1. D ig ital S kills W e b inar 3
Linke d In Tip s
Linke d In Tip s
Be st Tip s And Practice s In U sing Linke d In
JO H N ZEU S .C O M

2. LinkedIn Overview
What is LinkedIn?
 World’s largest online professional network and database of professionals
Connects you to your trusted contacts
Helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities
Standardizes user information into predefined categories: “Profile Headline”, “Summary”, “Education”,
“Company”, etc.
Powerful search tool to pinpoint the person you are looking for
Great tool for both business and professional intelligence and development

3. LinkedIn Overview
Why Should You Use LinkedIn?
• LinkedIn is a superb tool to help you:
 Create, develop and maintain professional and business relationships
Create awareness of yourself among potential colleagues, clients and
candidates or “personal branding”
Demonstrate your competence and expertise to establish the trust upon
which business and professional relationships depend

4. LinkedIn Overview
LinkedIn = #1 Chosen Site for Professionals
 Maintaining a LinkedIn profile is one of the important steps you can take to manage & control
your online reputation
LinkedIn’s high Search Engine Optimization means your LinkedIn profile page often appears
at the top of search engine results
The higher on the screen positive search results appear (e.g. professional public LinkedIn
profile), the lower the likelihood that the public will find negative information about you

5. LinkedIn Overview
Some Facts and Information
 Over 70 million members in over 200 countries
New member joins approximately every second
Executives from ALL Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members
About half of all members are outside the U.S.

6. LinkedIn Tips
1. Find Who You Know
 Start with your existing contacts
Let LinkedIn scan your email address book to find out who you know
is on LinkedIn
LinkedIn will NOT automatically send connection requests to your
contacts; you choose which contacts to invite

7. LinkedIn Tips
2. Personalize Your LinkedIn URL
Change your LinkedIn profile URL (web address) from the default setting to
www.linkedin.com/in/"yourname"
Helps people find you when they search for your name within LinkedIn, Google
and other search engines

8. LinkedIn Tips
3. Email Marketing
 Include your LinkedIn URL in your email signature

9. LinkedIn Tips
5. Ask to Connect at Every Opportunity
 Whenever you have networking or business interactions with people,
ask them if they’re on LinkedIn and if they’d like to connect
 Send connection requests after meeting with employers, candidates
and prospective colleagues

10. LinkedIn Tips
6. Acquire Enough Connections
 The more work experience you have the larger your network should naturally
be
The more connections you have, the more LinkedIn search results you will
appear in (i.e. makes you easier to be found)
Rule of thumb? Multiply your age by 10 and that is the minimum number of
connections that you should aim for.

11. LinkedIn Tips
7. Have a LinkedIn Profile Headline
 The space underneath your name is your “Professional” or Profile Headline
This is the single most important piece of real estate on your LinkedIn Profile, and
you need to brand it as such
Appears in search results next to your name
It’s your elevator speech in a few words
Be creative! Can you think of something appealing other than your title and company name?

12. LinkedIn Tips
 By providing more information, you’re creating more opportunities for
people to find you
Include former employers and the colleges you attended on your
profile
You never know how an ex-colleague or ex-classmate can help you
(and vice-versa)

13. LinkedIn Tips
 Put yourself in the mind of the people by whom you want to be found
What keyword searches would they perform on LinkedIn in order to find you?
Your profile must include keywords people will likely use in searching for
someone with your expertise.

14. LinkedIn Tips
10. Don’t Hide
 Change the settings on your profile to “Full View” so your profile can
be fully indexed by search engines
 Why? Search engines like Google and Yahoo love to index LinkedIn
public profile pages

15. LinkedIn Tips
11. Link to Yourself
 LinkedIn lets you include links to three Web sites on your profile –
take advantage of it
 You can link to corporate or law firm website, a blog, a Twitter profile
or other business-oriented social networking profile

16. LinkedIn Tips
12. Recommend
 Give, and ask for, recommendations
Be sincere and authentic when giving recommendations (the recipient will often
return the favor)
When you recommend someone and when someone recommends you, that fact is
displayed on your profile
Ask people who you think have high regard for you for a recommendation – e.g. a
candidate you just placed or a client for who you've just made a placement

