LinkedIn is even more pervasive than Twitter— really, everybody’s doing it. If not having a Twitter account makes you seem a little “yesterday,” not having a LinkedIn profile makes you look like you don’t even know what the heck’s going on in the world.
Like Twitter, and like almost all Social Media, this is way easier to understand if you can go look and see it. So open up LinkedIn in a new browser window, and set up your profile already. And if you are already using LinkedIn, you may want to skip this section. There’s really nothing new to say— just people who haven’t heard it yet.
In case you don’t know, LinkedIn is a site that allows you to create a profile (like an in-depth, dynamic resume), and then connect with other people you know from the real world. It’s basically a way to keep track of all the relationships you’ve created over the years— co-workers, colleagues, vendors, clients, friends, business partners, whatever. It helps corral all those connections and people in an easy to use way.
You can then browse the connections of the people you know. If I find that my former client has done business with somebody I want to meet, I can ask for an introduction. I could have done that in “real life” too, but I probably wouldn’t have thought to ask, “Could you tell me the names and businesses of everyone you know, so that I can decide if any of them are worth meeting?”
That is the basic functionality of LinkedIn— keep track of connections, see who your connections are connected to. If that was all it did (and early on, it was), it would still be a worthwhile thing to do. But there are several additional uses and benefits, some easy to get to, and some requiring a little work, patience, and ambition.
Findability
You’ve probably realized by now that one of the first things people do if they want to know more about you is search for your name on Google. What would you like them to find? LinkedIn profiles receive a good deal of weight in people searches on Google. Having a well-crafted profile and an active presence puts a best foot forward to anyone who happens to be looking for you for whatever reason.
Searchability
At the same time, you want people who aren’t looking for you to find you as well— that’s how you extend your influence and build Thought Leadership. Your profile has a lot of room for material: jobs, schools, interests, hobbies, summaries. The more you have in there, the more chances you’ll turn up in someone’s search results.
Approachability
It’s much easier to have a conversation with someone if you have something in common. The depth of LinkedIn profiles helps you find things in common with people that you wouldn’t have thought to ask. You both write music, went to the same college, worked at the same company ten years ago, are connected to the same five people from another town. Use LinkedIn to discover those common things about people you’re looking to meet or work with. And have an in-depth profile so that other people find it easier to connect with you.
Expertise Showoffiness
LinkedIn has a fantastic area of their site call “LinkedIn Answers.” It is a place for people to ask business related questions and the LinkedIn community can offer answers. The asker and the other community members get to see everyone’s responses, rate them, and vote on which one is the best answer. This gives you the ability to show off your expertise by answering questions in your knowledge area. It gives the world another example of your work, another link to your profile and home page, another opportunity for people to seek you out and buy from you. And it’s something you can do everyday in just a few minutes.
Groupiness
LinkedIn allows you to join groups and then participate in discussion within the groups. Groups are usually industry-specific, professional associations. This gives you another opportunity to “get your name out there,” learn more about what else is going on in your industry or marketplace, and connect with new people.
Invoke Curiosity, Wonder, or Interest
You can update your status as often as you like. Why not mention every morning what cool thing you’re working on that day. For example, as I’m writing this, my LinkedIn status says, “Writing the Social Media section of my upcoming book, DIY Thought Leadership.” Now, maybe no one will read that today. But if someone does wander onto my profile, isn’t that way cooler than a month-old status update of, “Still lookin’ for a job?”
LinkedIn gives you lots of opportunities for that sort of thing. You can have your latest blog posts show up automatically, you can mention what books you’re reading (with links to Amazon), you can have slide shows. Each thing you add is additional content, an additional path to your front door, and an additional opportunity for Thought Leadership.
