While LinkedIn might be the old dog in the Social Media race, it still remains as one of the most powerful tools in Business Building and Connecting online.
Where Facebook might be getting all of the press, LinkedIn offers something that Facebook cannot – a “Business-Only” platform for building your brand, product, and personal profile.
Just one look at the statistics and it is apparent that LinkedIn must not be ignored, but should be embraced.
• LinkedIn has over 70 million members in over 200 countries.
• A little over half of them are from outside the US
• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second
• 85% of them are online everyday
• Over 7 million are Business Decision Makers
• There were more than a billion people-searches through the site last year
• 50% of Fortune 100 companies hire through LinkedIn
4 Types of LinkedIn users
According to a great report by Anderson Analytics there are 4 types of LinkedIn users all with their own personalities and way of using the site.
1. “Savvy Networkers” (est. 9 million) are likely to have started using social networking earlier than others, are more tech savvy, and more likely to be active on other SNS sites like Facebook. Savvy Networkers have the most connections (61 on average) and are more likely than other segments to use LinkedIn for a wide variety of purposes other than job searching. Savvy Networkers have the second highest average personal income ($93,500) and may often have the word “Consultant” in their job description.
2. “Senior Executives” (est. 8.4 million) are somewhat less tech savvy and is using LinkedIn to connect to their existing corporate networks. They have power jobs which they are quite content with, and are likely to have been invited by a colleague and then realized how many key contacts were on the site and started building connections (32 on average). Senior Executives have the highest average personal income ($104,000) and have titles such as Owner, Partner, Executive, or Associate.
3. “Late Adopters” (est. 6.6 million) are likely to have received numerous requests from friends and co-workers before deciding to join. They are somewhat less tech savvy and are careful in how they use LinkedIn, tending to connect only to close friends and colleagues and have the fewest number of connections (23 on average). Late Adopters have the lowest average personal income ($88,000) and have titles such as Teacher, Medical Professional, Lawyer, or the word “Account” or “Assistant” in their job description.
4. “Exploring Options” (est. 6.1 million) may be working, but are open and looking for other job options often on CareerBuilder.com, perhaps in part because they have the lowest average personal income ($87,500). They are fairly tech savvy and use SNS for both corporate and personal interests.
With 70 million people on LinkedIn and tons of people actively using LinkedIn your profile needs to stand out.
9 Tips To Maximizing Your Exposure on LinkedIn:
1. HAVE AN SEO KEYWORD HEAVY PROFILE
There are over a billion people searches a year on LinkedIn. This means that most likely they are searching for keywords, different types of people, positions, and brands. Your profile should be rich in the keywords that relate to you. These keywords should be the ones that people want to find you by. They should range from broad to highly specific and targeted. A good place to put these besides your bio is in the “Specialties” category.
Think in terms of SEO here, content is King. The more keywords you have the better chances you have of being found. This goes for an internet search as well as a LinkedIn search. Beyond getting you more visibility on LinkedIN it will also get more click through traffic from the internet.
2. MAKE YOUR HEADLINE POP!
Your headline is the first thing that people may read so you want it to be catchy. For example, Social Media Guru, doesn’t really do the job because there are millions of people out there claiming to be one. Mini-Social Media Mogul on the other hand might grab the attention of more people. Lure them in with your headline and wow them with your expertise. Remember you only have 120 characters to lure them in…so think about it and make it standout!
Another tip – if you want to open yourself up to new ventures and opportunities is to add your email to your headline. As many people do not have the upgraded feature and thus won’t be able to email you through the LinkedIn service. I have seen many profiles do this, and when it comes to outreach on my side, it made my life much easier!
3. BE A BLOGGER!
Now you might be saying, what does a blog have to do with LinkedIn, and I will get to that in the next tip. But for now read on and see why blogging is so important.
Blogging is the key component to building and branding yourself as an expert. It also adds trust. The more information you give, the more likely someone is to trust you. I think everyone should have a blog or at the very least own their own domain with their name in it. – StephanieFrasco.com – for example. (That’s me).