17. LinkedIn Tips
13. Update your Status Regularly
 Going to an event? Attending a conference? Read something interesting that is relevant to
your brand? Launched a new project?
 Share it via Status Update !
 Post interesting information (and URLs) and people in your network will be more likely to pay
attention to your updates
 This keeps you top of mind & positions you as an expert in your area (key part of your
branding exercise)
Don’t worry about posting long URL’s in the Update box – LinkedIn now automatically
shortens them for you

18. LinkedIn Tips
14. Watch Others’ Status Updates to Initiate
Contact
 Keep an eye on status updates from others (e.g. change of job, new
venture, etc.)
Good opportunity to get back in touch
Status changes can help give you something to start a conversation
and keep the relationship going

19. LinkedIn Tips
15. Learn Advanced Search
 LinkedIn’s Advanced Search is extremely powerful – get familiar with
it
 Helps you find very targeted audiences

20. LinkedIn Tips
16. Join Groups
 Search for and join industry-related LinkedIn groups
Group icons show up on your profile which tells people you are involved in your industry
Creates a connection between you and other group members (e.g. potential clients and
business partners)
Easy to connect to a potential client if you already share membership in a group
If the group is active, join in the conversation where appropriate (opportunity to demonstrate
expertise)

21. LinkedIn Tips
17. Post News within Groups
 Many groups allow you to post links to news articles intended to spark conversation
Like Status Updates, this function can be used to position yourself as knowledgeable in your
field.
Only post content that you sincerely feel will be of value to your fellow group members
(otherwise will be viewed as SPAM)

22. LinkedIn Tips
18. Ask Questions Strategically
 You can use LinkedIn’s Answer feature to attract a new connection by posing a question to
the LinkedIn audience
Think about the type of person you want to reach
and
 Formulate a question for which you think that person you would have an opinion about that
they’d like to share

23. LinkedIn Tips
19. Answer Questions Posed by Others
 Yet another avenue to demonstrate your competence
Only answer the questions for which you know the answer intimately
Actually answer the question that's asked – and be helpful
(don’t just reply merely to show off your knowledge)
 If you are truly helpful, the person asking the question may assign your response as the
"best answer"
Your answer, as well as the fact that it was the *best answer*, will be displayed on your
profile

24. LinkedIn Tips
21. Install Applications
WordPress and BlogLink apps allow you to send your blog posts automatically to your
LinkedIn profile
Google Presentation and SlideShare apps let you embed PowerPoints (and other documents)
you’ve created into your profile.
MyTravel app lets you know your network’s travel activity so you can see when your contacts
are in the same place

25. LinkedIn Tips
21. Install Applications – cont’d
 Amazon Reading List app lets you list the books you’ve read, the books you’re currently
reading and those you’d like to read and it connects you with others who are using the app
Polls application (like the Answers feature) can be used to attract a specific audience by
carefully crafting the right poll question

26. LinkedIn Tips
22. Use the New “Follow Company”
The new “Follow Company” feature allows you to receive notifications of Company activity
in your email inbox – i.e. Updates on New Hires, Recent Departures, and New Job
Opportunities.
You get a very good snapshot as to the hiring trends in any company on your target list
 Gives you up-to-date (user generated) information that can make it easier for you to discover
valuable business intelligence about the people within a company

27. Additional Resources
General LinkedIn Information
LinkedIn's Tutorial Page: http://learn.linkedin.com/
How to Get Started on LinkedIn: http://www.bnet.com/2403-13070_23-219860.html
Twenty Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn Use:
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/06/15/20-ways-to-use-linkedin-productively/
Outstanding Blog by LinkedIn/Social Media Strategist Neal Schafer:
http://windmillnetworking.com/blog/

28. Additional Resources
How To Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn SuperGuide -Tutorials, Tips and Tools:
http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/linkedin-superguidetutorials-tips-and-tool/
Etiquette for LinkedIn and the Professional Networking World:
http://www.intuitive.com/blog/etiquette_for_linkedin_and_the_professional_networking_world.html

29. TH AN K YO U
• JO H N ZEU S .C O M