LinkedIn Master Workshop, Wednesday, March 14, 2012

  Resolve to get more visibility for you & your company in 2012!

 
    
For those who need more traction from LinkedIn, I am be hosting my LinkedIn Master Workshop on March 14 in the BWI hotel district. Register now to reserve your seat (each session is limited to 12 participants).   

Call 301 924 0058 to register now.


Wednesday, 3/14/12, 8:30-11:30 AM ($245)

 

Without a doubt, LinkedIn has become the premier social network for business professionals. With over 150 million business professionals and over 2.1 million individual company profiles, LinkedIn is the place to be found, and to find and connect with influencers in your market niche- and to become one of those influencers!.

However it is estimated that fewer than 25% of LinkedIn members use their membership effectively, and less than 10% truly maximize the value this powerful tool can bring to you and your company. It is time for you to migrate to LinkedIn power user!

Attend this session to learn how to develop your LinkedIn strategy and build a power profile and a powerful network. Learn how LinkedIn expert Mark Amtower developed his award-winning profile, how he has attracted new clients because of that profile, developed and enhanced a thought leadership position through the use of LinkedIn, how he has expanded his business network to become one of the most connect people in his area of expertise and how he reaches out to thousands of people every week through his LinkedIn network. 

What you will learn:

- Why you need a LinkedIn strategy and how to create one

- How to create a LinkedIn profile that attracts the people you want to meet and raises your Google rank

- How to get more recommendations

- Establish you/your company as a subject matter expert or “thought leader”

- Learn the tactics to stay “top of mind” in your niche

- How to select the best groups to grow your business

- Where & how to share pertinent content

- Select the “apps” that fit your strategy

- And much more!

  

All attenders will also receive the detailed LinkedIn workbook. 

Advanced registration required;

sessions limited to 12 participants.

Email Mark@FederalDirect.net or call 301 924 0058 for complete details or to reserve your seat.

March 14, 2012, 8:30-11:30 AM. This workshop will be held in the conference room at

Smartly Spaced

1302 Concourse Drive, Suite 204

Linthicum Heights, MD 21090.

Why take thise workshop from me?

You should attend workshops only from those who have "been there, done that" - and continue to be there & do that. I am one of those people!

First, I have been a member since February 11, 2004, long before most people knew LinkedIn existed. Like most people, I was not very active for my first couple years, but when I saw the potential for developing my network, and for staying in touch of that network, I quickly learned how to leverage some of the power. As LinkedIn continues to change, I continue to learn.
 
In November, 2009 ,my profile was voted among the top 7 on LinkedIn (#3 out of about 45 million members at the time). I have given several speeches around the country on using LinkedIn over the past three years, coached many people and companies, and I continue to write frequently about leveraging LinkedIn.

If you are not getting enough traction through LinkedIn, you should attend this session. This is a workshop so there will be limited seating - and each attendee will get some individual attention.

Simply being on LinkedIn gets you nowhere. Learning to use it well is what counts.


   
Call 301 924 0058 NOW to reserve your seat.  

Note: This session is available as an in-house workshop. Call for details.

If you need publicity, read this now!

Do you need publicity for your company, product, service, event, book (already out or coming soon), or for a cause?

If so, I strongly recommend you attend the National Publicity Summit. I have attended four.

In July 2006 I was featured in Entrepreneur magazine with a full length picture. I cannot tell you how I felt when I first saw the article and photo. They even hired a photographer who made me look really good!

You might ask how this occurred, so I'll tell you.

In January of 2006 I attended my first National Publicity Summit produced by Bradley Communications. The event was mainly for people seeking publicity in mainstream media (TV like The View, Regis & Kathy Lee, radio, national magazines like Oprah and Time), but I was looking for exposure in the business press. I knew the editor of Entrepreneur (at that time Rieva Lesonsky) was scheduled to be there, so I signed up and went to the multi-day event.

The media training you get prior to "meeting the media" was great and extremely helpful. I had already been quoted in several trade publications that covered my market, but the training at the Summit  would pay dividends for me when the press showed up the last 2 days- and well beyond (see below).

