How to REALLY use LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the largest professional (online) network in the world. The majority has 3 questions: “What’s in it for me?”, “I have a profile, now what?” and “How to get more results without spending a lot of time?”

Probably the best way to answer these questions is the book “How to REALLY use LinkedIn“! Together with Jan Vermeiren, I wrote the second edition of this international bestseller.

With this book you will learn:

• 10 powerful ways to find new customers, employees or a new job
• 42 tips to make your profile stand out
• 11 strategies to apply LinkedIn at an organizational level
• 31 answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• 30 lesser-known functions and opportunities
• Plus 53 new pages, including extra tips and timesaving tools

Discover also the free “Video & Tools Library”! It has a vast collection of how-to-videos and extra tools, including several Genius Shortcuts.

“How to REALLY use LinkedIn” is available in English, Dutch, French and Spanish. For more info check out www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com

What most people don’t know (yet), is that Jan and I decided to

give away

1 million books

for FREE!

Why?

To actively stimulate the economy! Too many people are looking for new customers, new employees or a new job. They are hardly using LinkedIn, because they don’t know the platform well enough!

At the same time, we are raising 1 million dollar for charity! Check out our website www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com for more info. And remember to download the book for FREE as well! (English and Dutch versions!)

To your success!

Promote Your Blog on LinkedIn

How to promote your blog on LinkedIn?

There are multiple ways to do it. Here are 5 toptips that you can implement immediately:

1. Add your blog in your profile, under Websites. Most people have standard links to their website : My Website, My Company or My Blog. Change”Your Blog” into the actual title of your blog (or keywords). How? Choose ‘edit’ at websites, add a field ‘Other’. Here you can add a title and a URL.

2. Add Application. Here you can also insert your blog if you are blogging with WordPress or TypePad. Go to ‘More’ in the menu and click on ‘Application Directory’. Click the blog of your choice and install the application. From now on, your new blogs will appear automatically on your LinkedIn profile.

3. Update your status. When you write a new blog article, you can let your network know by updating your status. Add the link to your blog in the update. Of course, you can repeat this step everytime you are publishing an update on your blog.

4. Participate in Discussions in your favorite groups. Go to your groups and participate in the ongoing discussions. See where your blog has an answer to one of these discussions. Mention it while you answer them.

5. Answers. It is a great place to get more visibility and get more ‘expert’ status. Go to ‘More’ in the menu and click on ‘Answers’. Look for questions people are asking. Answer them by referring also to your blog. Or turn it around: write a blog article where you answer questions and put the link in the answers. It will create additional traffic to your blog as well!

Of course, these tips will only work if you have a blog 🙂 I am using WordPress and I recommend it to anyone.

Bert Verdonck is an extraordinary life coach and an inventive lifehacker. Bert is also one of the official Certified LinkedIn Trainers worldwide. Next to pragmatic trainings and personal coaching, he is an international keynote speaker to inspire and help professionals with their efficiency. As a published author and the founder of ‘Genius Shortcuts’ he already saved thousands of people at least 2 hours per day!

Your Book in 100 Days

You can write your book in 100 days!

With the right mindset, motivation, guidance and determination to succeed, you will write an excellent book that will help you achieve your goals. “Your Book in 100 Days” is a practical and friendly book and it shows you how to tap into the power of your mind and bring your best ideas to life. You will write your book in much less time than average first-time authors take, and you will have more fun doing it! You will discover the answers to the big questions, such as

• What is your dream, for your life as well as your book?
• Who will benefit most from reading your book?
• How can you structure the book in the best way for your reader?

Follow the advice of two authors who have helped hundreds of people create their books and see your book come to life in just 100 days!

About 1.5 years ago, I wrote a blog on how to publish a book in 1 month (in Dutch, on Lifehacking.nl). When I met Mindy at a Blackstar event (Ecademy), we talked about the possibilities on setting up a partnership by writing a book together. As a bookmidwife, Mindy specializes in delivering people’s books. For me as a lifehacker and life coach,  I am helping people to get clarity on what it is they want to achieve in life (and whether a book fits into that 🙂 ). On top of that, I suggest different tools and exercises to actually achieve these dreams in less time. So, it was a natural fit for the two of us to create this book. After all, we are two coaches who both believe passionately that if people want to do things in life, they should find a way to do them and they can do them quickly and easily. Did you know that 83% of people interviewed said they dreamed of writing their own book? The problem is that most people never even start, much less finish their book…

So, if you have “a book” in you, it is time to think about how you’d start writing it. Buy this book now at Amazon, Ecademy Press or directly through us and start reading first. Have fun with the exercises and create your own book. We want to hear you shout when your book is in print and we want you to see you reaping all the benefits that a good book can give you!

