Rick Demko

A Little Pain Now, Or a Lot Later?

2012-04-10T08:50:00-05:00

Are You Avoiding the Wrong Pain?

The reason you are not calling your client to discuss the major issue you have in producing the outcomes you promised is that you believe the conversation is going to be painful. So you avoid it.

The reason you aren’t talking to your manager about the challenge you are having producing results is that you believe the conversation will be unpleasant. You would have to discuss the areas in which you are failing. No reason to deal with that.

The reason you aren’t picking up the phone and making your calls is that you believe that the work of prospecting is painful, and you would prefer to do something else that looks like work instead. So you do make-work instead.

The reason that you are avoiding calling your client to pass on your rate increase is that the client may be put at-risk and the conversation disagreeable. Might as well wait it out.

The reasons you don’t get out of bed when the alarm clock sounds in the morning is that you associate pain with missing that sleep. So you slip back into a warm, comfortable sleep for nine whole minutes.

A Little Pain Now, Or a Lot of Pain Later

We humans are pleasure-seeking creatures. We are even bigger pain avoiders. We try desperately to move away from pain and towards pleasure (or comfort). But “avoiding pain” gets us in trouble. By seeking to avoid some pain now, we set ourselves up for much more pain later.

It’s painful to call your client to discuss the areas in which you are failing. But it’s even more painful to lose the client over something that you could have (should have) improved were you to have addressed it head-on.

It’s equally painful to speak to your manager about the areas in which you are struggling and to ask for help. But it’s even more painful to lose your job because you did nothing to improve your results.

It’s difficult to get started prospecting. But without breaking the pain of getting started now, you will later suffer from a weak pipeline, missed quotas, and worse.

You may seek the comfort of nine more minutes in bed. You may hit the snooze button to avoid the discomfort of getting out of bed, but you will later suffer the pain of having not made time to exercise, to develop yourself, or to do what you know must be done.

Successful people are spectacular are making future-oriented trade-offs. They happily deal with a little pain now so that they can avoid a great deal of pain later. By tackling issues when the pain is small, they stave off having to deal with much larger problems later. They deal with the right pain, instead of later dealing with the wrong, and much more detrimental, pain.

Do You Know Your SWOT?

2012-04-07T08:47:11-05:00

The key to survival—whether it be in the "real" world or the business world—is to know your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).

According to the U.S. Small Business Association, roughly 50% of all businesses fail within their first year. There is no shortage of “Top Ten Reasons Why Businesses Fail” lists so I won’t go into that here, and I’m sure you could name many of the main culprits—poor management, lack of capitol, insufficient marketing, flawed business plan, etc.—without having to run a search or buy a “How to Succeed in Business” book. What I will talk about is how to avoid the common (and sometimes harder to find) missteps, mistakes, and missed-the-boat opportunities that can determine if your company sinks or swims.

If you’re one of the “lucky” ones who makes it to Day 366, don’t think for a nanosecond that you’re out of the water and are now one of Darwin’s success stories. Far from it. The truth is, your battle for survival has just begun. You’ve figured out how to stand on your own two legs, but now you need to learn how to not get knocked down.

"In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment." ~Charles Darwin

No matter how unique, innovative, creative, or “original” your product, there will always be competition that is vying for your customers. And you know what—that’s a good thing. Competition triggers our will to exist and reminds us that it is truly survival of the fittest.

The key to survival—whether it be in the “real” world or the business world—is to have as much information as possible. Not only about your opponent, but about yourself. That’s where SWOT comes in.

SWOT is an acronym (another handy tool created by man to boost efficiency and increase curability) that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

SWOT provides the guidelines for critically assessing what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, who or what can take you down, and what you can do to get—and stay—ahead of the pack.

And it’s not just Darwin who subscribes to this theory.

