Make LinkedIn Work For You In Less Obvious Ways

When it comes to building business contacts, LinkedIn has Facebook beat hands down. LinkedIn is for connecting with business-minded people who have something of value to share with you while Facebook is your dispenser of all sorts of “tmi” or worthless personal information shared by users.

Okay, I am exaggerating. I have a Facebook fan page for my automotive business (rarely updated, unfortunately) and can see how you might connect with customers with Facebook. But, it is also crowded by people who leave gratuitous pictures of their favorite domestic animal, regurgitate localized weather reports and offer many more distractions than I possibly can count. Facebook is kind of like Twitter, but with more characters allowed!

Now that I’ve given Facebook a sufficient dressing down, please allow me to explain how you can make LinkedIn work for you, but in ways which may not be as obvious to you. Not everyone on LinkedIn is looking for a job and some connections hardly qualify as “networking enhancing.”

Beyond the hype, some of the jewels found in LinkedIn are as follows:

You can put your resume online. I still maintain a hard copy of my resume in .doc and .pdf formats and can send them out as an attachment as needed, which is rare. But, I can also point people to my profile page which is my default online resume. Sure, I could manage it on here or on another site I control, but my LinkedIn profile page looks great and, importantly, is searchable on LinkedIn.

Speaking of personal information, LinkedIn allows you to solicit recommendations from clients who also use LinkedIn, with their recommendations posted right on the site pending your approval. There is no need for you to send “three references” with a hard copy of your resume; your recommendations are listed immediately after your resume and are categorized by the places where you’ve worked or by projects you have completed.

I’ve made good use of LinkedIn Answers a half dozen times as 2010 drew to the close, soliciting responses to questions I asked about all things automotive. Those answers, at least the best ones, were incorporated in articles I wrote for Auto Trends Magazine, my flagship automotive website. I have gained several new connections and have received feedback from some very influential people. In return, I link to personal or business websites or to LinkedIn profiles to show my “thanks” for their participation.

Local Groups — Admittedly, I haven’t taken advantage of the various LinkedIn inspired groups meeting in my area. But, I am glad to know that there are other business professionals who like to connect in person, providing much needed and welcome face-to-face opportunities for people. I follow several local based lists, taking note of meeting at various public venues held throughout the month.

Of course, you can easily encounter people who oversell themselves, lie or consistently leave negative feedback or answer questions without care. That’s common in any social media setting, but in LinkedIn I have found that the spammers and other malcontents usually quickly get bored and move on.

See Also — Getting Linked In For 2010

Professional Use of Social Media

By Claire Jarrett

Whether it is generic networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut etc. or professional networking sites like LinkedIn, there is distinct advantage of becoming a member on these sites. Simply by registering yourself and specifying a few details, one can join a networking site and start using the available services.

A few sites (especially the professional networking sites) require one to complete a minimal profile so as to identify yourself and be easily found by similar social groups. By joining social media sites, one can be in touch with friends, colleagues and clients in no time. It becomes easier to know the preferences, tastes and schedule of an individual, company or group of people by adding the respective party into one’s network.

In the case of professional networks like LinkedIn, one can join various groups pertaining to the colleagues of a company, an industry, product line, position levels or even the classmates from graduate college. It is easy to track activities in the groups, know the latest developments in technology and the industry, become aware of ongoing and upcoming events and even get to know the job opportunities that are posted by members.

Social media is an easy way to talk to a selected circle of people, to search through friends, to join groups with similar likes and dislikes and to make new friends. Companies can directly talk to their end customers, convey information on new launches and certain events, and advise what changes are in the pipeline by just posting the info on the network. They can also better understand the needs of their key clients and this can help them design better products and increase profitability.

On a professional site like LinkedIn, professionals can list their experiences, skills, qualifications and other such details. There is also an option to post or receive recommendations to those within the network that helps to get a professional advantage and provide ready references to prospective employers.

On the negative side, social media sites are prone to fake profiles, fake identities and potentially compromised privacy. Though there are privacy options provided by almost all the sites what to share or what not to share, one must be careful with sensitive information and to ensure that a professional image is portrayed that is in line with the company brand.  A company should ensure their employees post professionally on social networking sites if it is to be viewed by potential customers.

Author Information

Claire Jarrett runs Marketing By Web, who offer PPC Management and is also an associate for PML Media, a Social Media Management company