Recently I’ve decided to train and coach sales professionals, entrepreneurs, founders, business owners, leaders of organizations, job seekers, and many others, on how to use LinkedIn strategically to advance their mission  in life (Next event details are HERE).

Here’s why:

1. LinkedIn is only as valuable as it’s user base. The more quality people use it, the more valuable it becomes for all of us. And since I use it regularly for my business and professional development, I want to increase its value for myself and others.

2. I believe in WHY LinkedIn is doing what it’s doing. Its mission is to “provide economic and professional opportunities for people”. I’d like to help make that happen!

3. I also believe every person should teach what they know to those who want to listen – contribute to society, help others, and pay if forward for future generations. Just like every technology available today is built on a previous one.

So once I finished reading the Start-up of You co-written by LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman,  I realized that after using LinkedIn professionally for over 5 years to achieve some amazing results (many meetings and new business deals), it would be irresponsible of me not to coach people on how powerful the largest ‘Professional Social Network’ really is, and what results you can get from it.

It hit me one day that I can help a lot of people get what they want with my knowledge and experience.

Then, like a sign from above, LinkedIn sent me this:

So a few weeks ago I gathered 13 people in my house for my first session. It was amazing to finally share some of what I’ve learned over the past 13 years as a sales professional, from personal development seminars, and of course, LinkedIn.

What I didn’t expect, was how much I was going to learn from the experience. I learned that:

1. People are awesome. Everyone has so much to offer to the world, we just need to identify our talents and value to others, differentiate ourselves from others, and begin helping the right people.

2. Clarity is power. If you’re clear about what you’re mission is, what you’re about, who you can serve most, and where you want to go, you have a GREAT chance of actually getting there because you’ll only speak to those who want to hear from you. If you get clear, you’ll know who that is.

3. This is much more than training people on LinkedIn features. It’s about completely shifting an attitude, and upgrading how people communicate, behave, and do business. We’re in an entrepreneurial era, where each person has a voice and his/her own brand to create, and LinkedIn is just one little manifestation of it.

In my last post: Why Designing an Online Personal Brand REALLY Matters I quoted The Start-up of You about how we are all entrepreneurs in our DNA.

This time, it’s a great visual summary of the entire book.

Reading the Start-up of You had me realize that it’s not just a social network, but a new, modern approach to living a happy and fulfilled life by being closely connected. Living a Plugged In Lifestyle.

I’m so glad they put this together! I hope you find this helpful.