Strengths

“He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” ~ Lao Tzu

In most cases bragging is looked upon as a bad thing. For this exercise it is highly encouraged. It’s important you have a clear recognition of the places where you and your business excel, but not just to give yourself a pat on the back. It’s crucial that you are aware of what you do best. Pediatricians don’t perform heart transplants, Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t shoot three pointers, and Quentin Tarantino doesn’t make G-rated movies. Why? Because they all know what they can do well and play to their strengths.

Key “Strength” Questions

What’s the best part of what I do, and what do I do best?
Why do people engage with my product?
What gives me the greatest sense of accomplishment?

Weaknesses

“Our strength grows out of our weaknesses.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bad news—you’re not perfect. Good news—that means you can always improve. Better news—the worse you are at something, the more room for improvement! This isn’t a “glass half full” perspective, it’s just the reality of things. Negatives can be turned into positives, but first you need to figure out what they are. Before you start making your list of shortcomings, make sure you’ve got your old pal Honesty by your side and kick Humility out to the curb. There’s no room for excuses, partiality, and beating around the bush. Without a 100% forthright and straightforward audit, you’ll never be able to optimize your business, and more importantly, survive.

Key “Weakness” Questions

What can I do better?
In what areas do I receive the most complaints (from consumers or employees)?
Am I spending money on something that isn’t necessary?

Opportunities

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." ~ Albert Einstein

Don’t get too discouraged now that you’ve unearthed all the not-so-good things you do. Weaknesses are often what give opportunities the reason to come knock on your door in the first place. One definition of opportunity is “a good position, chance, or prospect, as for advancement or success.” No matter who you are or what you do, there are always opportunities for you to succeed—the trick is to find and take advantage of them.

Key “Opportunity” Questions

Is there a particular demographic or market that would like my product that I’m not reaching?
What direction are consumer trends moving, and can I get ahead of the curve?
Can I capitalize on any of my competitions shortcomings?

Threats

“As a goalkeeper you need to be good at organising the people in front of you and motivating them. You need to see what's going on and react to the threats. Just like a good manager in business.” ~ Peter Shilton

Who would have thought that a World Cup soccer goalie from England would provide such sound advise for CEO’s? Like a penalty kick from Leo Messi, he couldn’t be more dead on. There is another acronym you should remember which will help you to asses your greatest threats and make sure you have the means to thwart them off—RPI:

1. Recognize the threat

2. Plan a course of action

3. Implement your plan

Seems like common sense but you’d be amazed at how many businesses cease to exist because they failed to take the necessary time to follow these steps.

Key “Threat” Questions

What “shelf life” do I have for my product to be relevant?
What are the main factors causing my cart abandonement(or churn rate, or negative feedback)?
Is there another company with a similar product that could potentially draw customers away from me?

Now that you have tools to abstract the information, the next step is to hunker down and get it. There’s no right or wrong way to compile the data, but the most simple and effective way is with a SWOT 2x2 Matrix:

	Good	Bad
Now	STRENGTH	WEAKNESS
Later	OPPORTUNITY	THREAT

There are alternative ways to label your boxes, however I would advise against the common practice of substituting “Now” with “Internal” and “Later” with “External”, as those variables do not allow you to seek out opportunities (i.e. team building) and threats(i.e. high employee turnover) within your own company. You can also find a wealth of best practices and templates online—here is one from businessballs.com that I find particularly beneficial.

Of course once you’ve got your SWOT all figured out, the next step is to take action upon your findings to ensure you continue to stay afloat. Although there may be some choppy waters ahead, you’d be amazed at how much easier that task will be once you’ve got your course mapped out. And if you don’t believe me, just ask the Father of Modern Science:

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." ~Galileo

Please feel free to share some of your own findings and questions that have come from implementing a SWOT analysis with your business or personal life.

Tip of the cap to Mr. Eron Zehavi, founding partner and Chief Rewards Officer of Swagbucks.com, for the great work and research on this post!

How To Work The Phone: 6 Tricks

2012-03-31T16:54:55-05:00

When you can't meet in person, use these 6 rules to build rapport and communicate more clearly.

