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Being Bold is the Pathway to Success in the 2nd Half of Life

May 7, 2018 by Marc Miller 1 Comment

Being Bold is the Pathway to Success

Are you being bold in making changes in the 2nd half of life?

The inspiration for this post came from the numerous comments I have been receiving from one of last month’s podcast. People have been telling me how inspired they were by episode #72 of the Repurpose Your Career Podcast titled Rebranding Yourself with Alexander Buschek [Podcast]. If you listen to this episode you will have heard Alexander Buschek say the following:

“You need a lot of discipline to change your life. People ask me these days, ‘How did you do that?’ When I tell them the steps I took, they say, ‘Well, yeah… no .. this is something that I couldn’t do.'”

What Alexander did was be bold and he took action. Another way of saying it was he took a risk and worked his tail off to make a change.

Being Bold is not as Risky as You Think

When you want to make a change or a pivot, it is not going to be easy. It does take hard work. However, if you are willing to put the effort in a methodical, planned fashion you will come out on the other end as a better person. It will feel very risky but playing it safe is very risky these days.

Alexander worked hard at establishing himself as a thought leader in an area that he had no direct work experience (Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Business). He was also reticent about standing out.

I cannot tell you how many times I told Alexander to “Be bold. You know your stuff!”

How could I tell? Well, go look at his website, DigitalTransformationBlog.com. Watch his videos. My favorite is Alexander Buschek on 3D Printing and Generative Design.

He did all of the videos using the equipment he had or could purchase for a few Euros.

Remember, Alexander did this by studying up on the subject but had no practical work experience. He did this through hard work, then he was bold and put himself out there. It felt very risky to him at the time.

Being Bold on LinkedIn

Whenever you are making a change and you are in a safe well-established career, I hear over and over again, “I do not want my boss or company to know I’m going to make a change.”

This is when you start making subtle but bold changes to your LinkedIn profile.

Change your header image that matches where you want to go. One of my favorites is this one.

We were doing LinkedIn profile reviews in the Career Pivot Community last week and the question came up about how much personality should be put into the profile. My response was:

As long as it relates to your professional career and where you want to go, be yourself.

The woman who asked was pivoting out an I.T. role that she had been in for over 25 years to being a technology-based creative. She wanted to create artwork using a 3D printer and shoot 3D videos.

Slowly add material to your profile that shows the world that you know your stuff. You could create:

Videos and post them on YouTube
Whitepapers
Blog
Website

Be bold and quit worrying about what others will think. Most of that worrying is because you are suffering from MSU (Make Stuff Up) Disorder. The reality is you do not know what people will think until are bold and try something new.

Being Bold Can Bring Criticism

I know, I know, you do not want to put yourself out there. If you write blog posts, whitepapers, or create videos you open yourself up to criticism.

When I published my LinkedIn Publisher post 5 Things on Your Resume That Make You Sound Too Old, it went viral. Almost 600,000 views and 2,800+ comments. A lot of those comments were negative.

Some people wrote negative comments to the following:

I am going to go out a limb and declare that putting two spaces after a period is obsolete. It is how most of us were taught to type on a typewriter. Therefore, most of us who do this (I have taught myself to stop putting two spaces after a period and it was hard) are over 50 years of age.

Over the years, I have heard that this has been used as a method of screening out older candidates.

This one piece of the post caused it to go viral. Why because the statement I was making was bold and more importantly correct. I was saying something that others did not want to say.

I attended a conference the week this post went viral. I had more people come up to me and tell me that they could not be bold like I was. They could not handle the criticism.

Making a Career Pivot is not Easy but Being Bold is the Pathway to Success

Are you ready to stand out from doing something new? Are you willing to be bold?

This will not be easy. It will take hard work.

Being bold can be very uncomfortable, especially for those of us who are introverts.

Go ahead, be uncomfortable and be bold!

