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LinkedIn 101: How to Make It Work For You
With just under 300 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is an incredible opportunity when used right. Whether you’re a professional, a student or just a budding amateur in your industry, the connections and opportunities you can gain from this professional social media platform is definitely something you shouldn’t miss out on.
When we think of social media, it’s easy to visualise shenanigans on Facebook, cat videos on YouTube or even teenage angst from the MySpace days (remember that?). LinkedIn is a different kind of social media in that sense. Remember that LinkedIn is ultimately a professional network. It doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed a sense of good humour, but people use LinkedIn to make professional connections, so do think twice about how your LinkedIn profile would look like to a potential employer/employee, customer or business partner.
Establishing a LinkedIn Profile
Of course, the whole point of being a part of LinkedIn isn’t to just make an account and leave it there. Think of your profile as your first impression on all these great people you can potentially network with. What do you want your first impression to say about you? Make sure your LinkedIn profile is equal parts informative and appealing.
- Upload and update your photo. Always use a professional photo, cropped clearly to show your face, kind of like an office ID. A smile is always nice too. You are 7 times more likely to be found on LinkedIn if you upload a photo. Also, take the time to update your photos with more recent ones every now and then.
- Craft your headline. Your headline should be catchy and keyword rich. This will be the first thing people see on your profile, so make sure it stands out and makes a good impression, or your readers will simply move on.
- Update your contact info. If you don’t have any contact info, people can’t contact you, so include your professional email address. Filling in your personal or company Twitter account can also be helpful, but make sure they’re relevant to your professional life. Edit your profile to have a personalised URL, making it easy for others to find you.
- Complete your profile. Create a summary and show off the areas of your expertise. Your summary should contain any necessary information your target audience may want to read, as well as keywords to optimise your rankings in searches. Include videos and links to your portfolio of work; it’s easy to say you’re an expert at something, but having something to show for it is so much more convincing.
Optimising Your Profile
Now that you’ve got a basic profile, here are some things you can do to really get the most out of LinkedIn.
- Show activity. Take the time to update your profile with relevant experiences or share good content with your network. You can use content that you create yourself or content that you found elsewhere, but always ensure to give credit where credit is due. By showing that you understand what’s happening in your industry and what information is relevant, you’re demonstrating to others that you’re a knowledgeable expert of your industry.
- Awards and recommendations. Make sure you get endorsed for skills relevant to your sector, as it shows your credibility and increases the likelihood of your profile showing up on LinkedIn searches. It also won’t hurt to get a couple of recommendations on your profile page.
- Join groups and follow companies. Groups are a great way to get advice and give advice, which helps to build your image as an expert within that group. Interacting with other group members also mean building relationships with people in a similar industry and with similar interests to yours. Follow company pages to find out the latest information from clients or prospects and understand more about the industry they function in, or follow those whose products or services interest you.
- Build your network. Find people that you know and those you want to know. Look to get introductions and start developing relationships. LinkedIn focuses on developing your network and connecting with those you deal with professionally.
- Consider going premium. Having a premium LinkedIn account comes with many benefits, including InMail, which allows you to send a message to anyone on LinkedIn without an introduction, and targeted search categories, which makes finding people and leads much easier.