When I finally got my face time with Ms Lesonsky, I was only 30 seconds into my pitch when she threw up the "time out" signal. I thought I had blown it. But she said, "Mark, the soonest we can have you in the magazine is July. Is that OK?"

OK??? Are you kidding! You can see the results above - somewhat more than just "OK" to me! You can spend $10,000 or more (much more) with a PR firm and never get results like this!

So what does this mean for you?

Bradley Communications hosts the National Publicity Summit only twice each year, and one is coming up soon. They have a limited number of seats for each, so each participant is guaranteed face time with the press that will attend - face time with editors, prodcuers, hosts and more.

And when I say press, I mean TV, radio, national publications and more. It is truly an impressive lineup- national TV shows, major newspapers and magazines, syndicated radio shows and more.

Steve Harrison of Bradley is hosting a free teleseminar Thursday, Sept 8. If you need publicity, clear your schedule and dial in to this free session. I guarantee it is worth your time.

Sign up here

http://www.tvpublicityteleseminar.com/?10535


So what happend to me after my first National Publicaty Summit? To date, I have been quoted in over 200 publications worldwide, including Forbes, The NY Times, The Financial Times of London, Investor's Business Daily and more.

Is the Summit worth your time? You decide- but get on that call before you make up your mind.

If you have ANY questions, drop me a line-
markamtower AT gmail DOT com

Old news- LinkedIn passes 100,000,000 members: NEW news- LinkedIn passes 900,000 groups (900,543)

So what does this have to do with you?

Well, if you are trying to promote yourself or your company, social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and the like are critical for any and all self promotion efforts.

900,543 groups means on LinkedIn there are groups for EVERYTHING!

So you join a group- now what?

Participate in ways that add value to the group. This brings credibility to you. The more credibility you have in the group, the more likely it is that when you post something about what you do, or what you sell, more people will take the time to look at it.

If all you do is post stuff about what you do and sell, few if any will pay attention.

Join a new group on LinkedIn this week and participate. Or, look at some of the groups you are already in, and add more value to those.

Get involved! This will get you noticed....

It's easy to be average....

I was listening to a Lee Milteer CD (Lee is a motivational speaker and coach) in the car today- Success Self-Programming . I listen to this program every couple of months. It was the first motivational CD (tape back then) I ever listened to and I still enjoy it 25 years later.

On the CD, Lee says something that has always stuck with me: "It's so easy to be average."

Just think about that for a minute.

She goes on to say that 80% of the people out there do very little to become better at what they do professionally, and probably very little to improve themselves in any facet of their lives.

I agree, but I think her percentages are low. I think it is more like 90%+.

I always have educational and motivational CDs in the car and in the office. I am usually reading 2-3 books (usually at least 2 business books and a novel). And I love brainstorming with my business peers. I also write frequently on my blogs and social networks, especially LinkedIn. And I read the feedback.

What are you doing to excel today?

And if you want to check out Lee's programs- go here:  www.Milteer.com


One more thought on this. In the April 2011 Reader's Digest there is an article entitled Get Hired, not Fired. It has lots of tips for job interviews and Dilbert(tm) cartoons. One of those cited in the article said a common question during a job interview is "what personal and professional development have you been engaged in outside the workplace over the past year?"

Can you answer that question in a way that will help you get or keep your job?

Food for thought....

Profiling….

While we have all heard that a certain type of profiling is bad, I am here to tell you about a type of profiling that can pay you some real time dividends.

You social media profile is often your first face forward to the rest of the world, that all important “first impression” your Mom told you was so important (I wish I listened sooner!).

Whether you are positioning yourself for a new job, trying to create some leads for your company, or looking to make some good connections, a powerful profile is your best online asset.

So how do you get there?

I have a few ideas, and then I hope you will share some ideas of your own. As Ken Blanchard wrote, and often says, “All of us is smarter than one of us!”

Idea 1: Don’t be shy about borrowing ideas from OPP – other people’s profiles. Look around whenever you have time and make some notes. Write them down, don’t try to remember them. That rarely works. Look at recognized industry leader profiles, and people who seem to attract lots of attention on the social network of your preference – anyone. You will see elements you like and elements you don’t like. For elements you like, emulate them if you can. For elements you don’t like, make sure you are not doing the same. For example, this paragraph is already too long. I should make it two or three paragraphs to make it easier to read.

