LinkedIn – Is anyone out there?
Pink Floyd sang ‘Is anyone out there’? And clients often ask this about LinkedIn. Who uses it? How do they use it? Is it useful? … Is anyone out there?
I am a one percenter. That is one of the people who posts weekly. You may not know that LinkedIn has more than 500 million members and of that approximately 50% are active each week. That’s a lot of professionals connecting, networking, sharing, and communicating each day.
This means that if you’re in the job market or selling your product LinkedIn is an important place to be. Your profile is what you want the world to know about you. It says what you stand for, how you provide value, and helps recruiters to work out whether you are a candidate they may be interested in.
How can you stand out on LinkedIn?
First off if you have something to say make it meaningful. Just as you would in a meeting be sure to make any posts, articles or comments worthy of being read. You don’t have to be an influencer to have your content shared either. You may have seen shared posts where people have written from their heart and the post has gone viral? That’s because people like ‘real’ conversations. They like to read and respond to content that comes across as authentic and in the author’s own voice.
OKDork did some research on posts and found that posts with headings of 40 characters perform the best.
They also found that posts with exactly eight images perform the best. That’s news to me, and I’m going to give that a go. If you do this, let me know how it pans out for you.
Constructing your LinkedIn profile is not quite like a resume. Here are some recommendations from The Salary Coach.
It’s important to complete your about section and to fill in at least the past 10 years of your work history (if you have that much). Be succinct and speak in first person.
Unlike your resume your LinkedIn profile is more likely to be static in terms of the content. You won’t be rewriting it every time you apply for a job so that it shows up better in the ATS (Application Tracking System) of the company. So be sure to highlight what you want people to know about you. Your profile should convey who you are and what your employability brand is. Keep it to three things, otherwise they may become confused.
I’ve been experimenting with LinkedIn in the past couple of years. The things I’ve noted are:
- My posts now consistently have thousands of views
- My follower community has shifted from around 3,000 to just shy of 10,000 in 12 months. I wonder where it will be this time next year?
- I receive requests for contact, help and business every day. Sundays are the exception as many people do seem to switch off on this one day of the week.
- LinkedIn is an excellent platform to sell – ideas, thoughts, yourself or your business.
Take a look at your LinkedIn profile and check if it’s doing the job you want it to do.