The telephone has been in existence for 136 years, but the way some people use it, you'd think it was invented yesterday.

With business travel at an all-time low, there is simply no skill more important to business success (especially in sales) than the ability to build rapport during a telephone conversation. When you can't shake hands or look somebody in the eye, your voice (and your voice alone) must be able to communicate "I am capable and trustworthy."

Unfortunately, many people in business have no idea that they sound like idiots, hustlers or robots when they're talking on the phone. They talk too fast, they mumble, they blather, they make remarks that would only make sense with an accompanying hand gesture.

It's crazy. You wouldn't believe the stuff I've heard. And that's just the negative, sales-killing stuff. Very few people use their voice and word choice actively to create a better connection with the person at the other end of the line.

Here's a quick primer how to do this:

1. Expunge your verbal weaknesses.

Record some conversations (with the other person's agreement, natch) and see if you're doing something annoying–saying "uh ..." in the middle of every sentence, for instance, or slapping a "you know ..." at the end.

Important: Never, ever turn a statement into a question by putting a little uptick at the end; it's a huge credibility killer. Same goes for regional accents that carry a stigma in other regions. If necessary, hire a vocal coach.

2. Always have an agenda.

Never have a business conversation, especially on the phone, without knowing exactly what you're trying to accomplish. This is also a good idea when meeting face to face or emailing, but it's even more important during a phone call. Two key reasons:

You may not have the other person's full attention.
Unlike email, it's real time–which means you can't craft a message and then edit it before hitting "send."

3. Listen (really) to the other person.

When in a conversation, most people barely hear what the other person is saying; instead, they're thinking about what they're going to say next. That's really stupid during a phone conversation because nuances are much harder to catch than if you're face to face.

It takes a bit of practice, but what you need to do is suspend your "what do I say next?" until after the other person is done speaking.

4. Take a second before each response.

When you pause before responding, the other person knows that you've listened. If, by contrast, you jump right in immediately with your response (or worse, cut the other person off), you've just communicated that you think your own thoughts are far more important than anything the other person could have said.

5. Listen (really) to your own voice.

This is the flip side of listening to the other person. When in a conversation, most people, as they talk, are thinking about what the other person is going to say next. That almost guarantees you'll communicate poorly.

Instead, listen to your own voice as if you were listening to another person. (By the way, this is much easier if you're following rules 1 and 3.)

6. Adapt your tonality to match.

As you speak, gradually take on the least obvious elements of other person's voice. The key here is to make it subtle, not obvious–lest the changes fall flat or, worse, seem mocking.

For example, if you're talking with somebody with a Mississippi accent, draw out your vowels ever so slightly–but don't cram "y'all" into your normal speaking pattern. Believe it or not, this trick really does build rapport quickly.

One final note: I probably don't need to say that the rules above also apply to face-to-face conversations. However, the rules are not quite as important in person, when your body language and appearance create enough interference that things like voice tonality can get lost in the mix. This is especially true for people who are very attractive. Back when I was single, I was often amazed at how a woman who was fascinating in person could be annoying over the phone.

In fact, if I can make a non-scientific observation, it often seems that there's an inverse relationship between physical attractiveness and good phone skills. It's almost as if the "beautiful people" have become dependent upon their looks to smooth over their character flaws–flaws that emerge, big time, when they're on the phone.

If you found this column helpful, click one of the "like" buttons or sign up for the free Sales Source "insider" newsletter.

Geoffrey James' "Sales Source" (formerly "Sales Machine" on CBS) is the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His best posts, with many extras, are in his new book: How to Say It: Business to Business Selling. @Sales_Source

When Being Cute Stops Working

2012-03-09T20:58:00-06:00

We've all done it. Why wouldn't you? When you have great tool at your disposal you use it to its greatest advantage. For some people, and businesses, being cute is their sharpest tool. (think Olsen twins)

So what happens when that stops working? You adapt, evolve, or face defeat.

