Getting Started on LinkedIn

Interested in using LinkedIn but unsure how to get started?  Lets walk through the steps. 

LinkedIn is a professional social networking application.  Below is a detailed “how to get started” - step by step instructions mixed with why those actions are important.  Check back tomorrow for “Ongoing use of LinkedIn” to ensure the time you spend on the app is maximized.  And as promised, all is in language the non-techie can understand.  

Benefits:  

1. Access to your colleagues’ network.  If you are in sales, this is how you generate warm leads.  If you are in anything else, this is how you access potential partners. If you are job searching, this is how you find out who knows whom.  (Remember, you may not be job searching today but someday you may be.) 
2. Access to your colleagues’ resumes.  Others' resumes tell you not only where they work now but also companies/organizations for which they used to work.
3. Acceptable self promotion.  Because others are using LinkedIn as a source of professional information, be sure your profile is not only accurate but that you are linked to the people with whom you would want to be associated.
4. Event promotion.
5. Job searching.  Whether you are searching for a job now or might need to do so later, get started now on developing your network.  LinkedIn provides you not only with job openings but with the tools to determine if you have a connection to a particular company.

Set up:

1. Go to LinkedIn.com.
2. Sign up for an account.
3. Create a Profile.  
   1. This is your online resume so unless you uncheck the public box, it is available to the public.  It is a representation of you so ensure that what you post is an accurate and positive representation of yourself.
   2. Use strong verbs to define your attributes.   For example, instead of “sold advertising” use “excelled in advertisement sales”.   A superb thesaurus resource for finding alternative language is www.panlexicon.com.
   3. For each Experience item note accomplishments.  I recommend using bullets because people are more likely to skim bullets than a paragraph of text.
   4. Be sure your Summary includes all your skills and greatest achievements.  If you have more than 3-4 lines, use bullets. 
   5. Completely fill out the profile.
   6. Your personal Interests are important.  Be sure to include them.  Your hobbies and extracurricular activities provide those reading your profile another means of finding a connection with you.  If you have a list of interests, format them as a list, rather than a paragraph.  My Story:  I often receive comments regarding my taekwondo and krav maga activities.  It’s a great non-work conversation topic to help establish a relationship.
4. LinkedIn does not spell check.  If you are uncertain of your spelling or grammar, check the text in a word processing program such as Word and paste into LinkedIn.
5. Create a personal LinkedIn url under Public Profile.  Mine is http://linkedin.com/in/angelasiefer.  If you want to lead folks to your LinkedIn profile then post your LinkedIn url to your email signature, your blog, and other social networking sites.
6. If you have a blog or a website, include it under Website.  Choose “Other” so you can name the site yourself (rather than My Company or My Blog).
7. Upload your contacts to LinkedIn.   
   1. Request a connection of those who are already LinkedIn users and to whom you want to have a public connection.  
      • Carefully choose to request a connection to colleagues who are not current users of LinkedIn, only sending the request to folks you think would appreciate the nudge into professional social networking.  
      • Only request connections to individuals you know.  FYI, there are derogatory terms for people who connect to folks they don’t know.  And doing so does not provide you with any benefit other than increasing your number of connections.  Think quality of connections, not quantity.
   2. Create a personal message for the connection request that is unique to you. If you are new to LinkedIn you can use a personal message referring to your newbie status, such as “I’m discovering LinkedIn.  Would love to connect to you!” My Story: I use “I would be honored if you would connect to me on LinkedIn”.
8. In the Settings, provide all of your email addresses to ensure anyone looking to find you on LinkedIn can do so.  The emails you provide in Settings will not be publicly available but rather used when others check to see if their contacts are on LinkedIn.  Do not post your email address itself on your Profile.  Doing so will increase the spam in your inbox.
9. The “What are you working on?” question:
   1. This is your current status.  Update it whenever you visit LinkedIn.  State truthfully what you are doing or what you are interested in but try to make it of interest to those visiting your profile. 
   2. Since you will not update this status daily, remember, this post may be on your profile for multiple days.  After 5 days, LinkedIn will remove your status so that you do not have an old status on your profile. 
   3. Having a status always on LinkedIn is up to you.  If you do not update your status, your profile will simply not have one.

   Stop back tomorrow for Part II and we’ll discuss how to use LinkedIn...ie, how to get the most out of the app in as little time as necessary.