Now you might be saying, blogging, ugh how am I supposed to find the time for that. While it might be time consuming, it is very important for your overall success and branding of your name. This could be a microblog or even blog clippings from other blogs relating to your industry and the news around it.
If you absolutely don’t have time to blog, buy your domain name and hire SEOARTICLEWRITINGPROS.com, They are an amazing company that produces great quality, keyword heavy work for very low prices. Like I said before, the blog is crucial.
4. OPTIMIZE THAT BLOG
So here is why that blog is important on LinkedIn. Once you have the blog set up, you can connect it to LinkedIn. Just as NetworkedBlogs autopublishes to facebook, LinkedIn has a similar application that allows you to autopublish to your profile. Everytime you publish a new blog it will be published into Linkedin. (To set it up go here.)
5. ADD OTHER APPLICATIONS TO YOUR BLOG
Like all Social Tools these days LinkedIn has added a lot of new applications to enhance your profile. They are there for a reason…USE THEM! Some of my favorites are:
A. Twitter Connection to LinkedIn
If you have looked at your LinkedIn homepage recently you will see the most recent updates from your connection’s twitter account. They have set this up by using the Twitter App. This is important to do because it means your name will be shown more often on news feeds and if the information is relevant new people will follow you and or the organization. This goes the same for Updating your status.
LinkedIn has recently added the Like & Comment feature Facebook uses as well, which will increase your visibility if people like and comment on your statuses. (Of course follow me on twitter.)
B. Creative Porfolio
This is essential for anyone in the creative arena of work. Whether you are a designer, photographer, fashion stylist, makeup artist, costume designer, artist, or anyone who has a portfolio to share. Now this application is a joint venture with the Behance network, which if you are a designer or artist you are most likely already on this network, thus you can pull your work directly from there. If you are not already on the Behance network – sign up now!
This will allow people to browse your work and hopefully hire you! It saves time and lost opportunity as LinkedIn users can browse all the necessary aspects of who you are straight from your profile without getting lost in the sea of information out there.
C. My Travel (powered by TripIt.com)
This is a great application for business travelers and public speakers. Often times we have many contacts abroad and this application allows you show your trips planned. Perhaps if it works out you can meet up with contacts and actually build a relationship face to face!
This is also an application based on an online site called TripIt – if you have an account you can easily add your trips from your account or directly from the application on LinkedIn.
D. Google or Slideshare Presentation
Google and Slideshare presentations are a professional way to introduce yourself and your work. Add a presentation to your LinkedIn profile to showcase a recent talk or presentation, display a visual portfolio of your professional accomplishments, introduce yourself to recruiters and professional contacts viewing your profile.
E. Real Estate Pro
This is essential for Real Estate Agents and Brokers in both the commercial and residential spaces.
Real Estate Pro is the easiest way to stay informed about your local real estate and office space marketplace. Use it to find office space listings for lease and property for sale. Follow and connect with active brokers and professionals, track new property listings and see the latest deals in your market.
Real estate professionals: Use Real Estate Pro to feature property listings and promote client transactions on your Linkedin profile. Easily share your work and completed deals with your business connections, track your market, create a following, promote your expertise and develop new business.
Family Shoutout - If you are looking for commercial real estate in the Greater Los Angeles Area, do contact the one and only Bruce Frasco. He is my dad and a life long real estate professional. Tell him I sent you and he will hook you up! Frasco – style! You can also reach him on LinkedIn.
6. BECOME A GROUP LEADER AND ENCOURAGE CONVERSATION
Make an interesting group that is relevant to your industry and invite your contacts. That is the easy part. Encouraging conversation, now that is the harder part. Talk about relevant news, introduce yourself and your company and keep the conversation flowing. By doing this, you and your profile will pop up all over the place. It will pop up in the group, in the email digest, and throughout the site. So even if you aren’t connected to certain group members personally, you are branding their name by sending out messages and discussions in the group.
