LinkedIn is not just for job search; in fact it is the premier place to network with the right professionals for your industry. You can establish business relationships, find clients or customers, discover breaking industry news in discussion Groups and share your own expertise with others around the globe. Want some tips on maximizing groups? Check this post out by Dave Taylor of Intuitive Systems.

No matter your path to a professional networking site, it is imperative to highlight your personal brand and share your experience, talents and strengths in the best possible light. There are many free tutorials on the LinkedIn site to help you learn. The IHM Job Search Ministry Group in Cincinnati offers a free monthly “One Stop Job Search” Workshop that covers everything from writing resumes and cover letters to networking and on-line job search strategies including LinkedIn. (Disclosure: I teach the LinkedIn portion of the free workshop for IHM JSM.) Better yet, find a LinkedIn consultant or small group lab class for individualized attention and knowledge on tips & tricks to maximize this great tool.

C3: Creating Connections Consulting, LLC, offers specialized LinkedIn Lab classes for Women.  This program is limited to just four women per class for maximum individual attention, but at group pricing. You can find more information here. C3 also offers group training classes for the general public throughout the year and individual coaching and training.

C3 is proud to be a service provider for Act Three in Blue Ash.  Act Three focuses on assisting women in charting their next phase of life and offers many great seminars and workshops for women. C3 provides group and private training for clients of Act Three. Our next class at Act Three is on October 6th and includes a detailed analysis of your completed LinkedIn profile in addition to the lab training class: a great combination offer!

No matter the resource that you use, it is most important that you have established your professional presence online.

SummitUp was the latest Social Media Conference in the Southern Ohio area. It followed closely on the heels of the Cincinnati Digital Hub non-Conference on 9/24-9/25. SummitUp was an absolutely stunning event! The line-up of Key-note speakers and break-out session presenters included some big names in the media world as well as some of the reigning local twitterati. Take a look at the Key-Note line-up:

Kevin Dugan
Director of Marketing at Empower MediaMarketing, Founder of Cincinnati Social Media
Topic: “What’s Your Story? Storytelling’s Link to Social Media Marketing Success

Artie Issac
Public Speaker | SpeakerSite co-founder | Young Isaac co-founder | marketer, teacher, speaker, writer
Topic: “Social Media as a Vehicle for Cretivity”

Bob Garfield
Columnist, Critic, Essayist, Pundit, International Lecturer & Broadcast Personality
Topic: “No, Tuesday’s No Good. Let Me Get Back to You After the Apocalypse”

Lewis Howes
Author of the LinkedIn Book “LinkedWorking” | Founder of Sports Executives Association | Sports Social Media Consultant
Topic: LinkedIn

Chris Brogan
President, New Marketing Labs- a Social Marketing Agency
Topic: The Importance of Trust in the Digital Age

Check out the complete list of Breakout Session Presenters and their topics here.

The speakers were engaging and offered up some great tips and new strategies. I especially liked Brian LeCount’s break-out session on the power of Blogs and SEO. He made such a good case for making Blogs a central part of your strategy, that after seeing the data, it became a moment of “why hadn’t I thought of this before???” Another practical application “aha” was Lewis Howes’ emphasis on increasing search with your LinkedIn profile. I happened to make all of the recommended changes as he presented them live and saw my profile move up in the search rankings for my “key words” right in front of my eyes!

Kevin Dugan kept the images of cave animals dancing in my head for days, while Artie Isaac inspired me to ‘un-plug and to breathe deeply’. Love his advice to take 30 minutes out of every day to think & create. Bob Garfield captured my attention with his focus on the changing tides of traditional media and gave frank answers to the audience question of the future of careers in radio and other media.

Lewis Howes (two sport collegiate All American) kept me fascinated with his re-enactment of his award-winning pole-vault jump. I literally pictured him flying over the bar and landing safely onto the mat! Beautiful segue into Success with LinkedIn, giving tips that are not widely known. Chris Brogan, as the finale, was a wonderful close to the day. He is so down-to-earth and one of the most authentically transparent “gurus” out there. Loved everything that he had to say about social media, especially the admonition that as companies, we need to “grow bigger ears” to be in tune with what our customers are saying. It is the customers who are controlling the brand message.

Biggest personal take away for me was hearing Chris Brogan emphasize the importance of giving back and rallying groups of people together to affect change. I believe this whole-heartedly! Social media is about creating conversations and building relationships based on trust. Imagine the difference you can make when operating in an authentic and transparent manner. Chris detailed his idea of donating the cost of 2 lattes to help send a young woman in need to college. The message went viral and the money was raised in 22 minutes!  I have the greatest respect for Chris’s work and the difference that he is making in the world.

Chris signing a copy of his new book "Trust Agents"