The girl scouts in my opinion are the greatest current and relevant example of how 'cuteness' is used as a sales tool. Do I really need 20 boxes of Thin Mints and another 15 of Tagalongs? Nope, but I can't stand the look on my nieces face when that bottom lip comes out. Remember the stuttering technique that worked to score Adam Sandler a date in Big Daddy? "Pa, pa, pa-please"

Some markets lend really easily into pulling at your heart strings. Coca-Cola's polar bears do it so why shouldn't we?

Others brands pull at other emotions, like guilt or lust. De Beers has been doing it to us for years without us even knowing. The latest has been the Cartier with their movie length commercial of panther roaming a whimsical dream of fashion and elegance to finally show us a watch that we'll remember was theirs. (How many watch ads have you seen where you actually remember the brand of the time piece?)

We all buy on emotions, it's been proven, but what happens when your cute Facebook posts stop yielding interaction? Either you're not cute any more or you've climaxed so mix it up. Evolve, not your brand, but pull on some different strings.

The key to marketing is to be relevant. Consider your audience and if being cute stops working then it's time to travel a different path and find another way to engage.

What Do My Auto Coverages Mean?

2012-02-12T10:23:00-06:00

An auto insurance policy generally consists of several types of coverages.

Because all 50 states have different laws when it comes to auto insurance policies and coverages, the following descriptions are simply general information. They are not statements of contract. To learn more about auto insurance in your state, contact your State Farm agent.

Most Common Types of Auto Insurance Coverages:

Auto Liability Coverage

Auto liability insurance coverage pays for the damage if you are legally responsible for accidentally injuring someone, or for damaging another vehicle or other property in an auto accident.

Auto liability coverage falls into two categories:

1.Bodily Injury Liability - which covers medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other special damages.

2.Property Damage Liability -- which covers damaged property, and may include loss of use.

Liability car insurance also pays legal defense and court costs.

State laws usually dictate the minimum amounts of auto liability insurance required, but higher amounts are available.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

This auto insurance coverage pays the reasonable and necessary medical expenses for covered persons for treatment due to an auto accident.

It may also pay for:

•Rehabilitation

•Lost earnings

•Replacement of services (For example, child care if a parent is disabled.)

•Funeral expenses

Medical Payments

This auto insurance coverage is available in most states. It pays reasonable and necessary medical and funeral expenses for covered persons when those expenses are related to an auto accident.

Collision

This auto insurance coverage helps pay for damage to a covered vehicle caused by:

•Collision with another vehicle

•Collision with an object

•A vehicle rollover A deductible is required.

Comprehensive Insurance

This auto insurance coverage helps pay for loss of or damage to an insured vehicle, not caused by a collision or vehicle rollover.

Examples of this type of damage or loss include:

•Fire

•Wind

•Hail

•Flood

•Vandalism

•Theft

•Hitting an animal

A deductible may apply.

Uninsured Motorist

This auto insurance coverage pays for damages when a covered person is injured in an auto accident caused by a driver who does not have Liability Insurance

In some states this auto insurance coverage may also pay for property damage.

This type of car insurance coverage varies by state and depends upon policy provisions.

Underinsured Motorist

This auto insurance coverage pays for damages when a covered person is injured in an auto accident caused by another driver who has insufficient Liability Insurance.

Application of this type of auto insurance varies by state and depends upon policy provisions.

Rental Reimbursement

This coverage pays for renting a car when your auto is disabled due to an auto accident.

Daily allowances or limits vary by state or auto insurance policy provisions.

Emergency Road Service

This auto insurance coverage pays for having your auto towed due to a breakdown.

Towing limits vary by state or policy provisions.

This information is only a general description of the available types of auto insurance and is not a statement of contract. All auto insurance coverages are subject to all policy provisions and applicable endorsements.

What is an auto insurance deductible?

An auto insurance deductible is the part of a covered loss that you have agreed to pay with your own money.

If you file a claim against your insurance, you will pay only the amount of the deductible. State Farm® will pay the rest - up to your coverage limit.

