Certified LinkedIn rock star, Mike O’Neil is at it again. His second book, Rock the World with Social Media is about to be released and, like his first book, Rock the World with Your Online Presence, this one is co-written with diva, Lori Ruff. When these two get together, it’s like watching Pete Townsend smash his guitar for the first time – totally mind-blowing.
Likened to a rock opera, the new book illustrates social media essentials with reference to noteworthy rock-and-roll bands and lyrics–including Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and The Who – in a manner that both educates and entertains.
I caught up with Mike about the new book and it’s rock-and-roll ties. Here are some fine points from our conversation:
Wendy: Why the comparison of rock-and-roll to LinkedIn and social media?
Mike: It was one night when I was chugging away at the book with a real end in sight finally and I hear Pink Floyd’s Welcome to the Machine from the Wish You Were Here LP. It was KBCO and it was 3:30am – a normal night here at Rock The World HQ.
I had been working on the Settings section and, in the middle of the night, I put the two together almost like peanut butter and chocolate. They were alike – the settings had all those machine like qualities. Then I looked a little deeper, listened to the songs on the radio, made notations. Before long, the book had references to Life in the Fast Lane and Take It To The Limit by The Eagles, Who Are You and See Me Feel Me by The Who, My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen, Rickki Done’ Lose That Number by Steely Dan – 61 rock-inspired songs in all to match up to LinkedIn Profile and SEO components.
“Life in the Fast Lane” from The Eagles means something, “Empty Hands” from John Mellencamp means something, “My Generation” from The Who really sticks out to me. Remember the line “I hope I die before I get old.”
Wendy: What prompted you to write RTW2?
Mike: More and more, it seemed that the questions we were fielding from our live audiences were about the bigger world of Social Media, particularly as it relates back to LinkedIn. It is a natural offshoot or progression for many reasons.
Look at LinkedIn Profiles for example. To your LinkedIn Profile, you can now add a Blog (WordPress or Type Pad or Blogger, others), a YouTube Video (Google Docs, Slideshare), Documents (Box.Net, Huddle, others), Twitter (Section, Web Links), Meetups (Events, Status Updates with links), Travel agendas (TripIt), your Portfolio of Work (Creative Portfolio Display), full contact information. Wow!
Wendy: What has changed on the social media front since your first book?
Mike: The influence of the other Social Media platforms and Google. LinkedIn recently released an Open API, so I think that will open a lot of new doors. We are working with companies doing amazing LinkedIn API-related activities.
We recently had T.A. McCann, the CEO of the social media company GIST, appear on our Rock The World with LinkedIn radio show that airs Mondays at 7:00pm Eastern on WebMasterRadio.FM and this is just the start. API’s are huge in this space and they are the key to the unified interfaces.
There is also a big firestorm over Privacy going on. It is mostly from Facebook and Twitter, but it is getting spread around to everyone, including LinkedIn. Frankly, you should assume no privacy on LinkedIn. That’s not what it’s for. Funny that the network that is having the biggest problems with privacy is the one that doesn’t have any means whatsoever to search on profile data. We take it very much for granted in the LinkedIn space, don’t we?
We are seeing a lot of music talent and celebrities getting on LinkedIn. Kevin Bacon, John Bon Jovi, the people in the business of music. A far as the bands themselves, there is very little penetration of LinkedIn until they meet the LinkedIn Rockstars that is! Bands love our book.
Wendy: What do you see as upcoming trends in social media?
Mike: I see the near utter dominance of Facebook as the biggest and baddest things happening in the next few years as pretty much everyone gets on it, everyone. If they simply add office-type applications, a VOIP soft phone, a Linux OS and strike a deal with a tablet maker, well…. What happens when the government launches Facebook applications for consumers?
On another front, I call it the Windows 95 resurgence. Recall how Windows 95 and Office 95 changed the world. It was that simple, common look/feel. Learn one application and you pretty much know what you need to know to get started with the others.
It will still be a few years, but unified user interfaces through some sort of front end that we don’t have today. It might be a new or upgraded browser like Flock, a browser plug-in, a web portal, a big fat application. Who knows? The Boulder software community is abuzz about this.
Wendy: Do you think job security exists anymore?
Mike: No I really don’t. Almost 100% gone. Even independently wealthy people are not immune.
Wendy: What is the biggest mistake business executives are making today concerning social media?
Mike: They assume that being on LinkedIn is enough. That having a Facebook account makes then a participant. They feel that “the ante” is sufficient for now. That time was 2008, 2009 maybe, but not 2010. The world is watching.
Executives at companies need to lead by example – shiny shoes, bright white shirt, the LinkedIn Profile, the LinkedIn network and the skills to use them both for high-level executive networking.
Wendy: What are the biggest success stories you’ve experienced/witnessed from people using LinkedIn and other various social media platforms?
Mike: I love to hear about people pulling down $10k-$25k deals on LinkedIn. The million dollar deals are coming. The biggest successes have been with careers but there so many of those stories, I wouldn’t know where to begin.
Wendy: What is your own personal brand strategy and how has it changed over the years?
Mike: Integrated Alliances was a national expansion of our LinkedIn training and LinkedIn Live event operations for several years and that is no longer the case. Since we wrote the first Rock The World book, the Rock The World Brand has become the stronger look for us and it’s really the most authentic. We really do rock and people remark about how it keeps them engaged – during training sessions, they don’t even go to the bathrooms at break. Instead, they line up to talk to us, get books signed, get a picture together – the things that real Rockstars get to experience. We even have “groupies” now – LinkedIn and Social Media Groupies.
Still, we are squarely here to cater to the sales needs in the Corporate 2000 Market. Our best client is really a global technology or tech-savvy company with over 200 sales reps. that carry quotas and a channel sales program. They desperately need our LinkedIn training and they really dig our rockin’, but substance-laden, speaking style at conferences. We stick around and drink beer with the fans and the conference or company execs, sometimes very late.
