Do you find yourself struggling to make time for LinkedIn? Let us know.

The site is often equated with finding a job, and while this is a very big part of LinkedIn, it’s not everything. According to Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s Connections Director and founder of WORKS by Nicole Williams, the professional network should be viewed as a “career toolbox.”

“Where it may end up being deemed as forgotten is that people don’t realize how helpful it is in your day-to-day career development,” she said. “LinkedIn is designed to help you in your career totality.”

“It’s not just to be used at the point in which you’re looking at a job,” Williams added.

As she pointed out, LinkedIn should be used in continuous career development. It’s full of news, forums, and groups that could create valuable opportunities. The relationships and connections that are made on LinkedIn can play a significant role in helping people get into their desired careers.

Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are all useful in their own way, but they are very different from LinkedIn. Facebook, specifically, covers a user’s entire life (especially once the new Timeline feature officially rolls out) from personal vacation pictures to fun activities and events that the user participates in.

LinkedIn, however, is different because it offers a professional forum to individuals. As Williams explained, it provides “distilled information,” which is necessary for a professional environment. The company also has features such as LinkedIn Today that helps users stay up-to-date on industries they are interested in.

In addition, LinkedIn recently introduced a Volunteer Experience and Causes field to its service that allows users to display their charity inolvement right along with their work experience. Based on a survey the company conducted, 41 percent of the respondents said that they considered volunteer work just as valuable as paid work experience.

Williams told us that this new feature is especially beneficial in this economy, since so many people aren’t able to work in jobs that are reflective of their true passions. The Causes field now allows them to actually get credit for their volunteer experience.

“You have to set yourself apart,” said Williams. “What LinkedIn is hoping to do is allow people to set themselves apart by being able to offer up their volunteer work experience.”

The truth is – there are a lot of ways to use LinkedIn that people aren’t taking advantage of. According to Williams, LinkedIn Groups is a powerful means for people to connect with individuals not only in their industry but also in other industries that they are interested in. Groups also can give a user the opportunity to become a leader in their industry by participating in conversations.

“You can get exposed to people who are beyond your normal realm of influence and get to know people who may, in fact, get to be able to offer you something professionally; or, you may be able to offer them something professionally,” she said.

Williams told us that, as a new mom, she is involved in several groups related to professional women and working moms. Through a conversation she had about being tired, she met a sleep coach and, after talking with her, hired her. She told us that the chances of them connecting in another way would have been extremely slim.

“If you can just engage in conversation and offer up tidbits of advice that prove that you’re a legitimate, helpful individual, that may turn into a real business opportunity,” Williams said.

She also said that LinkedIn would continue to build products that would enhance the lives of professionals and make it easier to connect with other professionals.

While it is difficult to keep up with all the social networks, Williams told us that LinkedIn should not be underutilized because it could really impact a person’s career for the better.

After reading this, are you going to make more time for LinkedIn?

Certainly there have been a lot of interesting blog posts about Sphinn.

So, without further delay, let’s get on to what I think are the top 10 blog posts about Sphinn for 2007:

Note that I have not put these in any particular order.

The First (un)Official Sphinn Awards
The Sphinn Awards, even though they’re the unofficial ones, are definitely something that should come on an annual basis. I didn’t choose this Sphinn blog post because I happen to have one a Sphinn award, but just thought that if it’s an award about Sphinn it should definitely be on this list.

Sphinn Launches: Social Voting Community for Search Marketers
DoshDosh, as always, did a great review of Sphinn, full of screen captures and everything. Even outlines part of the the submission guidelines that we all need to remember:

Yes, you can submit your own stories. In fact, we’d rather you directly submit your own stories you think are of interest to the community than have someone do it for you.

Yes, you can submit your own blog post about a news story you read. However, we’d prefer you only do this if you’ve added something unique to the general news topic, such as an extended opinion or further clarification.

Sphinn: Our Social Site For Search & Internet Marketing Professionals
Danny’s explanation of Sphinn back in July is a great overview and recap of Sphinn. I just had to put this in the top 10 list.

By no means do we envision Sphinn as replacing general news sites like Digg. We just think the story submission model can work and be powerful in a specialized area such as search, as well.