Marc Miller

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Do Others Prejudge You Based on Your LinkedIn Profile? [Updated]

March 21, 2018 by Marc Miller 2 Comments

Do You Prejudge Someone After Looking at their LinkedIn Profile?

Do you prejudge people? If you say no … well, I do not believe you. We all do whether we like to believe it or not.

Thom Singer’s keynote speech at Product Camp Austin 14 was on how someone decided to prejudge him based on seeing him speak. This person thought that she would not like Thom. However, when she actually met him in person, she discovered he was a really nice guy.

She had prejudged him based on seeing him on stage.

Hmmm…do we do the same with LinkedIn and other social media platforms?

Do you prejudge someone when you view their LinkedIn profile?

Do others prejudge you?

Note: This post was originally published in March of 2015 and updated in March of 2018.

LinkedIn Profile

My presentation at Product Camp, “Leveraging LinkedIn – Creating a Professional that People will Remember“, was about establishing your brand on LinkedIn.

People will prejudge you based on your LinkedIn profile.

If you have no picture what will people think?

Yeah, yeah, I know we are not supposed to do that, but we do. This goes hand in hand with all of the discussion about Unintentional Bias.

Let’s discuss what you can do about establishing your brand on LinkedIn. We can then manage how someone might prejudge you!

LinkedIn Picture

I previously wrote a post called 3 Key Elements of your LinkedIn Photograph.
The three key points were:

Framing and Clothing
Background
Chin Line

LinkedIn Background Image

Since this post was originally written, LinkedIn allows all users to create a background image. This gives you the option to add some style to your profile.

What do you think a readers impression of you will be if you use the default background image like the one below:

What do you think their impression will be if they used a personal photo like the one below:

My guess is a smile will come to your face when you see the last one and you will want to read the rest of the profile.

People will prejudge you based on your background image. It is your opportunity to use the image to create a favorable impression of you.

(More: 6 Key Attributes to Your LinkedIn Profile Header [Updated])

The vocabulary you use in your LinkedIn Headline and Summary is critical.

The default LinkedIn headline is “Current Job Title at Company Name”.

The headline is 120 characters long. USE ALL OF IT.

Instead, insert phrases like “Product Management” or “Merges & Acquisitions” and separate each with a “|”.

You may also want to use your tagline in your headline. A good example is Jason Alba‘s headline:

JibberJobber.com – Online Job Search Organizer helping pros in over 100 countries Own…

Jason is the owner of JibberJobber.com one of the leading online job search platforms.

You also might want to check out my LinkedIn profile to see an example.

Yes, people will prejudge you based on the headline.

(More: 1st Place to use Keywords is in your LinkedIn Headline)

Summary

The Summary section of your LinkedIn profile should contain your brand story.

Many of you will copy the summary section from the beginning of your resume and paste it into your summary section. This is typically written in 3rd person and is incredibly impersonal. The LinkedIn profile should be a personal and let your personality shine.

Tell me who you are and not what you have done.

You can tell the reader what you have done in your experience section. Write the summary in 1st person as a story. The first sentence should grab you.

When you first look at a LinkedIn profile, you can only see the first two lines of the summary like the following:

I have an opening sentence of “I have had an eclectic career, to say the least.” My goal is to get you curious enough to click on the ‘Show more’ to read the rest.

I have written four posts on the process of writing your brand story.

If you want the reader to prejudge you in an authentic way, then tell an authentic story!

We will be prejudged based on our LinkedIn profile. What we want to do is paint an authentic picture of ourselves so that we can develop a real-life relationship.

Do you prejudge based on what you see and read online?

By the way, I’m honored to share that my presentation won the best session at Product Camp Austin!

Winner for Best Session #PCATX14: Marc Miller “Leveraging LinkedIn – Creating a Professional Brand That People Will Remember.” @CareerPivot

— ProductCamp Austin (@PCAustin) March 7, 2015

Marc Miller

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6 Key Attributes to Your LinkedIn Profile Header [Updated]

December 18, 2017 by Marc Miller 1 Comment

LinkedIn Profile Header

The first thing you see on your LinkedIn profile is the LinkedIn Profile Header section. There are 6 areas that I want to address in this article.