When choosing a deductible, you must decide how much you would be willing and able to pay out-of-pocket, if you ever had to file a claim.

Typically, higher deductibles mean lower auto insurance policy premiums.

Who does my auto insurance policy cover?

An auto insurance policy typically covers:

•You and your spouse

•Relatives who live in your home

•Other licensed drivers who have permission to drive your insured vehicle.

What Came First? Window Tinters or Therapists?

2012-02-03T15:58:21-06:00

Don't let anyone fool you, there is no such thing as an easy window to tint. This is coming from someone who began installing sun strips in 1998 before moving to automotive window film application shortly after. However, I didn't always have that mindset.

I remember a tinter in Phoenix that I was buying some vinyl film from (before metalic was the way to go) who made me completely re-think my mental approach to hanging film. I hadn't had a distributor connection yet so I was still bothering window tint shops to buy my film (Auto Zone film fades horribly fyi). He was tinting a vehicle I'd done several times that had a flat piece of glass on the hatchback and I made a comment,

"Love seeing those, it makes the car pretty easy." He replied with, "No car is easy."

Before that moment my covered window to scrap ratio wasn't tremendous. After a well-seasoned professional made that comment to me, I took it upon myself to never take another piece of glass for granted. Taking special care with each cut of my blade and swipe of my squeegee, my profit shot through the roof! It's okay to be quick, just be precise and remember that every window is a challenge; quite often a frustrating challenge.

So what makes window tinting so difficult? Insert life lessons you'd likely hear from your father.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Measure twice, cut once.
Stay calm and collected, even when things don't go according to plan.
It's never perfect, learn to deal with and adjust when things don't go your way.
Knowing when to apply pressure, where and how much is always going to be a battle.
Do it right the first time and you won't have to do it a second time.
Always be learning.

Ultimately, window film application can be a roller coaster of emotion. Certainly there are periods, when just like in life, you've achieved a certain level of aptitude and skill that you run on autopilot. There are days where my razor blade is always sharp, the heat gun works perfectly, my hand is steady, I'm agile and able to maneuver in tight places, I'm happy and things just seem to go my way. However, You learn the most about yourself when you struggle.

If window film application were a cocktail it would be 1 part art form, 1 part manual labor, stirred with life lessons, garnished with respect, and served to the delight of your customers when they see their vehicle again.

Anheuser-Busch Shakes Up Their Brands

2012-02-01T18:57:23-06:00

I could make a very solid argument that even though the "big three" still own over 90% of the market share of beer sales in the United States, we're on the brink of a beer revolution. We are on the cusp of having as many breweries as we did pre-prohibition, finally. (Mississippi is struggling to contribute, but visit these guys for that story)

Soon the rest of the country will be able to try several new releases from the beer giants as they try to take all market share from the little guys that we love. Being an equal opportunist when it comes to my taste I always welcome new innovation and fresh styles of beer. Last weekend I was offered a sneak peek of two of the new arrivals.

Anheuser-Busch is aiming to break out of its longtime status as a tailgating staple and step into the nightlife scene with Bud Light Platinum, a new higher-alcohol-content offering.

AB InBev describes Bud Light Platinum as having a slightly sweeter taste and more alcohol than Bud Light. According to their third-quarter earnings report, the beer is "a trendy blue-bottle line extension that appeals to a key group of beer drinkers and expands consumer occasions."

The newest full-time addition to the Shock Top family, Shock Top Wheat IPA is a unique hybrid style that brings the refreshment and smoothness of a wheat beer and marries it with the crisp, hoppy bitterness of an India Pale Ale (IPA).

To create the new beer, brewmasters started with Shock Top’s signature recipe, adding citrusy Cascade and Magnum hops and dry hopping the beer for several days to give Wheat IPA the rich, hoppy aroma that is the signature of IPAs. Containing 5.8% alcohol by volume (ABV), Shock Top Wheat IPA will be sold nationwide in six- and 24-packs of 12-ounce bottles and on draught and I'm ready to rock with this one.