6a. Join Other Groups that are related to your industry
SIMPLE ENOUGH! But you will also want to contribute relevant and interesting content. Post news, articles, share your blog, etc. Any conversation starting is a good thing!
7. ANSWER QUESTIONS IN THE Q&A SECTION
Being and expert is everything! Answering questions can help you achieve that status. Search for and answer relevant questions that will brand you as an expert. These will be seen by everyone and can be searched by anyone so this is a very important aspect.
TIP: Set up an RSS Feed for LinkedIN Questions, so that you can be notified of the related questions that interest the business or industry you are branding yourself in. This way you don’t have to waste time.
For more on Questions for Facebook See Here
8. TRANSLATE YOUR PROFILE INTO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
LinkedIn now has the option to translate your profile into different languages. This will help you get found by those in different countries. It might be a good idea to translate to a language of the country you do a lot of business in to build your presence there. It is simple to use and will expose you to a whole new audience!
9. USE A VANITY URL
If you haven’t done so already, claim your own LinkedIn vanity URL, to solidify your own professional brand. In a world where everything is searchable…You need to own YOUR search.
You can get your vanity url here
Of course don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn here!
Do you have any tips for LinkedIn? What are they and how do you use LinkedIn?
Dean LoBrutto said:
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Fri, 2010-08-13 18:14 — Dean LoBruttoVanessa Procter said:
You make some good points. But I definitely agree with a far few of the comments that have been made. Paying someone else to write for you....that is most likely going to have the opposite effect towards getting a job. Who wants to hire a lying cheat who can't even be bothered to write their own blog but will say someone else's work is theres.... I would say that is bad advice.
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Fri, 2010-08-13 04:40 — Vanessa ProcterMic Adam said:
Although I agree with your great advice, I would like to add some caveat to this to set some of the expectations right. I have just completed a major research study on social media monitoring in Belgium (results to be published by the end of august - 500 companies included) and have found some interesting items relating to LinkedIn.
Let me say that LI is a great tool to get connection, but you have to really monitor the quality. Unfortunately the qualified of your contacts is decreased by discussion items such as "Can we direct link using LinkedIn" where people indicate they are willing to accept (not rejection) invitations. Great way to grow your network but has major quality issues. Unfortunately there are many of these discussions going in with large number of people participating (and yes, I have been known to participate too - guilty as charged)
When it comes down to discussion topics, do raise your hopes since 78% of all discussions have NO comments and 15% have less than 5 comments (with ONE being dominant). I must admit that in that 78% there are a lot of events and news links but still keep your expectations in check. The same conclusions hold true for polls and Answers. Not to say there are great discussions with good comments and feedback going on. Keep adding I would say.
In order to see whether people read and act on your status update, I have also repeated an experiment done by someone from the US and have come to exactly the opposite conclusion. He has 300 contacts and 1700 "reactions" while I have 1450 contacts and 4 "reaction" in a week... So one has to be careful making conclusions on this... I actually tried a similar ploy, posting a message asking group members to reply when read, in a few groups (over 800 members each) with very limited success again (under 5 reaction).
Like I said, I love working with LinkedIn and use it daily for business but one has to keep one's expectations in check on what the results will/can be. Social Media, including LinkedIn are complementary and not replacing face-to-face time. I find that there is a balance between online and offline networking with for me is 30% online and 70% offline.
The conclusion for me is that LinkedIn is a way to find people I would like to meet and connect to in REAL life where actual business happens but not really a great source for knowledge collection.
Obvious I am open for discussion and debate about the subject. You can reach me at adammic@msn.com.
Mic Adam
Vanguard Leadership
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Thu, 2010-08-12 02:53 — Mic AdamAllison McNeely said:
Hi Stephanie,
Interesting article, but I also feel obliged to point out that buying content and passing it off as your own is a really bad idea.
I actually disagree with the advice that everyone should have a blog. You should only have a blog if you have time to give to it (one post a week, at least.) If you really don't, then securing your domain name and treating it as online portfolio is more appropriate. Some people just use theirname.com as a landing page to their other social networks and to ensure that they appear in Google results. I think that is a much better approach than a half-hearted attempt at blogging.
