My friends, you’ve subscribed to this blog, titled Linkedin Mastermind, so I know that you are serious — really serious — about using Linkedin MASTERFULLY. Indeed, 95% of the 30 million users of Linkedin are amateurs. Nothing wrong with that. Everybody progresses at their own pace.

But since you are serious about Linkedin, let me share a SERIOUS insight with you: Without a product, you cannot become rich. I mean “millionaire” rich.

You’re probably wondering, “Am I millionaire material?” The answer is YES.

Here’s the proof: If you can create a product selling for as little as $10.00, and you offer it to 30 million Linkedin users, then your gross revenues are $300 million. Indeed, I think that most people on Linkedin have $10 to spend.

The (literally) million-dollar question is, “What can you sell for $10?” Also, if you sell it for $10, then the use value must be at least $100. The “use value” is the value that your customers get from USING your product or your information.

Here, many people will think about an ebook. There are tons of people selling ebooks on the Internet, and few of them make serious money. The ebook itself is not the problem. Rather, it’s the content.

The content of an ebook can be descriptive or it can be prescriptive. Understanding the difference can make you very, very rich. I will share the secrets of how I was able to create a prescriptive ebook in the next post.

But in the meantime, think about how YOU can create a valuable, useful ebook or any other information product that you can sell to 30 million Linkedin users.

My point is this: You could spend a month to create an information product that a Linkedin user values at $100, and that you can sell for $10. You could then become a millionaire, from working hard during only one month.

While I have your attention, may I invite you to check out www.innovatelle.com, my latest business venture that will invite millions of women to become members for $100. I will also explain shortly my business plan for Innovatelle.com.

Feel free also to download my FREE book of 130 pages, where i’ve gathered my best knowledge and ideas: http://bookofstrategicknowledge.wordpress.com. Enjoy!

I’ve created a blog for all Facebook users, check it out if you are on Facebook and would like to learn about how to use it strategically: http://facebookinsider.blogspot.com.

linkedin-strategic-capitalization-process1

linkedin-strategic-capitalization-process

Feel free to download the document above, where I lay out the strategic flowchart process for generating passive income from Linkedin!

I’ve written more than 450 posts on my Linkedin User Manual (http://linkedinusermanual.blogspot.com), yet I don’t remember writing a post as important as this one.

Indeed, this one is about the ultra-critical question of WHAT you believe Linkedin to be. This belief will serve — consciously or unconsciously — as the basis for how you think about Linkedin and how you behave on Linkedin.

For instance, if you believe that Linkedin is for social networking, then you will use it to, well, socialize. You would NOT have any expectation of increasing your income as a result of using Linkedin.

However, if you believe that Linkedin is for business development, then you will strive to make money from using Linkedin.

If you look at your Linkedin connections, it is fairly easy to see who believes what. People who have less than 200 connections, are likely to believe that Linkedin is for social networking. People who have more than 200 — or, to be sure, people who have over 500 connections — are likely to believe that Linkedin is for business purposes.

Of course, there are people who have over 500 connections yet have no clue about how to monetize those connections. But at least, they’re off to a better start, should they decide to use Linkedin to make money one day, than people who have less than 200 connections.

Another clue as to what people believe, is whether or not they are “open networkers.” Open networkers are folks to accept to connect to anyone who invites them to their network. They are more likely to view Linkedin as a business tool and not just a social networking tool.

Whatever people believe is, of course, up to them, and there is no place for judgment.

But given the fact that Linkedin shows no sign of slowing down in terms of the growth of its user base (which, according to Linkedin, has one million new members every month), then it is reasonable to question whether people who use it purely for social networking will continue to do so.

In my own network of 945 connections, over 600 connections each have more than 500 connections.

I personally use Linkedin for business purposes, not social purposes. Even my questions and answers on Linkedin Answers are formulated according to my business strategy, since I don’t believe in wasting time answering questions here and there without having a central strategy in place. This is how I’ve been able to become the top expert on career-related questions, with 23 best answers.

In fact, my best answers are being compiled into an ebook that I will offer to all my connections.

My point is very simple: Linkedin will inevitably become a business development platform, and people who insist on viewing it purely as a social networking site might lose a great many opportunities to dramatically increase their income while learning about business.

I should point out that a few people (perhaps 3 or 4 in my network) are making the opposite mistake of viewing Linkedin as a place for aggressively spamming other people.

