Most people get started on LinkedIn when a friend or colleague sends an email requesting that you “join my professional network on LinkedIn.” You need to sign up first and a very basic profile is created. So you join their network and now what? A lot of people do nothing more. They have an empty profile with only one connection. What does that say about you and your business?
Social Media is here to stay and LinkedIn can be a very valuable business tool. So don’t be an empty profiler. If this describes you, then it’s time to join the rest of the business world & get on-board with LinkedIn.
Your first step is to complete your profile. Do this before you start to look for connections. The more you put into your profile, the more likely some past connections are going to find you!
Dust off your resume and use it to fill out your current and past work positions. You’ll be amazed at how many of your old colleagues are connected on LinkedIn and before you know it they will find you. Same goes for your education. List all of the schools you’ve attended and your old classmates will find you too. This is why social media can be so addicting. It’s fun to catch up with old friends and you’ll learn to make new friends too (sounds like the advice your mom gave you on the first day of school!)
When you write a summary describing your current position and specialties, make sure you include keyword phrases (think SEO) because not only will people be searching within LinkedIn, but your profile will eventually make it into Google too!
Once your profile is about 80%-90% complete, you can start searching for connections and groups – after all it’s the “social” part that makes it fun. But don’t forget about completing your profile.
Aim For 100% Completion!
The trick to getting to 100% is giving and receiving recommendations. You need to write recommendations for others and ask them to do the same for you. It feels good to say nice things about others and you’ll feel pretty special if someone says great things about you too.