Too many people think of LinkedIn as simply a site where they craft an attractive profile of themselves and then wait for people to find them and contact them. LinkedIn is not just an electronic rolodex – it’s a powerful site for business professionals.

 

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Beyond the Profile – Five Ways of Using LinkedIn

  1. Use the Advanced People Search feature. Click on the word “Advanced”, located to the right of the search box. Enter a key word, a location (if appropriate), the name of your current and most recent past employer, the industry you work in, and whatever else seems appropriate. With a free account, you can include your first and second level connections, as well as members of the groups you belong to. This feature is great for finding potential clients or referral partners, as well as learning more about people who work at a company where you have applied for a job.
  2. View Recent Activity. This handy feature can help you with your “due diligence” on the potential contacts you found through the Advanced People Search. It will show you all their activity on LinkedIn over the past few weeks.
    1. For your first level connections, you can access this feature by clicking on the little arrow to the right of the button that says “Send Message” and selecting the first option in the drop-down list: “View Recent Activity.”
    2. For your second level connections, use the arrow to the right of the “Send InMail” button to access the same drop-down options.
  3. Stay in Touch With Your Connections. No one wants to be contacted by a stranger with a request – or even by someone they “know” on LinkedIn only when that person wants something. A simple way to maintain connections is to go to your Home page each day and either “like” or comment on whatever is going on for the 15 connections that LinkedIn shows in the top right corner of the screen. These are usually work anniversaries, new photos, etc., so a positive comment is easy to come up with.
    1. If you want to be more proactive, you can go to a connection’s profile, click on Send a Message, and send a note to say hello, or, if they’re local, suggest getting together for a face-to-face coffee date.
  4. Recommend Your Connections. Isn’t it a treat when someone writes you a recommendation out of the blue? Be that person for someone else. Once a month, more if you have time, write a heartfelt recommendation for someone you have recently seen doing a great job either in their professional or volunteer capacity.
  5. Like, Comment, and/or Share Something From Your Newsfeed. Your LinkedIn newsfeed is a treasure trove of inspirational, practical, and thought provoking articles and posts. Make a point of at liking or commenting on one or two things you find there every day. And, at least once a week, share meaningful or thought provoking. Be sure to reference the source – whoever posted it so it got onto your newsfeed. They will receive notification that you have shared their post – strengthening another connection with ease.

 

How About You?

How do you use LinkedIn? Have you used any of the suggestions listed here? How have they worked for you? What other ways do you use LinkedIn?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel, Founder of Boomers' Social Media Tutor

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, leaders of nonprofit organizations, job seekers, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.