The third edition of Sams Teach Yourself LinkedIn in 10 Minutes (Sams/Pearson) is now available! This book offers straightforward, practical answers when you need fast results. By working through 10-minute lessons, you’ll learn everything you need to know to quickly and easily generate solid results on LinkedIn, a leading professional networking site with more than 150 million members.

Buy the Print Book: Amazon| Pearson | Barnes & Noble

Buy the eBook: Kindle | Nook

Learn More: View a sample chapter and table of contents of Teach Yourself LinkedIn in 10 Minutes, Third Edition.

Each 10-minute lesson covers a popular LinkedIn topic, showing you how to…

• Create a LinkedIn profile that generates results
• Find jobs, consulting opportunities, partners, and clients
• Enhance your visibility to an audience of millions
• Create a LinkedIn Company Page
• Develop a streamlined approach for managing contacts
• Customize LinkedIn for maximum effectiveness and productivity
• Use LinkedIn Answers and Groups for research and marketing
• Extend the power of LinkedIn with third-party applications and tools
• Give and receive professional recommendations
• Recruit job candidates
• Access LinkedIn from mobile devices
• Advertise on LinkedIn

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Having a quality Google+ page is a must for businesses, brands, and organizations that want to gain online visibility, generate website traffic, and enhance their search engine rankings. In this article, I offer six tips for making the most of your Google+ page as a business tool. You’ll learn the important differences between Google+ pages and profiles as well as how to promote your business with a photo scrapbook, connect your page to your website and AdWords account, create a Google+ badge, make your page eligible for Google Direct Connect, enhance your search engine visibility, and more.

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My latest book about LinkedIn (Sams Teach Yourself LinkedIn in 10 Minutes, Second Edition) is now available in Spanish. Published by Anaya Multimedia in Madrid, its Spanish title is LinkedIn: 100 milliones de oportunidades profesionales. The cover is kind of cool as well

Sams Teach Yourself Google+ in 10 Minutes is now available! This book offers straightforward, practical answers when you need fast results. Work through its 10-minute lessons to jumpstart your Google+ experience…and then use today’s hottest social network to connect with everyone and everything you care about.

Buy Now: Available at bookstores and online booksellers worldwide, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Pearson/InformIT.

Learn More: View two sample chapters and table of contents of Teach Yourself Google+ in 10 Minutes.

Each 10-minute lesson covers a popular Google+ topic, showing you how to…

• Create a great Google+ profile
• Take control of your privacy on Google+
• Use Circles to share exactly what you want, with only the people you want to see it
• Manage conversations with Google+ Stream
• Upload your photos to share with friends and family
• Hold group video chats for free on Google+ Hangouts
• Take your social network wherever you go with Google+ Mobile
• Play games on Google+: from Angry Birds to Sudoku and beyond
• Quickly access the best Google+ features with the Google+ bar
• Have more fun and get more productive with Google+ add-ons and extensions

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With hundreds of millions of active users, Facebook is a great place to promote your business. It’s important to remember, though, that just creating a Facebook page for your business isn’t enough to attract thousands of raving fans. You need to develop a community, offering the type of content that makes people want to come back for more. In this article, I’ll show you seven great ways to get more people to like—and participate on—your Facebook page.

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The idea that “content is king” is as true today as it was in the early days of the Web, but no one ever said that you have to create all that content by yourself. With content curation, you can achieve many of the same benefits of content creation-but in a fraction of the time. In this article, I’ll introduce you to five content-curation tools that can help you to maximize your online visibility and build thought leadership.

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Want to improve your job search results on LinkedIn? With more than 100 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the top professional networking site on the web. In this article, I introduce you to six new LinkedIn features targeted to job seekers. You’ll learn how to add keyword-rich sections to your profile, find connections at top companies with the Company Insider Widget, create an instant resume from your profile, explore new job opportunities within LinkedIn groups, locate inside connections at the companies you want to work for, and discover the new job portal for entry-level candidates.

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With hundreds of millions of active users, Facebook is a great place to showcase your company’s products. By adding a store to your Facebook page, not only can you sell your products, but you can also encourage other Facebook users to share your products with their friends. In this article, I introduce you to five Facebook store applications and show you how to choose the right app for your needs and budget.

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I recently asked business communication coach, Nancy Ancowitz, author of Self-Promotion for Introverts®: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead,to provide some presentation tips for introverts (great advice for my PowerPoint 2010 readers!). Here’s the great advice Nancy has to offer:

1.    What’s the best way to manage your fear of public speaking?

Fear is a funny thing. It’s a gift that can save your life and a curse that can imprison you without cause. It’s a gift when it alerts you to life-threatening dangers—so you can run, fight, or hide. It imprisons you unfairly when the clearest and most present danger is an audience awaiting your speech. Here are tips to help you manage your fear of public speaking, which is universal among introverts and extroverts alike.

