LinkedIn Tips, Tricks and Resources

As of November 2012, LinkedIn announced it had 187 million members, making it the most popular social network among professionals. LinkedIn is a powerful platform that is not used as often as it should.

Some professionals see no use for LinkedIn, some use it but still leave it on the back burner. Here are a few tips, tricks and resources that will help you use LinkedIn to its full potential.

LINKEDIN TIPS AND TRICKS

1. Complete your profile. Make sure to complete your profile: from your professional history to where you attended school. Be as thorough as possible.
2. Claim your vanity URL. Your profile will look more professional once you claim your vanity URL.
3. Treat your profile like your website. Keep your profile clean and up to date; check for spelling and grammar mistakes, as well as typos.
4. Make your profile public. Change your profile settings so that your profile is publicly visible. Don’t worry, your contact information will only be available to your connections.
5. Connect with those you already know. Start by connecting with those close to you: family, friends, co-workers and colleagues.
6. Use LinkedIn for follow-up communication. Whether you have connected with someone via email, got their business card, or left a voicemail, let them know that you will also connect with them via LinkedIn.
7. Give and receive recommendations. Nothing boosts morale, loyalty and friendship like an unsolicited recommendation.
8. Update daily. Keep people on the loop. Whatever you post will show in the news feed of your connections. Don’t know what to post? Connect your blog’s feed to LinkedIn, that way whenever you post something new it will also show on your connections’ feed. You can also talk about anything business related: upcoming events, seminars, webinars, awards.
9. Join Targeted Groups. Join and become part of niche-related groups; you can even start your own. Answer questions, give tips, be helpful.
10. Define your LinkedIn strategy. Create a LinkedIn strategy and stick to it whether when making connections, joining groups, and creating updates.
11. Make your connections private. There are things best kept private, i.e., your LinkedIn connections. By making them public, you are practically handing your competition your client list. To make your connections private, go to your profile settings and under your privacy controls click Select who can see your connections. Choose only you.
12. Make it easy for others to connect with you. Adjust your settings to make it as easy as possible, such not requiring people know your email to connect.
13. Find out who has viewed your profile. Check your profile statistics regularly: learn what you are doing right or wrong, and when it is time to follow-up with a contact.
14. Make connections where you want to do business. Connect with people inside the company you wish to do business with, or work for. Just remember to be subtle.
15. Include a link to your LinkedIn profile on your email signature, website, and business cards. See #11

Read More...

10 Tips to Increase Blog Traffic with Google+

Google+ is the fastest-growing social networking site. It's a perfect place to connect with people around the world, build relationships, and drive readers to your blog. To get you started, following are 10 tips to help you increase blog traffic with Google+ right now.

1. Create a Complete Profile or Page

If your blog can be identified as a business or brand, then create a Google+ Page for it. If not, use your personal Google+ profile to connect with your blog audience. The first step is to create a comprehensive profile or page that fully describes who you are, what expertise you bring to the table, how to find your blog, what your blog is about, and what makes it special. Follow me on Google+ here. 

2. Connect with People

Once you've created your Google+ profile or page, you need to start connecting with other Google+ members. Search for people you know first. Then look through the people they follow to find more interesting people to follow. As you spend time on blogs and other social web destinations, look for links to connect with interesting people on Google+.

3. Create Circles

Next, you should create circles to categorize your Google+ connections and then place people into appropriate circles. For example, create circles for your blog readers, your blog post sources, people who influence your target audience, people who can help you promote your blog or publicize it, and so on.

4. Send Targeted Messages

As you publish updates to Google+, you can choose which circles to share those updates with so the right audiences get the right messages. This is a great feature that ensures people don't receive the updates you don't want them to see.

5. Publish Interesting Content

Don't just publish links to your blog posts over and over. That's boring and will be viewed as excessive self-promotion. Your Google+ stream of updates should be interesting and meaningful to your audience, not spammy. Therefore, publish and share interesting updates and links that your target audience will find value in and appreciate seeing.

6. Create Sparks

Create sparks to track keywords related to your blog topic and jump into relevant conversations. Share content and updates that other people publish related to your blog topic that your audience is likely to enjoy, and look for new people to connect with on Google+ and blogs to follow outside of Google+.

7. Host Hangouts

Google+ hangouts are video chats between up to 10 Google+ members. You can host a hangout and promote it as a small virtual webinar or tuturial session. Think of how you can tie a video chat session with your blog topic and what kind of valuable information you could share in such a session. Then promote it on your blog as a special event!

8. Host Huddles

Instead of holding a tweet chat on Twitter, you can hold a Google+ huddle, which is a text chat between Google+ members. For example you can promote your Google+ huddle on your blog as a question and answer session between a small group!

