LinkedIn is an extremely popular social networking site that has been around since 2003. It’s used by professionals to find jobs, build and maintain business connections, and grow their professional network. This article will provide you with some tips on how to leverage LinkedIn for your own personal or professional needs.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is basically an online CV (resume), business networking site, and social media platform all rolled into one. It allows you to connect with people in virtually any industry or field of work.
The main page provides news updates, as well as a directory of your contacts and groups that are relevant to you. There are also discussion boards where users can ask questions, share comments, or post articles that they would like feedback on.
How to Build a Professional Profile
Your profile gives others an idea of who you are professionally and what you do for a living. When creating your profile:
- it’s important to keep it up-to-date so that people can see how your skills have evolved over time.
- Use the summary section for yourself to market yourself, but don’t make it too lengthy; in that same section do your best to include a link to your website or blog.
- The experience and education sections are the most important profiles to fill out completely because this information is what companies will be looking for when they search for employment candidates.
- If you use LinkedIn to find a job, ensure that your profile includes a link directly to your CV and also your professional portfolio website. When doing this it’s best to include links in both the summary section and as well as in the ‘Experience’ section of your profile; you can also add links under ‘skills’.
How to Use LinkedIn for Networking
- Joining groups is one of the more important things you should do when building a professional network on this site. You can create discussions and start small groups about topics that are relevant to your industry or job field. You can also follow other people’s comments, questions, and ideas to learn more about what others think of certain issues.
- Don’t limit yourself only to following people in the same field as you; you want to expand your knowledge base by following different types of professionals within different industries. This will help open up new business opportunities for you and/or allow you to connect with professionals that you normally wouldn’t have access to.
- Once you’ve followed and interacted with a few people on the site, it’s important to send them an invitation in order to build your network even further. It may not seem like much at first but keep sending out invitations; this is one of the best ways to grow your connections and broaden your professional network.
- Another thing you can do when networking is used LinkedIn Answers which are discussion forums where users ask questions about specific topics or issues and other users will answer their questions by adding comments below their post. You mainly want to make sure that you interact with others who share similar interests or careers as yourself so that way both parties can benefit from each other’s knowledge base.
Here are TIPS on How to find the right people in your field of interest:
This is because your network is defined by your personal connection strategy. To maximize your ROI, you should consider including the following groups in your network:
- Clients now
- clients-to-be
- Professionals who frequent your clients (e.g., attorneys and bankers)
- Experts in your field
- Association or organization leaders
- Industry-specific recruiters
- Procurement
- Donors and volunteers of your nonprofit organizations
- Employees of companies you’d like to work for or do business with
- Current and former coworkers
The potential for referrals is another reason to include them in your network. People will recommend you more if you stay top of mind. They will be able to see your LinkedIn activity, including any helpful resources you share, which is a great way to demonstrate your expertise.
Ways to stay up-to-date with current events in your industry without having to do all the research yourself
- LinkedIn Pulse is a great way to catch up on industry news and trends without having to look for them all over the internet. You can stumble upon quality articles that are written by your fellow experts on subjects you’re interested in or learn about new industries and their challenges. LinkedIn also offers many groups where users post updates with links, photos, videos, etc…
- To stay up-to-date with popular articles from top experts within your industry or job field as well as other business-oriented information (e.g., legal, financial issues etc.), use LinkedIn’s ‘News’ feature which will keep you updated on changes throughout your network in one easy place; this can be found by clicking the ‘News’ icon at the top of any user’s homepage. You can also use the ‘News’ feature to keep up with news from outside of LinkedIn.
- You should also make sure that you’re getting updates about your connections and relevant groups by checking out ‘Groups Updates’. This is a great way to stay updated with what people are saying within relevant groups you belong to as well as in other industries. If there’s a specific group or topic that doesn’t appear here, then just ask the administrator to add it.
- Lastly, you should make sure that you’re getting updates about your connections and relevant content by checking out ‘New Inbox Updates’. This is a great way to stay updated with what people are saying within the messages you’ve sent to them or any of their relevant changes. You can always unsubscribe from receiving these updates if they become too much for you.
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for professionals who want to network, market themselves and stay informed about what’s happening in their industry. With the right strategy and some practice, you can use this site to your advantage! What are some of your favorite features? Have you already built up an impressive profile on LinkedIn or do you need help getting started? Let us know how we can help. We love helping entrepreneurs like yourself make connections with people they don’t have access to offline while establishing credibility through content marketing opportunities online.
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