The book's subtitle Using LinkedIn to get ahead at work shows exactly what it is all about.
The 200-page book is better than a regular manual on how to use technical features of LinkedIn, the most successful professional networking site nowadays. (Such manuals can get outdated even before their publication date I believe, as the technology is being developed very fast)
The author put together LinkedIn members' best experiences and collective wisdom in the chapter Ten Ways to Get LinkedIn to Work for You as follows:
-Your Ever Expanding Rolodex
-LinkedIn Answers: a Global Focus Group
-Networking Plus
-Branding and Marketing Yourself
-Hiring People
-Finding a Job You Love
-Finding Vendors and Service Providers
-Running Background Check
-Entrepreneurs: Get Opinions and Investors
-Selling and Brand Building
The LinkedIn professionals cited throughout the book range from the experienced and famous as Guy Kawasaki, the best selling author and columnist, to new members as yours truly, Olga Kellen ;-)
It reflects the fact that the book is helpful for everyone, as really LinkedIn is, in developing one's career, getting contracts and professional contacts.
"Do you want to be Linked In or Linked Out? The choice is yours", as the author suggests in his introductory chapter.
The Let's Connect: Using LinkedIn to get ahead at work by Ajay Jain's website: http://www.techgazing.com/linkedin/
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
One Year on LinkedIn
It was about a year ago when I discovered LinkedIn and started my profile. I had been active on LinkedIn for about 8 months in 2007 and then became busy with some offline stuff in 2008 and was not be able to answer questions and communicate on LinkedIn as much as I used to. Hope to be back though ;-)
What happened during my LinkedIn absent time? My first degree connections number stayed more or less the same, as I used to make new connections mostly through answering those questions on LinkedIn that were within the scope of my expertise.
Nevertheless my network grew by approximately 1,000,000 members (!) in 4 months of my "LinkedIn laziness" because my connections continued to acquire new connections of their own. So, LinkedIn really works while you are asleep! So far, I'm connected to 5,000,000 professionals worldwide.
What happened during my LinkedIn absent time? My first degree connections number stayed more or less the same, as I used to make new connections mostly through answering those questions on LinkedIn that were within the scope of my expertise.
Nevertheless my network grew by approximately 1,000,000 members (!) in 4 months of my "LinkedIn laziness" because my connections continued to acquire new connections of their own. So, LinkedIn really works while you are asleep! So far, I'm connected to 5,000,000 professionals worldwide.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Blogging, Self-Publishing and LinkedIn
I started this blog in June 2007, soon after I joined LinkedIn.
When I realized that the best way of making connections and becoming visible on LinkedIn was to answer those questions where I had expertise, I started this blog and often linked the posts to my answers.
This way it's much easier to answer LinkedIn questions that are asked over and over again - about publishing and self-publishing for example.
There is a book inside every person, they say, so any LinkedIn member who is going to write their book or writing it now or has written some, asks a question about publishing and/or self-publishing. These questions appear very often on LinkedIn.
I worked with self-publishers and published articles on the related topics:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Olga_Kellen
Some of them are as follows:
New Author's Publishing Options
Publishing or Self - Publishing
How to Choose Publishing Companies
Common Publishing Mistakes Authors make
Your Newly Published Book Marketing and Promotion
As E-Book Author You Can Successfully Sell Your Expertise Online
How To Find Literary Agent
The articles covered many self-publishing topics, but there were still many to cover, especially on the book selling side of the self-publishing. That's one of the reasons why this blog was born as How-I-Started-On-LinkedIn and then turned to self-published book sales ;-)
When I realized that the best way of making connections and becoming visible on LinkedIn was to answer those questions where I had expertise, I started this blog and often linked the posts to my answers.
This way it's much easier to answer LinkedIn questions that are asked over and over again - about publishing and self-publishing for example.
There is a book inside every person, they say, so any LinkedIn member who is going to write their book or writing it now or has written some, asks a question about publishing and/or self-publishing. These questions appear very often on LinkedIn.
