Seo Christmas is all about Giving. What a week! Christmas is that special time when you take a moment to reflect on what it was like when times were simpler. Your possibly sitting around a warm fire with friends, drinking egg nog, enjoying the festivities, singing songs…when all of a sudden…(music stops abruptly).  Hold on, I don’t know about you, but I am working harder than an elf who just got threatened with a pink slip in a “right-to-freeze state”…but I digress.

This weeks blog entry focuses on supplying you with new valuable information all in the spirit of giving. And for those of you that don’t visit this website regularly (you know who you are), you must have been pretty naughty this year.

What am I wishing for this Christmas? More collaborations in 2013 for one thing. I have met so many interesting people over the course of the last couple of months. And all from the comfort of my cozy desk chair, and more importantly staying up to date with LinkedIn. I tell you, I should have bought stock in this company from the very beginning.

One of the LinkedIn Superhero’s that I met recently is Viveka Von Rosen. And let me tell you…she could fill a book with everything she knows about LinkedIn. Coincidentally, she really did write a book on LinkedIn. In fact she is the co-author of Wiley’s “LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day”. And if you have not had the pleasure of checking it out already, your in luck! She has kindly offered me a copy to give away to one of my lucky readers who simply offers constructive feedback below in the comments area of this post. Yes…all you have to do is offer a comment below before 12/31/12 midnight cst, and one lucky winner will be notified on or about 01/03/13 via email.

Now more about my new connection Viv, as recently I was fortunate enough to ask her opinion on the subject of LinkedIn, and here are just a few of her great insights. And if you ask me this was the real gift, so take note small biz owners.

3 LinkedIn Questions for Viv…

Q] What is a common mistake you see people make on LinkedIn?

[A] Common mistake 1: Not knowing why they are on LinkedIn, or how, specifically they want to use it. Many people get on LinkedIn because they “should” or they hear a tele-seminar or read an article telling them to get on LinkedIn. So they create a profile without a clue as to how to leverage it. Knowing why you want to be on LinkedIn and having an idea of how to utilize it will go a long way in helping you build the kind of profile and attract the kind of network you need. (Chapter3-6)

Common mistake 2: Creating a profile and thinking the business is just going to roll in without any additional effort. Once a person has a profile created, he or she needs to make an effort to build their network up enough to be visible (about 10-15 million people) and then start engaging with the “gateway” people.  Those folks who can help them get more business, get a job, attract more donors etc. Fortunately LinkedIn gives us lots and lots of tools to do so.

Q] Can you offer an example of an important new overlooked LinkedIn feature added with the recent update?

[A] New Features: LinkedIn has some really awesome features with the latest user interface release. The ability to easily add media (video, images, presentations, documents) has been a long time coming. In fact, I predicted it in the first chapter of my book! And now its here.  Completely changing the look of the LinkedIn. To see how I’ve used media in my profile, go to www.linkedin.com/in/linkedinexpert

More new features: Another tool I love, that makes the introduction useful again, is the ability to search your connection’s connections by keyword. Meaning instead of doing a brad advanced search for a person and then hopefully finding a good middleman to introduce us, I can now just go to the profile of someone I know like and trust in an industry or location I am interested in and search their network for my prospect. once I find them, I can ask my connection if they are willing to introduce me to them, and if they are, use the LinkedIn ”Get Introduced” feature to have them introduce me to the prospect. The way it was meant to work all along.

Q] What advantage does LinkedIn offer a Small Business Owner really?

[A] Is it worth it?: LinkedIn levels the playing field for the small business owner. There is very little a giant corporation can do on LinkedIn (recruiter account and advertising aside) that you can’t. You have as much opportunity as the CEO of Pepsico to find and engage with your ideal prospects. In fact, you might even do better because you are probably more engaging than the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Now I normally wouldn’t endorse a paid social media account, but in the case of LinkedIn, especially with the new UI, it might be worth the $24 a month investment. But you don’t need anything more than that and LinkedIn, if you know how to use it, can really start driving traffic, business, sales and money your way!

Relevant links:

http://linkedintobusiness.com/happy-holidays-with-my-best-23-linkedin-tips

http://linkedintobusiness.com/you-can-now-easily-add-media-to-your-linkedin-profile/

http://linkedintobusiness.com/where-the-hell-did-my-apps-go-on-linkedin/

http://linkedintobusiness.com/6-cool-new-features-on-linkedin-plus-a-video-tour/

Thank you Viv…for the great feedback! I have already bookmarked your site, and I definitely have much to review. For those of you that want to do likewise, her website link is offered below.

http://linkedintobusiness.com/

But Wait There’s More Festive News…

Perhaps this blog entry was not exactly what you were hoping to find under the tree today? Well…since I am in the giving mood. Let’s sneak an early peek at another new promotion that I have yet to even advertise. For a limited time…Free Website Design Packages are Back! Take joy in this splendor, as I am really excited about creating new connections in 2013. And this should really help liven things up!

An Seo Christmas is all about Giving!

Yes it’s that time again! Our web design company is looking to expand our portfolio. So we are temporarily giving away Free Websites! Sort of our attempt at ringing in the new year with some extra networking karma. All you pay for is the hosting fees and additional costs.

Contact us now for additional details. Be advised, LBP is not responsible for any unforeseen delays due to unsuccessful fee confirmation or backlogs due to an overwhelming response to this offer. But it should all be good.

You Can Find out More by visiting http://www.lilbizpro.com/biztogo

Free LinkedIn Alternative for Small Business Owners. Communication, competition, marketing, website traffic, branding, personality, and search engine optimization. For small business owners, enhancing social media can be a never ending project.

And not all social network connections are created equal. My networks on Facebook and LinkedIn certainly include plenty of friends and colleagues, but they’re mixed in with people I met once at a conference, random folks who sent me a nice note, and so on. All of that is pretty normal, but if I need to find the meaningful messages and connections, it can be a headache.

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Always Be Converting

Lately it seems like everyone is an SEO Expert. This is understandable though, as there really are no exclusive memberships which might limit you vs. anyone else trying to get better search results online. It’s also Summer, which means that it can be hard to stay focused on SEO every day. So to take a break but still stay somewhat productive, I usually spend time searching online for celebrities who have obtained large numbers of (deer in the headlight) fans, better known as followers who follow, just for the sake of following. But my real enjoyment comes when a celebrity (as if being knighted by Al Gore himself) then reclassifies himself or herself as an ambassador to all things Social. When it is rather obvious that any Social intentions they really have are merely for quick self promotion. (ex: Ashton Kutcher)

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