There is no debate that LinkedIn is an incredible resource for networking, career transitions, and prospecting, great group forums and following your favorite company. But it has a very powerful feature that I find to be more valuable than any other – “Q&A”.

Under the “More” tab in the tool bar, the first category that appears is “Answers”, click on it. Here’s the Gold Mine. About three times a week, I come to this page to contribute. I browse the “categories” section on the right and pay it forward as best I can. Finding a question you can answer for someone else is usually easy to do. Combing the answers that others have provided is equally valuable and I’ve learned a tremendous amount from others commentary on a topic that I thought I knew well. Providing answers is helpful for others and helps establish your presence on LinkedIn and increases your visibility.

For social network geeks like me, clicking on the “Ask a Question” tab is where turbo power of LinkedIn begins. Have you ever had a question about new (or old) technology, travel tips, IT issues, best practices, leadership, sales, healthcare, apps, etc.? This is the place to ask it. You’ll get a response from people around the world or around the block. Chances are you will get more than one incredibly useful answer and will start building relationships, and your network, in the process.

Recent questions that I’ve tossed out to the LinkedIn answer gurus include topics on webinars, video conferencing, alternative names for social media, the effectiveness of QR codes, whiteboards business apps and so on. The responses are timely, incredibly useful, and always provide additional tips and tricks that coincide with their answer(s).

If knowledge is power and information is valuable, LinkedIn’s Q&A section is your Gold Mine. It’s a tremendous resource of experienced professionals willing to share best practices to anyone who asks on almost any topic you might have. And, it’s a great way for us to pay it forward on a topic or solution we know well and that can be useful to others.

So what question do you have for LinkedIn today? Post it and let the power of 120+ Million LinkedIn users help you solve your problem (oh, and it’s free).

Business promotion on social media channels is a bit like fitting a square peg into a round hole. The heart of the problem is that, almost without exception, the giants of social media only added the business promotion component as an afterthought.

What this translates into is frustration. Communication is harder than it should be, at every step you must employ creative hacks just to make sure that you send the right message.

The Exception to the Rule

In this entire field of mishaps, LinkedIn looks like a glowing exception. It was built to support a professional network after all. But the good news stops here. While LinkedIn does offer a great deal in terms of business connections and B2B promotion, its limited scope soon becomes apparent when you try to reach a broader public, like, let’s say, Facebook offers.

It looks like a real problem without an easy way out. So businesses continue to hack their way through and try to reach their user base. Sometimes they get successful, other times they get banned (Google+ was the main culprit here) and most of the times they fall short of succeeding.

Problem? There’s a Startup for That.

And so the story goes. Someone’s problems quite often means someone else’s opportunity. Enter ShoutOr, a small startup with some big ambitions.

Their take on the problem is to create a separate module for business tools, which include the general information, job postings and promotions. They also some very ambitious plans to blend in some localized search, Google Maps integration, possibility to accept feedback from customers and highly customizable access settings and it looks like a winner.

Well, it would be great if that would be the whole story.

Startup? There’s a Problem with That

ShoutOr’s biggest weakness is the fact that, well, they’re just getting started. All these tools sound great on paper until you realize that you also need a serious user base to make them work. The tools themselves could also use some improvement especially in regards to usability.

The way ShoutOr is dealing with this dilemma is kind of ingenious though. They basically don’t tie up the use of their tools to the use of their network. This means that businesses are allowed to generate all this neat content on ShoutOr and then use it somewhere else. For the tools where that’s not really a possibility, like polls and customer feedback they adopted the tried and tested approach of 3rd party login.

Why You Should Give ShoutOr a Try

This little network could very well be the next big thing going or just as easy it could be another of those startups nobody will remember one year from now. Either way it just makes sense to get in early and establish a presence. This way, if it does become successful you will suddenly have a big advantage over your competition.

Leveraging LinkedIn during your career transition is a blog topic that I’ve put off writing for quite some time because LinkedIn has written about from every angle and I wasn’t convinced that I could write anything about it that would be unique.  But, I’m going to give it a shot here.  As I talk with friends and former coworkers around the country I find myself sharing some of these tips and techniques repeatedly.  I hope this will be a valuable resource for anyone looking to make the leap into their next career.

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool that has extensive reach and resources that you can benefit from.

LinkedIn tips for your job search;

1. Use LinkedIn to create a target company list.  Start with about 40 companies.  This is not easy.  In fact, most give up when they are able to list about 10 companies.  This step is crucial.  It’s the foundation of your job search so use this activity to brainstorm those companies you like to buy from, work for, have friends or families working for, might be interested in, etc.