I worked with self-publishers and published articles on the related topics:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Olga_Kellen
Some of them are as follows:
New Author's Publishing Options
Publishing or Self - Publishing
How to Choose Publishing Companies
Common Publishing Mistakes Authors make
Your Newly Published Book Marketing and Promotion
As E-Book Author You Can Successfully Sell Your Expertise Online
How To Find Literary Agent
The articles covered many self-publishing topics, but there were still many to cover, especially on the book selling side of the self-publishing. That's one of the reasons why this blog was born as How-I-Started-On-LinkedIn and then turned to self-published book sales ;-)
Monday, December 31, 2007
Lulu Book Sales Ranking
Three months ago I became a POD Lulu self-publisher (see my post of Oct. 1st) with a goal in mind - to prove that there will be no book sales without my own marketing and promotion. Here's my booklet available in print and as a download: http://www.lulu.com/content/1233344
It is a how-to on one of the hottest topics today; it appeals to the right niche of 25 million readers, the price is right - not too low, not too high; keywords are right too; seems like no problem to sell? (Please remember that I deliberately haven't done any book promotion)
How many sold? One...
My Lulu Sales Rank is 71,754 ... What does it mean?
As Lulu explains on their website:
"What does the Lulu sales rank mean?
Similar to sales ranking lists at leading bookstores and news outlets, Lulu determines the top sellers based on monetary amounts rather than number sold. (Lulu feels that authors whose books cost $19.95 shouldn't have to compete head-to-head with creators who give their content away.)"
There are about 1.2 million of Lulu books, among all of them some are priced in the same common range as mine - I guess they make about 80% which means I compete with about 1 million books.
So, among 1 million books I have the sales rank of 71,754 with one sale only... which means that over 90% of other books do not sell even one copy???
Anybody willing to correct my math? Welcome to leave a comment then...
It is a how-to on one of the hottest topics today; it appeals to the right niche of 25 million readers, the price is right - not too low, not too high; keywords are right too; seems like no problem to sell? (Please remember that I deliberately haven't done any book promotion)
How many sold? One...
My Lulu Sales Rank is 71,754 ... What does it mean?
As Lulu explains on their website:
"What does the Lulu sales rank mean?
Similar to sales ranking lists at leading bookstores and news outlets, Lulu determines the top sellers based on monetary amounts rather than number sold. (Lulu feels that authors whose books cost $19.95 shouldn't have to compete head-to-head with creators who give their content away.)"
There are about 1.2 million of Lulu books, among all of them some are priced in the same common range as mine - I guess they make about 80% which means I compete with about 1 million books.
So, among 1 million books I have the sales rank of 71,754 with one sale only... which means that over 90% of other books do not sell even one copy???
Anybody willing to correct my math? Welcome to leave a comment then...
Monday, December 24, 2007
After 8 months on LinkedIn I have 4,000,000 connections
After 8 months on LinkedIn I have about 300 first degree connections, 100,000 second degree and 4,000,000 third degree which means that I'm able to reach about 30% of all LinkedIn members worldwide.
It's interesting to mention that I haven't done anything special to get all these connections. I just answered questions and got connected with some of the askers after some post-discussion. Also I have to mention that while during December I had no time to answer questions on LinkedIn, my network stopped growing...
Based on my answers LinkedIn considers me having expertise in the following categories:
Using LinkedIn
Writing and Editing
International Law
Business Development
Business Travel
Job Search
Professional Networking
Economics
Personnel Policies
Staffing and Recruiting
Exporting/Importing
Internationalization and Localization
Events Marketing
Lead Generation
Manufacturing
Interface Design
Incorporation
Starting Up
It doesn't make me an "expert" in all these categories of course, but anyway people who asked these questions considered my answers as "best" which means I'm capable of something ;-)
As I am l looking for interesting projects in Internet Research, Internet Marketing, International Business, Translation and Localization, the more people know me and see that I have knowledge, the higher are my chances to land the projects.
It's interesting to mention that I haven't done anything special to get all these connections. I just answered questions and got connected with some of the askers after some post-discussion. Also I have to mention that while during December I had no time to answer questions on LinkedIn, my network stopped growing...
