linkedin for professional networking

Social Media Marketing:You’re Doing It Right!

LinkedIn for Business

www.feather-stone.com

What you already know…• Kelly V. Pavlovic• Owner, Feather & Stone Consulting since 1994• Bachelor of Science, Case Western Reserve Univ.• Speaker, consultant, writer, voracious reader

Now some fun facts…• Have an unholy attraction to cheese of all sorts• Learned to knit summer of 1984 in Sweden, still at it• Covet Anthony Bourdain’s job on No Reservations• Proud Crazy Cat Lady Parent of Greystoke and Angus

Today, you will learn how to:

• COMPLETE your PROFILE• WRITE for SUCCESS with KEYWORDS• BUILD your NETWORK• Get RECOMMENDED• SETTINGS that align with YOUR GOALS• Join GROUPS• Use your INBOX• Read NEWS and stay INFORMED• ANSWERS and building CREDIBILITY• Install APPS and use them EFFECTIVELY• BEST PRACTICES & ETIQUETTE

Say whaaaaa….?!

• 104 Chimney Sweeps with LinkedIn profiles

• 43 Elvis Tribute Artists with LinkedIn profiles

What is LinkedIn Anyway?

• Launched in 2003• Online resume and portfolio• Virtual professional networking 24/7• 147 million user as of January 2012• 45% growth since last year at this time• North America/Europe: 66% of users• Females: 42% of users• Intended to be gated access• Find leads, build network & increase credibility

Home Screen

Profile – Headline & Status

Profile – Summary & Activity

Profile – Organizations/Education

Profile

• Make sure it is 100% complete• Write a creative headline – within reason• Summary– What you have done– What you are doing– What you are interested in

• Add Sections to provide more details of your professional life, interests & accomplishments

• Make it your own

Recommendations

Recommendations - Giving

Recommendations - Giving

Recommendations - Requesting

Recommendations

• Give before you ask• Reciprocal recommendations are obvious to

employers, so be wary of “tit for tat”• Builds your own credibility and that of others• Don’t be shy about asking for what you want– Which position– Which skills & expertise– Certain keywords you wish to be included

Connections

Connections & Tags

Connections & Tags• ALWAYS personalize the request note you send• List of your Connections

– Alphabetically & by Tags• Use Tags to group your connections

– Industry, Memberships, Organizations• Orange numbers indicate most recently active• My opinion: NOT about the numbers but the quality of the

connections you have– Others only see stats up to 500+– Are you able to speak intelligently about each of your

Connections? Do you remember how you know them?• LION: “LinkedIn Open Network”

– People who will allow connections from ANYone

Network Statistics

Groups

Groups

• Limit of 50 (free accounts)• Respect the rules• Obey moderators• Share common interests/expertise• Meet new people in your industry• Browse your Connections’ Groups for idea• Start Your Own!

Jobs

Inbox & Messages

Inbox & Messages

• Get in the habit of checking as often as you do your email account(s)

• Can group message up to 10 people at once• Invitations stored here• Similar to Facebook Inbox• Can be linked to your email

Companies

Companies

• Search companies to follow– Useful for job seekers– In-Network information

• Create a page for your own company• Should you have one?– People can follow company-specific activity– Hires, promotions and recent changes– Products & Services– YouTube videos, Promotions, Key Features

News – LinkedIn Today

News - Signal

News

• LinkedIn Today– Latest articles

• Saved Articles– Organize saved articles

• Signal– Since 2010– Way to search and organize incoming data from

your network– Left column gives options to filter

More menu

Answers

Answers – Advanced Search

Answers – Ask a Question

Answers – Top Experts

Answers

• Began in 2007• Ask and answer questions in many topics• Build credibility• Expertise is awarded– One point for every “Best” answer– More expertise, more featured on Answers Home

• Discover new contacts• Add value to the community

Learning Center

Applications

Applications• Explore possibilities• Choose what best fits your needs• Should you link Facebook, Twitter and Wordpress?– My opinion: NO– Better left to manual updates

• Events: publicize work-related happenings• Polls: crowdsourcing• Slideshare: build credibility• Reading List: fun sharing• TripIt!: find network members when you travel

Settings

• Profile• Email Preferences• Groups, Companies & Applications• Account

Settings>>Profile

Settings - Profile

• Settings>>Profile>>Edit Your Public Profile

LinkedIn Etiquette• Think of this as a professional networking event

– 24/7, 365 days a year– Conduct yourself accordingly

• Select your profile picture with care– Make it as professional as possible

• Language– Use your best, pretend your mother is watching you!

• Always customize a Connection request– Shows respect for the other person– Conveys the importance with which you view professional

relationships & introductions• Not the venue for personal status updates

– Keep those on your personal Facebook timeline

LinkedIn Best Practices

• COMPLETE your profile and keep it UPDATED• CHECK OFTEN for invitations and messages• READ REGULARLY – your streams keep you in the loop• SEARCH OFTEN for new Connections… and past ones!• PARTICIPATE in group discussions and Q&A• DON’T BE SHY about asking for clarification when you get

an invitation from someone you don’t recognize• DECIDE if you will take on the LION mindset or be more

selective about your Connections• USE APPLICATIONS to enhance your use of LinkedIn

Your Assignment….Should you choose to accept it.

• CREATE a Twitter account• CREATE a HootSuite account• DECIDE if you will self-host a blog

or use a free online app instead • CONSIDER– How frequently will you commit to writing?– Who is your audience?– What is your expertise?– Why do you want to, or think you should, blog?

Where to find me…• www.feather-stone.com• kelly@feather-stone.com• facebook.com/featherandstone• linkedin.com/in/kellyherronpavlovic• twitter.com/featherandstone

@featherandstone@pavpower

• pinterest.com/kellypavlovic• slideshare.net/kellypavlovic