Did you resolve to find a person or a job to love this year? If so, you are not alone. I have already been hired to revamp two JDate and two LinkedIn profiles in past two days! Is your profile going to spark the interest of a prospective suitor ~ either your next boyfriend and/or your next boss?

Less than 12 hours after launching a revamped dating profile, one client called to report that her inbox was filling up with responses to the introductory emails we sent out! I love it when people trust my instincts, and allow me to meddle in their dating lives ~ and this client did! Together we initiated a few conversations and many of them wrote back right away.

While not a matchmaker by trade, I do have one marriage under my belt! I introduced one of my former dates to my college friend, and they’ve been together for 5 years and welcomed their first child last summer! (His name is Jamey, I like to think he’s named after me!)

Doubly blessed! Two JDate success stories for me - one match for me, one for a friend!

I get excited when my clients share good news with me, so of course I had to tell someone…or the world!  I gave a shout to @Jdate on twitter. We’ve established a relationship and participated in an ongoing dialog for months, since that’s where I reconnected with my husband. JDate also invited me participate in a trivia contest on twitter, and they get that engagement is the name of the game! (I can’t help myself, I love puns. Get it? Social media is all about engagement, and so are dating websites!)

I love helping people find love online!

Whether you vowed to be a more active dater, or to network more in the new year, here are some basic conversation starting techniques that everyone can benefit from. Are you ready to fill your social calendar with conversations?

How to Add Personality to Your Profile and Initiate an Introduction on a Dating Site and/or LinkedIn.

1.  Do us all a favor, take the time to fill out your profile.

Don’t leave out the juicy details, please! The details are what gets people interested in you…as a date or future employee!  So tell us about yourself, this is your chance to put your best foot forward, online! As I like to say, “there is no such thing as a blind date anymore, and there is no such thing as a blind meeting.” You have Google to thank for that, but you can control what information people see, and LinkedIn usually ranks among the top searches for an individual.

2. Questions are great ice breakers!

On a dating site, they ask you what type of relationship you are looking for and they provide multiple options including: A Date, Friend, Marriage, Marriage & Children, Activity Partner, etc.  When they give you multiple choices, check as many as apply to you.  When it comes time to fill out the open ended questions be generous with details.  It will give the person reading a reason to engage in conversation with you.  Use the valuable profile characters to express what you love with a brief story and a follow up question.

Instead of saying: My biological clock is ticking, and I want to get married and have kids right away.

You could say:  I love my nieces and nephews, and just got them a pass to Great America for Christmas.  I love spending time with my family, and can’t wait to have kids with Mr. Right. In the meantime, I will be first in line for the Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster.  What’s your favorite amusement park ride?

On LinkedIn, take the time to fill out your profile, especially the summary and work history sections. If you have a professional bio, use that as a starting point for the summary, and be sure to include a few sentences or bullet points about your previous work history and experience.  If you have a resume, that is a great place to start finding content to include on your LinkedIn profile.

3. The World is Your Oyster. Open Up!

Honesty is always the best policy.  There are many benefits to being upfront and transparent about your life experiences and professional history. This is your chance to tell the story you want the world to know ~  play up the projects and/or activities that you enjoy the most in order to attract more of them into your life!

4.  More Information Leads to More Opportunities.

You are more likely to appear in LinkedIn search results when your profile is filled out with keywords about your responsibilities and/or accomplishments, plus it allows for more opportunity to pique someone’s interest.

5. Info-gather then get-together.

Before contacting someone, do your homework! Read someone’s profile, paying attention to their hobbies, interests and things you have in common.  The more information people include, the better for everyone!  For example, whenever I see someone mention that they are a Michigan Alumni, I find a way to work that into the conversation.  Dropping a quick “Go, Blue!” is a great way to establish common ground from the get-go!

6. Introduce Yourself!

When making an initial contact with someone, be sure to personalize your approach.  If this is a LinkedIn request, instead of using the generic pre-populated connection request message, personalize the introduction with a few sentence about how know the recipient or the reason for contacting.

For a dating site initial contact, giving someone a question to answer doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get a response, but it sure gives you a better chance!

They say: I love to travel.   You reply saying: I also love to travel, where was the coolest place you visited this year?  I hiked up Masada, went leaf-peeping in Vermont, and just returned from New Year’s Eve in New York City! Do you have any vacations coming up?

They say: I love concerts.   You say: I’m an avid concert goer too! What shows did you catch this year?  I had a blast at North Coast Music Festival, and highlights for me were seeing the Disco Biscuits, Grace Potter and De La Soul.  I also saw my favorite band, Phish ten times this year!  Are you going to U2 at Soldier Field this summer?