Ideally, one should have a strategy of diplomatically and gently socializing with other people (yes, strangers) with the aim of finding out whether there can be a win-win partnership where both parties benefit economically and financially.

About three years ago, when Linkedin has “only” 3 million users, I created the blog Linkedin User Manual (http://linkedinusermanual.blogspot.com) because I believed everybody would soon be on it. I was right.

Now, I’m predicting that soon, everybody will be using Linkedin for business purposes, and so I recommend that every user learn how to market and sell on Linkedin. The stakes are quite high, perhaps millions of dollars if you have an information product (like an ebook or any digital content that can be sold via Payloadz) that can be sold directly or indirectly (via affiliates) to the 25+ million users of Linkedin.

QUESTION: Peter, you wrote earlier that “The secret is this: turn your connections into affiliates. An affiliate is simply somebody who redirects traffic to your website or blog, so visitors can purchase and download a product. Every time a purchase is made, you earn 30% to 50% in commission as an affiliate.” How are YOU actually doing it?

PETER: I developed a technique called “scriptease” where I give away a FREE partial version of my ebook. Then, readers who are interested in knowing the hidden details (which are covered by a black box) can purchase the complete ebook. See an example at http://peterswork.wordpress.com.

QUESTION: I already downloaded your FREE partial version, it’s interesting. What is your main message in that book?

PETER: The main message that is most relevant to Linkedin users is that they are at the Information phase. They are not yet at the Knowledge phase, where they truly master what it is that they know. It’s not that they don’t know enough, it’s just that they have never taken the time to organize what they know into a system that they could sell. Information is like random dots on a page, whereas knowledge is linking those dots into a well structured geometrical figure. Since most Linkedin users do not master their knowledge, they are not in a position to teach anyone. In other words, they are not capable of creating information products that they could sell to their hundreds (or sometimes even thousands) of connections.

QUESTION: So if the problem is not having knowledge to sell, then what is the solution?

PETER: The first step to a viable solution is to sit down, pull out a blank sheet of paper, and start writing down everything that you know. Remember what Peter Drucker wrote: you are worth in the marketplace what your knowledge is worth. Let me repeat it: Most people on Linkedin do NOT know what it is that they know. This is the SINGLE BIGGEST OBSTACLE to making profitable use of Linkedin. If you don’t have valuable knowledge to share with your connections, then you are “useless.” Indeed, sooner or later, everybody will be connected to everybody else. So it doesn’t matter how many connections you have. What will matter most is how much you know, and what is the value or utility of your knowledge to your connections.

Please don’t be offended when I say that you are “useless” if you don’t have valuable knowledge to share with your connections. This statement has nothing to do with you as a person. I’m sure you’re a very nice person who’s always ready to help others. I’m just saying that your connections cannot “use” you and cannot get any real benefit from you. Unless there is something valuable to be exchanged between you and your connections, then there is no basis for building a win-win relationship.

The bottom line is that if you want to make money by leveraging Linkedin, then you have to seriously think about what it is that you know, and you have to format it in a way that is useful or user-friendly to ALL your connections. This format can be an ebook, a mind map, a PowerPoint presentation, an audio clip, a video clip, etc.

Linkedin is truly a place where you can share knowledge — via teaching, advising, publishing, etc. — and the more knowledge you share and sell, the more you win and the more your connections win.

Wouldn’t it be great if all your Linkedin connections started working for you — without your having to pay them? In fact, they would work for you AND they would pay you!

I’m not kidding! In fact, this might be the MOST SERIOUS BLOG POST you’ll ever read about how to profitably leverage Linkedin so you can laugh all the way to the bank.

The secret is this: turn your connections into affiliates.

An affiliate is simply somebody who redirects traffic to your website or blog, so visitors can purchase and download a product. Every time a purchase is made, you earn 30% to 50% in commission as an affiliate.

I was puzzled as to why nobody on Linkedin is doing this, so I posted the question below on Linkedin Answers.

Anyways, to answer the question as to WHY you should turn your connections into affiliates, I’d say simply that it’s a great way to enable your connections to win financially while YOU also win.

The next question is, “What if you don’t have a product to sell?”

Then, create one. Just package your best knowledge into a 20-page ebook, and upload it on Payloadz. Then, email the purchase link to all your connections and promise them 30% in commission every time one of their connections buy your ebook.

I’ll write more later on to help you to capture your valuable knowledge into an ebook. It’s not hard, don’t worry.

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Email signature as money-maker / passive income generator?

