The linked in® basics

The LinkedIn® Basics

A quick introduction of how to use
the power of LinkedIn

www.million-dollar-networker.com


Context


Why LinkedIn?
• If you’re in business, whether you like Social
Media or not, LinkedIn is your best friend:
• Recruiters use it
• Your suppliers use it
• Your customers use it
• Your prospects use it
• In short, it’s a GOLD MINE of business waiting
to be exploited!

Why LinkedIn? Cont’d
• The 3 degrees:
– 1st : your direct contacts
– 2nd : their direct contacts (friends of friends)
– 3rd : contacts of your 2nd degree
• What this means in reality http://press.linkedin.com/about :
– With over 200m professionals on LinkedIn, you
have a huge pool of opportunities at your
fingertips – you just have to find each-other!!
– My network = ~5,800 (1st) and ~20m (3rd)


It’s all about 3’s!
• Three Degrees
• Three Key Elements
– Your Profile
– Your Network
– Your Groups
• Three Key Activity Areas
– Quality – Make sure it adds value
– Quantity – Do a lot of it
– Consistency – Do it often and do it well


Overview of LinkedIn® Elements

Profile
The Goldmine

Network Groups



Your Profile


Profile – Overview
• Whether you’re job hunting or networking for
business, your profile is critical to your
effectiveness on LinkedIn All the recruiters use it
• The more detailed your profile, the more likely
you are to appear in search results – make sure
the key words you want to be found for are in
your profile.
• In search results, which are listed in order by
what LinkedIn thinks is most relevant, it’s just
your picture and your headline that appears - The
better it looks, the more likely people are to click
through - a great headline is essential!


Profile – Essential Elements 1
1. Photo – Make it a good one, you can view it
enlarged by clicking in the bottom right corner
2. Headline – Get it right – don’t just use the one from
your current role!
3. Profile URL – Change it to just your name in a form
that is clear
4. Contact Info – Choose “Other” for websites, then
insert name, Put interests, Associations, etc.
See next slide . . .


1 2

4

3


• The main body of your profile is broken down into a
number of sections, some of which can be dragged
and dropped to rearrange their order
• The most important sections, as they appear in my
profile (uk.linkedin.com/in/rorymurray/ ) are:
– ACTIVITY
– SUMMARY
– SLIDESHARE PRESENTATIONS (embed content like this!!)
– SKILLS & EXPERTISE
– EXPERIENCE


Profile – Activity
“Activity” is a list of things that have happened on your profile
recently – people you’ve connected with and endorsed, etc. You
can also share an update with your network from here.


Profile – Summary
The essence of who you are / what you do - pack it with industry
and skill key words that are important – make this as long as it
needs to be but keep it “punchy”


Profile – Skills & Expertise
This is a recently introduced section and it’s very powerful
because your network can endorse your skills here – and you can
do the same for them! Use it to re-open dialogue with old
contacts!


Profile – Experience
This is your CV/Resume – Cover every role in detail! Key words,
activities, results, the whole 9 yards!
Your Contacts can write Recommendations against these roles,
where they have worked with you.


Profile – Additional Sections
• There are additional sections for:
– Languages
– Certifications
– Education
– Additional info
– Honors & Awards
– Organisations


Profile – Bottom Area
• Recommendations:
– Here you’ll find a list of the formal Recommendations that
people in your network have given you – VERY
POWERFUL!!
• Connections:
– This shows a selection of your contacts and on other
people’s profiles it will show any mutual 1st degree
connections
• Groups:
– Your Groups (Max 50) See what groups others belong to!!
• Following:
– Companies you follow (see who others follow)



Your Profile – Cool Stuff


Profile – Activity
• On the Home and Profile Pages in the right
hand column is:

• If you click on this, you get the last 5 viewers:


Profile Activity – Useful Stats
Total 3rd degree
1st Degree connections
network and Group
members

Trends are on your Profile Stats Page on the right – Click on “Who’s viewed your profile”


Potential Connections
• When you visit a profile, the right hand
column gives you interesting facts:



