Linkedin is a very powerful business tool. It’s wonderful for Networking, Personal Branding, Sales & Marketing, Job Seeking, Recruiting and More! I have used LinkedIn successfully for over a year now. Just to prove the point when creating this post, I posed a question in the Q&A section on Linkedin asking for people’s tips. Thanks again to everyone that contributed! So including some of my own here are:
#50 ways to get more from Linkedin
1. Realise that Linkedin is a complex and multi-functional tool; it’s going to take some time to learn to use it wisely – Niall Devitt
2. Contact/connect with experienced users and ask them for their advice as to how best to use it – Niall Devitt
3. Know why you are using Linkedin – what is your primary goal? This will determine your strategy – Lisa Murray
4. Decide whether you are going to post a resume/CV-oriented profile or a customer-oriented one. If you’re looking for a job, the first is appropriate – Dave Stein
5. If you’re happy where you are but would like to further highlight your personal capital to your customers, use the latter. It should include accomplishments you’ve made from the customer’s perspective, not from your next employer’s. They’re usually quite different – Dave Stein
6. Just be real and authentic, don’t hype yourself or your product if it isn’t the truth. I always make it a point to get to “personally” know people and what they do…after all; this is ‘social media’! – Jody Maley
7. List all your experience and education– Sahar Andrade
8. List all your achievements and honours– Sahar Andrade
9. Ensure your profile is set to full view – Lisa Murray
10. Personalise your Linkedin profile URL – Sahar Andrade
11. Create a proper profile with keywords, no typos and proper grammar – Sahar Andrade
12. Make sure you use a professional photo – no blanks or logos – people like dealing with other people! -Lisa Murray
13. Choose a good picture: ensure to have a clear, professional picture in your profile instead than a holiday pic – Fred Caballero
14. Update your status regularly to share your expertise in useful ways – Lisa Murray
15. Use your three links! You have the option to create three outgoing links to promote your company, blog, twitter account, etc. Use these to generate traffic wherever you want and edit the text so it becomes more attractive to click on. e.g.: don’t leave “My Company” when you can write “Social media blog” for example – Fred Caballero
16. Use box.net to add samples of your work – Sahar Andrade
17. Make sure to set up and add your company page to Linkedin – Niall Devitt
18. Give recommendations, endorse the people that you know are good at what they do – Niall Devitt
19. Get recommendations: one of the tops 5 things that most of the people pay attention to are your recommendations. These say a lot about you. Make sure you request an endorsement to everyone that knows how you work to share that experience with others – Fred Caballero
20. Always write a personal message when connecting with someone – Ian Cleary
21. Double check that you have spelled the person’s name correctly when sending invitations to connect -Ian Cleary
22. When someone connects with you, thank them for doing so Niall Devitt
23. Don’t reject invitations by hitting the IDK (I Don’t Know) button. Archive them instead – Judy B. Margolis, MA
24. Don’t upload your address book as a short cut to building your network. Instead, invite contacts one by one with a personalized invitation – Judy B. Margolis, MA
25. If you make a list of people you want to connect to and they are not in your network, join a group that they are a member of that you have a similar interest, start contributing to the group and then make a connection – Ian Cleary
26. Leverage your connections to get introduced to people you would like to form a relationship with, after all that’s what it all about, making connections – Niall Devitt
27. Join and participate actively in Linkedin groups. You’ll get known to the participants and be top of mind not only for their needs but also when other people ask “do you know someone?” Shel Horowitz
28. Choose relevant groups and be active: offer value and connect with other people in the group. -Fred Caballero
29. Make sure to read and observe group guidelines – play by the rules! -Niall Devitt
30. Stay away from self-promotion in Groups; instead demonstrate your expertise by contributing, asking questions, starting discussions and adding value -Niall Devitt
31. Start your very own group and invite people to join, this is a super way to get noticed and build your contacts – Niall Devitt
32. Demonstrate your competence and expertise by using the Groups and Answers features to help people, not sell your wares! – Lisa Murray
33. If you correspond with someone as part of a discussion, follow it up with an invite to connect – Niall Devitt
34. Upload valuable articles and posts to the news section – Niall Devitt
35. Don’t just connect on Linkedin, pick up the phone or meet for a coffee, you will really start to see the full value of Linkedin when you take your on-line relationships off-line – Niall Devitt
36. Ask and answer questions in the Q&A section: show your expertise – Fred Caballero
37. Don’t forget to close any questions you ask in the Q&A forum and rate them – Judy B. Margolis, MA
38. Set up an RSS feed for the category of questions/answers you are interested in so you can monitor them – Ian Cleary
39. Don’t flag/report questions and answers willy-nilly because you don’t agree with the politics or don’t like the individual or it looks like spam to you – Judy B. Margolis, MA
40. Use the events application to promote your events – Sahar Andrade
41. Attend events that your contacts are attended and arrange to meet up face to face – Niall Devitt
42. Connect before you arrive: do your homework and check out on Linkedin each on of the people’s profile before going to a networking event – Fred Caballero
43. Connect proactively: When you meet with someone face-to-face ask them if they’re on Linkedin. If they are not, INVITE THEM, and keep in touch. They’ll always remember you for that – Fred Caballero
44. Use the network updates for fresh content (SEO and networking) Sahar Andrade
45. Make relevant comments about your connections’ status updates: that shows that you care about them. Also try to offer help or assistance if there’s anything you can do to get them closer to what they’re looking for -Fred Caballero
46. Don’t hide your contacts. Share! Leave them open so your contacts can see who you are connected with and request for introductions. At the end of the day Linkedin is about getting connected. Facilitate that job. Be a good sport! -Fred Caballero
47. Do an advanced search based on whatever you want to keep top on and save this as an RSS feed e.g. recruiter might set up a search for “looking for a job” – Ian Cleary
48. Embed a video in your Slideshare application – Ian Cleary
49.Leverage your profile with applications: Embed your blog, show people what you’ve been up to and share your expertise. Include presentations with Slideshare and add the Amazon app to share with other what you’re reading and learn from others – Fred Caballero
50. Attend some Linkedin training or get some Linkedin coaching- Niall Devitt
Please share YOUR LinkedIn tips in the comments section below.
