Maximize Your Use of Linked In!
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The Reality
• Linked In is currently the most powerful professional online networking tool available (and this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future).
• At this time, worldwide users number approximately 250 million, and growing daily.
• For building an authentic network, there’s nothing like it.
• Linked In is actually a powerful search engine disguised as a social media platform.
• Many employers and colleagues immediately Google those who apply for positions, and some even require a Linked In profile rather than a resume.
What’s the problem?
• Many users simply don’t know how to effectively use the platform. • People “collect” connections and contacts but do nothing with them.
• Users do too much self-‐promotion and not enough promoting of others (this is a rampant practice on most social media platforms).
• Not following up is one of the cardinal sins of networking (this is also rampant).
• There’s no excuse for networking in a way that doesn’t foster real relationships.
• Valuable online “real estate” is wasted by so many users who don’t know better.
What can you do?
• Maximize your profile
• Learn how to use keywords to enhance your visibility
• Search for kindred spirits and colleagues, inviting them to connect through personalized invitations
• Enhance connections with those with whom you feel most aligned by offering to connect via phone or Skype (or even “in real life”)
• Build relationships by sharing and connecting with others • Endorse, recommend and support others
• Request (and give) recommendations
• Use Linked In Publisher to write targeted posts that showcase your expertise • Join groups, take part in discussions, and connect some more
• Start your own group
• Follow companies and brands you admire
It all starts with your profile
Your Linked In profile is your professional window on the world. It showcases who you are, what you do, what you’ve done, and who you know. Your profile can be minimal, elaborate or somewhere in between. I personally recommend making your profile as robust, informative, and personal as possible.
Getting Started
Once you’ve created a profile (or you’re ready to enhance the profile you started in 2009 and have been summarily ignoring), I find it’s best to work from the top down. Your Linked In profile consists of various discrete sections that serve specific
purposes, and they each deserve your attention and care.
A good way to learn about Linked In profiles is to look at others’ profiles and see what you like and don’t like. Peruse 30 or 40 profiles and you’ll know which ones are robustly interesting and which ones are like fallow ground waiting for water. Your social media platforms are only as good as the information you populate them with, so get with the program and plant your seeds with care.
But before you begin editing away, there are several things you can do. In the upper right-‐hand corner of your profile, click on your little photo icon. A drop-‐down menu will appear, and you should then click on “Privacy and Settings”.
When you’ve clicked on “Privacy and Settings”, you’ll see a list of links, beginning
with “Turn On/Off Your Activity Broadcasts”.
Click on “Turn On/Off Your Activity Broadcasts” and deselect that option. This will ensure that every little change you make won’t be broadcast out to everyone in your network. This is just a nice way to not bother them with a zillion notifications about every tiny change you make to your profile. (You can check that box again when your profile editing is more or less complete.)
As for the rest, you should make sure than “everyone” can see your activity feed; select the recommended full identity for what others see when you’ve viewed their profile; and make sure “everyone” can see your connections and your full profile.
Editing
In order to edit your profile, you need to click the “edit” button in the drop-‐down menu at the upper left, above your photo.
Some of you may also find that the new version of Linked In offers the ability to edit without even clicking the edit link. When you hover over your profile, if the different sections “light up” and you see little pencil icons at the end of each line, you can edit your heart out right away!
From the Top!
The top of your profile is important. It’s basically the stuff that’s “above the fold”, to borrow an old newspaper term. This means that if your photo, headline and title catch the eye of a visitor, they may choose to look further and scroll down “below the fold” (aka: the bottom portion of their computer screen).
Your photo should be a professional-‐type headshot, not a photo of you with your dog or mugging for the camera while on vacation.
Your profile is your window on the world of Linked In, so it’s worth spending time getting it right.
As you can see from my profile, I have my name and salient credentials at the top, followed by a headline that specifically states my objective, including a pithy call to action (“Let’s create!”)
Your headline needs to clearly state what you do, not just simply list a title like “CEO” or “Owner”, which means almost nothing in the context of a search engine.
Let’s Talk Keywords
Let’s pause for the cause of keywords, shall we? Like I said on the first page of this document, Linked In is actually a powerful search engine disguised as social media. So, if you want a search engine to find you, what do you do? You use keywords in order to be visible in relevant searches. Therefore, your headline (and your entire profile!) should be seeded with the words that will link you to your industry or professional goals. (ie: My profile is peppered with “nurse”, “nursing”, “nurses”, “coach”, “coaching”, “healthcare”, etc. You get the idea.)
In fact, keywords are so important that there’s a way to find out what keywords are being used to find you in Linked In searches, but that’s for more advanced Linked In users. For now, let’s just get your profile enhanced to where it needs to be.
Contact Information
Next comes your contact information. This should absolutely be filled out completely, making it easy for someone to connect with you further.
Your contact information should have your email, phone number, as well as social
Now, most people will just choose the generic label of “Website” or “Blog”, but Linked In allows you to customize your website information by choosing “Other” and then filling out your own description of what’s being linked to.