Idea 2: Get a good photo for your profile. I hate photos where people look bored or otherwise distracted, or worse, when it looks like a bad high school photo. If you are going to use a photo like that, hang a number around your neck and do a frontal shot, then a side shot.  Get a good photo to use – and don’t put up a picture of your pet.

Idea 3: Put something new on your profile on a regular basis. On LinkedIn this keeps you in front of your network. On LinkedIn it doesn’t have to be your profile. Participation in groups shows up on the right side of your profile, along with questions answered and other activity.

Idea 4: Now it’s your turn, so share a few thoughts!

To migrate up the visibility ladder, you need to define an area of expertise

To truly stand out in a crowd, you need to define your personal value proposition, the intellectual capital you bring to the party. Define your area of expertise honestly, then work hard at being among the best in it.

The narrower the niche, the more likely it is that you can stand out. If you have a broader "area of expertise" there is a higher likelihood it will be crowded with authors, speakers, etc with higher name recognition. The more crowded the niche is, the harder it is to stand out.

My main area of expertise is marketing to the government. This is how I make my living. While this may seem like a broad area, I was early in staking my claim (I started my business in 1985). I established my claim early and have worked hard to maintain it.

Over the years I have had to find multiple ways (speaking, writing, joining, etc) to promote myself in order to keep the pipeline full - and hence have developed a skill in self-promotion.

There are several venues where you can start to define your area of expertise. The most visible ones are social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook (this blog has groups at each, please join!). You should have already done this on you own web site if you have one, but social networks are where many go first to look at the credentials of others.

So start there. look at some of the profiles of those you are connected with to get some ideas for making your profile stand out.

Stand out in any crowd!

If you need publicity for any project- fund raising, raising awareness for a cause, your garage sale, book promotion, school play, event promotion, business promotion, radio show promotion, promoting your talent as a speaker or consultant - you need to iunderstand how to get the attention of those you need to reach without bothering them. The tactics we will discuss on this blog can apply to BtoC, BtoB, and BtoG - simply select the tactics that will work best in your niche or for your project.

Different needs require different tactics.


This involves many steps, and in future blog posts we will be discussing many of those, hopefully with your input.


We will identify great sources for each aspect of what you might be looking for: books, blogs, web sites, audio programs, seminars and webinars, and much more. I will also ask some successful people from my personal network to contribute some guest blog posts to illustrate how they stand out and get publicity.


My name is Mark Amtower and the cartoon above is a caricature of me from my 2nd book, Why Epiphanies Never Occur to Couch Potatoes (www.EpiphanyBook.com). The cartoon is by my friend Dave McCoy (www.davetoons.com) and it fits the theme of this blog.


My area of expertise is business-to-government marketing, where I am a nationally recognized expert.


But what do I know about self promotion?


I have been getting traditional press (interviews, quotes, profiles) since 1994 and have been mentioned in more than 150 publications worldwide. I have also been interviewed over 50 times on the radio, though only once (so far) on television. I was also profiled in Entrepreneur magazine in July 2006. And in 2009 I was selected by BtoB Magazine as one of the Top 100 business marketers in the country.


I have written three books, authored over 100 articles for various  business publications, spoken at over 200 events(breakout sessions, lunch speeches and keynotes), and have been quoted in about 10 business books.


Many people know me through my activity on social networks, especially LinkedIn.

So I have received a fair amount of publicity. And I am here to tell you that it does not happen on its own.
It requires work on your part if you really want to stand out in any crowd.

If you know me from LinkedIn, you might want to take a look at this-http://federaldirect.net/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=5

Stay tuned!

Mark AmtowerB2G consultant, author, speaker, LinkedIn Black Belt
Co-Director of the Government Market Master program at George Mason University

www.FederalDirect.net
www.GovernmentMarketMaster.com
www.linkedin.com/in/markamtower

http://www.facebook.com/#!/markamtower

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7Ch0LGk_I
@amtower

Host, "Amtower Off Center" Monday at noon on Federal News Radio, WFED 1500 AM; simulcast and archived at www.FederalNewsRadio.com