You’ve heard this, or something like it before. I need to improve my LinkedIn profile and I’ll get to it “One of These Nights.”
It is on a list of “somedays” that we all have that probably also includes exercising more, eating better or cleaning out the basement.
If you are going to begin social selling (and many of our readers should) it starts with an update of your LinkedIn profile, one that will begin “One of These Nights*.” The problem is that night never quite seems to arrive.
I am actually an Industrial Engineer (1983) and I remember something similar from my physics classes. Getting up to speed from a dead stop takes a LOT more energy than getting up to speed from even the tiniest “rolling start”.
In the logical world, it often takes something really BIG to get you moving from a dead stop. It’s hard to take the time to do something that needs done when there are weeds and moss growing on your other “to do” lists too.
So, what can you do to get started on updating your LinkedIn profile?
Positive and negative incentives can help and they both work – in fact they work very well TOGETHER. We call it “carrots and sticks” in our Integrated Alliances social selling training operations. It’s an old school concept, but it is as true today as ever.
Carrots are positive incentives that get you doing things you need to do (you get a piece of candy, you get recognition, you get more sales). Sticks are negative incentives – the consequences of not doing them (no candy for you, less sales, losing your job).
Teams vs. Individuals
This process of finding the right incentive is different for teams and company employees vs. individuals (a team of one).
For individuals, it’s just a matter of identifying the right incentives that will create the proper motivation.
Herding cats is a common analogy and it applies to finding the right carrots and sticks. This is especially hard with sales teams because they tend to be made up of people with a variety of unique skills, backgrounds and resources. A good manager takes advantage of these differences to wring the most out of each individual. For a sales team, the carrots and sticks should be adapted to the individual sales rep. a bit more than elsewhere in the organization.
My post from last week entitled “Social Selling with the Eagles – Pretty Maids All In A Row” is a good first step to get everyone educated about the power of LinkedIn. It focused on the corporate side of LinkedIn and what can be done to get the entire team on board. It starts by completing an inventory of the company across all social media platforms and then dives into employees and LinkedIn adoption.
Employees
As an employee, you probably have obligations to your company. It’s part of your employment agreement and it may even be something you signed. Everyone has these obligations, from the CEO to the mailroom employees.
Employees typically work under a set of rules. In today’s world, that may even include a social media policy that lays out what is OK, what is not OK, what is expected of the employees and the repercussions of violating the rules.
It may even state that certain employees must support corporate marketing efforts. Today that often means active participation in LinkedIn, Twitter and other social networks. For example, when the company puts out a blog post, employees may be expected to share it.
This type of active participation starts with a refresh of your LinkedIn profile. Many companies are now training employees on LinkedIn and they might provide additional resources. If they do, they expect their employees to comply with their training.
If your company does not provide this type of training, you should actively seek it out. This type of knowledge will not only better yourself, but it will also provide you more opportunities.
Shortcuts to Getting Started
Whether you are following your company training or going at it alone, there are shortcuts and incentives that can help you get started.
Here are a few ideas:
Find a role model. Identify a profile you like and imitate it by treating it like a “template” or “theme”. This saves you time by walking you through the process. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel before you begin.
Dedicate the time. Give yourself some runway, like a 3 to 4 hour window. I suggest putting on some classic rock music or whatever it is you enjoy most. This is NOT a good time to break out the vinyl though, radio might actually be best.
Budget your time. Here is a simple guide:
- Picture and headline – 15 minutes
- Summary – 30 minutes
- Current job – 15 minutes
- Previous jobs – 15-30 minutes (depending on how many entries)
- Education – 15 minutes
- Interests, groups, associations, honors, awards – 30 minutes
- Skills – 15 minutes
- Groups to join – 30 minutes to get started
That comes to about 2 ½ hours. Spend the rest of the time editing and improving your new profile. Revisit it periodically as you see things on LinkedIn that you may want to adopt.
Have an “accountability buddy”. Team up with someone else and update your profiles at the same time. It’s not a contest, but if that helps incent you, consider it one. Check in at the 2-hour window and again at the end. Look at each others work, suggest improvements and come up with new ideas for one another.
This simple process will let you make “One of These Nights” happen sooner and with far better results. Of course, it doesn’t really need to be a “night”. It could be a Saturday, Sunday, during the day, etc.
Positive Role Models
Here are some good models for the average person.
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Michael Patrick – a fictitious person who works for a telecom company. It is loosely based on me.
Pam Demmer – a real profile that was created using some of these principles. Pam is a 17-year entrepreneur.
David Tyreman – another well done profile. David is an amazing speaker, trainer, author and coach.
On the “not so average” front…
Mike O’Neil (myself) – my profile that is full of ideas that you are welcome to borrow. As I say in my profile, it is like a 2017 automobile, filled with many advanced ideas, but they won’t all work for everyone.
In the End
This process is designed to be simple and straightforward. You should adapt it to your own needs and to the needs of your organization. In the end, it comes down to execution, just like many other things that you intend to get to One of These Nights.
If you would like some help implementing this sort of a program at your firm, go ahead and drop us a note (training@integratedalliances.com) or call us (303-683-9600) and we’ll see how we can help.
Song Trivia and Links
One Of These Nights was a defining moment for The Eagles. It is both an album and a song and it was their second #1 single. Other top 10 singles on the album included Lyin’ Eyes and Take It To The Limit, which will also be featured in this series.
In a 1975 interview with Phonograph Record, Glenn Frey explained about the background of the song. He stated “It’s like putting things off… Everybody I’m sure has said, ‘One of these nights I’m gonna…’ Gonna drive back to that restaurant and take that waitress in my arms, whatever. Find that girl, make that money, buy that house. Move to that country. Any of that stuff. Everyone’s got his ultimate dream, saving it for ‘someday.’ And ‘someday’ is up to you.”
Lead guitarist Don Felder actually wrote the opening bass line. In a 1975 Rolling Stone interview, Don Henley said this song was especially hard to sing live: “My voice has to be just right to hit the high notes. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don’t.”
Glenn Frey says it’s an example of how he and Don Henley clicked as songwriters. “I’d go over to the piano and say “Hey, what do you think of this?’ Henley would say “Yeah, I like that” and that’s how One of These Nights was written.
Lyrics and video at: