Tips for maximizing your use of LinkedIn

Profile optimization

It looks a lot like a resume – but LinkedIn users tend to use a more narrative (vs. bulleted) format

o Be concise

o Remember no typos or grammatical errors

Unlike a resume you can include additional information such as:o Volunteer work

o Committee/Association work

o Articles or books you’ve written

o Speaking engagements

Your job title may not necessarily be what you want to put in your headline. You want something descriptive of who you are, and hopefully something that will grab interest.

Many folks only include current job! Very limiting – put all your history in so you can be found by past co-workers, etc.

Include a summary to add substance, and as a way to establish the tone of a relationship.

o This is your chance to pitch yourself.

o Talk about yourself in the first person.

o How do you want to be perceived?

o What kinds of professional relationships do you want?

o What can you bring to those relationships?

o Pick 4 or 5 of your most important accomplishments – but make sure

those accomplishments are tailored to your current goals.o Follow the format: who are you, what are your accomplishments,

what are your goals.

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 1

Customize the three web links LinkedIn gives you.o Use the title of your company and/or blog

o Include SALIS as one of your links!

You want to be found – so that means optimizing the terms in your profile for search engine crawlers. Google and Yahoo both index public profiles.

o Spell out and use abbreviations (PRC / Prevention Research Center) –

not just for jobs, job titles, but also professional jargon, software applications, groups, school names, etc.

o Google Keyword Tool can help you find the right words for your

profile: http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Other tools include wordtracker.com and goodkeywords.com

Keyword analysis is available at live-keyword-analysis.como You have 500 characters to optimize the Specialties section

o Create a vanity URL

o Make as much of your profile public as possible

Don’t make people have to join LinkedIn to find you! The default setting is a public profile sans photo

o What kinds of professional relationships do you want, and what can

you bring to them?

Contact info: it’s OK to use your work email, but you may want to include personal email as well in case something happens to your work account.Email addresses are not visible to the public, only your connections.

Use “status update” to tell your contacts what you are working on. Note 100 character limit.

Use LinkedIn applications such as Slideshare to showcase your work, or Amazon’s “Reading List”.

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 2

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 3

Recommendations

Write recommendations – this gets your name on other people’s profiles and is part of building your brand

o See: http://www.aside.in/blog/networking/2006/10/02/linkedin-

recommendation-examples/ for examples.

Receive recommendationso You can display or hide, but you can’t change content

o OK to ask for specific content to help build your brand. Like asking

your boss to include specific items in a recommendation letter.o Good time to ask if when you’ve completed a project for someone –

your work will be fresh in their mindso Try to have recommendations spread out – for other jobs not just the

current oneo Some guides say you should have no more than 3 recommendations

total on profile, others say have up to 9-12 throughout profileo Obviously choose to show the ones that show the most weight

Connections:

You can view:o Your first degree connections

o Your second degree connections (those people connected to your first

degree connections)

You cannot view:o Your third degree connections – but if they come up in a search, you

can link to them.o Fourth degree and folks who are not in your network at all (need to

know their email or pay for InMail credits)

Remember strength is in your 2nd degree and “weak” connections – beyond those you know really well

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 4

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 5

Finding people:o Browse your first degree connections – is there anyone you know and

want to invite?o Check out the “people you may know” sidebar on the right hand side

o Check out the “profiles recently browsed” sidebar

o Do a “Search Companies” search and see how many people you know

that you already work with are using LinkedIno Use the Outlook toolbar to find out who among your existing contacts

is already in LinkedIn, and invite them. Can also upload contacts to see who is already a member.

o If you have a Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, or AOL account you can

upload those webmail addresses as well.o Search for current and past colleagues by name (Search People),

company (Search Company) or Groups/Schools/Associations (Search Groups or use Advanced People Search)

Use LinkedIn with Google Alerts – www.google.com/alerts - o Great way to “follow” someone and find out what they are doing.

Shows that you cared to go the extra mile to learn more about them.o Particularly useful in job search process.

