Mario Sundar

Of course, you know I’m gonna blog this. Yes, I work at LinkedIn and I’m stoked to see the really hard work many of my colleagues come to fruition.

Web site performance monitor AlertSite tracks site reliability and uptime for social networking sites. This past quarter, LinkedIn came up tops with “near flawless availability” of the site (via PC World):

Delivering near flawless availability (99.97 percent), LinkedIn soared to the top of the rankings after grabbing the #4 spot in the second quarter. While more than 19,000 measurements were recorded during Q3, only six errors were noted.

YouTube came in second, with 99.96 percent availability.

… and looks we came in a close 2nd to Facebook in site response time as well. Impressive!

For the second consecutive quarter, Facebook has proven itself to be the fastest social network, shaving 0.02 seconds off its Q2 average response time to bring its number down to 1 second flat — its lowest quarterly response time recorded this year. YouTube, too, experienced its quickest response times to date in Q3 at 1.60 seconds.

I think this is pretty critical, especially since sites like LinkedIn are becoming essential productivity tools and being up and running could help you, the user, get your job done better and faster. Alright, that’s about it. Now back to regular programming on this blog. Stay tuned.

Filed under: LinkedIn in the News

Comscore looks at LinkedIn’s web penetration numbers across different countries and comes to this conclusion:

It was only a matter of time before online social networking fused with real-world business networking in a meaningful way, and LinkedIn is a testament to the emergence of this trend. It should not come as much of a surprise then that LinkedIn attracted 50 million visitors worldwide in July, up 16% in just the past six months. Perhaps more importantly, the site is beginning to surpass 10% penetration, an important critical mass threshold at which many networks begin to expand virally.

And, here’s a pretty chart to go with that:

LinkedIn's global market penetration (via @comscore)

Comscore also adds:

In this increasingly global economy, utilities like LinkedIn will only grow in importance in helping connect people and cross borders. In this case, it is helping me get to know more about my new colleagues, and that is a very good thing.

I couldn’t agree more. Increasingly my work educating companies on how best to use LinkedIn, has brought me in touch with global teams that are using LinkedIn to collaborate.

Stay tuned for more on this topic – Global social media trends. If you work for a multinational corporation and if your team’s using LinkedIn today, leave a comment. And, if you’re not, but have questions on how to get started, leave a comment as well. Would love to hear your stories.

Filed under: LinkedIn in the News

I couldn’t think of a better week to revive my series “Previously on LinkedIn” (featuring 3 to 5 carefully curated blog posts sharing smart ways to use LinkedIn). Not only did we cross 75 million professionals on our site this week, but we also added new tech talent to the LinkedIn family – mSpoke.

Ask me questions or @mariosundar me on Twitter

1. How to write a balanced recommendation? by Chris Brogan

This post is a month old but the question is still very relevant and at the heart of business networking and professional relationship building. What’s the value of a public recommendation if its cloyingly positive and not balanced. I think public recommendations are necessary but sometimes people go overboard with the praise.

Chris’ suggestion to lead with strong positive language but keep it balanced is often ignored:

Of another person’s recommendation, I added the following gently-couched negative statement, “_____ isn’t always clear in what she needs. She sometimes needs encouragement to draw out details that might be useful to the execution of the project.” I did my best to make this sentiment clearly an issue, but didn’t crush the person. I didn’t say, “____ is too shy and mumbly to successfully convince people to follow her lead.” The first would be a bit kind to her; the second a bit harsh.

And again, if there’s a reason you wouldn’t recommend the person, don’t.

I think this candor lends the authenticity that many reviews lack though it’s a delicate balancing act. There’s the social etiquette you have to keep in mind and your relationship with the person in question, but being candid is in the best interests of all parties involved. I’d also recommend you read my colleague, Adam Nash’s, excellent post on Recommendations and the Reputation Economy. And, take him up on his challenge “to select three of your connections who fit this description, and write them a LinkedIn recommendation, unsolicited.”

From a hiring manager’s perspective, who often look for the negative to weed out candidates (the same way one ferrets out those negative reviews on Yelp and Amazon), can do a simple word of mouth background check by finding people in your common network who may have worked with that candidate and by asking questions relevant to the job you’re hiring for. Just do a reference search on LinkedIn!

