Post image for Day 5: How to generate a warm and fuzzy on LinkedIn (No, seriously)

Day 5: How to generate a warm and fuzzy on LinkedIn (No, seriously)

by Laura Espinosa

[We're doing guest posts on Fridays during the Customer Love Challenge, and first up is my new friend and LinkedIn mentor, Laura Espinosa of CottageCopy.com. Go, Laura! ~LaVonne]

I’m doing something crazy for #customerlove month: I’m loving everyone I meet by showing them how to use and love LinkedIn. :)

I know.

“How can I love something as prickly and foreign as LinkedIn?

And isn’t it a place to just slap up my resume and forget about it?”

It’s true that the social networking giant has this tendency to come off as being very confusing and intimidating. There’s no obvious place to socialize (which bothers those who love the “social” side of social media).

And even those who are used to in-person networking sometimes have trouble translating their offline habits onto an online playing field.

But LinkedIn, at its most basic, is all about making connections and helping others.

Not that different from what we do on Twitter now, is it? :)

How can you show #customerlove to your LinkedIn connections?

Write a recommendation.

We do this all the time elsewhere. We send shout-outs on Twitter attesting to someone’s awesomeness, and we post testimonials on our websites from people who love what we do and are not afraid to say so.

We love that feeling. Being patted on the back makes us feel renewed, that we’re on the right track with our work.

Your task today is to share that feeling with someone else.

If you have a LinkedIn profile (and I’m going to assume you do but probably don’t use it often), I want you to go into your profile, browse through your connections, and find at least three people to write a recommendation for.

And if you only have one person on your network (don’t worry, I’m not judging here), reach out and send a LinkedIn invite to connect to a few people you know — maybe some of the awesome new friends you’ve gotten to know while being part of the #customerlove challenge — and write a recommendation for them.

LinkedIn has a feature that allows you to write recommendations for someone’s past or present occupation. You may have done business with this person at some point, or it could simply be a colleague whose business you’re familiar with.

And don’t limit this to just business owners and entrepreneurs. If you had a past profession before starting your own business, send recommendations to people you know and trust who were in the same job as you. Or recommend your uncle in Nebraska, even though he’s never done a job for you, but you know he has a strong work ethic and a kind heart.

Write the best damn recommendations EVER, today.

Then, come back and post here how loving people with LinkedIn went for you. :)

Oh — and if you want to connect with me on LinkedIn, I’d totally love it. :D Just stick #customerlove in your invitation message and I’ll know where you came from. ;)

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Laura Espinosa is copywriter and tech lover at CottageCopy.com with Holly Jackson, and together they run an internet marketing boutique for weird and quirky businesses. In a past life, she used to be a 3D animator, and still has a deep love for the digital arts. When she's not running her business, she's writing urban fantasy novels about demon hunters.
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Tagged as: Business, guest post, Laura Espinosa, linkedin, recommendations, social networking

  • http://kirstyhall.co.uk/blog/ Kirsty Hall

    I’m not even on Linkedin because it felt like a ‘should’ instead of a ‘want to’. Do I really need to be there? This is the second article I’ve read about it this week that’s making me rethink my attitude towards it.

  • http://www.cottagecopy.com Laura R Espinosa

    You don’t have to be there, Kristy. :) Rule of thumb is that you should never use a tool, like you said, for a “just because” reason. But use a tool if you find some inherent value in it.

    I had originally gotten on LinkedIn because a lot of my animator friends were on it and they use it to network with others in our industry. It was a very simple, precise way to keep track of where everyone was working, even if we didn’t talk to each other on a daily basis.

    And, when one of my colleagues would get into a well known company, like Blizzard, we’d be happy for them, but it’d also give us an in to possibly work there some day. Because in my old industry, it’s all about word-of-mouth referral. Work got passed around a lot through recommendations.

    LinkedIn is a rather powerful tool for business. But you have to make it your own. Use it in your own style and what aligns with your goals. :)

  • http://lindaeaves.com Linda Eaves

    See now this is good. I had a twitter account for a long time and didn’t “get” it. Then I met Laura Roeder and had a TwAHA. Reading this gives me a similar feeling. Hmm…. a LAha perhaps? Anyway…thank you! Giving reco’s is fun and easy.

  • Anonymous

    As a former lawyer, some of my connections are ONLY on LinkedIn and not Facebook or Twitter. So I want to be there but frankly I don’t use it because, as you point out, it’s kind of intimidating. Until I read this, I didn’t even know where to start to use it. But I’ll take your suggestion and see if I can send out any recommendations regarding people in my network!

  • http://www.cottagecopy.com Laura R Espinosa

    Giving recommendations IS fun, and I’m glad you had an “aha” moment with LinkedIn. :)

    It’s one of the nicest things to receive a recommendation when you didn’t ask for one, so I bet you made quite a few people smile today. :D

  • Anonymous

    There’s one excellent feature of LinkedIn (and if someone’s suggested it already, ignore me, eh?) – the Questions and Answers section. It takes a bit of digging to find it, but in there, people ask questions and anyone at all can provide their answers.

    So if you’re an expert in something or want to be known as the go-to person that helps others, this is a great place to maximize your web presence, exposure and awesomeness.

  • http://completeflake.com/ LaVonne Ellis

    Ooh, great tip, James. I’ve been intimidated by LinkedIn from the beginning,
    partly because I’m an old hippie with an aversion to resumes and ‘suits.’
    That’s why I’ve been picking Laura’s brains and urging her to write about
    it, because I just know I’m not the only one!

    ~LaVonne

  • http://www.cottagecopy.com Laura R Espinosa

    I have that same issue too. There’s some awesome people I know, but they’re only on LinkedIn, and I want to keep in touch with them. It isn’t feasible for me to do that all through emails, and they’re not on FB or Twitter. :P

    LinkedIn can be quite the maze to navigate through. There’s so many tools inside of it that, you’re right, you don’t know where to start, and that overwhelming feeling can sometimes be discouraging.

    But I’m glad that you are going to start sending recommendations! :D That isn’t as intimidating, because we are doing it out of #customerlove.

    Awesome to connect with you too, Jessica! :)

  • http://www.cottagecopy.com Laura R Espinosa

    No, I’m glad you brought this up! :D

    The Q & A section is a great part of LinkedIn. But they did put it at a rather hidden spot. (For those of you looking, go to the top navigation bar and look under “More…”. You’ll see a link for Answers there.)

    It is a great way to do all that James said: “maximize your web presence, exposure and awesomeness.” The person who posed the question you’re answering can rate the best answer to their question too.

    Getting into good groups too that has lots of discussions is also a good place to demonstrate your know-how. Thank you, James, for pointing this out! :D I love discussion.

  • http://www.cottagecopy.com Laura R Espinosa

    Aww, thank you LaVonne. I’m writing as fast as I can! ;)

  • Anonymous

    One of the delightful things about recommendations is the “What goes around comes around” rule: People are usually SO TOUCHED and loved up when you write them an awesome recommendation that they frequently turn around and write one back. Not that this is why we do it in the first place, of course. But it doesn’t hurt.

    (So the flipside reminder is, if someone writes a delicious recommendation for you, and you can in good conscience write one for them, don’t forget to do it!)

  • http://www.cottagecopy.com Laura R Espinosa

    This is so true. :) Thanks for bringing this up, Susan. But when you share love (via LinkedIn recommendations) chances of them turning around and sending one back are greater.

    :) So if you get a lovely rec, make sure to say thank you!

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