Imagine if you could, at your disposal, tap into the brain trust of 30 million experienced professionals from 150 industries?
By tapping into the power of LinkedIn, you can ask leaders in your industry questions, network and meet people you have always wanted to and get recommended by trusted colleagues. The amazing part of all of this is that it's free!
But in order to make this super-charged social media site work for you, you need to master these eight steps:
1. Fill out your profile completely. This means a photo, your website links, links to your blog, and all your past jobs or businesses.
2. Connect with people you know in the 'real' world. The strength of LinkedIn's network is that unlike other social media sites, it's not the amount of people you connect to but more about the quality of your connections.
3. Maximize your online exposure by clicking "Full View." Often if you search on a person, their LinkedIn site comes up as the first page on a search engine.
4. Use the "Answers" feature to tap into the depth of your network and other experts. Want to know how to take your company public? Looking for a marketing director who specializes in your industry? Want to sell your business but don't know where to start? These are just some of the questions you can ask your own network as well as industry experts.
5. Answer questions in your field to position yourself as an expert. Clients want to hire experts, not generalists. Commit to at least 10 minutes a day and you can showcase your talent to a whole new group of potential clients who are looking for someone in your industry.
6. Find a group that speaks to you and become an active member. Think of all the time you spend going to networking events. LinkedIn gives you the possibility of meeting some movers and shakers from the comfort of your own laptop.
7. Soup up your page with the dozens of new killer apps. Whether you want to share a workspace with your colleagues, upload a series of slides or attract new readers for your WordPress blog, be sure to check out the latest bells and whistles that make working oh, so much more functional and fun.
8. Expand your business reach by reaching out to the Fortune 500. At last count, 499 of the Fortune 500 companies were on LinkedIn. Looking to increase your business prospects but don't know how to get a foot in the door? Use LinkedIn's "Company" tab to get you one step closer.
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Written by Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven. Contact her at 718-395-2398 or at alison@newmediamavens.com. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2008.
Alison Woo
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