2. Use the LinkedIn company profile page to research the company and to identify what senior leadership from that company is in your network or groups. Search by title of the person you would interview with (i.e. VP Sales, XYZ Company).  And, choose to “Follow” that company so you can stay abreast of their latest activity.

3. Reach out to senior leadership via LinkedIn “In mail”.  Or, send them an email directly. i.e.  John.doe@abc.com or Jdoe@abc.com.  Sites such as www.mailtester.com,  can verify most email addresses and/or domains.

4. Be brief, be clear and be compelling in your communication with them. Tell them why you are emailing them, make sure your ask is crystal clear and always try answer the question “so what” when telling them about you.

5. When you find a company you’re interested in, go to www.hoovers.com and see who their competitors are.  Then, look those companies up on LinkedIn and follow steps two and three above.

6. Complete your profile 100%.

7. Load up on recommendations.  Preferably 15 or more.  Ask those you’ve worked with, worked for and worked along side.  Ask those in your circle of influence for character references if they are not intimately familiar with your professional responsibilities.

8. Apply for membership to groups you are interested in and groups they are a member of (you can see their groups on their profile page).  Connect and communicate with them via LinkedIn groups.

9. Search for “talent acquisition specialists” for the company on your target list and reach out to them.  Most have In Mail but if they don’t, go to step 3.

10. Use the advance search feature to identify the person(s) you would interview with (i.e. XYZ company, VP, Sales, South East).

11. Utilize your collegiate groups and ask the alumni to for connections, referrals, resources and assistance of any kind.

12. Post a resume video on your profile. Keep it 30 seconds or less.  Make sure it looks professional.  This is your value proposition.  Check outwww.15secondpitch.com to help you craft your message.

13. Post your “Wow” presentation via Slideshare on your LinkedIn Profile.  3-5 slides that illustrate what you have to offer and how it will impact their bottom line.

14. Leverage Twitter and post your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile.  See A Brand, Twitter and Jobs.

15. Don’t pay for the premium LinkedIn subscription.  You don’t need to.

16. Answer one question in the “Answers” section everyday.  Get known and be visible.

17. Comb the “Events” posted on LinkedIn.  See what’s happening in your industry or in your geographical area that would be worth attending.  Be intentional.

18. Pay a professional to do your resume then post that resume on your LinkedIn profile.  Spend your time finding your next career, not thinking of key words and specialties to add to your profile.

LinkedIn is an amazing tool that’s free and right at your fingertips.  Take the time to use all it has to offer.  It will pay off long after you land your next career.

The wildly successful Linkedin IPO has almost instantaneously made Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of Linkedin, a paper billionaire – twice over. No less dramatically, it has provided pundit wind bags with a fresh breath of hot air to blow across the sphere of media.

The lofty valuation of LinkiedIn has led some in the industry to compare the company with the likes of memorable dot com era failures that have become synonymous with the tech bubble of the late nineties and early years of the new millennium.

Some names may still raise hairs on the backs of investors that took huge losses, becoming victims of over-inflated growth expectations. Webvan.com, which was valued at $6 billion after its IPO in 1999 – collapsed about a year and a half later. Pets.com raised $82.5 million in its IPO during 2000, and was insolvent within nine months. Even Netscape, which had their IPO surrounded by great expectations, never lived up to the hype and was eventually phased out of use.

These prodigious collapses provide ideal case studies to examine market conditions at the time of the tech bubble, but supply few valid comparisons with LinkedIn or the current state of the technology sector.

In 1999 and 2000, at the peak of the tech stock hysteria, a company that had yet to turn a profit or in some instances even generate any amount of positive revenue, was able to hold a well subscribed initial public offering, as investors were all too eager to buy into a promising upstart – providing a company with considerable amounts of cash and resources.

Ultimately, these upstart prospects quickly became fledgling suspects, forced to file for bankruptcies as they were unable to generate meaningful revenue streams to finance operations.

Linkedin is Different

LinkedIn saw revenue of $243.1 million in 2010, and net income of $15.4 million. The social network had a 110% increase in revenue growth in the first quarter of 2011 (yoy). Additionally, they’ve got 100 million registered users and three separate sources of revenue: hiring solutions, advertisements, and premium subscriptions.

Whether these fundamentals warrant a $9 billion valuation is debatable. However, implying that a lofty valuation for this particular tech company reflects a more broad tech-market bubble – is in my opinion unjustified and moreover misrepresents the fundamental investing flaws that played a key role in the inflation of the tech-bubble.

In the two year time-span between 1999 and 2000, more than 800 tech companies were priced. Compare that with only 45 tech company offerings in 2010. The current pace in 2011 indicates offerings will likely exceed that of the prior year, but fall tremendously short of the dot com era rate. This lends credence to the argument that today we find ourselves in a completely different market environment than that of 2000.