So, on my profile, you’ll see that, instead of just saying “Website” or “Blog”, I say “NurseKeith.com”, “My award-‐winning nursing blog” and “Testimonials about my coaching”. This tells the viewer much more about what they’ll see when they click.
To be sure, these are all little tricks and tweaks that won’t make or break your
profile and your presence on Linked In, but I believe some of these small details are what separate “so-‐so” profiles from the outstanding ones. Just like a resume, CV or cover letter, the care and attention you give to your Linked In profile will pay its own dividends over time.
Your “vanity” url
Next you want to personalize your Linked In url (web address) right in the contact information section of your profile.
Having a “vanity url” for your Linked In profile allows you to have a handy dandy and easy to remember profile “address” to put on a business card, brochure or other marketing materials. This is a small thing, but a nice little enhancement, and you just have to try until you find one that isn’t already being used. “Keith Carlson” was already taken, but when I added my middle name, “Allan”, I was all set. So, instead of some ridiculous set of numbers and letters, my url is simply,
http://linkedin.com/in/keithallancarlson. Step 1:
Step 2:
Your Summary
Next is the all-‐important summary that welcomes the visitor to your profile, explains what you do, and gives more details about who you are.
The summary area doesn’t allow you to use any italics, bold or different color fonts, so using all caps for the subheadings is the best that you can do. You’ll be able to see from my summary that you’re allowed a significant amount of space to extol your virtues, skills and experience. (And remember, the summary also needs to be seeded with as many keywords as possible!)
I recommend going for it in your summary. You’re limited in the number of characters (about 2,000), but there’s so much you can say in that space. Make sure your summary is in the first person, and be certain to have it be
professional but personable. You can always feel free to read mine as an example, as well as millions of others!
Your Experience
The next major section of your profile showcases your experience, and this section is, in fact, the part that’s most like a resume. Again, keywords are important here, and the most successful profiles don’t just list positions such as “Staff Nurse” or “Office Manager”. Rather, they make clear statements about what that position was really about, using keywords all along.
For example, instead of just saying “Coach” or “Nurse Coach” for the first position on my profile, I say “Expert Coach For Nurses and Healthcare Professionals”, thus using the keywords “coach, nurses and healthcare” in one position title. Get it?
Following this model, all of my positions are described in such a manner, and the
details of each position are also peppered with appropriate keywords. Remember that everything on your profile is valuable digital real estate, so use it to your advantage at every turn.
The Rest
The rest of your profile includes education, awards, certifications, organizations, publications, projects and other special information that showcases your experience and further enhances your profile, making it more robust, attractive and complete. Your profile is greatly boosted by obtaining recommendations from former
colleagues and supervisors. Other users can also endorse you for certain skills and experience. This issue of endorsements and recommendations merits another hour of conversation and instruction, but suffice it to say that your search engine
visibility and “searchability” will be powerfully enhanced by these functions.
A Final Word
At the bottom of your profile, there are sections titled “Interests”, “Personal Details” and “Advice for Contacting”, and these are certainly deserving of your attention. In terms of interests, I recommend that you populate this section with a nice mix of your interests. By making it both personal and professional, this section adds some humanity to your profile and demonstrates a lot about you as a person. You’ll notice that I list nursing and coaching right alongside “spending time with my lovely wife.”
Finally, on the “advice for contacting” section, I highly recommend having this section be a clear message to your visitors on how best to get in touch, followed by a warm salutation like “sincerely”, “gratefully” or something along those lines.
In a way, your “Summary” at the top of your profile is the opening of a long love letter to your visitors, and your “Advice for Contacting” section is the closing of said letter. This makes a neat little package, and if someone takes the time to peruse the entirety of your profile, then they’ll come away with a darn good understanding of who you are, what you do, what your skills are, and how to reach you.
There’s Always More
Once your profile is relatively complete, remember that it never really is. You can tweak, modify and enhance your profile until the cows come home, and I
recommend that you do just that. I check my profile on a regular basis, and I’m consistently making small changes that will help it be stronger and more appealing (and more consistently found in searches by people I want to connect with). Due to lack of time, we can’t cover Linked In groups, Linked In email messages, invitations, Linked In Premium (don’t waste your money!), status updates, and the many other functions that Linked In has added over the last few years, but this is a great start to becoming a super user and a Linked In star.
Remember, networking is about authentic connection and sincere follow up. To do that, a memorable and robust profile is a great way to attract the people you most want to connect with, so give your profile the attention it deserves!
In terms of reaching out to others, please don’t send impersonal, generic invitations to connect. If you see someone you want to connect with, go to their profile, learn something about them, and send a personalized message explaining why you’re inviting them. It’s not about amassing as many connections as you can. Rather, it’s about connecting with honesty, authenticity and sincerity.
Good luck, and I wish you happy and fruitful networking! Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-‐BC NurseKeith.com keith@nursekeith.com
