If you feel lost in the crowd of more than 70 million people on LinkedIn, here's a clever way to call attention to yourself by zigging, when everyone else is zagging.
I discovered it as I was using the Q&A feature and asking my connections to identify their favorite free tools for PR or publicity.
When you submit a question, LinkedIn gives you the option of emailing it to your connections in a particular industry or geographic location. I chose "Public Relations."
A window opened and listed my PR connections, alphabetically, along with their titles and names of their companies. You can place a check mark next to the names of those who you want to receive your email.
I jumped down the list quickly, checking most of the names, then came to a screeching halt at Paul Furiga's name. Here's what I saw under his entry (the red rectangle is mine):
"I use every tool in the public relations toolbox to make our clients the heroes in their own stories," it says.
How was he able to include a pithy benefit-driven elevator pitch that solidifies his brand?
I know Paul, owner of WordWrite Communications in Pittsburgh, Pa., and I've heard him repeat his marketing message many times. Every organization, he says, has at least one great story to tell: its own. His firm helps clients share their great, untold stories with everyone who needs to hear them. But there it was, right in that tiny space!
So I went to his LinkedIn profile and saw this:
No mention of his title or the name of his company. In the area where everyone else lists those, he typed one sentence that makes him stand out from most other PR people.
I emailed Paul to tell him I thought that was clever. He replied:
"Thanks for noticing!
"Yes, others have seen it and commented on it. It gets right up front there who you are and what you do. Most people waste that space by regurgitating their bureaucratic or generic title.
"You are correct about how it works. I learned this technique from a Linked In expert you might want to check out, Patrick O'Malley. Here is his LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickomalley "
I went to Patrick's profile and saw this:
I'm known to my followers as Joan Stewart, aka The Publicity Hound. So with my tail between my legs, I'm headed back to LinkedIn to tweak my own profile and create a memorable tagline that sets me apart from all the other publicity experts.
Thanks, Paul and Patrick, for teaching an old Hound new tricks.
Author: Publicity expert Joan Stewart, aka The Publicity Hound, is a former newspaper editor who teaches people how to self-promote on a shoestring budget. Follow her publicity tips on Twitter. Ask her a question about publicity on her Facebook Fan Page. Subscribe to her free ezine, The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week.