Add Sphinn Bookmarking To the Share This WordPress Plugin
I cannot put together a top 10 Sphinn blog post list without mentioning the Sphinn WordPress plugin. Sorry, but I just had to do it. If you use WordPress then you just have to use this plugin.

Please Don’t Ask Me to Sphinn Your Stories
Tamar’s commentary and rant about Sphinn is a classic one. Definitely my vote for the top 10 Sphinn blog posts of all time.

It’s no longer a “the familiar faces dominate the front page” mentality. Instead, it’s the “please Sphinn me” requests that are overflowing on other communication mediums, particularly Facebook and StumbleUpon, that is causing this to happen. You ask me on IM/Facebook, I appear to be active, and I am not the type of person to ignore your request so I feel obligated to comply. However, it’s not fair to other people who may not know me or other community members so well and don’t solicit votes like you do.

Sphinn Is In – But Is It Better Than Digg?
This has got to get into the top 10. Great post comparing Sphinn to Digg. Lots of great points brought up and it’s interesting to see why Sphinn beats out Digg.

The button is nice, but how good is Sphinn? Is it really worth it?

It depends. I’ve had some stories on there that got a few sphinns. Never made it to the home page though…

Even so, it has sent me a few visitors. And Sphinn visitors seem to stay an average of 1:20. Not bad, especially because it was 97% new visitors. However, most referrals were better, and even StumbleUpon users (over the same time period) stuck around an average of 1:35.

How to Reach the Front Page in Sphinn
This one is pretty much a no-brainer. If you Sphinn stuff then you need to know what does well on Sphinn and how to get your stuff on the home page.

feeling…So far I have Sphinn many articles but with little success so I have began to analyzes the Sphinn website and what will make a post reach the hot topics page.

This can be broken down in to 5 key areas:

20 Top Sphinners You Should Know
I’m not putting this in the top 10 list because I’m on the list. Really, I’m not. But pointing out the top 20 Sphinners is helpful, and Gabriel Goldenberg does a great job at picking out the Sphinners you really should get to know.

I was having a glance through Sphinn’s top users rankings as well as their top content, and I realized that while I know a fair amount of those folks (know who they are, I mean), there’s a number that I don’t. I had a look at 20 of the top unknown (to me) Sphinners’ sites and have the following to share with you as a result.

Why Rand Is Wrong, And Sphinn Is A Popularity Contest
I have to admit, there are some pretty good stories on Sphinn’s home page but you do keep seeing the same Sphinners time and time again. Does that really mean that it’s a popularity contest?

TannerC argues that the stories which are dominating the homepage of the site, due to the number of votes (or Sphinns) which they have received, are predominantly from the big names in the search sector; people such as Rand, Lisa, Vanessa, & Todd. He also suggests that this is a de facto status quo that makes it hard for newbies to break into

Why Sphinn Needs a Dumbass Button
We still haven’t gotten a “dumbass button” on Sphinn, but we at least have some moderators who do a pretty good job at taking care of Sphinn spam.

Now normally, I’m not a big fan of Digg’s “bury it” function, but in this case, I think it’s warranted. If we can’t get Danny to give us the ability to make a stupid post go away, then at least give us a big red Dumbass button that will flag the post as one not worth clicking on.

I, too, am not a fan of bury functions, but it seems as though there are some pretty annoying posts that need to be buried from time to time.

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The homepage features immediate links to blog and forum posts. The last column is set aside for files. Additional sections target education, events, a jobs board and articles. It is joint venture provided by the International Institute of Business Analysis and the Usability Professionals Association.

From their About Us page:

Catalyze is a member-driven community for all professionals involved in defining business systems, designing software applications and creating websites. If you are a business analyst, usability professional, UI designer, information architect, interaction designer, product manager, project manager or anyone else involved in the definition process of software applications, this community is for you and will be worth your time.

Professionals approach application definition from many different angles and this community will “catalyze” or gather strength from all points of view to heighten the importance of this space. The challenges, issues and topics are similar across all of these professional functions, and Catalyze is the first community to bridge these diverse disciplines.

Catalyze is free to join. You don’t have to be a member to gain access to all the content, but once you do register, your experience with the site is more robust, intuitive and designed to permit more networking.