This isn’t the First Time Market Commentators have Cried Wolf

Google’s 2004 IPO valued the company at $23 billion, a number that pundits were quick to note made the search giant larger in terms of market value than General Motors – a name synonymous with American industry. It was derided as the re-emergence of over inflated growth expectations – ‘Tech-Bubble 2.0′.

Google stock turned out to be a great investment. Though this success is hardly prophetical of how well LinkedIn buyers will fair – it is a testament to the general inability of forecasters to assign accurate valuations.

One blindingly obvious take away from this IPO is that market participants clearly want a piece of LinkedIn. Does that mean you should buy too? At it’s current valuation, it’s certainly not a low risk stock and may not be ideal for investors with smaller risk thresholds.

The New Frontier in Social Networks – Shmish.com

As the founder of a recently launched social media website, my biased opinion is that smaller, more intimate social networks that focus specifically on one discipline will prove to be the wave of the future. That’s why I believe that Shmish! – which is a niche social news site dedicated entirely to the field of finance – will prove to be a destination for those looking not just to read news, but to be involved in the process of news.

Instead of allowing major financial news conglomerates to decide which articles should be featured on a financial news site – ordinary users make those editorial decisions on Shmish. Together, the Shmish community decides the stories of most relevance by voting for articles they enjoy. This puts low budget financial bloggers and well-financed media empires on level ground. The community’s highest voted finance related stories are featured most prominently on the site. Period.

Getting Involved is Easy

Registered users can take any link (URL) of a finance related story, throw that link into the Shmish submission box, and see an automatically generated title and brief description ready for submission. The user then categorizes it and clicks submit – it’s that simple.

How a visitor chooses to utilize Shmish is a matter of preference. One may be interested in viewing breaking news as opposed to the most popular news, so they’ll toggle over to the ‘most recent’ news page.

‘My Page’ is another way Shmish aims to make the site more user-friendly. This is a page where you can save articles, view all the comments you’ve made on any comment thread, see all of the articles that you have submitted on the site, or take a look at what your followers and following have been submitting.

Why just read the news? Be a part of the news making process. Register on Shmish!.

Eventbrite demonstrates Social Commerce in action; specifically the Facebook “Like” and the “Tweet”  increase ticket purchases, especially when shared after the point of purchase. Between the social networks, Facebook shares led the pack, generating an average of $2.52 while Linkedin shares were worth $0.90, and Tweets just $.0.43.  The impact of sharing via email was still strong at $2.34.

People are more likely to post to Facebook after they have purchased a ticket to an event, in order to share with their friends and family what awesome conference, party, or networking event they are planning to attend. In turn, when friends and family see this post shared, they may also purchase a ticket to the same event because if that person is attending, it must be worth checking out.

As seen below: Over the last six months, 40% of sharing through Facebook occurred on the event page (pre-purchase) vs. 60% of sharing which occurred on the order confirmation page (post-purchase).

As seen in the stats above, unfortunately for Twitter, Facebook still overshadows it in reach for sharing by almost four times the amount. Facebook to this day is still a more “social” platform where people show who they are, what they do, and where they like to go. It “mirrors” their real life. Twitter, although enormous as well and still growing, has not been adopted by as many people, just yet. Will this change with the new quirks that are coming out with “liking” something on Facebook? Will people want to “like” something when it will be shown as a “share” versus a harmless “like?” Perhaps. Perhaps not. But for now, Facebook still takes the cake on ROI on event sales and promotion via social media.

Since College Basketball’s March Madness is almost upon us, I felt it only appropriate to put together a Social Media Madness bracket in the hopes of answering: Who is or who will become the king of Social Media?  Is it Facebook? Twitter? Or is it a “Cinderella Player” like Livemocha?  Fill out your picks here Facebook’s Bracket Builder !

We are down to the Sweet Sixteen.  For each company I list their strengths (key wins) and weaknesses (key losses) and point out how your company or brand can leverage these social media offerings.  This week we discuss the winners and losers of Region One and detail out this week’s Region Two match-ups. 

Digg is a social bookmarketing site.  After content is submitted other people “Digg” what they like best. If your story receives enough Diggs, it’s promoted to the front page.

 

Key losses: For how succesful they’ve been they do not get much press.  In Thailand where they have a solid market share users are starting to use Facebook, even though Facebook isn’t tailored for the Thai market specificly.  Is this a sign of things to come?

Business Use:  Very important for Global companies to test and play in the Latin and Asian markets where Hi5 has significant market share.

This is today’s social media Goliath.  After opening its network up beyond college students in late 2006 Facebook has quickly risen to the top and is why it’s this tournaments’ overall number one seed and the hands down favorite to win it all.