LinkedIn for Beginners

REGISTER
Date/Time	Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, from 2-3:30 pm ET
Time
Cost	$49
	It’s the New Year and time to invest in your business and yourself. Learn something new and powerful that you can use throughout the year to improve your connections and help your business or nonprofit. LinkedIn is a rich source of contacts and business connections. But it only pulls in connections if you have a profile that attracts interest from the right people and if you know how to use LinkedIn's many research and information tools. This 1 1/2 hour online seminar is the first step in learning what you need to know. You will create and learn to manage your profile so it is attractive to the people you want to reach. When you finish the course, you'll have access to more than 85 million people around the world who use LinkedIn as a business/networking tool. That's 85 million potential customers, suppliers, investors, donors, employees, volunteers or board members. In this class, YOU are the focus. With the guidance of the instructor, you will develop a LinkedIn profile that makes people want to know and work with both you and your organization, whether you are a small business, a solo-preneur or a nonprofit. This is practical and personal advice without techno-babble. LinkedIn is a marketing and networking powerhouse for small businesses and nonprofits. Ventureneer's Vcourses will show you how to use that power effectively. You'll get one-on-one guidance from the instructor and your questions about your particular situation will be answered. You'll meet -- virtually -- fellow classmates with whom you can brainstorm and network. You'll develop an effective LinkedIn profile for your business, not learn about profiles in general. In this Vcourse, leaders of both small businesses and nonprofits will get an in-depth, hands-on experience that will result in a highly visible LinkedIn presence for their organizations. This is a practical, not a theoretical, course. A LinkedIn discussion group will also be set up so participants can network and converse beyond the confines of the course. And you'll know how to use the group effectively. The Vcourse format allows both quality learning and the peer support. It is flexible and convenient. You'll learn how to create (or re-write) polished profiles -- for yourself and your organization -- profiles that will stand out on LinkedIn. And you'll have started a brand-building strategy using LinkedIn to showcase ... you! This course is designed for the person who has yet to start a LinkedIn profile or already has started a LinkedIn profile but really hasn't had the time to make it shine. The class is the first in a 3-part series of classes that will take students through using groups and discussions LinkedIn for Intermediate Users to using apps for presentations and multi-media marketing LinkedIn for Advanced Users. Get the solid foundation you need to move to the next level of mining LinkedIn's gold. Syllabus: This is who I am: Branding YOU About me: Summary and Specialties Experience Education Website/Twitter/blog connection Certifications/Skills/Languages/Publications Photo Misc. information about me
	Who Should Attend? Nonprofit leaders Development directors Solo-preneurs Entrepreneurs
Instructor	Marc W. Halpert, Managing Partner, Your Best Interest LLC Marc W. Halpert is Managing Partner, Your Best Interest LLC and its divisions: e-giving and connect2collaborate. Since leaving the corporate world in 2001, Halpert has started two companies offering paperless electronic payment services to optimize the cash flow of and speed collections to: retailers, particularly small- and mid-sized businesses (Your Best Interest LLC) professional and membership groups, and not-for-profit organizations (e-giving). In his latest business, Connect2Collaborate, Halpert uses his skills in networking and his LinkedIn evangelism to train and coach others. Connect2Collaborate gives business people with whom he connects the opportunity to become clients of his customized cash flow and payment services. Everyone benefits simultaneously: improved business cash flow and new business collaboration. He has been recognized for client service and is a frequent speaker at national, regional, and local conferences for small businesses and nonprofits. He has also authored articles on innovations in cash flow technologies, and on LinkedIn as a powerful branding power. He serves as an instructor at the University of Phoenix’s Fairfield County on-ground campus, where he teaches finance, management, and business ethics. He volunteers as a counselor at the award-winning Norwalk, CT chapter of SCORE where he provides expertise in e-commerce, nonprofits, and social media. He also teaches LinkedIn to job-seekers at Connect to Care at Westchester Jewish Community Services in Westchester County, NY. Halpert holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Virginia and his MBA in International Business from George Washington University.