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Technically speaking, it means that Google disallows all Google AdWords Qualified Professional pages. To make it more clear, have a look at another example of one Google AdWords Professional page. Notice closely, the way the URL is typed “https://adwords.google.com/select/ProfessionalStatus?id=” Since Google disallows /*?, Google won’t index them fully.

Moreover, some 1,300 pages at Google are already indexed at adwords.google.com/select/ProfessionalStatus? But the truth is that these pages are not fully indexed. The pages are like linkage data, and that is why those are listed in the index. But still it is not clear as why does Google not index them? The best part is that Google has approved these AdWords advertisers, and now the pages are blocked from being indexed.

To be a part of the forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, click here.

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Google AdWords says that the the qualification expires two years from the date of issue:

Valid exam status for program qualification expires two years (24 months) from the date you passed the Google Advertising Professional Exam. For instance, if you passed the exam on May 1, 2005, your valid exam status expires on May 1, 2007. Those who passed the exam before June 30, 2005 receive an additional 90-day grace period after the original exam expiration date to re-take and pass the exam without losing valid exam status for program qualification.

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Bad advice is frequently given out as though it is good advice because

people talk in terms of ideals because…

• they want to justify the time they spent learning what they know
• they want to justify the career path they chose (which may become a large part of their identity)
• they buy into white lies that put themselves or others at the top of social networks
• they get paid more if only a few people can do what they teach (supply vs demand, etc.)

professionals want to make their profession seem more complex than it is…

• to lock new competitors out of their market
• to feel proud of themselves for the hard work they do and all they know
• to justify the fees they charge
• they get paid more if only a few people can do what they teach (supply vs demand, etc.)

many people with authority only consider their worldview…

• because they are insecure or it is all they know
• or they realize that if they (or the market) were less idealistic they might lose their authority / income / market position
• they get paid more if only a few people can do what they teach (supply vs demand, etc.)

A few white lies I hate…

• Create quality content. Why do I hate it? If you don’t have much brand recognition higher quallity content will lose out to average content. Most people never talk about the social aspects of the web when saying to create quality content.
• Don’t buy or sell links. Why do I hate it? The major search engines are the largest link brokers. Their guidelines are based on them extracting as much value from the web as possible, and many of them buy and sell links with intent to manipulate their own indexes or pollute other search engines. Most quality links are in one way or another bought. If I package value and give it away and then people link at it then I bought those links. If I list my site in the Yahoo! Directory I bought a listing.
• Create your website for users, not for search engines. Why do I hate it? Search is marginalizing many publishing business models. To pay for the costs of creating linkworthy content it makes sense to add a significant amount of lower cost highly monetized filler to a website.
• Used variable width liquid design. Why do I hate it? Using a fixed width design allows you greater control of the readability and ad integration (and thus monetization) for most of your target market on most content sites.
• Validate your site. Why do I hate it? Most successful sites do not validate.

What web design / web development / SEO white lies do you see most often? Which ones frustrate you?

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You either adapt to stay in the game or fall way behind the competition.

This statement especially rings true for call centers as new technologies, applications and call center solutions are often introduced to improve daily and long-term operations.

With that said, it is one thing to understand the importance of having this dedication to learn about the latest call center solutions and quite another to actually do so.

Learning about the latest advanced call center solutions can be a daunting task for several reasons. To begin with, not everyone is accustomed to or experienced with call center solutions and terminology. Common terms like ACD, VOIP and IVR, as examples, may appear complicated, foreign and intimidating to people unfamiliar with the industry.

Furthermore, where can those unfamiliar turn to gain a basic understanding of CRM terms and consequently learn about new call center solutions? With so many CRM vendors online nowadays, finding the right resource can seem like a full-time job in itself.

Here are some key things to look for when searching for an online CRM resource that will not only provide a basic foundation about the industry but also keep you in tune with the latest technologies, developments and solutions.

Experience and Expertise

Go with a CRM professional resource that’s been around for a while and has an understanding of how the industry has evolved. Oftentimes, a company that has been around for at least ten years has proven its mettle in the field and has a firm understanding of CRM’s past, present and future.

