LinkedIn is a goldmine. So many people have profiles on LinkedIn without realizing that they are literally walking on top of stacks of money. If you ask the regular LinkedIn user, you will probably hear them talk of LinkedIn as a place to simply put up a profile, upload a CV and hope that a dream employer comes along to snap them up for that dream job. Others think of LinkedIn as just a place to connect on a professional level with people they know, just the way they connect with people they know on a social level on Facebook.
LinkedIn can be used in a variety of ways. Here are some methods to help you take full advantage of your LinkedIn profile.
Start Using LinkedIn Today
Many of you reading this have probably never heard of LinkedIn Today. Simply put, LinkedIn Today is a compendium of daily news and links that users are sharing all over LinkedIn. Therefore, if you are searching for some news that is relevant to your situation or you simply want to check what’s hot on a professional level, then you need to start looking at LinkedIn Today.
The interface can be fully customized so that only the topics you are interested in show up on top. The “News” tab at the top corner of the home page of your LinkedIn account is where you can gain access to LinkedIn Today.
Use LinkedIn for Marketing to Promote Your Business
Anyone in the private sector who is not using LinkedIn for Marketing is literally leaving a lot of money on the table. If you really want to get business via social media, then LinkedIn is it, not Facebook or Twitter. The numbers do not lie. HubSpot has come up with research findings from a study of 5,000 businesses that show that LinkedIn is 277 times more effective in lead generation efficiency than Facebook or Twitter. James Perrin of Koozai has also lent credence to this fact by stating that LinkedIn now gets 6 times more engagement from its content than the regular job searches. So if you want to grow your business, you should be using LinkedIn’s marketing tools to your advantage.
Join LinkedIn Groups That Pertain To Your Industry
There are many groups on LinkedIn for just about every profession you can think of. It is easy to find groups by simply searching for them using keywords unique to a skill set or profession. From the list of groups, you can select the ones that catch your fancy.
Groups allow the business owner to make wider connections within an industry. Of course, it is also possible to create your own group for your own specific purposes. Getting a group to join is easy. Simply click on “Groups” on the search tab at the top, and enter the group keyword you want to see results for. It is also possible to refine search results using the checkboxes located on the left hand side of the page.
Status Updates
Information is what moves the world today. Sometimes, what can make the difference between success and failure in a business is access to information. This is what the LinkedIn Signal is all about. LinkedIn Signal enables the user to get status updates on LinkedIn from your professional network or get industry updates that may affect you. You can click on Updates from the search bar on the top right corner of the computer screen to get this information.
There is also the option of being able to modify the update parameters so that updates can be obtained for a particular career, or for people in a region. Searches can be conducted by narrowing the search parameters to career, region, etc, using the checkboxes in the left column.
Get an Updated Profile
An incomplete profile is a turn-off. Ensure you complete your profile and make sure you include relevant content to your business including promotional pages on your company profile.
This can be used to attract talent, raise brand awareness and look professional amongst your competitors.
LinkedIn and Google Search
Have you ever tried to look up someone on Google? If you have, you would notice that the person’s LinkedIn profile would show up top of the search list before the profile from other social media sites.
Searching for people or companies on Google is a standard procedure so first impressions matter. Make sure that your LinkedIn profile is tight.
Polishing Your Profile
If you are aspiring for a certain kind of vibe, you have to look the part. Simply search for similar companies on LinkedIn and see the profiles of those who inspire you. That way, you know what you have to do to get to where you want. Remember, always ensure your brand identity is prominent here and you aren’t just copying another company.
Sync LinkedIn with Twitter
Just in case you are starting to think that LinkedIn is at war with other social media sites, we would like to pleasantly surprise you. LinkedIn has a feature which allows it to be synced with Twitter, automatically allowing you to send your tweets to your LinkedIn status feeds. If you tweet a lot, use tweets that have a hashtag (#).
Conclusion
So these are some of the ways in which you can take full advantage of what LinkedIn has to offer. Implement these changes now and see your engagements go up radically.