Page 92 - 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn: Practical ideas to help you quickly achieve your desired business success.

Now let's look at a practical implication of the two
headlines above. Let's say you are doing a search
on High Tech Mergers. Assume both John Doe and
Bob Doe have the right keywords in their profile
and they alone show up in the search. When you
look at the search results, all you are able to see is
a name and the professional description. Think
about it, who are you going to be drawn to in a list
of names, John or Bob Doe? It is very likely you will
at least check out John because he tells you he is
an expert in High Tech Mergers while Bob doesn't
tell you anything of relevance.
We were speaking to a group of "C Level" business
people discussing the value of a LinkedIn profile.
To illustrate this point, we presented an individual's
profile piecemeal. First, we highlighted his 300+
connections. Next we showed his vanity link, which
made it easy to find his profile. Following this, we
showed his links directing traffic to his blog and
website. Then we asked, "Is this a maximized
profile?" Most heads nodded yes. So… we finally
showed his professional description, which was
very vague and bland and asked if anyone in the
room knew what this individual did. Since it was so
nondescript, no one understood what this individu-
al's expertise was. Now we asked again, "Was this
a maximized profile?" This time, the answer was a
resounding NO. The moral of the story is "Activity
is not achievement." In this age of multitasking and
business at the speed of light, no matter how many
people you connect with, if people can't quickly

76 42 Rules for 24-Hour Success on LinkedIn