I had the pleasure of hosting a round table discussion on LinkedIn at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. I’ve personally had LinkedIn since 2006 I often share with people my thoughts and tips on one of my favorite social media outlets, LinkedIn. As many of you could not make the conference and seemed to be interested in my topic I thought I would share some tips that I spoke about at the conference with you. Remember, LinkedIn might have started out as a site just to find a job, but it’s much more than that today!
Summary
- Include only professional experience and skills – Your summary is all about your industry KEYWORDS! If you are looking for a job, this is how recruiters will find you.
Status Updates
- Share content, update on a job/project you are working on
- It’s not Facebook, these are professional updates
- Possible Updates: Interview Tips, Networking Events you’ve attended
Recommendations
- Ask! – Ask your customers, clients, co-workers, vendors…
- Return the Favor – If someone takes the time to recommend you, return the favor.
- You can never get too many!
Connections
- Don’t just connect, to get your #’s up
- Every connection needs to be linked to your goals in business now or in the future
- Connect to Connect – network
- NEVER send the generic LinkedIn/connect message – always personalize it
- Tag them – you can label (Organize your contacts – PR, Potential Clients, National contacts)
TIP – If you are knowledgeable about an industry/topic you should reach out to journalists, editors, bloggers and offer to write up an industry/trade article for them. It’s a great way to get your name out there and you can add your Linked in profile next to your name
Following Company (You can follow up to 1,000 companies)
- Who should you follow?
- Your company
- Your competitors’ companies
- Companies you want to work for (TIP: The company can see you are following them.)
- Companies you want to sell to
- Current or prospective vendors or suppliers
- Companies in closely aligned and/or related industries
Groups
- Join Groups!
- Have you thought about building your own group? Building a LinkedIn group around a specific cause or niche topic can provide many benefits.
- Build awareness around your target market
- Position yourself or your company as a thought leader
- Gain valuable industry relationships
- Showcase and highlight your own thought leadership content
- Generate interest and inquiries for you or your company
- Convert group member to subscribers and advocates for your company/business/brand
Take Away’s
- Get the LinkedIn App on your phone!
- Brand New Site: https://intro.linkedin.com/
- You can connect LinkedIn to your email and see picture, job experience, and connections all in your email from the person emailing you.
- If you haven’t personalized your URL – do so right away!
- It should look like this: www.linkedin.com/in/katemarlys/
- Go to your profile, see contact info, easily update it
- Are you using the new feature called Contacts? – You can now use LinkedIn as your address book and store notes such as where you met the person.
If you need help with Social Media Contact Philly PR Girl at info@phillyprgirl.com.
