Lesson 18 is about using your LinkedIn Status Updates on your profile to stay top-of-mind with your LinkedIn connections.

I recommend at least three status updates per day.

There are a couple of methods to do this:

1. You can automatically link your twitter account to your LinkedIn account. Every time you post a Twitter message, it will show up in your LinkedIn update. If you are very active like me, this could result in 25-40 status update changes per day and drive your entire network crazy – or at least a few people in your network.

I do not automatically link my twitter account. (The setting can be found in your LinkedIn Profile Administration) Edit the section on your websites – the sub-section on your Twitter ID and uncheck the box for automatic updating). We covered this in a previous lesson.

When I want one of my Twitter messages to appear in my LinkedIn Status Update due to the fact that the message, link, retweet, comment are so awesome – I want to share it with everyone – then I add at the end of my tweet ”#in” (minus the quotes). I’ll do this 5-10 times a day when I am in the office. (I also schedule these through a twitter management tool called Hootsuite – which we’ll get to at a later lesson – so that they all don’t come out at the same time).

2. Post your blog article, or another blog article you are ready through Feedly/Google Reader (we also covered this in a previous Lesson) to your status update.

3. You can add a sharing tool plugin to your wordpress blog (we’ll talk about blogging in more depth in a future Lesson), such as Sexy Bookmarks.

4. You can add a sharing tool to your favorite browser toolbar, such as AddThis as a Firefox/Chrome Add-in.

These three options give you the ability to post links and interesting articles you’ve come across to your LinkedIn Status Update (which is very similar to the feed from your friends in facebook).

I try to post interesting links I come across 3-5 times per day to my status update when I am in the office.

The other element of status updates is that you should post a few comments daily on your connections updates. Why should you do this?

1. It shows your interested in your network
2. Gives you another opportunity for top-of-mind presence in the status update area
3. People appreciate your comments and will comment back to you starting/engaging in a dialogue – which is the whole idea behind networking – whether it be virtual/social or in-person.

I’ll take a few minutes every day and scan through the list of my connections’ status updates. I’ll make short comments or ask questions regarding major success, accomplishments, events, activities. I do not comment on any of the status updates related to new connections – but rather look for more interesting updates.

This is the essence of social media and networking: communicating with your network, sharing with your network, encouraging/acknowledging/recognizing the achievements and accomplishments of those in your network, being helpful to your network.

What's the use of a network if you don't frequently engage and interact. It's a wasted effort to just collect names and let them sit in a database. Social media and networking is not about selling - it's about getting to know each other, connecting in meaningful ways, developing trust, and being helpful (notice that's the second time I've said that). Email is cold and formal and sometimes too "salesy". You don't have the time to pick up the phone and call your entire network every week. Social Media and Social Networking bridges that gap between intrusive emails and personal connectivity.

Bonus Tip: try to add 3-5 status updates daily for LinkedIn through a combination of using the #in hashtag in your tweets, linking to an article/website page with the AddThis Browser Toolbar link, and using Feedly/Google Reader to post an interesting blog article with a short one sentence summary.

Lesson 13 Action Steps:

Daily Activities to Update Your Status 3 times per day - 5 minutes per day:

• Add a unique update of a project/task you're working on
• Use Feedly/Google Reader (by how you've probably subscribed to at least a dozen blogs. Grab one of those posts and use Feedly to post it into your status update on Linked
• Get the AddThis Bookmark and Share Button for Browser Toolbar (should be available for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari). When I "stumble" across an interesting web page or blog post, I'll click the linkedin button on the "AddThis toolbar" and update my status update right from my web browsing.
• Post a new tweet or re-tweet on twitter - perhaps an interesting link - and use the #in hashtag so that your status is automatically updated on LinkedIn
• Post 2-3 comments on the status updates of your connections. Spend 2 minutes browsing your connections status updates hitting the "like" button or dropping a quick comment, word of encouragement, question, or congratulations.

Lesson 13 Discussion Points

1. How much should you be sharing with your network?
2. Do the members of your network pay attention to your status updates?
3. Do you pay attention to the status updates of your network on LinkedIn?
4. How do you "see" your interaction with your database of contacts sitting in LinkedIn?