Note: This is an update of a 2013 post called 5 Key Attributes to Your LinkedIn Profile Summary

Photograph

Having a high-quality image of yourself is critical. The picture should portray the story you will be building using your LinkedIn Profile. In my honest opinion, the most important aspect of your LinkedIn photograph is the background.

If you do not have a photograph, the odds of someone clicking on your profile when displayed in a search drops dramatically.

To read more on LinkedIn pictures check out my post, 3 Key Elements of Your LinkedIn Photograph.

If you would like to test your LinkedIn photograph, check out Photofeeler.com.

Your Linked Profile Header should ALWAYS have a photograph

Headline

The LinkedIn Profile header headline field is 120 characters in length. Use all of it! It should be keyword rich and should demonstrate your personal brand. By default, LinkedIn will fill this with Your Current Job Title at Current Company. If you have multiple current positions, by the way, I have 3 current jobs, it will pick the first position. Do not let LinkedIn fill this in for you.

I point this out because this allows me to have 3 current job titles that could be found in searches. Please check out the post, Why Are You Not Being Found? Try Thinking Like a Recruiter for why this is so important.

Location

Since most searches on LinkedIn are done geographically, setting your location is key. If you live in one city but are looking for work in another, you will want to set the location to the city where you are looking. I had a client living in Georgia but looking for a position in Dallas. I had them set the location to Dallas and they immediately were being found by recruiters in Dallas.

If you are looking for a job in a different location, then I highly recommend you get a Google Voice number with an area code where you would like to work.

Vanity or Custom URL

You should always generate a vanity or custom URL for your Public LinkedIn Profile. Your LinkedIn public profile is what LinkedIn exposes to Google and the other search engines. This can be found in your Public Profile and URL settings.

Your vanity or custom URL is what is used whenever someone is viewing your profile. LinkedIn changed to using the vanity URL when displaying a profile in 2016 or 2017.

Contact and Personal Information

LinkedIn has made it fairly easy to enter all of your social media properties, websites, and contact information in one place.

Take notice that the websites are clearly named. In order to do this, you must use the “other” option when filling in the contact info form. This allows you to customize the name of the website. See the contact info form below.

LinkedIn Background Image

Everyone now has the capability of setting their background image. This is the large (1,584 x 396px recommended) image that sets the tone for the profile.

Personal Photograph

You could use a personal photograph. See the picture of the railroad bridge in Austin Texas that someone is using.

This is a great example of using an iconic landmark to make a point.

Stock Photograph

You could use a stock photograph from websites like 123rf.com. Below is an example of the image used by a bi-lingual educator.

I suggested that she add some foreign language text to the image to deliver a more targeted message. I suggested she use Canva.com to accomplish this.

Custom Image

Lastly, you could construct a custom image similar to what I am currently using.

This was constructed by one of the members of the Career Pivot community using Canva.com. I want you to take notice that the email address and phone number are part of the image and cannot be screen-scraped by spammers.

Canva is one of my favorite tools that has a freemium option. I only pay if I use one of their stock images which are $1 per image. I acquire all of my images from 123rf.com and I have no financial relationship with either 123rf or Canva, I just love their products.

LinkedIn Profile Header Should Deliver a Consistent Message

I want you to think about the message the entire LinkedIn profile header delivers to the reader. The headline, your photograph, and the background should deliver a common and coordinated theme.

For those of us who are … artistically challenged, we need to get help. I have always found that one of my friends has been able to help me. My current headshot was taken by Sherwin Field from Field Photography and is someone who has pivoted from working in the corporate world to being a freelance photographer in the 2nd half of life.

Do you have all 6 components of your LinkedIn Profile header working together?

