LinkedIn is firstly about making good impressions and secondly about building great connections.
To do either of these - preferably both - you need to ensure you’re using LinkedIn as an individual, in a professional, thought-out manner, with a clear end-goal:
- Are you job hunting?
- Are you raising awareness of your employer?
- Are you building your network for sales/business opportunities?
- Are you building your network for career opportunities?
- Are you distributing content you’ve created as a business owner?
- Are you distributing content you’ve created for the company you’re employed by?
When you understand your goal with your personal LinkedIn presence and communications, you need to update your profile to suit.
We recommend that all individuals take time considering LinkedIn with these best practices in mind to ensure your profile allows you to achieve your desired goal.
Build a digital resume
Your profile is an online CV, a slimmed down version of all the highlights of your career, what you’ve learned, where you worked, who you worked with. It’s showcasing your expertise and talent for the world to see.
It can also be a powerful online business card. Take care with your current headline and the updates you post as they can really pull people in - or away - from connecting, and engaging, with you.
If you’re climbing the career ladder think about how potential employers will view you. If you’re attending conferences or in a sales position, use your LinkedIn as a selling tool - most events now ask for LinkedIn bios rather than traditional write-ups about attendees and speakers.
Boost online presence
Your LinkedIn profile acts as almost a personal website, not only boosting your personal credibility but that of your business.
Consider your keywords and fully setup your profile to ensure your profile appears when people search for you as an individual and, potentially, when they search for your company or your company’s services.
It’s a listening tool
Who hasn’t come across an absolute gem of a piece of content whilst browsing LinkedIn? Or how about spotting a perfect candidate for the role your business is trying to fill? Or what about spotting someone requesting the products, services or expertise that you can offer?
There are so many opportunities that can fall out of being an active LISTENER on LinkedIn, you don’t need to be throwing lots of pieces of content out into the unknown to see positive results. Instead, focus on listening to the posts of people in your network, as well as the requests and content they share from their wider contacts.
You never know what kind of opportunity you might come across…
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