The Smartest Marketing Of All

I couldn't sleep last night. A year ago that might have been a common occurrence. But anyone who has a newborn knows that sleep is a luxury and if you have a five minute window, you'll sleep standing up. But sometimes my mind goes crazy and even though I'm exhausted, I cannot rest.

So what do I do? I go to LinkedIn.

It's true!

I find that there are few better ways to bide my time during the wee hours than on LinkedIn.

I'm a huge believer in LinkedIn. I believe it is the best business networking tool ever created. It is the best social network for assisting you with your own self marketing... The smartest marketing!

Before interviewing people for potential employment, I check to see if they are on LinkedIn. If they are not, that is a flag. Yep, if you are interviewing with me any time soon, you better get this done!

Here are some tips to make sure you probably use LinkedIn:

1. Don't just input your resume

You already have one of those. Your LinkedIn profile gives you the opportunity to expand on your experience and even put some editorial accents in there too.

2. Add your photo

Don't be a wimp. Put your photo in there. Look, if I hunt you down on Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, I'm going to find your photo. Put a good professional photo up on LinkedIn.

3. Endorsements

I like reading these. They are not absolutely necessary, and I know that most of these people are your friends, so be smart about these.

Endorsement etiquette: NEVER ask someone to endorse you. Endorse someone and maybe they will endorse you back. But don't ask someone to endorse you. If you ask me to endorse you, I assume that you just blanketed everyone in your network with a request to endorse you. Also, if you do endorse someone, be serious. You can add a little creativity to your endorsement but make it serious.

4. Accept all LinkedIn requests.

Why not? The more people in your network, the wider your audience for which to communicate.

Take your LinkedIn profile seriously, but have fun with it too. Keep an eye on this site, they are adding new features all the time.

No, I'm not on the payroll. Just a fan.