Your LinkedIn Networking Philosophy

Open or closed networker?o Most people fall somewhere within the continuum

o You may choose for more quality connections vs. quantity

Focusing on people you know pretty well People in your industry Local people

o But keep the importance of having diversity in mind

You may want a broad network that can assist with your professional goals over time

To think about before connecting:

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 6

o Your overall LinkedIn goals and strategy

o What level and type of interaction needs to have happened for you to

feel comfortable connecting with that individualo How long you’ve known that person

o Are you looking for “high value”, “quality”, or “diverse/general”

connections at the moment?

How to Build Your Brand

Participate in Questions and Answers o Questions are limited to 10 per month

Before you ask a question, search Questions to make sure that it has not been answered already

Go to Answers and Browse to get a sense of what it looks like Write as specific a question as you can

o Open for 7 days for responses then archived and searchable

o Can share questions within others in network, or via Web 2.0 apps

like delicious and Digg, or link the question to your personal blogo Pick “good” and “best” answers – enhances the answerers brand.

Raises your profile within the network.o Answer as many questions as you like!

o Gain “expert points” the more times your answer gets chosen as

“best”. (Note, this feature is not available for discussion posts.)o Meet more potential connections this way.

Participate in Groups o This may be a great strategy if you join the right groups and start to

get to know people. Your topic is likely to jive with the group mission and you’ll be a bigger fish (in a smaller pond) rather than being out in the general network of Questions and Answers

o Note that content on Group discussions is not searchable or archived

o Great way to interact with other SALIS members or recruit new

members (option to make group open or closed)o Even if a group member is not in your network you can contact them.

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 7

Great way to add to your connections!

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 8

Toolbars, Widgets, and other Applications

LinkedIn Browser Toolbaro Available for Firefox or Explorer

o Search bar allows one to search LinkedIn for the toolbar

o Bookmarks allows you to bookmark specific profiles

o Jobsinsider opens up a new pane in browser that shows you how you

are connected to the people in the organization that you are interested in.

LinkedIn Outlook Toolbaro Icon next to each address allows you to add or invite that person to be

a connection from within Outlooko Icon also lets you know if that person is in your network already or is

a member of LinkedIno Search bar allows you to search LinkedIn from within Outlook

Slideshareo Showcase your work!

LinkedIn Pollso Great for quick questions among your contacts

Connect your Blogo Via BlogLink or WordPress LinkedIn app

Reading List by Amazono A way to “humanize” your profile

My Travelo Useful if you travel frequently – updates your contacts when you are

in their area so you can get together

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 9

Using LinkedIn for Job Searches

Download the Internet Explorer or Firefox LinkedIn Toolbar and gain access to the Jobsinsider feature

o This tool will tell you if any of your connections are related to the

institution/job in questiono If you have a 2nd or 3rd degree contact that is connected with the job,

ask one of your 1st degree contacts for an introduction to that person Remember to use Google Alerts (above) to get company and individual

information Search for recruiters in your field and connect with as many as possible. Make sure that your profile highlights measurable accomplishments Look at other profiles in your field for examples of how people brand

themselves Keep answering questions in Questions/Answers!

Maintenance

You’ve spent hours getting your profile and connections together – don’t risk losing them! Backup your information as you acquire more connections and update your profile.

Your Profile:o You can download a pdf of your profile by clicking on the pdf icon to

the right of your profile when you are in the profile section. This is also a great way to print out an instant resume!

Your Connections:o At the very bottom of the Connections page, see the icon “Export

Connections”. You can export to an Outlook or Yahoo mail compatible .csv file (as well as other options).

Keeping up to date

Now that you’ve created your presence, don’t abandon it! With a little time each day or week, remind people of your presence by:

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 10

Using the status function to update your connections on your projects

Using apps with changing content (Amazon’s reading list, travel, etc.) Scan through your Network and Group updates to see what the discussions

are and what’s going on with your connections Spend a small amount of time each day/week participating in group

discussions, asking and answering questions, or simply “pinging” a connection to let them know you are thinking of them.

Julie Murphy “LinkedIn: Growing your network, building your brand” 5/7/2009 SALIS Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia 11