7. Get them talking about what they love!

See the conversation examples above.  What do they have in common? The key is: its all about the questions you ask and building rapport.  In all of these examples, the basic approach was the same.

Ta Da…. and now my unscientific Formula for Online Connection Success: Prepare your profile > make note of something you have in common with person of interest > initiate conversation, drawing them in with a thoughtful question about shared experience > request for permission to follow up.

Picture an inbox full of “Let’s get to know each other better” phone calls, coffee talks and event invitations.  It’s all about conversations.  Now go ahead, it’s your turn to start some! (just don’t forget to report back!)

Related posts:

1. Share the Love! Who Have You Connected With Online?
2. What's in a Name? Personal Branding & The First Year of Marriage
3. There is No Such Thing as a Blind Date Anymore, And There is No Such Thing as a Blind Meeting!

Does this sound like something you’ve heard me say before?  This time I said it, and was quoted in the paper!

Last week, I was interviewed by Katie Morell for the Business Ledger, a Chicago Suburban newspaper for an article entitled: “You’re on LinkedIn, but are you linked in? Social media experts give advice on the ultimate networking tool” I hope you enjoy the article and that you take away some tips!

I was honored to be featured, and the article even began with one of my favorite”interactiveAmy-isms,” something I share during all of my presentations and client meetings; “There is no such thing as a blind date anymore and there is no such thing as a blind meeting. Before anyone meets you, they research you online. LinkedIn is one of the first things that come up when they search for your name.”   (Side note: Do I put quotes around my own soundbite?! What an exciting question to have, but really – does anyone know the answer?)  Now that we know people are looking for you, let’s talk about how you can prepare your profile in a way that benefits you (for search) and others (so they can learn more about you.)

Digital Footprints – Step Yours Up!

Now more than ever it is important to put your best foot forward when you meet someone, and nowadays you need to put your best “digital footprint” forward.  Your digital footprint is the mark you’ve left on the internet – what does yours say about you?

Have you ever done Google search for your own name? What comes up first is what others will see first.

Is that first  impression you want to make?

For me, it used to be my 5k race time, and that is not what I wanted people to see first.  Unless you run for a living or you are a competitive runner, my 5k race time from years ago is not overly interesting (or fast!) and it is not the first thing I want someone to know about me, I’d prefer they learned about my social media consulting business or my involvement in Social Media Club Chicago.  They might accidentally stumble upon the London-based body builder with whom I share a name, and again – not what I want people to see!

So how did I change that?

I harnessed the power of LinkedIn, oh yeah, I drank their Kool-Aid, and then I shared what I know with others, since having more complete profiles really benefits everybody. Because LinkedIn such a powerful engine, the site naturally ranks highly in search, so use that to your advantage!  LinkedIn is a living and breathing resume so make sure its the best possible reflection of your work experience to date, and where you want to go next – even if you are not actively job seeking.

If you were on a blind date, you’d probably comb your hair and put on a snazzy outfit before leaving the house,

why not do the same on LinkedIn as well!

The more content-rich information you are able to provide in your profile, the more appealing you’ll look to search engines and to future employers/clients/and business partners! How’s that for an incentive to fill out your profile more completely? Having a profile with complete and accurate information also allows someone to get to know more about you, and decide if you are a person they’d like to business with.  Learning about someone in advance of a meeting is a first step in building rapport too, if you find that you’ve attended the same University or know people in common its a great ice-breaker!

I know what you are thinking: “Do I really need to include a picture in my profile?”

YES!

If you have ever had a blind business meeting, you’ll be extra appreciative the next time you see a complete profile with a picture in a future LinkedIn search!  Earlier in my career I sold adverting in the Yellow Pages, and had many first-time meetings with business owners in public places, and I had no idea who I was looking for.  It was much easier when I could say, “I’ll be the one carrying a phone book!”  I can’t say that anymore (thankfully!) but I do come prepared, and I will look you up before we meet.  So be nice to the person you are about to meet for the first time, and please post a picture on your profile!  It really takes away a lot of the anxiety when meeting someone for the first time if you know what the person looks like in advance.

If you have any questions, or if your LinkedIn profile needs revamping, please contact me about how to amplify your online. (See why that’s my tag line?)  Now that I’ve shared my LinkedIn tips with you, please share your LinkedIn success stories and tips with me! And of course, let’s link in!

Related posts:

1. Not Foolin’! InteractiveAmy has a new profile picture!
2. LOVE Your Personal Brand
3. What's in a Name? Personal Branding & The First Year of Marriage