It used to be that the status updates on LinkedIN were actually quite useful, to see what people were up to, get a snapshot of what they are/were working on… but alas no more.

Given the option to link a twitter account to LinkedIN (good) most people have chosen to send ALL tweets to LinkedIN (bad) rather than use the selective “#in” option which only sends selected tweets to LinkedIN (good).

The result?

The status updates are all RT’s (the twitter version of forwards) and off topic, no where near as useful as it used to be.

To me, it devalues the activity stream quite a bit – which is kind of a pity as the other things on there are still great – Q+A, groups, events…

Have you noticed this too, or is it just my network of people?

Please, if you link twitter and Facebook together use the selective updates function – make sure your messages are “fit for purpose”, does everything you tweet, really need to be on LinkedIN?

Select “edit my profile”, then click on the “edit” link next to your twitter username and select the option highlighted below.

Next time you want to send something to LinkedIn just include “#in” in your message.

Thanking you in advance… Luke.

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Luke Williams on LinkedIN – I run 1/2 day LinkedIN courses in London and Bournemouth if you’d like to make more of this great business platform.

LinkedIn is changing its homepage quite a bit – there’s a good write up on Mashable – it’s not live for all users yet, so if you don’t see it, you will soon.

Really though, this post is more about….

Change #2

Since August, I’ve been delivering most of my training under the joint venture I set up with Web Matters (as Web Matters Training) – it’s worked very well for both of us and I’m proud to say we’ve now partnered up with 2e2 to provide a range of Social Media for Business Courses (launching in Feb ’09) based at their London (Victoria) training facility.

In line with this, I felt I should add “Trainer at Web Matters” to my LinkedIn profile, as the 2e2 venture is a partnership with WMT and it would make it clearer for anyone looking at my details via that site.

I’ll post again once the course details are live. Its a great opportunity and if it goes well, we’ll be looking to expand to their other centres around the UK – exciting times.

I have been working on a new seminar for people who want to take the first tentative steps to being their own boss and run their own small or micro business, but are worried about the risks and uncertainty involved.

I’ve certainly faced these worries myself and have found, through experience, discussion and education in the MBA programme, that there are concrete, actionable steps you can take to reduce those risks and clarify much of that uncertainty.

That’s why I have created a 2-hour seminar, aimed at giving people the confidence to take that first step. And where does that journey begin? With the idea, of course!

This low-cost, high-value seminar, Shape Your Idea: How to Find a Business Idea and Tell if it’s a Good One, will give attendees the tools and knowledge to be able to find ideas, assess and refine those ideas, value those ideas and start planning the execution of those ideas.

So if you find yourself in those uncertain shoes, you can find out more here, or register a place now. You never know, it might change your life!

Perhaps you’ve tried twitter but didn’t “get it”?

Spending too much time on twitter and not seeing any benefit?

Can’t see how to measure ROI for twitter, or to develop an effective business strategy?

You need our Twitter Training – the first of our Wednesday evening sessions.

A 2 hour hands on workshop for business (or brand) use of the micro-blogging service, twitter. Covering everything you need to know to create and manage a successful business twitter account.

More details on twitter training in Bournemouth