Organization

Too many CRM online resources lack direction. In other words, their Web sites are too jumbled to navigate. Users will become even more intimidated and frustrated when reaching an online resource that is visually unappealing and hard to locate information about specific call center solutions.

Whether it’s providing a vendor directory of call center solutions or doing something else, organization can go a long way for the popularity of an online CRM resource.

Innovative and Insightful

The best online CRM resources not only explain the latest call center solutions but also probe much deeper into their applications and benefits. From whitepapers, industry expert columns and executive interviews to case studies, Webcasts and online events, a CRM resource that makes the latest call center solutions applicable, tangible and visual for the visitor will be more likely to attract an audience.

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With these key points in mind, CRMXchange is a leading online resource to learn about the latest call center solutions. Widely renowned as the “event site,” CRMXchange is always hosting some insightful forum to further delve into new call center solutions and their applications to the real business world.

http://crmxchange.com

Yeah, right. If you look closely, you’ll find the same companies that do “independent” studies also have done “Microsoft-sponsored research”. Sure, I trust their “independent” stuff without question.

Anyway, apparently the most recent Yankee Group study has found that Windows servers are more reliable than Linux, but that Unix servers are more reliable than either. I can’t find anything on Microsoft’s website referencing this (I guess that’s not surprising) though they do have plenty of other studies.

The Enquirer’s review of the Yankee Group study says:

Yankee says that Windows 2003 Server is a more reliable server operating system than Linux as the downtime was longer for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Linux distributions from “niche” open source vendors. It says that one reason for this was that there was a shortage of Linux and open source documentation.

Huh? A “shortage of Linux and open source documentation”??

I’m still shaking my head over that one.

PC World covered a similar study. They report:

In the absence of a clear definition of reliability or benchmarks, Microsoft commissioned a study that pitted Windows Server 2003 against Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 AS. As part of the study, 18 Linux and 18 Windows system administrators were hired to run the simulated IT environments of a midsized company over a four day period.

That’s not the Yankee Group study. This is one Microsoft paid for and can be found at Microsoft Windows Server 2003 vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3.0: IT Professionals Running a Production Environment

We’ll assume that there was enough integrity that the Windows administrators weren’t ten year veterans pitted again Linux noobies fresh out of community college. There was testing of the admins hired for this study. However, the testing wasn’t much for either the Windows or the Linux folk. The Linux test questions were slanted toward Linux in a Windows environment, which is not totally unreasonable but definitely not always the case. The Windows test didn’t take any notice of a Unix or Linux environment being present though, and in fact that is pretty likely at larger organizations and even quite a few small shops. Overall, the qualification questions were fairly basic.

PC World continues:

The administrators had to troubleshoot intentionally introduced errors and conduct tasks such as configuring new devices, making backups and setting up remote access.

What sorts of errors? Were the “errors” truly similar? Were they equally likely to happen?

You can download the PDF and read it for yourself. My take is that it was a bit slanted toward Microsoft environments (heavy concentration on user file deletion and SMB browsing issues), but in general no competent Linux admin should have had any difficulty reacting to the tasks and induced problems and solving them quickly. In fact, the results seem to bear that out: there were some Linux and some Windows admins that got stuck in certain areas, but most solved the problems in the time frames I’d expect.

As hinted at above, it might have been more fair had the Windows folks had to interface with Linux or Unix machines, but they didn’t have to. Linux admins did have to deal with Samba and Active Directory issues.

The study ignored the sorts of tasks that are common in any environment. For example, let’s ask the admins to create a file mapping IP addresses to host names, using a naming format where (for example) 192.168.2.1 is host_2_1. Almost all Linux/Unix admins would script that and be done in seconds, while a depressing percentage of Windows admins would fire up Microsoft Word and start typing. Of course that’s really nothing to do with the OS proper, but it does show WHY Windows servers usually do require more work: their admins lack both proper tools and the skill to use them.

Overall I’d say this whole study is meaningless. There’s tremendous variance between the various admins and variance between similar tasks for the same admin. This is simple reality for troubleshooting: sometimes even the best of us head down the wrong path for a while. I don’t find the time differences compelling.

For me, it doesn’t change the basic observations every Unix/Linux tech knows: once the system is properly set up, it will probably run for years without attention, and any organization with Windows servers or desktops will always have a larger number of support techs than the equivalent Unix/Linux shop. Those are the real facts, and Windows compares disfavorably.