Based on my answers LinkedIn considers me having expertise in the following categories:
Using LinkedIn
Writing and Editing
International Law
Business Development
Business Travel
Job Search
Professional Networking
Economics
Personnel Policies
Staffing and Recruiting
Exporting/Importing
Internationalization and Localization
Events Marketing
Lead Generation
Manufacturing
Interface Design
Incorporation
Starting Up
It doesn't make me an "expert" in all these categories of course, but anyway people who asked these questions considered my answers as "best" which means I'm capable of something ;-)
As I am l looking for interesting projects in Internet Research, Internet Marketing, International Business, Translation and Localization, the more people know me and see that I have knowledge, the higher are my chances to land the projects.
Monday, December 17, 2007
LinkedIn Absenteeism
I've been busy with some other stuff lately and dropped my every day visits to LinkedIn for a while...
What happened?
I don't show up among the experts, don't receive new invitations and inquiries; my network stopped growing and my LinkedIn life became actually very dull ;-(
So, the conclusion - if you want to get anything from LinkedIn, you have to be really active on the site!
What happened?
I don't show up among the experts, don't receive new invitations and inquiries; my network stopped growing and my LinkedIn life became actually very dull ;-(
So, the conclusion - if you want to get anything from LinkedIn, you have to be really active on the site!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Interview with Kathie M. Thomas, the Author and Lulu Self-Publisher
You are welcome to read the interview with Kathie M. Thomas, the Author of Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work at Home Mum, who sells her books from Lulu and her own website too. You'll find out what promotion she does for her newly published book.
General Info:
Q1. Title:
A1. Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work at Home Mum
Q2. Author:
A2. Kathie M. Thomas
Q3. Genre:
A3. Christian Living
Q4. One-Line description of the book:
A4. Women are encouraged to return home to work, and care for their families.
Book Sales:
Q5. For how long has your book been on Lulu?
A5. 2 months
Q6. How many copies have been sold from Lulu during this time?
A6. 12 (192 views)
I've sold nearly 200 from my own website though
Book Promotion:
Q7. Is the book being promoted from your own website(s) and/or blog(s) that link to your Lulu listing?
A7. Yes
Q8. What other Internet promotion venues have you used - free and/or paid? Direct emailing, writers' websites, etc.? Any paid advertising?
A8. Articles, book reviews, book websites
Q9. How much time have you spent promoting your book? (approx)
A9. Every single day, some days only 5-10 min, other days an hour or more
Q10. How much money have you spent promoting your book? (approx)
A20. Hard to say, but over $1,000 so far
Thank you, Kathie, for sharing this valuable info with us.
The Conclusion: BOOK SALES ARE THE DIRECT RESULT OF THE BOOK PROMOTION.
Kathie sells almost 20 times more books from her own website http://www.worth-more-than-rubies.com than from the Lulu listing as the result of her promotion efforts.
General Info:
Q1. Title:
A1. Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work at Home Mum
Q2. Author:
A2. Kathie M. Thomas
Q3. Genre:
A3. Christian Living
Q4. One-Line description of the book:
A4. Women are encouraged to return home to work, and care for their families.
Book Sales:
Q5. For how long has your book been on Lulu?
A5. 2 months
Q6. How many copies have been sold from Lulu during this time?
A6. 12 (192 views)
I've sold nearly 200 from my own website though
Book Promotion:
Q7. Is the book being promoted from your own website(s) and/or blog(s) that link to your Lulu listing?
A7. Yes
Q8. What other Internet promotion venues have you used - free and/or paid? Direct emailing, writers' websites, etc.? Any paid advertising?
A8. Articles, book reviews, book websites
Q9. How much time have you spent promoting your book? (approx)
A9. Every single day, some days only 5-10 min, other days an hour or more
Q10. How much money have you spent promoting your book? (approx)
A20. Hard to say, but over $1,000 so far
Thank you, Kathie, for sharing this valuable info with us.
The Conclusion: BOOK SALES ARE THE DIRECT RESULT OF THE BOOK PROMOTION.
Kathie sells almost 20 times more books from her own website http://www.worth-more-than-rubies.com than from the Lulu listing as the result of her promotion efforts.
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