By guest writer Brenda Bernstein
It all started with LinkedIn. Well, actually it started with a website. It took months before I finally admitted to myself that I wasn’t going to create a website on my own. I bit the bullet and hired someone, wrote some content, and poof! I had a website – TheEssayExpert.com. My website was beautiful. But who was going to visit it?
I had no clue how to market myself.
Then I discovered the magic of LinkedIn. If you’re rolling your eyes already, read on.
As I said, I didn’t know much about marketing, but I had an inkling that there was something important about LinkedIn for a start-up business. So I spiffed up my previously inadequate profile, joined some groups, and started reading posts about how to use LinkedIn. I learned a lot.
My first connection on LinkedIn
One of the more useful posts was a blog entry by Chris Kokalis. His ideas were great but his writing was not the best. I know how to write (I’m The Essay Expert!) so I offered to help him with his blog in exchange for his marketing help.
The next thing I knew, as a result of Chris’s coaching, I was offering to review 20 people’s LinkedIn profiles for free. I learned a LOT about LinkedIn and about running a business.
I made mistakes. I learned from them. I created a system and a letterhead for my profile reviews. I collected recommendations from happy customers.
That led to blogging about what I was learning
And I started blogging. Every week. Often about how to write a good LinkedIn profile. People on LinkedIn liked what I had to say. One day my website hits rocketed from about 15 to 207.
With some well-received blog articles under my belt, I offered 25 LinkedIn profile reviews for $25 each. People started purchasing them. I kept learning. I kept writing.
I also kept reading. I liked what I saw on EmploymentDigest.net and contacted the owner, Bill Vick. He liked what he saw too, and asked me to do a video interview via Skype. That interview will be posted on EmploymentDigest.net and on YouTube. EmploymentDigest attracts over 40,000 visitors per month on average.
The connections kept coming
Susan Ireland, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume, asked me to do an interview with her, which she will be posting on her blog, joblounge.blogspot.com.
Then a business networking expert, Ellen Ingraham, asked me to be the guest speaker on a teleconference call August 11 for her business Carol Ross and Associates. She also connected me with Barbra Sundquist, the owner of HowToWriteBio.com and this website. Barbra contributed to my blog to be published August 14, and I am now contributing to hers.
Finally, I completed a LinkedIn profile review for Brian Mulhern, a web analysis expert. I will now be trading services with him. He will help me do the thing I have been procrastinating the most on my website: Search Engine Optimization! I expect a huge increase in traffic resulting from his help and from the upcoming multiple channels of publicity I will be receiving.
Networking is contagious
From one simple connection on LinkedIn, I will now be reaching hundreds if not thousands of people through various channels. I never could have predicted it.
My company is only 4 months old. I’ve figured out a lot about marketing. Now I look forward to doing what I do best: helping people to write.
About the author: Brenda Bernstein is the Founder and Senior Editor at TheEssayExpert.com. The Essay Expert assists individuals and companies with business writing, web content, resumes, cover letters, and custom writing projects. Brenda can be reached at 608-467-0067.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Brenda,
I was really inspired by your story. I had to quit my job due to a major illness, the doctor advised me to take rest, meanwhile I decided to take up some odd content writing jobs on the internet,can’t say that they are really paying but, yes, after reading your story I felt that I could perhaps also make some decent earnings out of it. Thanks! for such an inspirational story.
Regards,
Laya
Thanks so much for your article. I myself am just getting started in using LinkedIn to market myself to an entirely new audience. Your story really got my wheels turning.
Brenda
I’ve been following your progress on Linked in. Thanks for the update. Glad to see that you have made such progress and glad to be a part of it. Thanks for your help this spring with the profile review.
Brenda,
Are you still doing LinkedIn profile reviews for $25? If so, I would like to speak with you. Thanks, LeAnn Huffman
Thanks, this was quite inspiring and let me know that I have just offered my editing services to the wrong people. Some people don’t recognize that bad writing reflects on their credibility.