Thanks for the article.
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Wed, 2010-08-11 15:51 — Allison McNeelyJasonYormark said:
Great article and agree with most all the tips. The one area I disagree with is hiring 3rd party companies to write your blog articles for you. If you don't have the time to write your own blog articles, I'd stick with a more static portfolio type of website that showcases your work. Unless you disclose that the content was not written by you, I feel it's a bit misleading to have a blog full of content under your name that was written by someone else.
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Wed, 2010-08-11 14:35 — Jason YormarkStephanieFrasco said:
I understand what you are saying and you bring up a great point. A blog is an extension of oneself. I am not advocating plagerism but I do think it is ok to orchestrate the content so that you are providing others with valuable information. Thank you for reading!
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Wed, 2010-08-11 15:25 — Stephanie FrascoBRAHIMI fadhila said:
An article with great information! I would add to your list five recommendations :-)
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Wed, 2010-08-11 00:13 — BRAHIMI fadhilaStephanieFrasco said:
Thank you!
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Wed, 2010-08-11 15:20 — Stephanie FrascoJeremy King said:
Great overview, Stephanie. I think LinkedIn's signal to noise ration is much better than Twitter, and probably Facebook, too. Twitter especially is over-the-top noisy - and that counts for a lot. LinkedIn I have revisited recently, and I like it more and more for biz intelligence. I've been using new Legal Updates app, too. I think they have wisely gone deep on vertical niches. App allows lawyers to post their work on LinkedIn, but more to the point: it feeds legal information to me on my homepage. Matched to my business. Impressive. And totally under the radar.
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Tue, 2010-08-10 15:59 — Jeremy KingStephanieFrasco said:
I found the best way to manage information is by using the group feature. On the other hand I am glad to hear that you are getting use out of Legal Updates. Thanks for reading and for commenting!
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Wed, 2010-08-11 15:19 — Stephanie FrascoStephanieFrasco said:
Hi Elaine, Thank you for your comment. I agree that TripIt could be nerve wrecking. With all social media you must put your safety first and never give out your personal address. Thanks again for commenting and reading!
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Tue, 2010-08-10 15:49 — Stephanie Frascokimberly said:
Thanks for the great tips. The statistics you provided are interesting. I took a media class a few semesters ago and was taught all of the Adobe Suite along with blogging, podcasting, and vodcasting. The professor said it was important to learn all the tools because it'll help you become a well rounded employee. He made us pick a topic, any topic we wanted, and create a creative package for it. I chose Disney for my topic. I created an ad campaign along with a web site and blog. Every week we were required to write a post on our blog. The professor said that having a specific topic rather than no topic at all would help you focus and allow you to become an expert in that area. Creating a blog slows that you know what you're talking about and allows you to share your knowledge with the rest of the world. I think it is a great idea and encourage everyone to create one.
-CKR Interactive Intern
http://www.ckrinteractive.com/
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Tue, 2010-08-10 13:26 — kimberlyStephanieFrasco said:
Thank you for sharing Kimberly. You are right, creating a blog does allow you to become an expert in a specific area. I studied Journalism at Indiana University and we were required to take a course on Online Journalism, it was my favorite class to date, and I am thankful that I was taught how to blog and write simple HTML. When I was out of college (2004) I felt that I was one step ahead of the game! Even though it wasn't very long ago, blogging was still avant garde. I am happy to see that so many people are embracing the internet and creating and sharing content with the world.
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Wed, 2010-08-11 15:28 — Stephanie FrascoElaine Fogel said:
Stephanie, I have been saying the same thing for some time. LinkedIn is a business jewel. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you point out here. The only one I don't use anymore is Tripit. Personally, I find it annoying when my connections announce every little day trip and such. Besides, this could be a big advert for burglars. :(
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Tue, 2010-08-10 11:46 — Elaine FogelPost new comment