2. Using LinkedIn as a business intelligence tool by Valeria Maltoni

Speaking of smart search on people and companies, Valeria’s post outlines ways to use LinkedIn to gather business intelligence around people (for e.g. when hiring somebody) or just researching the industry. Answers and Groups in particular are two features that are often used in the pursuit of business intelligence and you’ll be surprised at the quality of content you find. Quick Tip: Some of you may not have realized that both those features can be searched from the LinkedIn advanced search page.

In summary, Valeria blogs:

You can use LinkedIn as part of your content strategy to gain visibility. A better use of the tool may be to identify industry leaders and the company they keep by reading the content they present and share.

Advice for companies — train your employees to understand how their personal presentation reflects on your business. When someone pulls up the company page, LinkedIn will include the profiles of employees with it.

3. 6 easy steps for a company to start using LinkedIn by Tracy DiMarino

I’ve read many blog posts that talk about using LinkedIn for lead generation, but not many have picked up on the idea I have been evangelizing to companies – that your employees are at the forefront of your conversations with other companies or other leads. Has your company developed a core strategy to educate and channel the most active of your employees in building those bridges with the outside world – and don’t forget, many of those relationships are already being built. Here are two very useful tips (the other 4 are helpful too) from Tracy’s post that suggests ways to encourage your employees’ participation on LinkedIn:

Select employees to lead participation: Designate a few employees to be internal LinkedIn champions. To be most effective, these individuals should be social-network savvy; knowledgeable about your products, services and brand messaging; and have a desire to engage with target audiences.

Participants should also have the time availability each week to respond to LinkedIn discussions and questions relating to their areas of expertise. Note: See Step 5 for tips on how to alleviate some of the time commitment required from individuals. [Ed. Yes, read the entire post]

Have employees optimize their profiles: Encourage your employees to optimize their profiles. Be sure that all individual profiles are completely filled out — including the Summary, Specialties and Job Position sections — with keyword-rich descriptions. Also, include links to Twitter profiles, as well as optimized links to your company website and blog, if applicable.

This shouldn’t be a problem given how many of your employees are already active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but channeling their LinkedIn use is both in their best interests as well as that of companies as well. Along similar lines – also find your employees who blog on topics of expertise related to the company, though it may be harder to find those folks. Finding employees participating on LinkedIn, on the other hand, shouldn’t be a problem. With over 75 million professionals on the site already, chances are many of your employees are already engaging on LinkedIn. Quick Tip: An easy way to find them would be to check out your followers on your LinkedIn company profile.

If you find other posts that share unique tips on leveraging social networking for your career or business, feel free to share or leave a comment on this post.

If you like similar content you should subscribe to my blog or follow me on Twitter!

Filed under: LinkedIn in the News

This was a blog series that was begging to be made. Every week, there are countless stories about LinkedIn, tips and tricks on using our site as well as stories on how professionals are using the social networking site. Here’s a weekly summary on the Top 5 such articles each week.

For similar awesomeness; either subscribe to Marketing Nirvana or follow me on Twitter.

Here are the 5 most useful articles on LinkedIn, week of Mar 1, 2010:

1/ HOW TO: Promote yourself on LinkedIn to find a job / Wall Street Journal:

This article takes on the vexing age-old question of should I or should I not update social networking sites with the banner: “Hire Me”? Is it too needy? The article suggests that in these tough economic times, it may not be a bad idea to reach out proactively to your network when in need of a job. For e.g.

While it’s acceptable to let people know that you are looking for a position, it’s important to approach it professionally and to be specific about your needs. One way to do this is to use LinkedIn’s “professional headline” to establish your identity. Ms. Karp recommends adding the words “in transition” or “seeking a new challenge” to your title. LinkedIn also gives you the opportunity to fill in a status box. “Use this area to describe contract or consulting gigs you have as well as any volunteer work you are doing,” suggests Ms. Karp. “This approach enables you to reinforce your brand through the headline as well as highlight current relevant projects.”

