Contact Information: Contact availability is an important part of networking. Include an email address and phone number whether personal or strictly through your company. Allow inmail and Connections in your settings. There are eight options for Opportunity Preferences, and I hope everyone will select all eight options as this indicates an engaged professional with a desire for a strong LinkedIn presence. The more contacts you solicit and allow, the more opportunities you solicit and allow.
Personal Links: linkedin allows for three personal URL links in your profile under the Additional Information section. If you have a personal blog and a company website include these links as two of the three available for input. If you do not have these or do not want to use them, get creative. Put in the Google and Yahoo public profiles you created. Put in a personal or professional Facebook link. (If you are using a personal Facebook link ensure you have the privacy settings on your page to Friends only.)
Do you contribute to a writing site or guest blog for anyone? Do you volunteer at a favorite charity? Do you teach a course at a college or trade organization? If so, include these as your links with further explanation in the Groups & Associations section. Customize the link name to fit what you have included. Take full advantage of the personal links feature to enhance your profile’s interconnectivity. Cross promotions help you get the most of your LinkedIn professional Internet presence which helps establish your brand. Include your Twitter account link. LinkedIn allows for your tweets to be linked to your LinkedIn status update if desired. This could be great for a business, but more specific control is better for an individual.
Status Updates: As noted, we are in an attention economy. It is important to stay visible with your network and on LinkedIn in general to maximize your presence and brand. Provide a status update once a week or more with input on the home page to announce and direct—to your new blog post, to your updated website, to your expanded products or services, to your professional training completion, to your conference attendance, to anything of brand importance or interest. Allow privacy settings for updates to be public. This allows for them to be search results on your name and increases your Internet presence. Ensure all updates adhere to your company and client confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements of course!
Answers: Answers can be searched by selecting Answers in the search bar at the top of the page from the drop down box. Members post business questions under various topics. This is a great feature for connecting and contributing in addition to positively affecting your visibility. Being helpful and sharing your expertise by answering questions is a thoughtful way to establish presence with purpose. Demonstrating expert status and productive participation are elements of good branding. Posting a question or an answer is a great way to engage and meet potential new connections, referrals, and clients. And, wouldn’t it be mutually beneficial if an answer involved the direct use of one of your products or services?
Groups: I am especially impressed with the quality and selection of groups and their discussion topics available on LinkedIn. Groups can be searched by selecting Groups in the search bar at the top of the page from the drop down box. Useful groups to join can be found by searching under Groups by keyword or reviewing the groups available by category. This is the best feature on LinkedIn to establish new connection possibilities; to connect to people with similar interests; to connect to people in your industry or an industry you want to know more about; to gain valuable insight from different points of reference and expertise; to contribute your expertise to others; to stay current on specific industry news and issues; and to inspire creative collaboration and opportunity. Group membership allows entrance to discussions, member lists and updates, a direct member email option (unless restricted by the member in their settings), and related topic news. Participating in LinkedIn groups by starting a discussion or participating in one underway is a sincere component in establishing and maintaining professional visibility and brand.