How To Use LinkedIn


Activity Overview
• Quality (A man is judged by the company he keeps)
– Focus on creating and recruiting a high quality network
– Look for active networkers in your field
– Seek out industry figureheads and experts
• Quantity (You can never have too many friends)
– A large network gives you “reach” and “findability”, so that you can search and
be found more easily and more often
– Actively seek out Open Networkers, LIONs, TopLinked, etc.
– Don’t lose sight of quality
• Consistency (Personality opens doors. Only character keeps them open)
– Work at LinkedIn 1 day /week (~1 hour/day) until you hit 1,000+ contacts
– Actively seek to add value to connections and Groups
– Build a consistent online brand in the way you communicate that works for
you and your company


Network – Essential Elements
• You can easily find (and be found by) people within your 3 degrees
and members of your Groups, so a big network is important!
• Deep and Wide – Think oak tree! The roots/trunk are your sector
contacts, the branches/canopy are your extended network
• Connect with ALL your ex-colleagues, clients, etc. – upload your
email address book directly into LinkedIn (it’s safe!)
• Search for and connect with influential people in your sector
• Connect with “power” and “open” networkers
• Focus on connecting with “LION” and “TopLinked” members
• Accept all (or most) invitations to connect
• Try to connect with ~10 new people per day in the early days
• Message people who accept your connections requests to say
“Thanks!”
• Join Industry Groups – See next slide


Groups – Essential Elements
• Groups are a very powerful way to demonstrate your expertise and
connect with people
• You can join up to 50 Groups and unlimited sub-groups
• Search for Groups that align with what you do and look to see
which Groups other people belong to
• Connect with active members and Group owners
• Interact on and start your own discussions to demonstrate your
expertise
• Look for highly connected members and connect with them
• Subscribe to the daily digests for your Groups, to monitor all the
good stuff you might have missed
• Join highly connected groups like TopLinked and LIONs, so you have
easy access to the most connected people on LinkedIn


Activity - Tips and Tricks
• Do your network building in this order:
1. Build your detailed and complete profile first,
2. Join some key groups with large memberships,
3. Connect with people you already know, like & trust
4. THEN search for new contacts
• Open networkers will never decline an invitation!
• Fellow group members will rarely refuse to connect,
especially if you’ve interacted with them
• Write personalised connection requests
highlighting why they should connect!


Choose a specific
company and when
they were there
Choose specific
keywords

Choose a specific
country or
“anywhere”

Choose a specific Available on paid
industry or memberships – I
multiple selections never saw the value
in paying!

Choose groups to
search within

Choose which layer
of your network to
search – More
distant relationships
give you greater
reach faster


Groups makes
connecting EASY!

Personalise the
message!


LinkedIn Best Practice 1
• Spend time on your profile content, so your knowledge, experience and
achievements are clear.
• Get a good photo, so people know what you really look like.
• Give honest but strong recommendations to colleagues and clients – do it
proactively.
• Regularly check who’s viewed you (Home – middle right) and contact /
connect with good people.
• Join Groups and actively participate in discussions to demonstrate your
expertise.
• Consider connecting your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account.
• Add other relevant websites to your profile.
• Upload existing contacts, connect with them and look for additional
contacts in People You May Know (“PYMK”) –> (Home – top right).
• In PYMK also seek people with high numbers of mutual connections,
LIONs & Open Networkers.


LinkedIn Best Practice 2
• Never “IDK” – Don’t click the “I don’t know” option on an invitation.
– If you don’t want to connect, just Archive or Delete it (unless it really is Spam!).
• Always personalise invitations and give a valid reason why they should
connect with you.
• Connect others – suggest connections to your contacts that may help
them & forward requests.
• Check your Inbox regularly – not all messages are notified via email.
• Be cautious of connecting with recruiters you don’t know, like, trust and
respect.
• As you meet good people IMMEDIATELY add them to your network and
message them.
• Keep in touch and congratulate contacts with changes on their profiles
(e.g. New job/Promotion).
• Keep your own profile up to date on a regular basis.


The linked in® basics

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