LinkedIn is a social media platform that has been specifically created for businesses and professionals.
LinkedIn provides a great way to stay in touch with your business connections or create relationships with new people.
When you join LinkedIn make sure you fill out every section of your profile so that people can identify you. Add a summary of where you are working now and your previous positions. You should also include a photo.
Start making connections
LinkedIn allows you to quickly add your contacts via Outlook. You can search for people you want to link with and LinkedIn suggests people you may know, and then you can send them a message asking to add them to your network.
LinkedIn isn’t a popularity contest – it’s the quality of connections rather than quantity. Having said that, the more connections you have means you can create more business relationships. As with ‘real-life’ networking, people would much rather work with people who their associates are connected to.
When you attend networking functions you can then add the people you met to LinkedIn and easily stay in touch with each other. You can also look at their connections and add anyone you would like to get to know better.
Join a LinkedIn group
There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn. Joining groups is a great way to build your online network of connections on LinkedIn. They allow you to find communities of professionals who share a common experience, passion, interest, affiliation or goal. You can join a group or even create your own group.
Ask and answer questions
LinkedIn has a feature called ‘LinkedIn Answers’ where you can ask and answer business-related questions posted by your connections or the extended LinkedIn network. Participating in this feature is a great way of gaining trust and building your reputation, as well as a chance to show off your own expertise to others.
Improve your Google PageRank
Have you noticed that when you Google a person’s name often their LinkedIn profile is highly ranked. This means you can influence what people see when they search for you online. Make sure you add not only important (credible) information to your profile but also a link to your website or blog. Remember to create a public profile or it may not appear on Google searches.
Ask for recommendations
Recommendations are an effective way of promoting yourself and your business. People who are happy with your work can write a brief description of their experience on your LinkedIn profile. You can ask your clients or co-workers to post recommendations, which future employers and clients can view to gauge your skill and level of trustworthiness. Obviously, what goes around comes around, so you should also take the time to write recommendations for other people that you’ve had good experiences with.
Your LinkedIn page is basically your online resume, which means it’s important to include professional information about yourself. You should also conduct yourself professionally when using the site and communicating with your connections.
Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.
