Personal Learning Assignment: Oh What Fun!

Well, this was an exciting assignment in my Social Media and Society course based on a Personal Learning Experience!!!

I decided to do mine on LinkedIn. Since Garry started his own consulting business we’ve had a few friends ask or suggest that he create a LinkedIn page. While he loves the technical side of his profession he really isn’t one for the internet or social media. I have to admit that because I seem to be forever curious about social media tools and maybe even a closet geek and wondered about LinkedIn as business media tool. So when this assignment came up, it was an excellent opportunity for me to investigate LinkedIn further by creating an account and a profile…in this case for husband, Garry’s business.

I did it! Take a look at my personal learning assignment result here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/garryholtz

I also made a video for this assignment. First time experience but worked brilliantly to help me share my learning experience. Please take a moment to take a look at it. I signed up for a 30 day free trial of Camtasia to use which I downloaded from TechSmith at http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html

I think that we are all marketers. Whether we are manufacturing an actual product or simply selling ourselves we are still marketing and looking for opportunities to locate “buyers” of what we are selling. Kay Hebbourn has an easy to understand article on her Brand You Brilliant Wordpress page on how to market yourself on Linkedin. If you want to refresh, update or join she has some great tips at http://www.brandyoubrilliant.com/how-to-market-yourself-on-linkedin/

When researching for the assignment I also came across this article by Stacy Zapar http://www.stacyzapar.com/2013/04/six-tips-to-spring-clean-your-linkedin-profile.html. I admit that in creating my first-ever profile I just wanted to lay in the bare bones but intend to continue to flesh out Garry’s profile. Stacy also had excellent pointers and liked her presentation. 

Now that that initial scary part is over I want to go over Garry’s profile again and fine tune it. I hope to teach Garry a thing or two as well so he can update his own profile and keep it current.

I confess that I ran into a problem creating the account. I was creating the account for my husband. Using his name and his email but from my laptop. LinkedIn immediately wanted to mine MY yahoo contacts list. But, but, it isn’t mine, it isn’t me…it’s my husband. I thought I hadn’t “clicked” or “unclicked” something.  I deleted his account and started over.  This time I paid careful attention to every page, looking for a box or something but it tried to do it all over again. When I would not co-operate…it would not let me continue. Well, arrrrrrgggghhhhh. I deleted again, had a cup of tea and glared threateningly at the LinkedIn screen. I deliberately signed out of my Yahoo Mail and…I started again, not necessarily because I am a glutton for punishment but because I don’t want any social media to defeat me! This time I did create the account but I have my yahoo mail asking me this:

Hi Lynn,
You agreed to share your Yahoo! information with LinkedIn. If you did not agree to share your information, stop sharing.
Regards,
Yahoo! Account Services

Nooooo! I didn’t. I mean…I didn’t want to. When I click stop sharing, yahoo takes me to my mail login page. Gulp. I have a feeling that I am still being mined and my family, friends and associates are now trapped in the world of LinkedIn. Ah well. 

Hmm, those other tutorials and articles didn’t warn about this. Even typing this I am wearing a frown. After this experience, I Googled specifically “LinkedIn mining my contacts”…and there are people complaining. This is one link to a forum upset: http://community.linkedin.com/questions/29749/how-can-i-stop-linkedin-from-mining-my-email-conta.html

Yes, you read the URL correct. That particular forum is none other than the Linkedin Help Centre Community forum. There was no simple solution. It is a zebra, it wears it stripes and there is no way to change it to polka dots. Egad! What have I done?

I dug a bit more, looking for recent tutorials based on the year. I came across this one that I am hoping has the solution to my current contacts problem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3AtjaSqB5w and I am hoping to find a quiet moment in a very busy week to examine the tutorial closer and have a go at it. 

 The last video that I watched on my own about LinkedIn was a cute little British video about how 9 minutes spent on LinkedIn can change…everything. Check it out right here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTBkSwobbac  It is perky and lively and it sort of lifted off that dark cloud over my head, a little. I am going to continue working with my husband on his LinkedIn page and see how much further I can take it and more importantly…if it really does work for him. 

References

Christopher Ivanovich (2013, April 23) How can I stop Linedin from mining my email contacts? LinkedIn Help Centre Help Forum Question Retrieved June 24, 2013 from http://community.linkedin.com/questions/29749/how-can-i-stop-linkedin-from-mining-my-email-conta.html

Hebbourne,Kay (2013, April 1) How to Market Yourself On LinkedIn, Brand You Brilliant Retrieved from http://www.brandyoubrilliant.com/how-to-market-yourself-on-linkedin/

Kane, Libby (2013, April 3) 8 Mistakes You Should Never Make on LinkedIn, Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/03/04/8-mistakes-you-should-never-make-on-linkedin/

Kapar, Stacy (2013, April 13), 6 Easy-Breezy Tips to Spring Clean Your LinkedIn Profile, Retrieved from http://www.stacyzapar.com/2013/04/six-tips-to-spring-clean-your-linkedin-profile.html

LinkedIn, LinkedIn: 9 minutes can change everything, (2012, May 20) Retrieved June 24, 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTBkSwobbac

Willie Lowery, How to setup a Linkedin Account – LinkedIn Tutorial linkedin.mp4 (2013, January 5) Retrieved June 25, 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3AtjaSqB5w