One of the most valuable techniques for networking to generate leads and referrals is to be helpful to your network. How helpful are you to your network. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to be uber-helpful by leveraging STATUS UPDATES.

Lesson 15 is about using your LinkedIn Status Updates on your profile to stay top-of-mind with your LinkedIn connections and be helpful to those connections.

I recommend at least one status update 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).

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.

Lesson 15 Action Steps

1. Practice Adding 1 Status Update per day for the next 5 days,
2. Review Blog Articles using Feedly (This is one of the areas in which Feedly can be powerful as a communication tool with your network. Read the article and click on the link to add the article to your LinkedIn Status Update (You can also send it concurrently to specific LinkedIn Members or Groups - and shoot it off into your Twitter stream - all at the same time).
3. Get the AddThis Bookmark and Share Button for your browser toolbar.
4. Post a tweet with an interesting link by using the hashtag #in.
5. Post 2-3 comments on the status updates of your connections.

• Lesson 15 Discussion Topics

• How do you use Linkedin right now to communicate with your network?
• Have you started using Feedly/Google Reader to save blog articles for sending to your contacts
• Does 5 minutes a day seem like too much time to review the status updates of people in your network?
• What are your thoughts when you see folks in your network commenting on other people's updates and comments?