LinkedIn Tips Part 2

While LinkedIn is a relatively straightforward website, offering social networking tools to professionals, there are many ways to get the most from your LinkedIn experience.

In a previous post with 4 initial LinkedIn tips, we suggested developing your profile, making LinkedIn a part of your conversations in real life, and recommending professionals with whom you have had a good experience.

Here are 4 more tips to help you with LinkedIn:

1.  Get smart about keywords.

Put yourself in the mindset of the people you want to find you, whether they are other professionals or potential customers. Ask yourself “What will they search for”? What common words or phrases will appear when they type in their search terms? Once you have come up with a list of them, incorporate those words and phrases into your profile.

2.  Personalize the URL for your profile.

Initially, LinkedIn assigns a set of numbers to your profile. This generic URL can be personalized to your name, which will make it easier for other professionals to find you both with general searches on engines such as Google and when searching on the LinkedIn website itself.

3.  Use status updates.

Remember this is a professional website – people are unlikely to be interested in your latest home improvement project, unless you are a construction contractor. Status updates are a great way to keep the people who comprise your network aware of what you do and what you know.

4.  When in doubt, start asking questions.

If you are looking for information or for a specific type of professional, ask questions that will help you find it or them. Your network is a great source of knowledge and experience that can help you choose the best Internet provider or find a good realtor in your area. Additionally, you can use the people in your network to look for a new employee or to vet potential candidates.

Training available

We just recently completed a training session on LinkedIn for a sales team that we work with.  If you would like to have a personalized social media training program for your company or team please contact us today.

Get the most from Linked In, Part 1 of 2

So you have a log in and you have filled in the most basic information on LinkedIn. You know that other people are using this site because you hear them talk about it and the people they have met using it. How can you join the others who are getting the most from LinkedIn, the leading professional social networking website?

1.   Develop your profile.

A generic profile does not allow you to connect with others as efficiently and makes it harder for your connections to help you by making introductions. Be sure to fill out past employers, education, and the time you have been in your current position, as these are the easiest ways to connect with other professionals like you and to be found by those looking for someone with your experience.

Additionally, be sure that your profile is displayed. Hiding the profile you have developed and worked on will make it harder for you to build a presence on this website and in the professional community.

2.  Bring LinkedIn into your real life.

When you meet people, ask them if they are on LinkedIn. If so, ask to connect with them soon after meeting them so that you are fresh in their mind. This will help your LinkedIn network reflect the network you have built in reality.

3.  Work the recommendations.

Recommend others and ask people you have worked with to recommend you. Reach out by making the effort to recommend others before they ask you to do so; this will help your relationship with them, help others on LinkedIn by giving them an accurate reflection of the person you have recommended, and may increase the chances that you will be recommended as well.

4.   Promote your profile

Do your customers or personal contacts know you have a LinkedIn profile?  One important step in succeeding with this tool is to add a LinkedIn logo to your website, blog, email signature. or other marketing materials.  Each time we look at website analytics and traffic reports, customers are always amazed that they receive traffic from simply including a logo in their email but it works!

Look for the long term

These are the first steps to getting the most from LinkedIn, but there is much more you can do with this important professional tool.  One good way to think about Linked In is that it can become your professional networking tool for 201o and you should treat it as such.  Don’t spam people with advertising, make comments you might later regret or do things that you wouldn’t do if you were in person.

Get used to participating on Linked In and you might be surprised what the results would be.

Groups: Step 2 in LinkedIn Success

One of the most valuable tools for professionals and companies who are using LinkedIn is the ability to join and form groups. As a member of LinkedIn, you are able to join other professionals like yourself or who share interests with you, create new groups that reflect needs and offerings, and ask questions of the members. Each of these actions will help you get added value out of your profile on this website.

How to best utilize LinkedIn Groups:

• Join a group (or groups). As you establish your profile and presence on LinkedIn, you will find that there are already existing groups that have been formed. Individuals may form these groups for a variety of reasons such as common experiences, common goals, shared educational backgrounds, or professional experiences. By joining these groups, you will be able to connect with others who are like you or who share your goals, expanding your professional network. Additionally, you may find knowledge or skills among the members that can help you in your professional development.

• Create a new group (or groups). If you are looking for a group that does not yet exist, you can create your own. Remember, however, that this is not an opportunity for you to sell your product to members. LinkedIn groups must add value for their members, and abusing them by promoting your own product is not an acceptable use of this tool.

• Ask questions. You can ask questions of your group to learn new information from people you trust or to use their experiences to make important choices for your own career or company.

• Answer questions. Responding to the questions others pose is a great way to establish your knowledge and authority, giving yourself credibility in the eyes of current and potential associates. However, once again, it is important that your answers offer useful information and are not just a plug for a particular product or company.

Getting involved is the best way to start

If you want to get smart on LinkedIn, it’s time to get involved with the many groups you can find on this professional social networking site.  If you are unsure where to start or would like help developing  your social website profile contact us today.

Social Networking for Professionals

Depending on your industry and your individual level of awareness of social media sites, you may or may not have know what Linked In is about. If you have not heard about or are not using this site, it is time to get on board so that you can make the most out of a very valuable tool.

In the simplest sense, LinkedIn is a social networking website that is aimed at professionals rather than purely social connections. As of May 2009, the business-oriented networking website had over forty million users and spanned more than 170 industries, making it a great resource for today’s professional.

Some basics to know about LinkedIn

In order to make connections on LinkedIn, members can only contact other members if they have already linked themselves to that member or if they are introduced through a mutual contact. This provides a greater sense of community and accountability between members, giving more validity to relationships formed and introductions made on this website than on most social networking sites.

The first steps to getting involved in this innovative networking tool are to establish a profile and reach out to friends, coworkers, and former coworkers or classmates. Once you create a profile and begin to build a network of contacts, you can move on to groups which will allow you to find others that can help you professionally and benefit from the knowledge pool available from the other members.

Additionally, you can introduce friends or associates who you feel may have common interests, encouraging them to do the same for you. With these simple steps, you will be in a great position to start making LinkedIn work for you.

Listen, learn and interact

The biggest mistake most people make is jumping into social networking and starting to sell.  So with that, my recommendation is to start the other way which involves listening and learning.  Join in and make a few connections and groups.  Then check back regularly to watch and learn how the discussions take place, how endorsements are done and what the etiquette is.

Once you have the basics down, you can begin to engage others with the goal of giving something back instead of just selling.