Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity of sharing social media tips with the Rockin’ Women Networking Group. They are an informal group of women business owners who are based in the south metro Denver area.

It was my first in-person presentation in just over a year, so that made my time with these ladies extra special. My focus was primarily on LinkedIn, and I touched briefly on Facebook and Instagram.

Here are some of the tips I shared that were especially appreciated by those in attendance. Some of these tips are about features that have been around for some time. Other features are new within the last year or so.

 

LinkedIn Tips

  • Customizing your LinkedIn profile URL. You can do this by clicking on the “Contact Info” section and then click on the pencil. Next, click on your current URL, which is shown at the top of the screen. Doing so takes you to the page where you can edit your custom URL at the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  • Using the LinkedIn app to create a video cover story. You do this by clicking on your profile photo in the app and click on “add cover story.” Follow the prompts to create your story. You can watch a person’s cover story by clicking on their profile photo if they have enabled this feature. You will be able to tell if they have enabled it if there is an orange circle around their photo.
  • Being able to tag people in a post when you aren’t connected with them on LinkedIn. Referred to as “mentioning” by LinkedIn, this is a handy way to reference others who are well-known in your field. You do this by typing the @ sign and the person’s first and last name. Select the person in the drop-list that appears.
  • Researching what someone has been liking, commenting on, and posting by going to the Activity section of their LinkedIn profile. To find this information, click on the words “See all activity” at the bottom of this section.
  • Removing a LinkedIn connection without going into their account. You can do this by going to the My Network section. Click on Connections, and then search for the person by name in the search box. To remove the connection, click on the three dots to the right of the “message” button. Then click on “remove.” LinkedIn doesn’t notify the person.

 

Facebook and Instagram Tips

  • Populating the bio section of your personal profile on Facebook. To do this, go to your profile and click on the words “Add Bio,” which you will see right under your cover photo. Type a short description of yourself, which can be no longer than 101 characters.
  • Adding your website and social links to the “Contact and basic info” in the About section of your personal profile. Click on the About tab in your profile, and then click on “Contact and basic info.” Under the heading “websites and social links,” you see the words “add a website.” Click on that to enter your website address, and you can add more than one website address. Then click on “add a social link.” You have the option to populate your personal links to over 20 different social media platforms.
  • Using the publishing tools within the “Business Suite” section of your Facebook business page. Find this section on the left-hand side of your business page. Click on “publishing tools” and then click on “Create Post” at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Also, once you link your business page with your business Instagram account, the posts you share on Facebook can also automatically be shared to Instagram.
  • Categories available for a professional account on Instagram have greatly expanded. Find these categories by going to your Instagram profile, click on “Edit profile” and click on “Professional account.” Then click on “change,” and type the category you want to have displayed on your profile. For example, someone who works in home inspection can have that term displayed right below their name in their profile.

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those ages 55 and older, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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