Guest blog written by Steffen Hedebrandt, who is passionate about entreneurship, networking, personal and professionel development. He currently works as a COO at VintageandRare.com.
I will start this blog post by stepping into a dangerous field and quoting my girlfriends mother, who is a very skilled and wise business consultant, but not yet into all the social media hype: “I have heard a lot of good about Linkedin and I want to start using it, but I am afraid it is too complicated, maybe a bit exposing and where should I find the time?”.
As a matter of fact, Linkedin is not complicated, you do not expose anything more than what you want and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time.
Instead it contains a lot of low hanging and valuable fruits. So this post is for my girlfriend’s mother and all other wise and skilled people who may find Linkedin complicated or a bit exposing. Here you go: 10 simple Linkedin best practices!
1. Fill your resume
This might seem like a no-brainer, but the importance of taking your time to do this thoroughly is immense (at least in a Linkedin context). The Linkedin search field works the same way as normal internet search fields. The more information you provide it, the more likely you are to be found by people who search for the competences you have put into your profile. So fill out the resume thoroughly and consider which keywords you want to be consistent in your profile, as they signal what you send out to the world and will steer who are able to find you.
2. Optimize your URL
This a low hanging fruit for those wanting to brand themselves better on the internet. Linkedin profiles rank fairly high in Google so when people search your name, they are likely to find your Linkedin profile. You do this by pressing ‘edit my profile’. Scroll down to where it says “Public Profile” and press edit. There you are shown your current public profile’s URL (your Linkedin profile’s web address). Press edit, and you are able to customize your profiles address eg. www.Linkedin.com/in/StefffenHedebrandt.
3. Connect with the people you know and meet!
In order to grow your personal network try to think of all your former jobs. Who did you interact with? Who was your boss? Your employee? Your customer? And your supplier? Type in their name in the Linkedin search field and connect with them again. Who knows what they might be up to, today?
Furthermore I personally always connect with the new people I meet and have good dialogue with – be it five minutes or perhaps 20 minutes. It does not matter how well you know the person as long as you felt a good connection and you can with the tiniest potential imagine yourself working together with this person in the future.
4. Update your status -> Share the good stuff
Let your connections know when something excites or intrigues you. Whether it is articles, news, innovations, if you get a new job or you are looking for new professional partners. Use the Linkedin share field, spread the word and give value to your personal network.
5. Join groups
Linkedin offers you a unique opportunity to meet and interact with people of similar interests as you. With Linkedin groups, you have access to the best of experts and you have the opportunity to find companions to what ever passion that you might have. Therefore go and search the groups for those matching your interests AND join all of them.
6. Start discussions and answer questions
Having joined the groups you should start using and contributing to them. Whenever you have something that you are wondering about, find the group that fits this and post the discussion. You will be amazed by the amount and quality of the replies. Also, if you share your knowledge by answering the questions that you know the answer to, it is a great way to provide value to the groups you are a member of. Only spend time on the questions that you already have the answer for and not those that will take a lot of time for you to answer. Keep it simple AND remember what you might find simple can be of great value to others.
7. When new in a job
Do you instantly remember al faces and names on the people you meet? Speaking for myself I can say no! Linkedin is great tool for those starting new jobs as it gives you quick access to both names, faces and a lot more that you can use when starting to work together with all these new people. This will also gives them an opportunity to get to know you. So do not be afraid to add your new colleagues.
8. Prepare for meeting and interviews
“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War. When you are going to interviews or meetings with people you do not know, be sure to check out their Linkedin profile upfront, so you have your arsenal packed with information about them. And vice versa, you know what the people you will meet know about you, because they WILL have read your resume on Linkedin. So be sure that it is well done.
9. Health check companies
If you want to know the state of a company and how it is to work for one, there are rarely better people to get honest feedback from than current and former employees of a specific company. So if you are looking for a new job, want insight on a competitor or just have a simple question regarding a company use the Linkedin search field to find employees from the company that you want to know more about, and politely send them a message our request to connect with them to meet for a cup of coffee.
10. Find new partners
Linkedin is a great tool to find partners, be it professional partners or someone to explore and share ideas about your personal passion with. Use the Linkedin search to find new like-minded companions who possess the skills and competences that you are looking for. It is an opportunity to follow your passion, build your own, or your company brand, getting new customers and hiring new people.
This was my suggestion for 10 simple Linkedin best practices. Do you agree or have I missed something?
» Connect with Steffen on Linkedin
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11) ‘Recommend’
What about the ‘recommend’ function, which i find important because of the value of others meaning. It can be about a specific task or job you have completed. Everybody can write that you have great skills within communication, but there must something about it, when your business partner, customers etc. gives you the ‘thumps up’.
That must be a “value adder”.
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