Simple steps to a complete LinkedIn Profile

We often make changes to LinkedIn to improve the experience based on feedback from our members. Today, we’re introducing two changes to the Profile that may have an impact on your completeness score.

First, the Profile will put more emphasis on Skills and Expertise. This means you can showcase your areas of expertise to easily connect with people that have similar skills or with companies looking for subject matter experts.

We’re also changing how we calculate profile completeness. The new calculation gives you more control of your score by emphasizing things you have direct control over, like Skills, and putting less weight on areas you may have less control over, like Recommendations. The score also takes profile freshness into consideration, so frequent profile updates can now help with profile completeness.

Here are tips for completing your profile based on the new calculation.

Stand out from the crowd with a complete profile

Did you know? Adding a profile photo makes your profile 7x more likely to be found in searches? And that having your 2 most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found? Sim

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Tanzania exporters call for new fund

Tanzanian exporters and producers of export commodities believe that the performance of the two schemes will improve tremendously if a legal separate entity with a clear mission and strategy is established.

The proposal to create the Fund follows a study on the utilisation of the two schemes which was commissioned by TANEXA in 2008 to shape these schemes into an effective source guarantees for accessing funding from private financial institutions.

TANEXA is a private, non-governmental apex association, which serves as a focal point for uniting and giving voice to Tanzanian exporters.

Financial constraints

Over the years, the lack of reliable source of finance to support production and export undertakings has been one of the major challenges facing TANEXA members. Full Post…

Senator Baucus Proposes Big Changes to IRAs

I’ve been a big proponent of planning to preserve the ability to “stretch” inherited IRAs over the life expectancy of the beneficiary, which allows for tremendous tax-deferred growth.  In what came as a big surprise, to me anyway, Senator Max Baucus recently proposed requiring that most inherited IRAs be paid out within five years.  Now, however, it appears that Baucus is backing off his revenue raising proposal.  This brings a collective sigh of relief from IRA owners, financial advisors, custodians, and tax professionals.

Sen Baucus Eyes Inherited IRAs for $4.6 Billion.

The typical bricks and mortar businesses thrive on reputation or goodwill. The hard work that goes in building the reputation of a company/brand has inspired many a stories and budding entrepreneurs.

It is the stuff that history is made of. Think Apple and you know you have the best of technology. Think Mercedes and you imagine burning the tracks in a sports car!

These brands and many more are trustworthy, in the sense that they have paid attention to the minutest detail and have hardly slipped on their promises.

They have built on a repertoire of trust! They know the worth of a trust the customer has on their abilities to deliver. That’s their goodwill over the years.

Online businesses are no exception to the rule. They also thrive on the trust factor; a trust that surpasses the physical presence of the company. Trust in online businesses becomes even more relevant than in traditional brick and mortar businesses. So, it becomes imperative for a business to rank high on the Search Engine Pages (SERPs).

What is trust, then?

Search Engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN put a premium on the links that a website provides. F

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