*Originally published at APLawrence.com

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A.P. Lawrence provides SCO Unix and Linux consulting services http://www.pcunix.com

CollectiveX founder Clarence Wooten believes this feature will help his site do for professionals what MySpace did for other individuals. “Groups have been using Yahoo Groups and e-mail to communicate for a while, but none combine social networking with group communication,” he said.

The website will feature private group calendars, shared file folders, and e-mail blasts. Required user information will include facts about employers, occupations, and education. People will be able to sign up for free; there will also be two paid levels of membership.

The most basic membership will offer password protection, 10 MB of file storage, and access to the social networking features and a stored calendar. These users will be exposed to advertising, which will be the site’s primary supply of revenue. By paying $19 a month, users will get increased storage (up to 500 MB), and access to e-mail blast functions. These users will still see ads, though. Only by forking over $36 per month can users avoid advertisements at CollectiveX. These users will be allowed 2 GB of file storage and provided with secure 128 SSL data encryption.

Traffic through social networking sites is growing rapidly. According to data from Nielsen//NetRatings, the top ten social networking sites experienced 47 percent year-over-year growth, and reached 45 percent of active Internet users. This could prove a double-edged sword for CollectiveX, though. While there is a large potential audience, there are also many competitors, including LinkedIn Corp. and Visible Path Corp.

Still, Wooten believes his site will be able to draw in targeted business professionals. “CollectiveX groups are more about professional networking within a group as opposed to open social personal’ networking,” he said. This focus, and the other features of his site, could be enough to gain a share of the Web’s social networking market.

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HR professionals are working hard to “have a seat at the table,” “to be a strategic business partner,” and “to add value” to the organization. Yet, many HR managers still don’t seem to have jumped on the bandwagon. And, as a result, HR is still struggling to get management to listen to their advice.

Of course, the transition to a consultative position within the organization will take time. But, if HR professionals remember a few key things, that transition will be made more quickly and confidently.

1. Listen to their hot buttons.

If HR is always thinking about HR, they are missing the boat. Try tuning into the key issues that the top brass face. What are they most worried about? What is their biggest challenge? What are they complaining about? HR will only be effective if they deliver services that meet the critical needs of the organization’s leaders. You can only do that if you pay attention to their hot buttons.

2. Present your ideas in value-added terms.

Often, HR presents new ideas and solutions that reflect what HR or the employees want. The next time you offer up a new idea, ask yourself, “how will this make the organization better?” If the HR solution does not add value and contribute to the organization’s strategic goals, rework it.

3. Talk their language.

If you don’t know the lingo of your industry, you’re doomed. Remember, you might be an HR professional, but you don’t work in the HR industry. You work in the manufacturing industry, the financial industry, or in the public sector. If you aren’t aware of what’s going on with your competitors, management has no reason to listen to you.

4. See yourself as a peer to management.

If you see yourself as a lower level employee, they will see you that way too. Even though you may be geographically lower on the organization chart, you cannot think of yourself that way and then expect managers to see your contribution as valuable.

5. Say it like it is.

Part of being a peer to management means being frank and honest with your feedback. This doesn’t mean that you should go around alienating everyone. However, respect is built by telling it like it is. Too many HR people spend their time protecting their job by avoiding being honest about what they know is really going on.

6. Continually learn.

Those who are most respected are those who continually hone their craft. We all know colleagues who are doing their job using the same strategies year after year. Eventually, they have nothing new to offer to management; yet, management’s challenges change daily. If we are not continually growing, the organization will not either.

HR professionals are most valuable when they can forge strong partnerships with top management in order to affect the organization’s strategic direction. We all want a seat at the table. However, we won’t even get to the highchair if we don’t improve our core relationships with those we serve.

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Marnie E. Green is Principal Consultant of the Arizona-based Management Education Group, Inc. She is the author of Painless Performance Evaluations: A Practical Approach to Managing Day to Day Employee Performance (Pearson/Prentice Hall). Green is a speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations develop leaders today for the workforce of tomorrow. Contact Green at http://www.managementeducationgroup.com