“Wheat beers and IPAs are among the fastest growing styles of beer, and as we look to build the Shock Top family, we wanted to try our hand at developing a hybrid of these two styles and make it available to beer drinkers across the country,” said Jill Vaughn, brewmaster for Shock Top. “Shock Top’s smooth, wheat malt base provides great balance of flavor to the citrusy hops – giving Wheat IPA a rich, hoppy flavor that’s very drinkable and refreshing.”

I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to drinking more of both these contenders. I went in with an open mind (I was really looking forward to the IPA) and can say that both really intrigued me. I'm looking forward to seeing if these will have more staying power than Anheuser World Select did. RIP

The Only Way to Become a Business Rock Star

2012-01-31T20:15:00-06:00

Natural talent only takes you so far. This is what carries you the rest of the way.

By Jeff Haden | @jeff_haden

Some business people are like rock stars: Richard, Warren, Bill, the late Steve—all rock stars.

Why are they like rock stars? Even without the last names, you immediately recognize them.

And just like rock stars, many people dream of being like them.

It’s certainly possible to become a rock star and achieve excellence in just about any field we choose, but excellence comes with a price. Natural talent only takes us so far. Excellence requires incredible focus, massive effort, and an almost superhuman drive and work ethic.

I'm lucky to know a few incredibly talented and successful people. One is a speaker. I once attended five consecutive engagements with him. Even though the basic makeup of each audience was the same, I was surprised by how different his speech was each time. I asked why.

"I've worked and reworked that speech a number of times," he said. "I can give that speech on auto-pilot. In a good way, because I don't have to think about what I'm saying. That frees me up to me read the audience, cover any mistakes I make, adapt to venue or equipment problems, digress when it feels right, and pull the plug on a segment that's not working. All that prep work lets me focus on the audience instead of on myself."

"How many times," I asked, "is a “number” of times?"

"I have a 20 Rule," he said. "I run through a new speech 20 times in my office. Then I do it 20 times in an empty auditorium. Then I do 20 more, one person at a time, begging friends, colleagues, family, and anyone I can get to listen and critique me. Then I pick 20 small organizations and deliver it for free so I can work out the kinks with a live audience. After that I think I'm ready, but it still takes 20 or so real gigs before I feel I'm really on point."

Since his average keynote runs about 70 minutes, that means he typically spends almost a hundred hours rehearsing a speech—after he spent several weeks writing it.

I told that story to a friend who wants to be a speaker. He said, "There’s no way I would put that kind of time into a speech." Then he paused. “Well, I guess I would if I was as successful as he is.”

And that, of course, is the problem. Successful people don’t work hard because they are successful. Successful people are successful because they work hard.

Most of us fall into the same trap. We think, "Sure, if I was in (my dream spot) I would work really hard too.” But we only reach our dream spot by first working incredibly hard and doing what few other people are willing to do.

How driven and focused would you be if, say, you owned a $10 million company? How hard would you work if you were, say, Branson or Buffett or Gates?

Would you work harder than you currently are because the effort would then seem worthwhile?

The key is to turn the equation around: Don’t wait until you somehow fall into your dream spot to start working hard. Start working hard now. While there's no guarantee that incredible effort will make you a business rock star, it's certain that if you don't put in the effort first, you never will be.

Great stuff from Inc.com and Jeff Haden

What If You Were Great at Cold Calling?

2012-01-28T20:22:00-06:00

ANOTHER GREAT REBLOG WRITTEN BY S. ANTHONY IANNARINO

“I hate cold calling.”

“Cold calling is dead.”

“Cold calling doesn’t work.”

It’s interesting the effect a core set of beliefs can have on your sales results. Many of the salespeople I know that struggle to produce results prospecting have a very negative set of beliefs about cold calling.

The salespeople I know that produce the best results have a different set of beliefs about cold calling. Many of them know that they are good at it, and they prefer to pick up the telephone and call their prospects. Some don’t have any strong feelings for or against cold calling. All of them make calls.