Marc Miller

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Connecting on LinkedIn is Like Asking for a Date

June 14, 2017 by Marc Miller 2 Comments

My Connecting on LinkedIn is Like What?

Have you considered that when you are connecting on LinkedIn you should follow the same rules that you used when you asked for a date?

I have been married for over thirty years. My memories of dating are pretty vague but I do remember those awkward feelings when asking for a date. I remember that I did not want to be rejected, ignored or dumped.

When you are connecting on LinkedIn, consider the following:

How do you know this person? Did you meet at a conference or meeting? Maybe you read an article on their website or did you comment on their blog? Is it a personal or a virtual relationship?
Why do you want to create a connection on LinkedIn with this person? Do you want to network with this person? Do they work at a company that you are targeting? Can they introduce you to decision makers? Can they help you get your next job? Do you think they are doing interesting work and would like to connect personally?
Is there anything you can do for them? People rarely do this but if there is something reciprocal in nature to the connection – mention it.

Why are you asking for the date … eerr … the connection on LinkedIn?

How do you know the connection and why do you want to connect?

LinkedIn used to make you check a box on how you knew the connection. Too many people figured out how to get around that requirement by lying.

However, it is still important to think about how you found this person and what you expect from the relationship.

Writing the Connection Request

When you press the connect button on a LinkedIn profile (and that is the ONLY place from which you should initiate a connection request,) you will now get a popup like the following:

You should always select “add a note.”

I will write a connection request like the following:

Mary,

It was great meeting you at XYZ conference. (Notice I specify where we met.) I looked at your profile and see that we have a lot in common. I look forward to meeting you again and corresponding about EFG (whatever we talked about at the conference.) I would enjoy continuing the conversation. (Give Mary a reason to stay engaged.)

Please accept this invitation to connect.

Marc Miller

This invitation quickly tells Mary:

Where we met
What we have in common
Gives her a reason to stay connected
I am a real person and not just sending out SPAM

If I found Mary by reading one of her articles I will tell her.

How is this Like Dating?

This is using the same tactics that men have used for years. If you want to meet a girl, you hang around those groups, classes, clubs … where the girls you want to meet congregate.

I am dropping all of the little hints that I like you and would like to get to know you. I want to go out on a date …eerr … I want to network with you.

Blind Date

Sometimes you receive LinkedIn connections like the following:

I look at this kind of invitation as a blind date. Do I turn down the overture?

I take a quick look at the profile and if the profile looks real, i.e. the profile has a picture, there is some employment history, and it has more than a few connections, then I accept the connection.

I immediately go to the profile and send a LinkedIn message.

Dear Mary,

Just accepted your invitation to connect. How did you find me?

Marc Miller

Just because the person may be shy I do not want turn down the opportunity for a date. When I graduated from high school, I was 6’4″ tall, weighed about 140 lbs. and had a big head of red hair. I was also pretty shy around girls.

I was no chick magnet. Therefore, I understand when people send connection requests with no notes.

However, I want you to send a note to explain why you want to connect in every connection request.

Be Authentic

Be authentic, personable and most importantly tell me how we know each other!

If you want a date …errr … a connection on LinkedIn, then you should behave just like you are asking for a date!

Give it a try and let me know how it works!

Marc Miller

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Free Version of LinkedIn is Dead. May It Rest in Peace.

January 11, 2017 by Marc Miller 14 Comments

Free LinkedIn is Dead

I am declaring that the free version of LinkedIn is dead, may it rest in peace.

I contributed the following quote to the Career Sherpa’s post 31 EXPERTS SHARE PREDICTIONS FOR JOB SEARCH IN 2017:

The assimilation of LinkedIn into Microsoft will mean an acceleration of new features along with higher fees.

I have somewhat of a unique perspective on the acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft as I have been through 2 high-profile tech acquisitions in the last 15+ years:

The chipset that Agere Inc. produced is now profitable and alive as part of Intel. LifeSize Communications was later spun out of Logitech and is still alive but… barely.

