By Christopher Rollyson  Other Surprises on Tap: LinkedIn Member Demographics Edge out Wall Street Journal and Business Week Readers’
At the BMA Chicago luncheon on November 6, 2008, Steve Patrizi, LinkedIn’s Director of Advertising Sales, led the event’s “Drilldown Session,” and graciously agreed to a “bottomless cup” Q&A session. This is the second installment of my coverage of the event, the first having reported on Patrick Crane’s keynote address. Look for my between-the-lines analysis and transformational opportunities after the reportage of his remarks.
By Christopher Rollyson At the BMA Chicago luncheon on November 6, 2008, Patrick Crane, LinkedIn’s Vice President of Marketing & Advertising, shared insights about LinkedIn, Inc.’s strategy as well as ideas for B2B executives to use the emerging platform to drive their businesses. Held at the Standard Club, the event was the second largest attendance ever: executives don’t know exactly what to use LinkedIn for, but it’s clearly an “active curiosity,” and Crane did an excellent job at level setting while keeping advanced users like yours truly engaged. This is #1 of two installments (#2 here).
As he was speaking to marketing executives, he first spoke about some of the challenges of marketing the company and building the brand before turning to suggestions for how senior marketers could tap LinkedIn to drive revenue. Continue reading LinkedIn Marketing Chief Shares Company’s Strategic Direction Plus B2B Business Opportunities
By Christopher Rollyson As “the Internet” changed the rules of information access during Web 1.0, pervasive peer-to-peer communication is changing the rules of people access during Web 2.0. Web 1.0 made information accessible by anyone at a very low cost through the standardized Web browser, transport and network, but it was still one to many communication. Web 2.0 applies this same logic, but it’s many to many this time, and it’s social because people are connecting with other people.
Consequently, most organizations are experiencing the slow boil*. I have compiled this list from my client work and hundreds of hallway conversations. How many do you know?
Continue reading The Dirty Dozen: Are You Experiencing Symptoms of Web 2.0 Misalignment?
By Christopher Rollyson  Building on the success of the new Collaborative Seminar model, the Executive’s Guide to LinkedIn has slated seminars in Chicago (Dec. 9), Cleveland (Dec. 16) and Chicago-Wheaton (Dec. 18) to enable forward-thinking business leaders to have fun and productive holidays this year.
It’s a perfect storm for taking your business relationships up a level: holidays interrupt work schedules, people are in a social frame of mind, and they have more time than usual. One of the seminars’ key takeaways is increasing the focus and power of your network: participants create LinkedIn plans so that they “build with purpose” and connect with people who can help them achieve their professional goals.
Continue reading December Brings Trio of Seminars to Chicago, Cleveland
By Christopher Rollyson Top Ten LinkedIn Profile Errors Cited
 The Business Marketing Association is holding a sold out MarketingMasters Lunch featuring Patrick Crane, LinkedIn Inc.’s top marketing executive, November 6 at The Standard Club in Chicago. The program, “LinkedIn: A Collaborative Nexus for B-to-B Marketers,” includes a keynote, 1-on-1 coaching sessions, onsite networking and a special drilldown session focused on educating executives about the strategic and tactical value of LinkedIn.
The BMA tapped Christopher Rollyson as part of the coaching team alongside several LinkedIn specialists. The pre-arranged coaching sessions will give participants pointers on creating LinkedIn profiles that attract people who can help meet their business goals. According to Rollyson, 99% of LinkedIn profiles are substandard:
Continue reading Christopher Rollyson to Join LinkedIn Inc. in CMO Coaching Session
By Christopher Rollyson Cites International Mindset, Judgment and Flexibility—Ambiguity and Global Transformation Form the Backdrop
 The 2008 U.S. presidential election has been the most dramatic in recent history by any measure. Converging economic, cultural and political issues are increasing the level of discomfort among voters and raising the stakes. In endorsing Barack Obama, I have considered the candidates in several dimensions, but my primary perspective has been that of a management consultant. The United States is a client in crisis, and I have asked myself, “What kind of leader does the country need, given the challenges it faces?” Barack Obama is my prescription, although there may be unwelcome side effects. If circumstances were different, I might well have favored John McCain.
Continue reading The Nonpartisan Global Human Capital Journal Endorses Barack Obama for U.S. President
By Christopher Rollyson  I answered a very interesting question in LinkedIn Answers recently in which a LinkedIn member asked about the validity of this proposition: “Would it be wise to use a service that promised 1,000,000 LinkedIn contacts in a weekend?” Apparently, the questioner had been on a webcast in which the promoter offered a paying service to leverage a LIONs den to rapidly build a huge network. Here is my response:
Continue reading Tight versus Loose Network Strategies
By Christopher Rollyson How Social Networks Boost Market Efficiency for B2B Buyers and Sellers explains how to use LinkedIn to change the rules of business development
 Since the early 2000s, everyone has struggled to develop measurable economic models for social media and Web 2.0, mostly with little success. During 2007 and 2008, CSRA has worked with clients on several levels hammering out models to pass enterprise muster, and here I will briefly share one that shows considerable promise for its practicality and utility to businesses. The immediate context is B2B business development and sales, but it is applicable to numerous other enterprise processes as well.
By Christopher Rollyson How Social Networks Change Business Development and Profit shows how B2B business development can increase the quantity and quality of qualified leads by interacting in social networks and online forums.
 Web 2.0 and social networks are beginning to change the economics of markets because they enable buyers and sellers to find each other far more easily, but most executives have yet to discover the secret. To many, social networks and blogs seem foreign, barely legitimate and risk. However, I will outline here how social networks can enable companies to significantly increase profitability by changing their client mix. Using LinkedIn as an example, I will show how a company can find and onboard clients that align with the firm’s unique selling proposition much more quickly and consistently than with traditional methods. In turn, this enables the firm to eliminate high-cost, low value clients from the portfolio. Continue reading How Social Networks Change Business Development and Profit
By Christopher Rollyson As often I remind entrepreneurs, business owners, VCs and mergers & acquisitions consultants, LinkedIn was created by (Silicon) Valley entrepreneurs to shrink the business cycle—it facilitates deals by enabling parties with highly specific criteria to find each other at a lower transaction cost. I was particularly glad to hear about this story in which The Weather Channel, a top ten U.S. Web property, scored two acquisitions through LinkedIn.
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