| Did you know that:o LinkedIn has over 8.5 members. | | | | start using the features provided by LinkedIn. First |
| It is the leading social network for business | | | | and most importantly, you will need to establish |
| professionals.o All Fortune 500 companies are | | | | numerous and many connections. People with more |
| represented on LinkedIn. In addition, thousand's of | | | | than 25 connections are four times more likely to be |
| medium and small companies represented too.o | | | | approached by others. The average LinkedIn |
| LinkedIn usage had been increasing yearly by over | | | | member has about 60 connections. Beat the average! |
| 500%.o One hundred and thirty different industries | | | | Your visualability will increase as you acquire more |
| are represented on LinkedIn.o Over 150 countries | | | | connections. |
| around the world have LinkedIn members including all | | | | Secondly, you will want to join LinkedIn groups. |
| major industrial companies.o Over 90,000 of LinkedIn | | | | There are thousands of LinkedIn groups to join. Begin |
| members are chief executive officers and over half a | | | | with school and employer/company alumni groups. |
| million occupy other jobs at the C-level.o Many | | | | Joining alumni groups provides an opportunity to |
| notable people are among LinkedIn members including | | | | network with others with the same backgrounds. |
| President Barak Obama.o Perhaps as many as 90% | | | | Next add business association and interest groups. |
| of all employers utilize LinkedIn to recruit and vet | | | | Joining these types of groups provides an |
| potential employees. | | | | opportunity to network with others with the same |
| There are many social networks sites. But no doubt, | | | | work backgrounds and interests. Despite LinkedIn |
| the most prominent business networking site today is | | | | limiting membership to 50 groups, sufficient |
| LinkedIn. It provides an immeasurable opportunity to | | | | opportunity still exists for robust networking with |
| enhance your networking success. It is simple and it's | | | | utilization of the groups feature. Further, your |
| free. Further, being a LinkedIn member will provide | | | | experience with the groups feature will be enhanced |
| you a Google presence. Your Google page rank for | | | | by participation, e.g., posting, responding to postings, |
| LinkedIn will be high: generally your LinkedIn profile will | | | | group activities, connecting to other group members, |
| be within the first five Google hits. (Note: To have a | | | | etc. |
| Google presence, you will need to select the "full | | | | You should also participate in the LinkedIn question |
| view" LinkedIn feature. Your page rank can be | | | | and answer feature. Ask for advice. This will also |
| further increased by having a customized URL, i.e., | | | | increase your visualability and result in new |
| your own name thereby replacing the standard URL | | | | connections. If you ask questions, remember it is |
| automatically provided by LinkedIn.) | | | | important to your networking efforts to respond to |
| To begin networking with LinkedIn, you will first need | | | | every comment. |
| to build your profile. Your profile needs to be | | | | Another valuable LinkedIn feature is the |
| complete and have substance. Spend the time; a | | | | recommendation feature. Ask people for |
| poor or sparse LinkedIn profile is worse than none at | | | | recommendations. And voluntarily provide |
| all. And it is important that your LinkedIn profile uses | | | | recommendations to others. They are powerful. |
| correctly spelled words, is grammatically correct, and | | | | Recommendations let people know you are a good |
| contains no capitalization and punctuation errors. | | | | resource and a valued professional in your field. |
| Optimize your profile - Make sure it represents the | | | | Lastly, search companies and their employees. Ask to |
| way you want to be viewed by strangers. And once | | | | connect to those who could be a good member of |
| you have completed your profile, you will want to | | | | your network. These contacts and the company |
| fully utilize all the features offered by LinkedIn. Doing | | | | information can be useful for sales and marketing |
| so will enhance your networking experience. | | | | efforts, job search efforts, etc. |
| In building your profile keep in mind: | | | | These are just some of the LinkedIn features. As |
| (1) Your Headline -- It matters. It is what people see | | | | you become proficient LinkedIn user you will discover |
| first when they visit your profile. | | | | other features to utilize that expands your |
| (2) Your Summary - You want summary to peak a | | | | networking success. |
| reader's interest and want them to "read more." | | | | While on line networking and LinkedIn should only be |
| (3) Work Experience - Include details like dates, the | | | | one element of your networking efforts, it is |
| actual names of the companies you have worked for | | | | essential in today's world. It is necessary to be a |
| and excellent descriptions of your jobs. | | | | successful networker. Following these simple |
| Having a good profile will enhance your connectability. | | | | suggestions will get you off to a good start. So build |
| People will more likely to find you. | | | | a great profile, fully utilize the LinkedIn features and |
| After compiling your profile and to maximize your | | | | make LinkedIn a regular part of your networking |
| LinkedIn networking experience, you will want to | | | | activities. |