Every day, over a billion email messages are sent, yet 99.99999% of the people sending emails are not making money from it. I’ve always wondered “why not?”

I mean, if you’re emailing someone, then chances are, that person knows you and, to a certain degree, respects your opinion.

So isn’t this a great opportunity to promote a product or service that you believe in?

For example, you could have a personalized URL like PowerKnowledge.net/johnsmith, and on that page there would be products and services that you bought and would happily share with others (you get a 30% commission).

After all, the founders of Hotmail became millionaires (after being bought out by Microsoft) with this business model (where users email their friends, and these friends in turn open a new account at Hotmail, and so on and so forth until there was 30 million users within 30 months).

What are your thoughts on people using their email signature to generate passive income? Wouldn’t this be an amazing, effortless way for hard-working people to get an extra income? Thanks!

Don Tapscott, the business/technology guru, wrote the book The Naked Corporation where he argues that it’s good for business and for society to be honest and transparent.

The same arguments can be made for professionals. In fact, Linkedin will be most beneficial to you if you are totally transparent and reveal details about your operations to your connections (including people that you invite to connect to you).

For example, when I invite people to subscribe to my free BMW course (they only need to send a blank email to bmwcourse@gmail.com in order to receive the entire course, worth hundreds of dollars), I sometimes tell them what exactly will happen after they join. For instance, they immediately get the welcome letter below, along the first few lessons of the course.

The challenge at Linkedin is that we only have a brief space (called the “profile”) to introduce ourselves, and that is simply not enough. If you want your connections to trust you and think of you, it’s a good idea to share as much information as possible — especially information that might be useful to them, not just self-promotional and self-congratulatory information.

I know, we all have egos so it’s difficult to resist the temptation to “brag” about what we did in the past or all our achievements and credentials. But the fact is, most people who view your profile just want to know what you can do for them. Indeed, everybody’s favorite radio station is WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).

Ask yourself this simple question: “Ideally, what do you want a person to do after he/she has read your Linkedin profile?”

In my case, I want people to subscribe to my blog or to contact me for affiliate opportunities. I write several blogs but the one that is most relevant to Linkedin users is the Linkedin User Manual (http://linkedinusermanual.blogspot.com), so I promote it in my Linkedin profile. I get a lot of new subscribers from Linkedin, and there’s about 300 subscribers so far.

Anyways, this post is about “naked professionalism,” so let me jump into the subject matter.

Naked professionalism is about showing to the entire world your professional processes and value creation methods. It’s about sharing details, lots of details, with people that you consider to be career allies (for example, your Linkedin connections).

This is not to be confused with a resume. If your career is a sports car, then your resume is like the rearview mirror: it shows where you have been, and so it focuses on the past. In other words, your resume (or your Linkedin profile) says very little about your career, how you work, how you create value or how unique you are as a professional.

You might wonder, “Why do I have to share my professional work methods with my connections?”

One reason is so they can trust you more. The more your connections KNOW about what you do, the more likely they are to help you in your career or business venture.

I have over 900 connections, and about only two people have shared with me exactly what they do at work. Only two people keep me posted about what’s going on in their career.

I can understand why most people seem a little “laid back” when it comes to using and leveraging Linkedin strategically. Many people join Linkedin “just in case” they need connections. They also invite lots and lots of people “just in case” they need something. It seems to me that many people believe that inviting folks to become Linkedin connections is the same as “networking.”

Unfortunately, network is not that easy. Networking — REAL networking — involves sharing as much information about yourself as possible. I mean information that can help your career allies to better understand your unique value proposition, or information that is of relevance and use to them.

It’s important to keep in mind that “there’s no security in obscurity.” In other words, you stand to gain more by openly sharing your information and knowledge.

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Dear (name),

Thanks for subscribing to the BMW course!

This is a special course I created in May 2006 for entrepreneurs, and it has been featured in The  Gazette (http://talentelle-news.blogspot.com — second post from the top), a Montreal daily newspaper.

I charge corporate clients $800 for this course, but have decided to give it away because I feel it can help so many people to clarify their thinking and gain intellectual power so as to achieve economic independence. This is a mission I stated on the BMW blog at http://businessmodelworkout.blogspot.com.

Please feel free to invite your friends to join this course as well, since the deadline to register is September 1st, 2008.

Should you have questions or suggestions, please write to me at omnidigitalbrain@yahoo.com.

To your success!