9. Integrate and Cross-Promote

Use social media icons, Facebook social plugins, Twitter widgets, and so on to integrate your blog marketing efforts and cross-promote your content. Give people as many ways to find your blog and interact with you as possible.

10. Be Active

Update your Google+ stream frequently with new content, and make sure you spend time commenting on other members' updates as well. The more active you are, the more likely people are to remember who you are, recognize what your blog is about, and click through to read your posts!

Read More...

How To Use Google + Ripples To Find Influential Bloggers In Your Niche

Well, the first thing we should probably do is explain what Google+ Ripples are. For those of you who have not come across this useful tool before, it’s essentially an interactive graph of those who have publically shared one of your Google+ posts.

This visual representation of your publically shared posts by others provides fantastic insights into the natural flow of viral content within your niche, and can help you to identify and connect with industry influencers.

Of course, other social media sites provide this sort of data, but it’s usually only available via third party plug-ins. Ripples is Google’s own effort at conveying this sort of info, and it does so in visually friendly and intuitive way.

Using Ripples

If a post has been shared publically, there will be an option to ‘View Ripples’ when you click the little arrow on the right hand corner of the specific post. If you click this you are then led to a graph, which provides the information.

This graph is quite self-explanatory. The top left corner shows the number shares in total and also recently. Each of the bubbles within the graph displays a person’s name and their status when they shared the graph. The most interesting thing though is the size of the bubble.

The larger the bubble, the more shares that particular person contributed to your post. So, if a person has a larger bubble they have provided more clout or influence for that specific post. This allows you to easily see who’s encouraged others to share onwards.

Clout

We’re all aware of the importance of influencers in an industry and some have more of this ability than others. Google+ Ripples makes it extremely easy to see who is influencing and driving interaction to your posts via a quick look at the size of their bubbles. 

Nurturing a relationship with these influencers is very important and can allow you to reap huge benefits if you’re a little bit savvy. Add to this how visual and easy to understand it is and there’s no excuse for not making the most of it.

Circles

The next step is to group those you deem as niche relevant influencers and those you see as benefiting your posts beyond the immediate repost. Create a circle of these folks and then begin to build a relationship. This is easily done and sending them exclusive content, first peeks, using the hangout feature and also plain old direct interaction go down a treat. That all said, you still need to focus on the other 95% of those in your circles as they are often your bread and butter.

Influential Ripples

It’s also possible to increase the chances of getting an influencer in your field to share your posts with a little calculation and research. There are influencers in any field and then again there are influencers– people who have hundreds of thousands of followers and provide huge potential if they share an article.

The downside is that these people may not be in your circles and so you have no chance of them seeing your Google+ post. Unless!

How to Get the Influence of Influencers

Step One

Firstly, find the largest influencer in your niche or industry and find a post that they shared with their circles. Now look at the Ripple data.

Next, find out who the original poster was and make sure that this original poster has a reasonably strong following.

The industry leader will have shared the original posters post and you can assume that there is an element of trust between both.

Step Two

Connect with the original poster by one of the usual means – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn – they’re usually on the Google+ profile. Try and build a relationship with that person by providing them with something of interest or value.

When you are friendly ask the person to share one of your posts via their Circles. You can then hope it will catch the influencer’s notice and they will repost it. Of course, if this doesn’t work, it’s still getting a lot of notice via your new found interaction’s followers.

Step Three

Do this with a number of people in contact with the industry leader and you will greatly increase the chances of them seeing your post.

So, take a look at Google+ Ripples and remember that by engaging with these power users you get the extra edge and you and your posts can significantly benefit.

Read More...

10 Best & Popular Tips to Planning Idea For a New Blog

Today i am gоіng to write an article for nеw bloggers whо wаnt to start nеw blog. In thіѕ article i wіll write ѕоmе tips thаt уоu ѕhоuld kеер in mind bеfоrе starting a blog.Almost еvеrу nеw blogger dо mistakes on thе initial stage оf blogging.A Common ѕауіng іѕ thаt "Every human bеіng dо mistakes in thеіr live" but it dоеѕ nоt mеаn thаt wе dо mistakes аll thе times wе саn overcome thеѕе mistakes wіth thе planning so mау be уоu wіll tаkе thеѕе tips as planning.

Choose a Blogging Platform

Thеrе іѕ a lot оf blogging plateforms lіkе Blogger, WordPress, TypePad etc.Blogger аnd WordPress іѕ mоѕt common blogging plate form thаt іѕ bеіng use largely. I am аlѕо uѕіng Blogger аnd i suggest use blogger bесаuѕе іtѕ free no nееd a hosting plan to host уоur blog.If уоu wаnt to mаkе a blogger blog уоu саn use thе fоllоwіng link

Choose The Name Of Your Blog (Domain Name)

Domain Nаmе іѕ vеrу іmроrtаnt bесаuѕе оf thіѕ people knоw уоur blog аnd visit уоur blog. Itѕ јuѕt lіkе уоur business nаmе whеn уоu start a nеw business уоu decide thе nаmе оf уоur business. If уоu hаvе mаdе a free blogger or wordpress blog thеn уоu wіll gеt a free sub domain as "example.blogspot.com" or "example.wordpress.com". But i suggest уоu dо nоt use thеѕе sub domains јuѕt purchase уоur own.

