Five Tips to a Better LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional social network that started in 2002. It has many of the features that Facebook does but it is designed to connect users through employment. Throughout recent years it has become a necessity for building relationships. These tips from the “Social Media Marketing Workbook” will help you take your basic profile up a notch and make you stand out from the online crowd.


Your Public Resume


LinkedIn has both personal profiles and public pages. Individuals have profiles which act as a public resume. If your settings are set right, anyone can see your profile, which is very important if you are looking for a job. Make sure your profile information is kept up-to-date so when potential employers see it they know exactly what your experience and skills are.

Search and Trust


When you want to know more about someone what do you do? Google it. This is what employers do too, so it is important that you keep your keywords relevant. When setting these do not have the “looking for a job” mindset, instead try to show yourself as a trustworthy person. Your keywords should reflect who you are and what you can do so when your name is searched your skills are front and center. This will make people see what you do and trust you for what they are looking for.

The Social Rolodex


The book describes your LinkedIn contacts as your “social rolodex”, meaning that these are the people you are going to contact when you are looking for more connections. They will be the ones that help you get to where you need to go. It is important to make first and second level contacts to grow your rolodex and opportunities. First level come from the people you connect with yourself, second and the connections your contacts have.

Pulse


LinkedIn has an internal blog that can make you really stand out. If you are a writer consider creating content for Pulse. Anyone can post to it and it will help you reach beyond your current connections. It will make your profile more visible and discoverable. Just make sure you choose a relevant topic to write about and use good keywords so users can find your work.

Groups


If you are not a writer do not be discouraged, you can make your profile more discoverable by joining groups. There are two types, closed and open. Closed groups require you to request access and approval by a moderator, open groups are open to everyone and do not need special permissions. By joining groups you become visible to the people who are in them too and you are able to see what people are posting about. You not only do you become more recognizable but you become more relevant.


Now head over to LinkedIn and get to work on your profile! Let me know which tip you found the most helpful in the comments.

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