Contemporary Business Solutions Blog

Is Linkedin Premium Worth It?

by "Get it Done Girl" on August 19, 2013 · 0 comments

in How To:,Networking,Social Media,Super Tools

I’ve been asked this question a LOT lately, so I thought I’d share my opinion. There are really only three reasons why you should consider a Linkedin Premium account (which has within it, four levels including: Free, Business Plus, Executive and Pro):

Advanced Search

When you click on the “advanced” link to the right of the search box at the top of Linkedin, you have quite a few fields to use to search for individuals. There are eight fields available only to the different levels of paying members only (all eight fields are available only to the Executive and Pro Premium level members). Premium members with the Business or Business Plus level membership have access to “company size”, “seniority level”, “interested in” and “Fortune 1000”.

Premium members have the ability to save up to 7 searches (free members only can save 3 searches) with the additional bonus of 500 profiles showing up in the search results rather than the standard 100 that comes with free membership.

Who’s Viewed Your Profile

This page includes a list of people who have recently viewed your profile. While free members can only see the last five people to have viewed their profile, Premium members get the full list of people from the last 90 days.

Also located on the Who’s Viewed Your Profile page for Premium members is a list of keywords that people have used to search when they viewed your profile. This can be extremely valuable; as it will tell you what keywords you are being found with most often.

The View by Industry area, also offered to Premium members, highlights the top industries of people who have viewed your profile. If one of the industries listed at the top is not one that you currently are marketing to, this may indicate a potential untapped market that you should consider prospecting.

Views by Geography can provide similar insight, as it will list the countries your profile is most viewed from. If it is appropriate for your business, you may wish to consider reaching out to people located in the top countries on your list to expand your market.

InMail

InMail is a message you send directly within LinkedIn to another member you are not already connected with. InMail has a much higher open rate compared to that of email, as well as a strong lead conversion rate of 7%. This improves your ability to talk to and connect directly with top decision-makers.

As a Premium member, you receive a number of free InMails each month (this number depends on which type of LinkedIn Premium membership you buy), you can accumulate your InMail credits from month to month (but they will expire after 90 days) and you can purchase up to 10 more InMails than your account type allows.

You can try Linkedin Premium for free for 30 days if you’d like.

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Adding Captions to Your YouTube Video

by "Get it Done Girl" on July 31, 2013 · 0 comments

in How To:,small biz,Super Tools

Is your target audience multilingual? Perhaps they are heading impaired? This fact shouldn’t prevent you from taking advantage of the benefits of video.

YouTube makes it easy to add captions to your video. The easiest way to do this is to create a caption file which includes the text of what was said in the video and time codes for when captions should display. Here are some examples of formats that YouTube supports.

Once you’ve created the caption file, visit this site to see how to add the caption file to your video. YouTube’s translation option will then allow users to choose the language they would like the captions to be in when they view the video.

Have fun!!!

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July Best of Contemporary Business Solutions

by "Get it Done Girl" on July 29, 2013 · 0 comments

in Free Agency,freelance,Super Tools,Workshops

So, You Want to Pick my Brain?

Claire Celsi wrote a great post yesterday entitled, “How to Ask for Pro-Bono PR or “Pick My Brain“”

Most Free Agents run into this situation at some point in time. It’s good to have a plan in place before you’re stuck in that moment.

I feel comfortable having my brain picked if:

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Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

I’m coming up on my one year anniversary of being a business owner and I’ve been reflecting on how I’ve personally changed over the past year and what’s led me to this place.

Before being laid off last February I worked for six years in the International Sales and Marketing department of a poultry genetics company headquartered in West Des Moines. I arrived there by way of a short stint with the Greater Des Moines Partnership after living for two years in Germany.

My time living by myself in Germany taught me what I needed to survive on many levels – financially, socially, personally. It also taught me that I can do anything – I found myself in many uncomfortable situations…

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The Oft Forgotten Tool: The Metaphor

Do you use metaphors in your business to get your point across? According to Wikipedia: Metaphor is the concept of understanding one thing in terms of another. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to grasp concepts if they have no frame of reference – if what you’re describing to them is unlike anything they’ve ever heard or experienced before, you need to find a way for them to “get it”.

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Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) Summer Bus Tour

by "Get it Done Girl" on July 29, 2013 · 0 comments

in Free Agency

I always learn something when I go on these bus tours! Check out my posts from the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 bus tours!

This Bus Tour focused on housing inventory. Two years ago, PCHTF set its sights on becoming the expert and “go to”organization for affordable housing. PCHTF engaged Iowa State University to do a comprehensive inventory assessment of affordable housing units in Polk County. This inventory will form the basis for all PCHTF funding decisions moving forward.

The Summer Bus Tour was an introduction to the recently released second installment of this study taking into consideration the question, “To what extent does the existing supply of affordable housing in Polk County match with the existing need for affordable housing?”.

The northern half of Des Moines has a clear concentration of rent-burdened households as defined by a household paying more than 30% of gross income on rent and utilities. This area includes the following neighborhoods: Sheridan Gardens, ACCENT, Prospect Park, Drake Park, Waveland Park/Woods, Downtown Des Moines & East Village.

The traditional method of affordability does not take into account other household expenses. The residual income approach states that a home is only affordable if a household can afford to pay rent AFTER paying for their other necessary living and sustaining expenses. When taking the residual income approach into consideration, much of Polk County is completely unaffordable to even the median household, such that low-income and even moderate-income households are restricted as to where they can afford to live.

The third phase of the study spans from July – December 2013. PCHTF staff and local policy makers will be able to make more informed policy decisions as they relate to affordable housing in Polk County.

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