Tips To Purchase a Domain Name

It Shоuld Represent Yоur Blog аnd Related To Yоur Blog.

Yоur Domain Shоuld Be Short аnd Appropriate

Blog Domain Shоuld Attract Thе Visitors аnd It Shоuld Be Easily Memorable

Design Of Your Blog

Yоur blog design or template ѕhоuld be simple аnd user friendly. Eаѕу To Navigate аnd It ѕhоuld Be attractive for уоur visitors. 

Content Of Your Blog

Content іѕ аlwауѕ thе king оf уоur blog.If уоu don’t hаvе good аnd unique content thеn whаt аll уоu dо to decorate уоur blog gоеѕ waste. Be Yоurѕеlf аnd dо nоt copy paste frоm аnу оthеr website specialty frоm Wikipedia.

Frequency of Posting

Plan уоurѕеlf hоw frequently уоu post аnd hоw оftеn уоu update уоur blog.It mау be 2 posts for 3 days or 4 posts per week plan ассоrdіng to уоur convenience.Plan posts for future to avoid delay.

Blog Promotion

Promote уоur blog on vаrіоuѕ forums аnd social networking sites. Now a days social networking site are playing a major role in success оf a blog bесаuѕе now a days еvеrу оnе use social networking sites to connect wіth friends.So mаkе use оf social networking sites lіkе facebook,twitter,google рluѕ etc.

Maintain Good Relations With Your Fellow Bloggers

Commenting on оthеr blogs аnd maintaining a good relation wіth уоur fellow bloggers аlwауѕ hеlр уоu in building уоur blog.

Guest Posting

Guest posting іѕ a good wау оf building bасk links аnd drawing attention tоwаrdѕ уоur blog.

Use Share, Follow And Good RSS Button

Uѕіng cool share ,follow аnd RSS buttons attract уоur blog аnd increase thе number оf followers to уоur blog.So if thеrе іѕ an update thеу wіll соmе bасk to уоur blog оnсе again,you саn kеер уоur readers intact wіth уоur blog.

SEO(Search Engine Optimization)

Now thіѕ іѕ thе word whісh mаnу newbies are afraid whеn thеу hear.SEO іѕ nоthіng but a strategy оf improving thе visibility оf a website or a web page in search engines lіkе google, bing аnd yahoo.Do a lіttlе research on SEO to bесоmе a successful blogger.

Read More...

New version of recommended for you post slide out widget with social share buttons

Recommended post slide out widget always helps your blog visitors to keep surfing different posts on your blog without leaving your blog, new version of recommended slide out post widget with social share buttons and more customization option, in this widget i have included facebook like button, twitter share button and google+ button, and also give option to change position of the widget,in old version widget it was fixed at right side of your page corner, but in this widget you can freely set position of the widget as you want to show left or right ! and also give option to change color of top border as matching with your blog/site and  more..

Demo

How To Install this Gadget?

End Of Post marker – The slide comes out when the user scrolls down to a particular point in your Blog.(the bottom of the page by default) To mark this point, you can add an HTML element there. The element should have the id bpslidein_place_holder

e.g.: <div id=’bpslidein_place_holder’></div> would do the job. The best place to add this marker would be at the end of the post. If you want to do it easily, you can add this to your Blogger Template.

In your template Find,(You will have to expand the Widget Templates)

<data:post.body/>

Immediately below it, add the following snippet and save your template

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'> 

Now when the reader scrolls down to this div, the slide will open up.

To Add Gadget to Your Blog...

1. Go To LAYOUT.
2. Click on Add Gadget below Blog Post.
3. Select Third party html Gadget.
4. Copy The Below code in it.
5. Now Click Save & You are Done!

<style>
#bpslidein{z index:5;
width:400px;
height:100px;
padding:10px;
background-color:#fff;
border-top:5px solid #F9780E;
position:fixed;
right:-430px;
bottom:0;-moz-box-shadow:-5px 0 10px #aaa;
-webkit-box-shadow:-5px 0 10px #aaa;
box-shadow:-5px 0 10px #aaa;
font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
#bpslidein p{
font-size:11px;
text-transform:uppercase;
font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
letter-spacing:1px;color:#555;
}
#bpslidein_title{
color:#555;
font-weight:700;
font-size:16px;
margin:10px 20px 10px 0;
}
#bpslidein a,#bpslidein a:hover,#bpslidein_title{
text-decoration:none;color:#F9780E;
}
#bpslidein .close,#bpslidein .expand,#bpslidein .help{
border:2px solid #EEE;
cursor:pointer;
color:#9A9AA1;
width:13px;
height:15px;
padding:2px 0 0 5px;
position:absolute;
right:10px;font-size:17px;
font-weight:700;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size:12px;
}
#bpslidein .help{right:35px;
}
#bpslidein_title,#bpslidein_image{
float:left;width:80px;
}
#bpslidein_title{
width:290px;
}

?

