Let’s set the stage, the Rock The World™ book is a totally unique combination of knowledge, insight and inspiration for LinkedIn® users at ALL levels.

We wrote this book to share our knowledge gathered from time in the trenches with you and to inspire you into action, to create inspired people who can in turn help others as well. Whether the book comes first, the inspiration second, or the other way around; this is a book packed with oodles of knowledge and loads of inspiration.

Like kids, we are each inspired by PLAY, like teens we are inspired by MUSIC, as adults we are inspired by BUSINESS SUCCESS and FRENDSHIPS. As we write this material, often in the wee hours of the morning with the radio tuned to a classic rock channel, that is also what inspires us.

How about you? What inspires you?  We hope this book will stoke your imagination and take you to greater heights than you thought were possible. AIM HIGH!  Please, write to us about your successes along the way. YOU are OUR INSPIRATION.

In prepping for Version 3.0 of Rock The World with your Online Presence, our hit LinkedIn Profile and SEO book, we had to make a little extra room. Since our book was released, right after the LinkedIn design change in late 2009, the LinkedIn Company Profile feature came on board and we had to dive into it of course. In the Rock The World book we refer to these instructional videos as “Timeless Updates”.

In this video, we (Mike O’Neil and Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Rockstars), explain the limits regarding LinkedIn Company profiles. Lori even provides some extra tips that only VIEWERS of the video get to learn.

TO SEE THE EXTRA TIP – watch the video!

Limit #1 – The key LinkedIn limit regarding company profiles is the space allowed for the Company Description. It is 1,500 characters and carriage returns count as 2 here. Use a word processor and copy/paste the text. ♦ Special characters ♦ are not a bad idea either. Short paragraphs, some bullets. Think of it how you would think of a LinkedIn Profile Summary in many ways.

Limit #2 – Specialties are tags that you can add to increase your appeal to individuals and search engines. You get up to 20 keywords or key PHRASES. Watch the video for the secret tip on getting the most out of Specialty tags.

There are other limits that you are not likely to run into (# of products or services listed). If they become significant, we will feature a post on those as well.

See related post on LinkedIn Limits

Click below to see the Integrated Alliances Company Page, follow if you like.

Does this help?

This video itself is a LinkedIn Success story. Through LinkedIn inviting, LinkedIn Thank You Messages (ala Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “The Thank You Economy“) and a little insight, Splash Media founder Paul Slack and Integrated Alliances Founder Mike O’Neil struck up a relationship that led to a meeting and to this video interview.

In the interview with former CNN anchor Renay San Miguel, Mike O’Neil discuses corporate adoption of LInkedIn and the capabilities that the LinkedIn API will bring to users in 2011.

Splash Media provides turnkey social media solutions for small and medium sized businesses who can’t quite afford to bring on a full-tome Social Media specialist. Integrated Alliances provides corporate LinkedIn training solutions, primarily for sales teams at technology firms. The IA executive team of Mike O’Neil & Lori Ruff are also dynamic keynote speakers on Social Media.

This is what comes from 1) being authentic 2) writing custom invitations 3) being referred and 4) sending Thank You messages.  This is the actual string.  IT IS BEST READ FROM THE BOTTOM UP.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for linking to me. I look forward to learning from you.

Thought it would be fun to share my first album and first concert with you:

First album: (7th grade) Deep Purple: Machine Head. My friend had an older brother who had it and I had to have it. (I am not counting the Bobby Sherman album that I cut out of the back of a Cheerios box

First concert: Aerosmith and Golden Earring – also 7th grade.

John

On 04/12/11 1:03 AM, Mike O’Neil wrote:
——————–
Thank you for the invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Your profile comments are very inspiring to me. I watch Almost Famous nearly every month.

We ROCK at LinkedIn. As “The LinkedIn Rockstars”, we speak, train and write real books on LinkedIn and Social Media at an expert level all over the world.

Rock? I played the Fillmore in San Francisco Nov 2010, sharing the stage with members of the Allman Brothers, Paul McCartney’s Band and even Aerosmith, but that’s a different story…

♫ So, why does this matter? ♫

We take this Rock n Roll side and funnel the energy into our LinkedIn Corporate Sales Training Programs, refined over 5 years and 400+ LinkedIn training sessions.

Getting to Top on LinkedIn (29,900+ connections) taught me things that I share with our clients – mostly tech companies with sales teams.