Life After an Acquisition

In both cases, money was invested in the acquired company with the expectations that there would be rapid returns. Microsoft bought LinkedIn to make money and I am quite sure that the folks at LinkedIn are under tremendous pressure to produce profitable results for their now parent company. That is life after being acquired.

LinkedIn made money from three primary sources prior to the acquisition:

Premium memberships
Recruiting packages
Advertising

I like to claim that LinkedIn was drinking from both ends of the funnel as they collect money from end users who were looking for jobs and from employers who were looking to hire. They were serving two masters which in my opinion is a bad long-term idea.

As someone who has tried to use LinkedIn advertising, it is not very effective and it is expensive. LinkedIn does not have the demographical information that FaceBook has to effectively target ads.

LinkedIn needs to grow revenue and they will do this by starving off the free version of LinkedIn.

The Rise of Sales Navigator

LinkedIn needs to move users to one of three paid solutions: Business/Job Seeker, Sales Navigator or Talent Solutions.

How will they do this? By removing features from the free version, it is now “pay to play.”

If you have been looking for a job using LinkedIn advanced search and have a free account you have probably run into the limits on how many searches you can do per month. You have very limited visibility to who has looked at your profile and next they are removing tags and notes from all accounts except Sales Navigator.

I recently posted the following article Say Goodbye to Free LinkedIn – Meet Sales Navigator – LinkedIn is overhauling its website—and we’re pumped! and I got a lot of comments.

Sorry but I am not pumped.

I use the notes feature to help me remember stuff as I suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember …. Stuff).

Sales Navigator has been around for a while and it is LinkedIn’s first foray outside of the talent space. Pushing users to Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s next area for revenue growth and in my honest opinion, this is where LinkedIn will be spending their development dollars. The talent space is fairly saturated.

Pay to Play

I know from my experiences at my 2 tech startups, LinkedIn is under a lot of pressure to generate revenue.

I was an early beta user of LinkedIn Profinder but I found it to be very flawed for my business model as it only shows me to regional users (Texas) yet my clients are all over the world. Now, they want me to upgrade from my now defunct business package ($239.40/year) to a Business Plus ($575.88/year). I could also upgrade to a Sales Navigator Professional ($779.88/year) but why would I do that? ARG!! They are getting pretty aggressive to get me to upgrade.

I can justify paying for one of these packages through my business.

If you are employed, LinkedIn writes in their frequently asked questions (FAQ) page:

Can I expense my Premium membership?

Yes! Many employers find LinkedIn Premium so valuable that they’ll pay for their employees’ memberships. You can access your receipts anytime from the payment history page.

Will your employer pay for your LinkedIn premium membership? If they do please comment below.

The free version is now dead or at least near death. It has been neutered.

The real losers are the unemployed job seekers or those necessity entrepreneurs who need the functionality.

A good example is my friend John Lewis who was a successful scuba professional until he suffered a major stroke in August 2014. He has since been re-inventing himself as a freelance writer and editor or as I like to say a necessity entrepreneur. As any freelance professional can tell you, LinkedIn is vital to developing new business but shelling out $575 or more is difficult if not impossible when you are getting started.

The Future of Free LinkedIn

My prediction is LinkedIn will continue to produce new features and products to entice users to buy one of the premium products. They will also continue to reduce, limit or eliminate features in the free product to make it effectively a dead product.

I can only imagine what is going on in the product management meetings at LinkedIn. I would love to be a fly on the wall as their product managers grapple with how to serve the demands from the mother ship, Microsoft, to grow revenue.

The free version of LinkedIn is dead. May it rest in peace.

Being Bold is the Pathway to Success in the 2nd Half of Life

Being Bold is the Pathway to Success

Being Bold is not as Risky as You Think

Being Bold on LinkedIn

Being Bold Can Bring Criticism

Making a Career Pivot is not Easy but Being Bold is the Pathway to Success

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