Blog

Using LinkedIn More Effectively Part II

In Part II of our look on how you can use LinkedIn more effectively for your business, we are going to take your LinkedIn experience just a bit further and show you how to work on yourself and the way you appear to other LinkedIn users. We have already shown you how to create a LinkedIn page that gets response and now let’s get started with making you a better LinkedIn user.

 

Take a look at your “Experience” section and be sure that it isn’t lacking any information that is necessary to support your career. Do the jobs that you have listed support each other? Did you utilize all 1,000 characters to properly describe yourself and your company and entice the reader to hire your services? Feel free to include a testimonial that showcases your previous work if you run out of things to say.

 

Now it’s time to focus on any additional education that you might have. Be sure to list any areas of expertise, publications, patents licenses and certifications that you might have or might have earned. These are the things that potential clients tend to look for.

 

Getting recommendations is a very important step that every LinkedIn user should take a closer look at. Just because LinkedIn says that your profile is complete at 3 recommendations, we suggest at least 10. Now, this might seem a bit bold, but when asking for recommendations, be sure to include a bullet point list so that the recommender can provide a much more in-depth (and keyword oriented) recommendation.

 

 Joining groups is something that many LinkedIn users don’t do right away, if at all. Joining groups on LinkedIn should be done strategically starting with groups in your own market or industry and then moving on to your ideal client’s industry followed by groups that you are interested in, groups that your target prospects are members of, alumni groups, open groups and some big groups.

 

So you have a good looking LinkedIn page and your profile is complete with the proper keywords, you have joined the right groups and you are beginning to send out invitations. Make sure that when you invite someone on LinkedIn, you mention how you know them. Sometimes, a recipient of an invitation genuinely doesn’t know how they know you even though they might have spoken with you many times. A polite reminder is always helpful.

 

Now that you know how to create an engaging LinkedIn page, you should take some time to look around on LinkedIn and see who you know, develop a strategy for groups and invites and begin networking. Remember, LinkedIn is the world’s largest business-oriented social media network; when used correctly, it can make a huge difference for your business.