partners, customers & clients. You never know when it could come back to bite you.
  • If you feel constrained, consider maintaining two accounts. I have seen this happen when students want to portray a professional image to potential employers, but still want to interact authentically with friends. You can either protect your more personal tweets by locking your account, or use a twitter handle that doesn’t reveal your true identity.

Social Media Professionals

  • Check your attitude at the door when responding to negative tweets. You are representing your employer and every person you interact with on twitter should be seen as a valuable potential customer. If someone ticks you off, take a deep breath, go for a walk around the block, or whatever it takes to be able to make a response with a clear head. Now is the time to maintain a consistent voice.

Everyone

  • Think before you tweet. If you think it might be cringeworthy, it probably is. I know that thinking twice before hitting send has personally saved me from some regrettable tweets.
  • Don’t tweet under the influence. (You fill in the blanks)
  • Every tweet you send is building on your personal brand. Are you enthusiastic? negative? cynical? opinionated? Most of the people who follow you on Twitter don’t know you personally. You are being judged entirely on your tweets. Make sure you are representing yourself the way you want to be regarded.

This post may seem overly wary and cautious, especially coming from someone who works in social media. However, with a certain level of comfort comes complacency. All of us who have been on twitter for a while can use a reminder that this is not a cocktail party with our friends, this is a public platform. For all the free flow of information that twitter represents, we need to be realistic and cognizant of where the rubber meets the road. One hundred forty characters may seem like a little thing, but they can mean the world if they cost you your paycheck.

As with any paradigm shift, the behavior changes first and then the culture follows. A very wise colleague of mine has pointed out that the expectations of employee conduct have not yet evolved to include practical social media guidelines. Until this evolution takes place, it’s best to proceed with caution.

Have you ever regretted sending a tweet? How do you feel about having to censor yourself on Twitter, or don’t you bother? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

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Twitter Chats & Your Personal Brand

We all know by now that Twitter is more than just a fun place to talk to people and learn what’s new, it’s also a huge personal brand generator.

Whether it’s Alyssa Milano, a perennial B-list actress with in excess of one million followers and a klout score higher than Barack Obama, or Justin, the 29-year old who’s twitter account @sh*tmydadsays has now been made into a book and a TV series, stories abound of people who have become famous (or more famous) because of their twitter presence.

While you may never have a million followers, it is possible to become known on Twitter, to become an ‘expert’ in your field or even a ‘thought leader.’ I have found a simple tool that is an easy way to gain influence, grow your following and expand your personal brand: the twitter chat.

If you’re not a devotee of chats, as many are, you may have noticed from time to time that your stream fills up with hashtags such as #genychat, #mbachat or #jobhuntchat, and either wondered what everyone is talking about, or gotten annoyed that these tweets keep filling up your stream with something you’re not involved in.

Next time that happens, instead of tuning out, tune in. Search for the hashtag so you can see the tweets in real-time, use a tool like tweetchat.com. That way you will get a feel for what the whole conversation looks like rather than just a few snippets here and there. If it’s a topic you know something about, feel free to join in ~ twitter chats are open to all and generally very welcoming to newcomers.

Here’s a few tips for chats and why you might want to join:

1) Meet interesting new tweeps. Chats usually attract people from outside your sphere, so it is almost assured you will be exposed to some tweeps you have not previously been aware of. If they seem interesting, follow them.

2) Put your two cents in. Like I said, if you know something about the topic, it’s perfectly fine to add your thoughts. You do not have to be an expert on the subject. Everyone has a different level of expertise, so you don’t know who your tweet will help or appeal to.

3) Retweet people. This will give them a chance to interact with you later. It also helps your audience if you are tweeting good information at them.

4) Add a comment to a tweet. Have conversations within the chat…this is the time to engage…everyone is expecting that, they all came here for the same reason.

5) Since most chats move quickly, the more you tweet within a chat, the more likely you will be noticed and pick up new followers. Generally these are people with at least some similar interests and can become valuable new sources of information and engagement. Follow them back.

6) By engaging in chats, you are using Twitter for what it was designed for ~ conversation.

7) There is usually a digest published after the chat with select tweets, along with a transcript of the entire chat. More tweeps who did not get to participate in the chat, but who are interested in the topic will seek that out, and will find you there.

8) Tweet a link to the digest or transcript to your followers and ask them to join the next chat. And make sure to thank the moderators of the chat at the conclusion.

9) Growing a presence among twitter chatters will increase your opportunities to know and be known by influencers within a given field.

10) Twitter chats are fun!

Joining in a twitter chat is a first step level of engagement. Eventually, you may want to co-moderate a chat of your own. To get started, check out this complete up-to-date list of twitter chats. You are sure to find one that fits your interests and goals: http://bit.ly/bOTzCe.

My next post will outline how to create and host a twitter chat.

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