Terry Karp is the career counselor and co-founder of the Bay Area Career Center in San Francisco. The article also features suggestions from my friends Dan Schawbel (“If your network is unaware that you’re job searching, then how are they supposed to support your search?“) and colleague Krista Canfield (“Status updates remind your network that you’re looking for a position and what types of jobs you’re looking for“).

2/ 5 ways to weave LinkedIn into your Marketing Mix / Marketing Pilgrim:

A succinct summary of five ways to include LinkedIn in your marketing mix. Of particular interest to job seekers may be four easy steps to optimize your LinkedIn profile as you share that far and wide with potential hiring managers:

For the LinkedIn community, your profile will be this first item they see, so treat it as you would any landing page. To make the most of your profile:

• Hyperlink using keywords. Include relevant URLs in your profile, and use links with anchor text. For example, instead of “My Blog,” use a keyword to describe it such as “SEO and Online Marketing Blog.” (see image below)
• Use keywords in descriptions. That includes the summary, specialties, experience and all other description categories.
• Include an image in your profile. LinkedIn, after all, is a social networking channel. So add as many personal touches as possible to maximize engagement and put a face to the brand.

3/ How a B2B company made $1 million in revenue through a LinkedIn group / Web 2.0 Journal:

Truly amazing! I’ve reached out to the group owners so I could share with you readers how exactly the group was able to accomplish this. SafeNet, is the 3^rd largest provider of information security solutions in the world and were able to generate $1 million in revenue, directly related to LinkedIn Information Security Community (a + 50K member group, grown in over 2 years).

The company carefully measures ROI by tracking the original sources of leads and sales conversion via:

• Marketbright marketing automation software
• Systems engineers and product managers reporting on which members they directly connect with SafeNet sales for follow up (upon member request)
• Salesforce.com

4/ A social networking starter kit for job seekers / Yahoo Finance:

I wish the article were put together, the way Mashable puts together posts. There’s a lot of valuable advice here lost in the terribly layout. So, let’s begin. To me, all the tips provided here can be summarily addressed by LinkedIn and it’s social rolodex address book. For starters, job seekers, GET LINKEDIN!

Social networking is a great way to expand your network. Set up an account on LinkedIn and post your profile and resume there. You can look for former colleagues, alumni, professional associations and other connections. Recruiters frequently search for applicants on LinkedIn, so put your best professional face forward.

True dat! But, all other tips like “Make a list of all your closest colleagues, college buddies and past employers and follow up twice”, “share job leads with other job seekers”, or “tell your tennis buddies” can be done by organizing your job hunt through LinkedIn’s newly redesigned address book or social rolodex as I call it. This may actually be deserving of it’s own post on this blog. Stay tuned!

5/ Building your cyber resume for job search success / Wall Street Journal Digital Network:

It’s my friend, Dan Schawbel, who kicks off this post with tips on building your professional identity. Sree Sreenivisan, suggests picking two or three networking sites and sticking with it. Agreed. As most successful users will agree, when it comes to professional opportunities LinkedIn should definitely be the heart and soul of your social networking world.

LinkedIn is the Place to Be
If you only have the time to join one site, most experts agree that LinkedIn, with 60-million-plus members, is the most essential — at least right now. “LinkedIn is the premier business social networking site, so it is the one crucial place to be if you are a business executive, professional or entrepreneur,” says Kaputa.

That said, you want to integrate your activities across the other two key social networking sites – Twitter and Facebook. For e.g. LinkedIn now allows you to sync your Twitter activity with your LinkedIn profile #in. Also, there’s a Facebook app that allows you to sync your Twitter activity to your Facebook status feed #fb. Do both and you’re good to go.

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UPDATE: The jobs and LinkedIn #blogchat that I hosted with @mackcollier and a bunch of our fellow tweeps was very well received. We brainstormed insights into job hunting using social media and social networking. Live at 6PM Pacific as the Oscars go live!

We had over ~1000 tweets with over 130 participants in 60 minutes. The transcript of the chat can be found here and the  homepage can be found here.

Questions? Leave a comment below this post and you’ll be sure to get a response. Thanks!

Filed under: LinkedIn in the News