You may want to believe that things have changed and that you no longer have to cold call. You may want to believe that you can gain enough prospects to make your number through social media and referrals. You may want to believe these things, but that doesn’t make them true.

Maybe you aren’t worried about cold calling.

But you should be worried about your competitors that are effective at cold calling and who are willing to pick up the phone and call your clients and dream clients. You know, the dream clients that you are waiting to develop through your drip campaign.

What if?

What if you were to change your beliefs about cold calling? What if, instead of convincing yourself that cold calling sucks, you told yourself that cold calling still works—as long as you approach is professional and it creates value?

What if, instead of resisting cold calling, you embraced it? What if you were really good at it?

What if you used cold calling along with all of the other prospecting methods available to you to build an effective prospecting plan, one that produces and develops enough opportunities for you to make and exceed your number?

What if you were really good at cold calling? What if you were able to open the relationships that open opportunities effectively on the telephone? What if instead of worrying about your competitors calling into your clients and dream clients effectively they had to worry about you calling into theirs?

What if you were such a tremendous value creator that you could cold call and build an unassailable pipeline?

What Your Linkedin Profile Really Says About You

2012-01-04T12:42:00-06:00

Most business professionals treat Linkedin as a virtual resume instead of a connecting tool. There are even features that allow you to print your profile in order to literally use it as a resume. What are you actually saying on your profile may not be the self you're trying to convey.

Linkedin has been around long enough and is the standard for business networking/development in this decade. Having an incomplete profile just shows you don't care. It's free, why else wouldn't you have spent some time working on your presence on Linkedin?

Even if you don't spend much time on the site, spend the time required to accurately convey who you are and who you'd like to welcome interaction from.

In order of appearance on your Linkedin Profile:

Your About Me Snapshot

They say 90% of communication is non verbal, being that Linkedin is online we'll go with 100% instead. Your picture says a lot about who you are (1,000 words worth?). Did you care enough to have a professional headshot taken? Is it appropriate for your line of business? Would you hire yourself or wonder would you rather grab a beer with the person in that photo?

The entire first section (or About Me) is where the majority of the information people will use to form an opinion on how you and your business has been doing. What are they doing now? Is there a recent status update or article? How many connections do they have? Can I find their website? Does their website still say “Company Website”?

Summary

Your summary can highlight some of your skills and accomplishments, but why list them like you would on a resume? I would say the majority of profiles I have seen (are you guilty too) are dry, boring, and so full of industry buzz words that a laymen may not have a clue what you just said. This isn't the place to show case your ability to use acronyms or to explain your proficiency in completing TPS reports.

This portion is so high on your profile that it makes it important. Show a little intelligence and some personality and tell your business partners a little about what you're working on.

Employment History

Obviously, where you've worked and for how long is going to tell a story about you. If you've moved around or been doing some consulting, find a way to highlight that. Try not to itemize all of your job responsibility for each employer but be sure to include what you specialized in and a little about the firm.

Try to highlight all the positives you can, people will see a common theme in all of your work if it's consistent, even if there are a number of different types of employers.

Please don't list your civic contributions on your Linkedin profile as your employment. The true philanthropic don't care about the recognition. If you are the president of an organization than maybe (depending on the time that is required to devote to your organization). No one cares if you were the secretary for the bowling league for your BNI group.

Recommendations

To show that you actually are a professional, you should really have a few recommendations. They may not come automatically so don’t be afraid to ask for them. They are important though. Some even go so far as to purge some to keep them current.

Just have a few at least!

Groups

To show that you are a professional who has an interest in your own development, you need to belong to a few trade organizations that are relevant for your career. This is also where you can show your involvement in civic activities by showing that you're active in your Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, or even if it's just your old high schools networking group.

In closing, just be aware of what your profiles actually says about you. This was pretty high level post that was meant to help stir a little thought. Be aware of the information and the impression you are constantly making. For training and true Linkedin education, seek out Lewis Howes.