For those of you who know I am the farthest thing possible from a morning person, the title refers to a series Steve Woodruff (@swoodruff) created on his Sticky Figure blog. Through the magic of advanced scheduling, my contribution to Five in the Morning will indeed arrive with your morning coffee-while I am still happily snoozing.

While you sip caffeine, take a few minutes to enjoy these five blog posts:

1. If you’re the early bird who gets the worm type, you’ll get a peek at the newest version of my favorite Twitter app, TweetDeck, a few hours before me. At Read Write Web, Marshall Kirkpatrick has already taken the new model for a test drive. Here’s What It Will Include.

2. Glenda Watson Hyatt (@glendawh) writes the Do It Myself blog. Her 3 Tips for Making Your Hyperlinks More Usable will help web designers and bloggers make content more accessible to readers with visual impairment or other disabilities. Next time you complain about being “all thumbs,”remember Glenda, who has cerebral palsy; she blogs and uses Twitter, typing only with her left thumb.

3. If you’re a hockey fan and on Twitter, then you probably know Shannon Paul (@shannonpaul), who “does social media stuff” for the Detroit Red Wings. Stop by her Very Official Blog and read Stop Looking for Easy Answers When It Comes to Social Media. Shannon gets it right. But then, she usually does.

4. I’m a fan of Todd Defren (@tdefren), principal of SHIFT Communications. His PR Squared was one of the first PR blogs. So when an industry leader like Todd compiles his best thinking over the last five year into an e-book, it’s something to take note of. Brink: A Social Media Guide from the Edge is a free download.

5. If you’re a woman 55+ (*Connie raises hand*), you’re part of the fastest growing segment of Facebook users-up 175.3% in the last 120 days. Read more about the shifting demographics (older and wealthier) of the #1 social network at Inside Facebook.

And now, for a bonus (since we’re on the topic of age), read all about Stump, the 10-year-old Sussex spaniel who took home top honors at the annual Westminster Kennel Club Show. Stump is the oldest dog (70 in “dog years”) to win Best in Show in the competition’s 133-year history. I wonder if Stump is on Facebook . . .

Subscribe: Every Dot Connects / Steve Woodruff’s StickyFigure blog
Follow on Twitter: Connie Reece / Steve Woodruff

My first piece of advice is that you DON’T want to “quick-launch” on LinkedIn; do it slowly and deliberately and do it right the first time.

What?

You say you’ve just been laid off, or there’s some other career crisis, and you didn’t “dig your [networking] well before you’re thirsty?”

OK, it happens.

In our Every Dot Connects social media workshops, here are some of my top tips for starting a good LinkedIn profile:

• Upload a photo. People like to see a face, and when you connect with folks after conferences and meetings, it also helps jog their memory about who you are and what you do. Get a professional headshot, not some fuzzy picture with your head against a blank wall taken with the family Kodak by your long-suffering spouse.  If you are located in Central Texas, I recommend Korey Howell.
• Personalize your public profile URL.  The default URL for your profile is an alpha-numeric jumble, but you can change it to read “www.linkedin.com (slash) YOURNAME.”  It looks a lot more professional, especially when you add your profile URL to your standard email signature, which essentially attaches your resume to every email you send.
• Spend a lot of time crafting your one- or two-line “elevator speech” that goes under your profile name.  Freelancers are sometimes too quick to demonstrate “versatility” by saying they can do everything.  No one will search for that or want to spend money to hire that - they will look for specific expertise.  I do lots of things, too, but in my own profile, I aimed for a pithy distillation of the most important skills:

“Sheila Scarborough - Travel and motorsports writer, Web 2.0/social media trainer and teacher. Austin, Texas Area. Writing and Editing.”

• Use that billboard just below your photo; the box that asks, “What are you doing?” at the top of your profile. Think of it as free advertising for your business activities. Keep it updated every few days with projects you’re working on, articles you’ve written or professional conferences you’re attending. Every time you update your status, your LinkedIn network will see it on their own Home page.

Filling out the rest of your profile is pretty self-explanatory, but be mindful of the unique challenges of writing for the Web.  Chunk up your text and provide plenty of white space.

Whenever you exchange business cards with anyone, add another step and connect on LinkedIn. You never know when a network might come in handy, and it’s a lot tougher to develop one when the situation is desperate.

In a future post we’ll talk about the benefits of joining Groups, and building credibility by participating in Questions and Answers.