LinkedIn First Million Member

This post is really for me, just documenting a cool email I received from Reid Hoffman, Co-found of LinkedIn, telling me that I was one of the first million LinkedIn members, 979 thousand something, so just barely. March 2011.

My user ID on Twitter is also 770 thousand something, so I'm a first million member there too.

Again this is really only something I care about. But I can show off to my wife and kids.

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Creating Multiple Streams Of Income

At the beginning of 2009, Jason Alba started talking about multiple streams of income. Seeing how it's the middle of the year, it was time for an evaluation of my streams.

PressDev is my first income stream. The primary mission of PressDev is to build custom websites and software for businesses and individual. Our unique skill is converting static and stale websites into dynamic growing content management systems (usually with WordPress). We integrate social networks and digital media to make websites sticky. We also build social networking applications for platforms like Twitter and Facebook, and we also write iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile applications.

New services we are offering include SEO, Graphic and Logo Design, and Copy Writing.

Over the next several months I'll be profiling more of my income streams. I'll also be writing more on business and entrepreneurship.

Here is a breakdown of the revenue streams I’ve shared so far:

* Revenue Stream 1: PressDev
* Revenue Stream 2: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 3: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 4: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 5: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 6: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 7: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 8: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 9: (not announced yet)
* Revenue Stream 10: (not announced yet)

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Review: I’m on LinkedIn Now what???

I've had the opportunity to review the new book from Jason Alba, founder of the wildly successful JibberJobber.com, called I'm on LinkedIn Now What???

This is the first book I've read which focused solely on LinkedIn. When I first found out Jason was writing a book about LinkedIn I wasn't real confident it could be pulled off. I did a quick search of sites and other resources on LinkedIn to see what was already out there and if there seemed to be a need.

I have to say I've read the pre-release version of the book twice. I wanted to make sure I understood the premise of the book, what Jason's direction was and whether it hit the desired mark.

This book is definitely for someone who is just joining LinkedIn and isn't very familiar with other networking services. LinkedIn has a specific purpose and it may take a n00b (that is gamer speak for newbie) some time to figure out how to make LinkedIn work for them.

What you will get is a solid list of ideas and recommendations for using LinkedIn right away. There are plenty of suggestions, guides to the various sections of the application, and where you should focus most of your attention.

I really appreciated the recommendation to be patient and build your network, and not be tempted to connect with every invitation that is sent to you. I admit I made that mistake early on because I didn't really understand what LinkedIn could be.

Jason covers searching pretty thoroughly. It's important to understand how this feature works. It will really make your LinkedIn experience better when you know what you can find.

The book could stand to use a few more visual examples from successful LinkedIn users in the key areas. For example, I would have really liked to see some solid profiles. Personally I think this is where most people fall short on LinkedIn. They worry so much about past and current employment they forget about the profile. I'm guilty of that.

Overall this is a great book. I think Jason did an excellent job. I would recommend it to anyone who is just starting to build a LinkedIn network or for someone who has been a member for some time but is just now seeing the advantages LinkedIn provides.

You can visit my LinkedIn profile here.

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