LinkedIn Live!

LinkedIn is launching a new service in the Netherlands : LinkedIn Live! As this is in pilot phase now (official launch soon!), it still has to be discovered by the press and the rest of the world 🙂

The reason for me to blog about this is that I am one of the 4 certified LinkedIn trainers worldwide! No, I am not a LinkedIn employee, but as a member of Jan Vermeiren‘s team (Networking Coach) I had the privilege of being at the right place at the right time. As you know, I am giving lectures and trainings on Social Media regularly and of course LinkedIn is always included.

So, do you want to better use LinkedIn? Do you want to meet other LinkedIn users? Enroll for one of our inspiring sessions (in Dutch) now!

These 4 types of events are organized through LinkedIn-Training.nl (the official site):
Link & Learn: get an introduction about the practicalities of LinkedIn and meet other LinkedIn users “live” through facilitated networking.
Boost Your Business: discover how LinkedIn can help you attract additional customers, suppliers, employees & partners and experience the real power of networking through a networking auction and dinner.
Catapult Your Career: understand how LinkedIn can help you find your dreamjob and give and receive help during the networking drink.
Dive In Deep: follow a hands-on computer training in a small group with personal guidance allowing LinkedIn to unleash all its secrets to you.

Choosing Less

Choosing less is a daily challenge for everyone, regardless of where we are. We all have a lot of stuff. We all have the same challenge, whether we are living in a city or on the countryside. We are living in a culture that values “More is Better”.

To be honest, I sometimes hesitate about what to do next. Why? On the one hand it is rather tempting to turn my back on everything and start all over again. I am dreaming of a simple life on a sailboat and exploring the world, traveling all over the place or residing on a tropical island, away from civilization. Not the way Tom Hanks lives in Cast Away, but rather a modest beach shack in Samoa or Tonga, like “Big Z” in Surf’s Up.

Palms line Lalomanu Beach in Western Samoa. Photo:lonelyplanetimages.com

On the other hand, it’s probably easier to follow the hurdle and give in to the world of excess. And it’s probably true that a century ago it really was easier to step away from civilization and live in the woods or in some remote location. On top of that, in our modern society, it becomes harder to say “NO!” to all these great restaurants, luxury shops, new cars, gadget hypes, second homes, etc. The need for more is winning more supporters everyday. Even in remote locations they are dreaming of our western lifestyle.

Is it really possible to choose for less and to simplify our lives?

Yes, it is possible! Although I admit I sometimes even like the excess and luxury, it is a conscientious choice to choose less. For me it’s about Living Simply and Less is More. I know we can change in different ways and that one of my goals is to Slow Down. It is also clear to me that choosing less is not about plunging into poverty. What I am really longing for is a better quality of life. Remember, eat the chocolate first 🙂

I want to focus more on the fun in life, rather than on being inspired by the “More is Better” way of life. I deliberately choose simplicity and more meaning in life instead. And you know, saying “no” to some of the excess, means saying “yes” to other opportunities that have more and lasting value. Or to put it in the words of John C. Maxwell: “Learn to say ‘no’ to the good, so you can say ‘yes’ to the best”!

We Change

“Things do not change, we change.”

– Henry David Thoreau –

What if I would invite you to a “Walden”-vacation, where you recreate Thoreau’s world famous 19th century retreat? You’d have to survive without your mobile, computer, internet, tv, car, Twitter and to make it worse also without electricity or indoor plumbing (sic!). Of course, you’d be carrying your own luggage, preferably a backpack. The planned excursions include starting a camp fire, sleeping in a tent, enjoying the beautiful scenery around you, getting closer to nature, creating friendships for life, contemplating on your life, setting up an action plan and doing nothing. Also enjoying the silence is an all-time favorite! 🙂

Would you sign up? Thoreau did. And he enjoyed it. When I walked my camino to Spain, I enjoyed it too! I came a lot closer to nature those days.

Anyway, all this to tell you that Thoreau longed to simplify his life, free himself from distraction and find more meaning in life. He believed that by changing his environment, he would change something inside of him. A couple of weeks ago I changed my environment also. And it worked! More flow, more results and I started 2010 as a happy camper 🙂

As you know, we sold our house and we’ll change our environment again. I am looking forward to it!

So, are you ready to simplify your life? What are your next steps to change your environment?

