How to Receive LinkedIn Recommendations with Ted Prodromou
I recently enjoyed the honor of contributing to Ted Prodromou’s LinkedIn Accelerator training program – a practicum to improve your LinkedIn profile and activity as you follow the sessions.
Ted Prodromou is America’s Leading LinkedIn Coach and the best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business.
My LinkedIn Recommendations training segment in LinkedIn Accelerator covers the importance of this under-utilized power feature, and specifically how to request a recommendation so that your connection enjoys providing it.
First, to make requesting a recommendation as easy and pleasant for your connection, you want to send the request from your LI profile. This way, the recipient can approve in one click from their email (they can also edit and then send).
The 3 steps are:
1. Scroll down to the Recommendations Section in your LI profile
2. Hover your mouse over the blank space to the right of Recommendations
3. Ask to Be Recommended and Manage buttons will appear, click and customize your request
You have the option to create multiple jobs for under same company in LinkedIn like Ted does. Advantages include potentially improved search rank using job titles as keywords, and your clients can write multiple recommendations under each position or role they hire you for.
I prefer my LinkedIn profile to consolidate all my recommendations under my company name since few visitors scroll past Summary. Those who do will see all recent skills and recommendations near the top.
Job titles help rank and are catchy to the eye, but keywords also rank in your employment description and you want to be careful about being too redundant with the same keywords in your summary, job title, job description, etc. Overuse can get penalized and readers are quickly bored by it, which is whom you’re ranking for!
LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful search engine. Google your name and see if your LI profile outranks your website 🙂
[/sdf_text_block][sdf_blockquote id=”sdf-element-1″ module_width=”1/1″ top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”” blockquote_alignment=”left” quote_icon=”yes” quote_icon_size=”” blockquote_author=”Veronica Cannady” cite_title=”” cite_link=”” entrance_animation=”slideInLeft” entrance_animation_duration=”animated” class=””]Once a client has agreed to post a recommendation, remember to customize your request.
After you select “Ask to be Recommended,” LinkedIn provides an easy 5 steps to select which company you want the recommendation to appear for, and even draft a summary of the value your client has received using their verbiage, lastly thank them of course.
Ted shares a great tip to also write a recommendation for your clients sharing qualities that make them someone great to work with.
This law of reciprocity (assuming you are only asking and giving recommendations from those you trust and value) reinforces the bond with your client and demonstrates on LinkedIn that you are someone who gives recommendations, not just take. Those observant will also notice this in the Recommendations Section of your Profile.
Although Google and LinkedIn don’t outright share their ranking factors, Ted observes that profiles with a lot of recommendations rank higher in searches, emphasizing credibility, increasing visibility (when you give a recommendation on the recipient’s profile), and improving search rank for your keywords.
Now go differentiate yourself with this powerful feature and let me know how it goes!
Want to see the 24 minute video training? Click here for your free access now.