We wrote “Rock The World with your Online Presence”, the world’s #1 rockin’ LinkedIn business book. It’s a near bible for LinkedIn Profile Optimization and related SEO, the 188 pgs packed with classic rock song references.

http://RockTheWorldBook.com

Interested in talking further? If so, simply REPLY back. Myself, or someone from our team, will listen, understand, share some insights and help you take the next steps LinkedIn and business development.

Rock on!

Mike O’Neil
The LinkedIn Rockstar

You might also check out my partner Lori Ruff, The LinkedIn Diva, at http://LinkedIn.com/in/LoriRuff . She rocks too!

On April 11, 2011 8:00 PM, John King wrote:
——————–
Hi Mike,

Bill Clanton suggested I link to you.

You had me at “Almost Famous and Office Space”

Reading your profile is actually entertaining – especially for a music lover who spent every spare nickel on albums and concerts as a kid.

John King

We (Mike O’Neil & Lori Ruff) are The LinkedIn Rockstars and we are visiting the Pacific Northwest to deliver a 2-day LinkedIn Retreat in Langley, WA (April 21-22). It is a highly intimate affair aimed at marketing and sales professionals, those tasked with bringing business in the door. The program is hosted by the Langley Center for New Media and Russell Sparkman, Director.

Customers vs. Employers

It is interesting how these very skills map to the job search – finding customers and finding jobs, customers finding you and employers finding you.

While we primarily train corporate sales teams at technology firms to use LinkedIn, many of the skills are highly transferable – to small business AND for career-related activities.

Giving Back

Upon meeting Paul Anderson on LinkedIn (a LinkedIn success story), Mike got the idea to help the local job seeker community and the global job seeker community. Paul liked the idea and this is what we came up with. Hope you like it too!

Regular registration for the 2-day retreat is $548. For most job seekers, this is simply not an option. But there are costs to cover and we maintain a small class size to maximize learning. What is one to do with so many people to help?

The Idea

Have a contest to gather up the best job seeker LinkedIn tips and award a scholarship, worth $548, to the winner. It can’t be just any contest though.

See the Seattle Times Article for the “full story” and extra LinkedIn tips from Mike O’Neil.

In an age of widely circulated Tip Sheets, we are seeking new, original ideas. The most creative LINKEDIN-related solutions will be weighted the highest.

So, if you are in the greater Seattle area and would like a chance to win the Job Seeker scholarship to the 2-day Retreat, listen up! This individual MUST report back to the rest of the job seeker community by posting comments on this blog.

We (Mike O’Neil & Lori Ruff) will judge and we like ORIGINAL IDEAS and, as rockstars who love shiny objects, award STYLE POINTS. We will highlight other great ideas as well. To be considered, include the term #RockTheWorld in the post somewhere – hint, good tip on Style Points!

Help out your fellow job seekers by contributing YOUR ideas, comment on each other’s comments, and may the best ideas win (for all)!

There is a lot of debate over complexity and time management in Social Media, especially as users adopt multiple platforms. It’s natural, like playing multiple instruments or multiple sports.

So, which of the big 3, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is the most COMPLEX for the average daily user and WHY?

Frankly, we find the combination of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is where the biggest complexity lies, especially with messaging, but that just something to kick it off with.

This is an excerpt from our Rock The World with your Online Presence book, co-authored by Mike O’Neil & Lori Ruff.

Most things in the Social Media world have limits and LinkedIn is no different, some limits are really important to take into account. Only 3,000 invitations? 300 characters to invite someone to join your network? I didn’t know that!

With few exceptions, everything LinkedIn-related has limits. Being curious and used to maxing things out, we set out to do just that with LinkedIn, especially LinkedIn profiles. LinkedIn’s limits, like the 3,000 Invitation limit or the 50 Group limit, really matter and you MUST plan accordingly or you can “be stuck in the desert with no food or water”.

In some cases it is really important to know about the limits. Some of them have “irreversible consequences”, e.g. deleting email accounts. At the same time, there are areas without limits, e.g. the number of jobs or schools. For example, the Summary section has 2,000 characters; how many should you use? Prince has the answer: “1999” of course!

Think of different ways to express yourself and your message then effectively use the space LinkedIn affords you. Fill it up, ‘Take it to the Limit” (The Eagles 1976).

The LinkedIn Counter

In many cases, LinkedIn will be really helpful and tell you when you go “One Toke Over The Line (Brewer and Shipley 1971) by counting the characters for you. It is even turns red when you cross “0” so you really can’t miss it. This counter tool is showing up more and more and it’s a great development.

For example, if you paste text into your summary text box, click on “Save” and get an error message, it will tell you that have used 2,050 characters and you are only allowed 2,000. It won’t let you save it until you comply with the limits. The following numbers indicate the maximum number of characters allowed in each field type.

LinkedIn Profile Limits

Number of Profiles you can have: legally one, technically there is no limit

Picture: 4 MB file upload that results in an 80 x 80 pixel picture

First Name – 20 char.
Last Name – 40 char.
Former/Maiden Name – 40 char.

Headline – 120 char.
Website Custom Tag – 36 char.
Status field – 140 char.
Public Profile URL – 46 char.

Summary – 2,000 char.
Specialties – 500 char.

Number of Companies – unlimited
Company Name – 100 char.
Company Display Name – 100 char.
Position (Job) Title – 100 char.
Position Description – 2,000 char.

Number of Educational Institutions – unlimited
Education/Degree – 100 char.
Education/Fields of study – 100 char.
Education/Activities and Societies – 500 char.
Education/Additional Notes – 1,000 char.

Number of recommendations – unlimited
Number of characters in a recommendation – more than you should ever use!

Interests – 1,000 char.
Groups and Associations – 1,000 char.
Honors and Awards – 1,000 char.

Contact Settings – 1,000+ char. (if you go over in this field, it simply will not save your changes. The most we have seen is 1,495 char., but the total is less than 2,000 char.)

Other Important LinkedIn Limits (for all users)

Total Number of Direct Tier 1 Connections you can have – 30,000 total
Invitations that you can send to others – 3,000 lifetime
Invitations you can accept – no limits
Number of people you can send a message to at once – 50 people Tier 1’s
Number of LinkedIn Groups you can join – 50 Groups (plus 50 more subgroups)
Number of Status updates per day – no limits

LinkedIn offers up 3 Website links in your LinkedIn profile. Mike O’Neil, The LinkedIn Rockstar, explain that while users might be tempted to use them for a Blog or for Twitter, this is NOT, however, where they should be used. LinkedIn has special support for Blogs (through Applications) and special support for Twitter.

Facebook is one link you might consider adding and it begs a question. Should it be a link to your Facebook Profile or your Facebook Page? If you don’t have a Facebook Page, then that’s an easy one to answer – your Facebook Profile.

My partner Lori Ruff and I are trying a new idea for handling URL’s, especially Social Media URL’s, and it is in use on our LinkedIn profiles. We are using a site that houses ALL of our URL’s, www.itsmyURLs.com, so people can access to all 15 or so of our Social Media links in a nice easy to select format. Here are 3 examples – combined and individual.

See the LinkedIn Rockstar Team Link Page

See Mike O’Neil’s Link Page

See Lori Ruff’s Link Page

It’s the call that never happened, the viewer that quickly clicked away, you know, the one who hits the “Back” button after those magical 5-7 seconds. Your online presence can just as easily REPEL business as it can attract it.

If you have been on LinkedIn for a while now and haven’t seen stellar results that you keep hearing about from others, this may have been happening with your LinkedIn profile and you probably would have no idea.

A bad presence, however it might be defined, can turn a deal around and send it to a competitor quickly. This can be for many reasons.

1. Your profile looks as though you are seeking a job. OK if you are, not OK if you are in sales, a business owner, etc.
2. Your profile has no picture, is sparse, has no connections. Never OK in this world. Shows you “don’t get it” or “can’t figure it out” and probably have other shortcomings as well.
3. You have few connections. Is it that nobody likes you, you don’t have any people to connect to, you are keeping your circle really tight. It shows that you are either unpopular or overly shy. Everyone should have at least a modest network size.
4. A dozen connections will NOT do for getting any respect on LinkedIn. Misspppellings can kill a relationship VERY fast, especially if they are not hidden in LOTS of text.

The Rock The World with your Online Presence book is 188 pages of super-detailed information to help you craft a business-generating LinkedIn profile.

The new book THE THANK YOU ECONOMY by Gary Vaynerchuk is a welcome addition to the growing segment of nonfiction books that explain why social media is so important for businesses today.

In the book Gary says: “[Y]ou’re not going out of business tomorrow if you’re not on Facebook and Twitter and blogging and creating content and building community. But the risk that your business will die before its time grows bigger every day that you don’t use social media.” (Page 49 of THE THANK YOU ECONOMY under the subhead “Resistance Won’t Kill You Right Away.”)

Are you a business owner who has tentatively dipped your toe into LinkedIn.com but not really taken advantage of this professional social media site? (For help having an effective LinkedIn profile, do read the book “Rock the World With Your Online Presence: Your Ticket to a Multi-Platinum LinkedIn Profile” 2nd Edition by Mike O’Neil and Lori Ruff.)

Are you on Twitter and have a Facebook Page for your business but you don’t really “get” why social media can be so powerful?

Do your business a big favor and read Gary’s book. Then start effectively participating on social media sites rather than risk that “your business will die before its time.”

P.S. You also might enjoy reading my blog post “The Doctor Is In: Rx for Social Media Blues” — this post contains another nugget of insight from Gary Vaynerchuk’s book THE THANK YOU ECONOMY.

(c) 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic, LLC. The company blog is at www.MillerMosaicSocialMediaMarketing.com

I received a very nice comment on my guest blog post “Self-Publishing Made Me Do It: How My Novel Birthed My Marketing Business” on Laurel Marshfield’s blog (link to this post below).

Kay Ross of www.kayross.com commented:

Congratulation Phyllis! I’ll share the link to this post with my sister members of the Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society (http://www.hkwips.org) – I’m trying to convince them about the value of being active in social media.

And here’s part of my reply to her comment:

What do you think is the biggest obstacle (for the women in this group) to understanding “the value of being active in social media”? I’m always trying to figure out how to overcome this obstacle in people’s thinking.

The question I’m asking here, for those of you already active on social media sites, is what do you tell people who want to know what’s in it for them on social media sites?

And for those of you not yet active on social media, what do you need to know in order to be convinced of the value of being active on social media?

I know that learning any new skill can sometimes seem daunting, especially one connected to the computer. And I know that as adults we usually want to be viewed as competent in what we do.

But here’s the thing: When you first start learning a new language, you can’t be competent in the language overnight. There’s a learning curve.

And the same thing goes for participating on social media sites to promote your brand, book, cause or business. There’s a learning curve.

Think about the above question that pertains to you – and then share your answer in the comments section below.

P.S. Read my guest post now even if you’re not a book author because the post is about NOT waiting until you need social media marketing to start making connections online.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of Miller Mosaic Social Media Marketing. Visit the company’s new Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/MillerMosaicSocialMedia and “like” it.

A few days ago Facebook released its new format for Facebook Pages (formerly called fan pages) – which are intended for businesses as opposed to your personal Facebook profile.

And some of these changes offer new opportunities for using your Facebook Page as part of an effective social media marketing strategy.

That’s the good news. What’s the bad news?

Facebook Pages will be even more complicated for business owners to use.

Let’s start with the rollout date. While you can preview the format change on your Facebook Page now, if you click to upgrade to the new format you can’t change back.

Then there’s the confusion as to the date on which everyone’s Facebook Page will automatically change to the new format. First I read March 10th, then I read March, so people are guessing March 1st.

And then there’s the problem that you won’t be able to use FBML tabs (which allow you to create customized tabs with simple html coding) after March 11th. But if you already have these tabs, they supposedly won’t go away.

Confused? This is just the beginning.

One major change is that the dimension size for customized art on your Facebook Page is going from 200 X 600 pixels to 180 X 540 pixels. I’ve already upgraded our Miller Mosaic Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/powermarketing — and I think the customized art looks okay reduced in size. (Obviously from now on we’ll create the art to the new size.)

Another major change is that you are able to switch personalities while on Facebook. In other words, you can switch from being logged in as yourself to being logged in as your Page. Then you can leave comments on other Pages in the identity of your Page rather than yourself.

(But you won’t be able to leave comments as your Page on your friends’ profiles because Pages can’t have friends although they can now “like” other Pages.)

Yes, there’s going to be a learning curve for all of us. But I do think that, in the end, the advantages for businesses effectively using Facebook Pages will far outweigh the disadvantages.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of Miller Mosaic Social Media Marketing. Download the company’s free report “5 Tips for Staying Top of Mind With Your Prospective Target Markets” at www.millermosaicllc.com/los-angeles-social-media-consultant