Nathaniel Stott

Nathaniel Stott is an excellent Internet profiler, professional analist and brilliant SEO expert. In the process of coaching him it became clear that one of his next steps is to become a leading expert. By building his personal brand he will achieve his dreams and create a lasting legacy. I welcome you to the new Nathaniel or Nathaniel Stott 2.0 in geek terms 🙂

You already know I am in the process of writing my next book on Searching and Finding stuff on the Internet. Why do I mention this here? Because, I have an important announcement to make! Nathaniel Stott is the co-author of this book. At this point in time we have already agreed on the table of contents. And have a surprise lined up for the forward. Now, it’s time to start writing…Less than 3 months to go and counting 🙂

Did I mention that Nathaniel Stott is a British entrepreneur living in Germany with his 3 kids and working in Germany and The Netherlands? This already shows that our book is going to be promoted internationally. As announced, I’ll be touring in New Zealand in September and of course taking our book with me 🙂

What else can I tell you? We already came up with nicknames for each other! Yes, Nathaniel Stott will be Mr. Search, because he’s fantastic in helping people with setting up search strategies, getting the text SEO right, design aspects, analytics, etc.

And me? I am Mr Find. Why? I keep finding stuff on the Internet that a lot of people claim is not there or at least they can’t find it, so they ask me. A couple of years ago I even had a service called “Webdigging”, where I was hired to find stuff. Nowadays, I still can’t believe that so few people are finding what they need. As a lifehacker, I developed several mind blowing “find” strategies on how to find stuff easier and faster on the Internet. There is so much more out there than Google 🙂 Of course, all these strategies will be shared in our book!

David Allen

Getting Things Done was in 2008 what was the 4-Hour Workweek (Tim Ferris) in 2007 for me…probably the best book I have read last year 🙂

So, David Allen is as you all know, one of the most sought after global experts in the field of productive work. He is one of the gurus for the lifehacking community and a great guy. How would I know? Well, I interviewed him lately!

And you can have a chance of seeing David Allen live as well, because he’s coming over to Europe. On the 17th februari, he’s in Dortmund (Germany) and on the 19th in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). I am definitely going to the Dortmund event: the Making it all work – seminar!

Would you like to go too ? Let me know and I’ll buy you a drink!

Would you like to have a chance at winning a free ticket? Or do you just want to give the organisers a helping hand? Then take 5 minutes to fill out this questionnaire about GTD. Yes, you’ll get it done in less than 5 minutes and they really, really need a 100 more people to take the questionnaire 🙂

Of course, check my blog regularly, because I’ll be back with some great insights from the interview with David!

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker & Life Coach

Launch Audio CD

How to shorten your working day by 2 hours?

Bert Verdonck brings you 17 genius shortcuts to transform the way you work!

From 115 hours of hard work to 40 hours of joy – and 30% more income – Bert Verdonck decided that he needed to reclaim his life. Burdened by overwork with no time to enjoy family life, he took time out to discover exactly how he could reduce his workload and still achieve the same results.

Leaving behind stress overload, he set out on an 8 month research journey that included 28 books, 80 websites and walking 800 kilometers, which not only revealed who he was, but how he could achieve more with far less effort.

Now he has distilled this new found knowledge for those unaccustomed to the benefits of the digital age and produced a practical guide for people who want to work less hours and master the magic of technology.

His audio cd will provide you with the necessary insights to shorten your working day by 2 hours!

The audio cd is yours for 19,99 € only. And to make it really easy and avoiding extra (shipping) costs, he prepared this audio cd as an MP3 download. So, order now and benefit immediately from the genius shortcuts that he shares with you!

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker & Life Coach

PS : “Lifehacks” are called Genius Shortcuts from now on 🙂

Audio CD

A lot of people are asking me to speak more often in public, even in other parts of the world. Others want me to publish a book. Then some are requesting audio-files, so they can listen to them on their iPod, at the office or while driving to it or while traveling. I’ve been thinking lately on how to fulfill everybody’s needs…

So, I have decided to create a bunch of products in the coming 12 months. Currently, I am in the process of creating a downloadable Audio CD, which will be sold on the internet. Last weekend, I recorded the last 5 tracks of it. This means that very shortly my Audio CD will be launched! Isn’t that great?

If you are interested already, mail me and enjoy a pre-launch discount of 3 €! The Audio CD will be sold for 19,95 €, including taxes. This means you only pay 16,95 € if you order now.

Oh, and the subject of this Audio CD? Right, I almost forgot to tell you this 🙂

“How to shorten your working day by 2 hours?”

I’ll share 17 genius shortcuts or lifehacks to help you do more in less time!

Enjoy Christmas,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker