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Sunday, October 25, 2009
Taking your LinkedIn Presence Up A Notch
Once you have created your basic profile on LinkedIn and connected to the people you know there are a number of extra steps you can take to build your credibility within the site. The LinkedIn site allows you to do a few key things that will help you gain followers, show off your expertise and, possibly, find a new job or investors.
Start a group: Linked in allows you to create groups which can be an extremely powerful assets for your personal brand. If you start a group in an area you want to establish yourself as an expert in you are automatically portraying yourself as a leader. Groups can take time to establish, but if you deliver news content, promote helpful articles and regularly start discussions on topics that will be of interest to group members you can greatly enhance perceptions of your expertise on those topics (see Dave Taylor's Secret of Linkedin Groups for more info).
Create a Company Profile: As an entrepreneur, one of your primary focuses must be on promoting and enhancing the credibility of your company. LinkedIn supports this by allowing you to create a company profile. While LinkedIn company profiles are generally short, simply having one does make your company appear to be a real company in the eyes of people evaluating you online.
Use LinkedIn Applications: If you have a blog, then you should definitely use either the “WordPress” or “Blog Link”applications. This will show two or three of your recent blog posts on your profile. This helps you keep your profile current and (again) allows you to show off your expertise to the LinkedIn community. Other applications that can be used to demonstrate your expertise are “Slideshare Presentations” and "Box.net Files."
Update your status: Make sure that your LinkedIn status message is extremely professional because the audience is more career minded people and hiring managers.
Ask and answer questions: If someone in your network asks a question pertaining to an area that you have knowledge in, you should answer it. By participating in these types of discussions, whether you’re asking or answering them, you are perceived as a valuable contributor to your network and someone to go to if people need help.
Conclusion
LinkedIn can be a powerful tool to demonstrate your expertise to individuals and companies that you might want to have a professional relationship with. Adding additional information to profile can help you expand your networks awareness of the scope of your talents. However there are some things you should think of before adding to your profile:
References:
Start a group: Linked in allows you to create groups which can be an extremely powerful assets for your personal brand. If you start a group in an area you want to establish yourself as an expert in you are automatically portraying yourself as a leader. Groups can take time to establish, but if you deliver news content, promote helpful articles and regularly start discussions on topics that will be of interest to group members you can greatly enhance perceptions of your expertise on those topics (see Dave Taylor's Secret of Linkedin Groups for more info).
Create a Company Profile: As an entrepreneur, one of your primary focuses must be on promoting and enhancing the credibility of your company. LinkedIn supports this by allowing you to create a company profile. While LinkedIn company profiles are generally short, simply having one does make your company appear to be a real company in the eyes of people evaluating you online.
Use LinkedIn Applications: If you have a blog, then you should definitely use either the “WordPress” or “Blog Link”applications. This will show two or three of your recent blog posts on your profile. This helps you keep your profile current and (again) allows you to show off your expertise to the LinkedIn community. Other applications that can be used to demonstrate your expertise are “Slideshare Presentations” and "Box.net Files."
Update your status: Make sure that your LinkedIn status message is extremely professional because the audience is more career minded people and hiring managers.
Ask and answer questions: If someone in your network asks a question pertaining to an area that you have knowledge in, you should answer it. By participating in these types of discussions, whether you’re asking or answering them, you are perceived as a valuable contributor to your network and someone to go to if people need help.
Conclusion
LinkedIn can be a powerful tool to demonstrate your expertise to individuals and companies that you might want to have a professional relationship with. Adding additional information to profile can help you expand your networks awareness of the scope of your talents. However there are some things you should think of before adding to your profile:
- When asking a question, make sure it is articulate, relevant and that it is note easily answered from other sources. Close you questions once you get a good response and be sure to rate responses you get so respondents know you value their input.
- When answering questions make sure that you take the time to give a thoughtful andswer that highlights your expertise.
- When contributing auxiliary informaiton (e.g. via Blog Link or SlideShare) make sure it is a professional blog that will be relevant to your connections.
References:
- Using Linked In: http://www.avangate.com/articles/using-Linkedin-125.htm
- Creating your Personal Brand on Linked In: http://mashable.com/2009/07/27/linkedin-personal-brand/
Labels: linkedin, social media, tips