• Prepare thoroughly. If you’re an introvert—or someone who is energized more by solo activities than social activities—you’re better equipped to think before you speak rather than think out loud. So play to that strength by doing the lion’s share of thinking before show time. Thoroughly research your topic and audience and write out speaker’s notes (bullets are fine) to help guide you. Of course, don’t read your notes word for word or they’ll become a crutch rather than a useful guide.
• Don’t skimp on rehearsing. Most presenters spend a disproportionate amount of
  time on their content and way too little time rehearsing their delivery. If you’re an introvert, you’re inclined to dive deeply into your topic and put less emphasis on how you will package it to the outside world. Rehearsing out loud—as opposed to silently, to yourself—will enable you to bring the performance aspect of your presentation into your bones. Doing so can help reduce your nerves.
• Get the support and build the skills you need. Take a class and/or participate in Toastmasters International meetings. If you’re an introvert, you probably prefer one-one-one interactions, so it might be best for you to work with a presentation skills coach, a mentor, or even a friend who can guide you.
• Gain experience speaking in front of an audience. Some audiences are scarier than others. Speak about topics you’re passionate about to audiences you find less intimidating. Consider giving presentations as part of your volunteer work. It’s a great way to work on reducing your fear while making a difference in the lives of others.
• Focus on helping your audience. Remember why you’re giving your presentation. Is it to inform, education, persuade, or inspire your audience? Making it all about them takes the spotlight off you. Also remember that they’re probably on your side.

For more tips, see my stories, “Public Speaking for Private People,” “Presentation Skills for Introverts: Tiger and the Full Tilt Boogie,” and “Public Speaking for Introverts: Jonesing for the Zone.” There’s nothing to run, fight, or hide from onstage!

2. How can introverts learn to command a room and project a confident image while presenting, even if they don’t feel so confident inside?

• Videotape a rehearsal. Nothing beats seeing yourself in action. While you may feel self-conscious seeing yourself on video, the benefits far outweigh the discomfort. You’ll see what you do with your hands, how steadily you move, and you’ll hear how your voice sounds. If you’re an introvert, you are more likely to be detail oriented. Observe how you come across and determine what works and what you need to fine-tune. Many of my clients have been surprised to see that they are not actually shaking head to toe. Often the jitters are internal.
• Make sustained eye contact. Most of us aren’t afraid to speak to one person at a time. The terror kicks in when you imagine making a fool of yourself in front of a group. So look at one person at a time for the length of a phrase, or a few seconds. If for cultural reasons, you’re not comfortable with direct eye contact, try looking at foreheads or eyebrows. Imagine that you’re in your living room and you’re speaking to the guests you’ve invited, one at a time.
• Breath consciously. When you’re nervous, your breathing can become shallow. Write “BREATHE” in big letters someplace conspicuous on your speaker’s notes.
• Speak in your natural voice. Even a baritone can sound like a soprano when he’s nervous. Practice speaking in your natural pitch, not higher or lower. Also, don’t rush. It may be helpful to write a reminder to yourself, like “PACE YOURSELF” on your notes.
• Use vocal variety. If you’re nervous, you risk droning on in a monotone. Remember to vary the tone and volume of your delivery. “Punch” certain words to give them emphasis.

3. Do introverts share certain characteristics that actually make them good presenters?

Of course. In addition to being detail oriented, introverts are often good at research and writing, and only speak when they have something to say. So if you’re an introvert, create a well crafted argument. And take the time to learn about your audience so your argument will be particularly relevant to them.

To make your presentation enjoyable rather than something you just want to get past, treat it as a series of individual interactions—with each person in the audience. And then stop talking.

Also, think of your presentation as an efficient use of your introvert’s social energy. You get up there once and can influence more people than you normally would in a day. Then you can go home and read a book!

Note from Patrice: I’ve read Nancy’s book, Self-Promotion for Introverts®: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead, and found it to be a great resource for professionals who consider themselves to be introverts (including me!).

This book has received favorable reviews and accolades from The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, and ABC News.

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The world is becoming more global—and more virtual. There’s no longer a guarantee that the people you work with are in the same office as you are, or even on the same continent. When you’re in San Francisco and your team is in Seattle, Stockholm, and Shanghai, you need collaboration tools that work around the clock and around the globe. The solution: online collaboration tools that let you work with anyone anywhere. Whether you want to share files, hold online meetings, run a private social network, create a team wiki, or collaborate on projects and digital media, there’s an easy-to-use online collaboration solution to meet your needs.

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