Peter Nguyen
Serial entrepreneur and business teacher
CEO & co-founder, Talentelle.com
Principal & editor in chief, PowerKnowledge.net, CareerKnowledge.net

The key to success and WEALTH on Linkedin is pretty simple, but it requires that one overcome mistaken beliefs. The belief that “Linkedin is for networking” is very, very unprofitable.

This belief drives people to invite other people to join their network, and then to feel good that they’ve got hundreds of connections. Yet, those hundreds of connections are worth zero dollars.

This is because “content” is missing. In other words, most well connected people have nothing to sell.

If they had something to sell, their invitation letter would mention what they had to offer and would perhaps offer some of that value for free to new connections.

I know this is tough to hear for many of you, but just take a look at how many connections you have, and how much money you’ve made from them.

The good news is that some people have already figured this out. For example, they’ve sent me an invitation to become an affiliate for them. That is, for every unit of their product that I can sell to my connections, I get 30%.

That’s the great thing. The content you sell does not have to be content that you developed or own legally. Remember, the success formula is wealth = content X connections.

It’s even possible for you to represent a variety of authors and offer that great variety of books or ebooks to all your connections. For instance, you could create a form via Sureforms.net so that your connections could express what ebooks or special reports they’re interested in, and you would then send a partial version of those ebooks and special reports to them. Then, if they want to purchase the whole ebook or special report, they can do so via a Payloadz link. With every purchase, you make 30% and the author makes 70%.

In the above example, you’re basically a “library affiliate.”

Please note that the Sureforms.net form is set up so you can let your connections express their interest in various ebooks and special reports. It’s possible that some of your connections are not interested at all in any of the ebooks or special reports you represent. Then, it’s important to respect them and NOT email them any promotion.

However, here’s where it gets interesting. The people who buy an ebook or special report from such a library, could ALSO become affiliates and make money too!

This is such a great idea that I’m implementing it today. This is a powerful business model that I’ve acronymized as “AKME”, for Affiliate Knowledge Marketing Escalation.

I will write more on it.

I’d like to offer you for FREE the BMW course, which normally costs hundreds of dollars. I teach it at Tyark College (www.tyark.com), CEFQ (www.cefq.ca), McGill University, Chambers of commerce, etc.

You can now get it for free by sending a blank email to bmwcourse@gmail.com. Please note that this offers ends on September 1st, 2008 so please register today and let all your friends know about it!

Why is the BMW course important?

Because it teaches something that even business schools are not teaching: how to create value and build wealth.

In other words, it teaches people how to become financially free.

However, it is very much like a martial art: the principles are simple, but the practice is not. It takes practice, practice, practice, and more practice.

Aristotle said that excellence is a habit, but I would rather say that excellence is a habitual practice. A little bit like what Olympian athletes are doing every day for four years, so they can compete internationally.

The great thing about the BMW teachings is that it grows with you. Whether you have a small business or a big one, you can apply the BMW principles to serve you at the level you’re at.

Even if you have only ONE product or service, the BMW teachings will still be useful to you.

However, if you think like an employee (who only does what his job description says he should do — that is, he is not creating new products or services), then the BMW teachings will not be useful to you. And you will not likely become wealthy in this life.

Now, “wealthy” doesn’t necessarily mean that you become a millionaire. It simply means, in my book, that you generate enough passive income to live your favorite lifestyle without depriving yourself of anything you desire.

For instance, some people need passive income per year of $300,000 while others only need $80,000. It totally depends on your lifestyle.

The important thing is NEVER to think that you cannot achieve the wealth you want. The minute that you THINK that wealth is not for you, then it becomes IMPOSSIBLE for you to achieve wealth.

This is because your life goes where your mind is. So if you THINK that you’re not the kind of person who can become wealthy, then you are basically MAKING SURE that you will NEVER become wealthy.

On the other hand, if you truly think of yourself as “millionaire material,” then mysteriously enough, you will begin to see opportunities everywhere for making lots and lots of money. I’m not kidding. I don’t joke about millions of dollars.They can change your life.

It sounds strange, but people do shoot themselves in the foot by rejecting, mentally, the wealth that is theirs. You don’t have to do that. Wealth is yours in this life if you want it.

If you’re serious about using Linkedin for getting rich by serving people, then wealth is DEFINITELY going to flow into your life.

But first, you’ve got to get the best business education, and you can get it for free by sending a blank email to bmwcourse@gmail.com. Please note that this offers ends on September 1st, 2008 so please register today and let all your friends know about it!