We engaged the assistance of a social networking expert to ensure we are right up to the play with the advantages of the social networking sites: LinkedIn and Twitter.
In our opinion, these channels are ignored at your peril. They form part of our landscape from a social aspect but also from a personal branding and business networking perspective.
So, being the information sharers/researchers that we are; read on for ‘How to…’ hints on firstly setting up your profile – and secondly getting a network started.
A. Getting Started. Upload Your Profile & Make it Interesting!
Your profile needs to showcase what you have done in your career AND what you would like to be doing.
Linked- in is all about connections so before you start inviting people to connect with you, you must first set up a profile page: www.linkedin.com
It’s not hard because the site walks you through all the steps – and is a chance to detail your work history, mention your professional interests, passions, and ambitions. NOTE: it will take a couple of hours to do this properly.
TWO things to carefully think about as you start:
A short description about you.
You will see that underneath your name is the place for a short headline of four or five word – it’s these words that help people find you and define you.
For example:
Do you wish to connect with others in your industry? Then a simple, explanatory headline like “Senior Project Manager at McDonnell-Douglas” is all that’s needed. Are you seeking to branch out into other areas? ‘Leader of High-Performing Change Management Team’ tells others quickly about the value you would bring to an organization. Hint: use keywords that will help others find you.
What You’ve Done. What You Want to Do.
According to the experts, when talking about your past work history, this is a place to use as many verbs as possible. Transferable skills, learning’s from each position, keen interests…as well as the other things you have been involved with (like: member of School Board of Governors) because this all adds a depth to your profile.
Linked-in is also a perfect place to talk about what you are keen to be doing in the future or skills you would like to learn (see the ‘About’ section)
Checklist: profile MUST include:
1. A headline with keywords relevant to your industry.
2. A picture. (Whilst we do not recommend photos be included on a CV, Linked-in is about people doing business with other people)
3. Contact preferences. You can let people know how you want to be i.e. through LinkedIn/e-mail/phone.
4. What you want to be contacted about. (see bottom of your profile: select interests like career opportunities, reference requests.
Checklist: of what to NOT include:
1. Contact information you don’t want on show. Even though your contact information is visible only to those you are connected to, you need to decide what you want that to include.
2. Anything that is false. Your profile will be seen by a lot of eyes so make your statements truthful/factual.
3. Anything you don’t want people/workmates to know. (Politics etc)
B. Build Your Network
Linked-in is all about connecting to others who either share your professional interests or are helpful contacts to link with. Connecting with people means you can also see who they are connected to. It is amazing to see the power of connections at work!
As with all social networking sites, make sure you ‘know and trust’ those you are linking with. Once you are on linked in, you will receive invitations from people to link with them.
NOTE: you don’t have to if you don’t want to. If someone contacts you and you don’t want to connect with them, best to ‘archive’ them. (This way the other person does not receive a message saying their invitation has been rejected)
Using Your Connections
There are 3 areas your network can assist you with:
- Ask and answer business-related questions
- Make recommendations
- Provide company information.
Help and be helped is the motto here. Offer to help and your on-line reputation will go a lot further than if you’re just out for ‘#1”.
Ask & Answer Questions.
Ask: Asking questions will prompt informed sources to offer their expert advice (which helps everyone in the network).
Answer: When logged on, it is easy to see a list of open questions that have been asked by anyone in your extended network. Questions vary and cover a multitude of topics. Taking part is an easy way of gaining trust and building your reputation.
Recommendations.
Recommendations work as a form of currency in a social network ( as we have seen happen with trading on Trade Me). Those who are happy with your work can write a brief recommendation of their experience on your LinkedIn profile. Endorsements show others that you can be trusted. Equally, it is important to endorse others.
Provide company information.
You can quickly learn a lot about a potential business partner or contact by reading their profile. These days many people do this before every meeting. Unlike Google searching everything you find on LinkedIn has been voluntarily placed there by your contact.
How much time?
Yes you do need to continually update and refine your profile and your network. The easiest way to do this is to add new contacts.
Some suggest that you should check/update your profile monthly and make sure your job description is still accurate.
THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO:
- Leave negative feedback
- Lie
- Spam
- Gossip
- Oversell yourself
Sources:
i.BNET.com
ii. Linda Coles, Blue Banana