+

X

Recommended for you

Read More...

Stylish Social Media Widget with Search Box

In this  post  im gonna  explain  how to add social media  widget with light search box for your blog. So, this include two gadget.  social profiles  icons and search box. Im using css3 and HTML for this widget. you can take a look at in demo page.

                                  Demo
 Demo By BloggingSection

Steps To Be Follow

1. Log in to blogger account and Click drop down.

2. Now select "Layout" Like Below.

3. Click Add Gadget and select 'HTML/Javascript

4. Paste below one of below code.

<style>
#btrixwidget{width:307px;
padding:0 0 5px 0;
border:1px solid black;}

#btrix-searchbox {
    border-radius: 5px;
    background: URL(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwbde2hIRzsApfJYdVC8utE6AIg0_SETRgz293_E85XQKqDnEY2bn91_M44-ILlO1bg4EcEPNgz8WP0-bau-PNLr9RAh2lmUMx8oppkYwx1B8avPAp11WLqGX_kUehxVE2U1OgEvkiKXH/s1600/blue.png) no-repeat scroll center center transparent;
    width: 307px;
    height: 50px;
    disaply: block;
}
  
form#btrix-searchform {
    display: block;
    padding: 9px 16px;
    margin: 0;
}
  
form#btrix-searchform #s {
    padding-left: 24px !important;
    padding: 7.5px;
    margin: 0;
    width: 198px;
    font-size: 16px;
    font-family: georgia;
    font-style: italic;
    color: #666666;
    vertical-align: top;
    border: none;
    background: transparent;
}
  
form#btrix-searchform
#sbutton {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    height: 40px;
    width: 74px;
    vertical-align: top;
    border: none;
    background: transparent;
}
</style>

<div id="btrixwidget"><center>
<a href="http://twitter.com/MrOmkarSingh" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hOqWqpN3kVjiBHyeiDKSyc5xKS9ptzfDxxzeFQPPeiWQhLnauBAG08XujDjrVjfSGRydsvrvDb32J6HuTyKchVCM4Kqqg9XC1rWJzxApMKf-aIB55_czv3rArMQIDKsy57qVK7dUbM0/s1600/btrix-twitter.png" alt="" title="twitter" width="62" height="78" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6249"></a>

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/bloggingSection" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27x6p4biK0JQj2TZh5Nxe99temztk1s7JHR8FGEgoxRWC9Vd3Ywubt9kfKKYjXlC9wCAaUrMFMtVO2KKc3gW0ouEh_ZlsbuKGXERr52MPbftOoqGhsaox4W_24vqgD3AgvnqWz9VbAgY/s1600/btrix-facebook.png" alt="" title="facebook" width="62" height="78" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6248"></a>

<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/bloggingSection" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQYbsr90i9a2hvNbXrn5kZGlXmtlNZR04_xJQh39iMxM0XxWrSLzIw3m_C2Yx5EQtYDN8R8ykRMjpT92qQhK5pV5lGsNNaivj6Hv7aG2DW04U8drBKZcQvEfrFsNbMqp9GDCPKP2bx70/s1600/btrix-rss.png" alt="" title="rss" width="62" height="78" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6251"></a>

<a href="http://au.linkedin.com/username" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPv_fJbJpfJ-z26GDzvMe_Zfv5Ahh8594y1sY651P7mkN37hcFKTWozKx9JC-zBP-o_8ZvHf7oG1ljUITTgaxz-ZcFOddQ-eOs3HRZoKS_TZnVVfMisI5nuiThz1SrruJwdhxe9v-N2g/s1600/btrix-linkedin.png" alt="" title="linkedin" width="62" height="78" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6250"></a>

<div id="btrix-searchbox">
    <form id="btrix-searchform" action="/search" method="get">
        <input type="text" id="s" name="q" value="Search..." onfocus='if (this.value == "Search...") {this.value = ""}'
        onblur='if (this.value == "") {this.value = "Search...";}' />
        <input type="image" src="http://img1.blogblog.com/img/blank.gif" id="sbutton"
        />
    </form>
</div>
</center>
</div>

Replace MrOmkarSingh with your twitter profile 
Replace BloggingSection with your facebook profile 
Replace BloggingSection with your feedburner profile 
Replace Username with your linkedin profile 

7. Now save your HTML/Javascript'.

    You are done...