Establishing your online identity through LinkedIn

Your professional network is only as good as your continually evolving list of business contacts comprising your colleagues (current and former), business associates, your professional acquaintances; both online (e.g. blogosphere) or offline (e.g. events). I get asked this question all the time: "I've signed up for LinkedIn...Now, what?". Well, there are three initial steps to follow -- establish, build and participate:

1. Establish your online identity
2. Build your network
3. Participate within the network

Here's a quick and easy primer on how to establish your online identity with your LinkedIn profile. When you join LinkedIn you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients and partners, so be sure to fill out your profile with your full employment and education history.

Your LinkedIn profile has more depth than a traditional static resume, by allowing you to also display:

• Recommendations you’ve received
• Recommendations you’ve written
• Your Questions and Answer on LinkedIn Answers
• Links to your website, portfolio, company, etc.,

Public Profile
After you’ve created your LinkedIn  profile, you can control what parts of it are publicly viewable on the web by clicking on ‘Edit My Public Profile‘. Your public profile will appear in search engine results for Google, Yahoo!, etc., and you can opt to show just the basics, a full view, or show nothing.

You can easily create a link to your public profile from your blog or website, by grabbing the code for a variety of buttons. If you’re a Typepad user, there’s also a widget to quickly add a button to your blog.

Come back next week for my post on building your network. In the meanwhile, feel free to leave a comment on innovative ways you've used to build and promote your network.

Other than extreme LinkedIn makeovers that he's known for (just ask Guy Kawasaki), Mike also manages a neighborhood guide for Potrero Hill, San Francisco in his spare time.