A Beginners ‘How to’ Guide
LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, is the fourth of the main Social Media platforms that I’m writing about here. My previous blogs have explored how to use Facebook Twitter and video effectively and today I’m going to share a few simple tips to enable you to get the best out of LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is the most significant professional online network site out there, with over 100million users. So if you’re trying to find someone to connect with professionally LinkedIn is the place to start and if they’re not there, then do them a favour and invite them!
Most professionals I know are on LinkedIn, but equally most people on LinkedIn are not using it to its full potential.
If you are like many people on LinkedIn for whom the usual situation is to partially write their profile and then ignore it, just clicking accept when people invite them to connect, then read on!
Like all the other Social Media platforms… you will get the best out of LinkedIn by being proactive and having a strategy. LinkedIn should form part of your wider social media strategy. Your strategy should enable you to decide who you want to connect with, who you want to follow, who you want to build relationships with and who you would like to trade with, now, or at some time in the future.
Getting started on LinkedIn: The first thing to do is build an initial simple profile for yourself. You can continue to build this over time, but do add a professional looking picture as soon as possible. Not many people realise, LinkedIn allows you to add up to 3 website links to your profile. And of course add your twitter name.
Next: start making connections. With your plan in mind, write a list of who you want to connect with, and find them via the search box. If they’re not there, invite them.
Please don’t make the most common error of sending the standard invitation. If you’re serious about connecting with people, take 60 seconds to write a little personal note to say why you want to connect with them, it makes a significant difference as to how it’s received.
Now you can increase you network reach by joining groups. LinkedIn makes suggestions of groups that you might want to join, or you can do a search. If there is nothing there that suits you, you can create your own group and invite others to join. The groups are a great forum for professional discussions, thus flagging up your expertise.
Another great tool enables you to ask for recommendations for your profile. Just decide who you would like to recommend you and for what, and send them the request. But again do not just send out the generic request.
Equally it is really positive to recommend people who have done a great job for you. When you have a couple of minutes to spare, just make a recommendation on their profile. That will go a long way in your relationship!
In terms of time commitment , aim to spend an hour a week searching for who you want to connect with, accepting invites, developing things further with those that you are already connected with and working on your profile. Be active on this in the same way you would any other platform.
So if you want to use LinkedIn, don’t just set up your profile and ignore it. If you are serious about professional networking, using LinkedIn well can really help your business grow.
And while you’re on there, look me up and say hello uk.linkedin.com/in/janebinnion
The post LinkedIn for Beginners. appeared first on Jane Binnion.