Four ways LinkedIn can help with your New Year Resolutions!
Some of you might have read my earlier blog post from last year on how LinkedIn can help you build a professional network that lasts. As we begin this New Year, I’d like to suggest four key ways in which LinkedIn can help you put your best foot forward professionally in 2009.
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Be found by people looking for your skills, products & company
- List your current and past positions & education. This helps the right people and opportunities find you and your products & services, faster.
- Request recommendations for your work from your trusted contacts and customers. You can post them on your profile for the world to see.
- Make sure your company is listed on LinkedIn. This is how customers, partners and future employees can find you.
- Promote your unique skills, ideas and products & services with applications like Google Presentation and Slideshare.
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Be closer to your trusted professional contacts
- Import your online address book to connect to your trusted acquaintances who are already on LinkedIn.
- Check your network updates to see who’s connecting to whom, working on what, traveling where, changing jobs and more. Send them quick notes to help, advise, congratulate and more.
- Notify your network about what you’re working on – you’ll be surprised at the help and opportunities that can result from updating your LinkedIn Status.
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Find the right career and business opportunities
- Try the new LinkedIn search to find the employers, experts, partners and customers you most want to talk to.
- Search the industries and companies you’re most interested in working with.
- See who you know at your target companies, or who in your network can introduce you to them.
- Find a job using your LinkedIn network.
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Get key career insights
- Find and exchange ideas with like-minded professionals in the new LinkedIn groups. There are hundreds of thousands of groups on topics related to your career. Find the right one for you or create one.
- Consult a broad network of experts on a business problem you’re working on. You’ll be surprised by the number and quality of responses.
- Find out what people are saying about your company and other topics of interest with the Company Buzz app.
Whatever your career goals are in 2009, LinkedIn can help you be a smart, nimble and effective professional in today’s economy. Feel free to leave a comment or tips you’d like to share with the larger LinkedIn community. Wishing you all a very happy and productive New Year!
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trackback
http://blog.linkedin.com/2009/01/05/keeping-2009s-new-year-resolutions-with-linkedins-help/trackback/
Daria Steigman January 5th, 2009
Hi Patrick,
Terrific and timely advice. I really like your suggestion to monitor the network updates and send your contacts “quick notes to help, advise, congratulate, and more.”
Also your advice to get recommendations. It’s on my January To Do list, and the first one was done for me earlier today.
I’m less sold about the value of LinkedIn Groups. It seems there’s a lot of broadcasting going on there.
Happy New Year,
Daria
sanjay dwivedi January 5th, 2009
The process for focused, permission based BD/Marketing efforts at LinkedIn for me that paid off in 2008 were:-
1. Register with a Group that’s specific to your target market;
2. Participate by giving value/advice/solve a problem;
3. Add those group members to your 1 degree of seperation circle who require your service/product.
Yes it takes time and effort, but its really worth it. Possibly the lowest cost and most impactful BD activity I have done. Thanks to the web 2.0 and linkedIn effect.
Karen Kefauver January 6th, 2009
Question: Trying to research whether there is LinkedIn app that allows my Twitter posts to appear on LinkedIn? Don’t see it in the app listings yet… Thanks, Karen
Torben Rick January 6th, 2009
Dear Patrick
Thanks for your good advice. With 56 recommendations I think I am on the right “track” :-)
All the best for 2009
Torben
Deepak Kumar January 6th, 2009
Hi Patrick,
Happy New Year.
The advice shared by you is really great and Helpful.
Regards
Deepak Kumar
+91-9871517978
Phil Clark January 7th, 2009
Hi,
Very valuable advice – lots of tips to add to my New Year’s resolutions, which included making more cakes – http://zerochampion.building.co.uk/2009/01/02/new-years-resolutions-a-bit-late/
Patrick – is there any chance that we could speak/exchange emails? I work for a major B2B publisher in the UK and wanted to pick your brains/ whoever is relevant there about networking and about your plans for the UK.
Best wishes,
Phil
Ryan Adams January 7th, 2009
Great tips Patrick! Keep them coming. People will need these to give them an edge in 09′.
Ryan Adams – LinkedIn Poweruser
http://www.jobsighter.com
Wilma Woodson January 7th, 2009
Thanks for the tips.
You’ve given me ideas where I can improve my Linkedin acct.
vikram January 8th, 2009
very intersting and nice blog.thnk you for giving steps to be happy in new year.thank you.
vikram,
http://blog.linkedin.com/2009/01/05/keeping-2009s-new-year-resolutions-with-linkedins-help/#comments
Lars J January 9th, 2009
Well put, Patrick. LinkedIn has been very valuable to me. It does work.
Elizabeth January 9th, 2009
Patrick, thank you for the tips. I noticed that you did not say “join as many groups as you can and post an ‘I need a job’ message to each one”, nor did you encourage posting “Hey, I want to connect with everyone, no matter who you are or what you do!”.
I have LOVED LinkedIn, and it has been very helpful to me in meeting specific people with similar professional interests, as well as catching up with former collegaues and classmates.
However, I suspect that LinkedIn is being degraded by many indiscriminate users who spam internally. This is very prevalent in the groups, and defeats the purpose of having a group to discuss specific issues and share expertise. Also, as more people get mass/junk email from “open” networkers, people will value LinkedIn less, and soon it will be the “Matchmaker.com” of the professional world, not valued and seen as rather suspect.
I would hate to see LinkedIn as I’ve come to know it go away, and would gladly pay to have it remain a pure professional resource. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I am sure there must be a way…
Regards,
Elizabeth
Patrick Crane January 9th, 2009
Thanks everyone for your reactions. Really appreciate it!
To try to address as many of the comments as possible, here are some thoughts.
On groups, I agree that there can be some broadcasting that goes on. What I do to tackle this is 1) make sure I only belong to groups where the conversation is focused and useful and 2) report broadcasting or soliciting activity activity to the group owner whenever I know them.
Re: twitter, the app we have right now is the Company Buzz app, which lets you track what people are saying on Twitter about your company and any other item you’re interested in. In terms of ‘professional self expression’ on your profile, we have two great blogging apps currently – WordPress and Bloglink.
It sounds like you’re all making use of LinkedIn to be successful at what you do. Getting recommendations, particularly from important clients/customers is a great asset that stays with you, on your profile. Your profile will increasingly be an important way that people find you, so remember to reserve your LinkedIn public profile url. It will help increase your ranking on Google, Yahoo and other major search sites.
And remember, a great daily habit is to check your network updates and see who YOU can help, provide recommendations to, etc. Small acts of kindness come back tenfold when you need a favor. Happy new year!
Patrick Crane
VP Marketing and Advertising, LinkedIn
Christy Shore January 11th, 2009
The ability to focus on just the right people geographically, vertically, or whatever way you need – LinkedIn.com Groups is a phenomenon in releasing a specific message to a specific group of people.
I’d love to hear how people are effectively synching up their LinkedIn.com strategies with their other social networks.
Coach Christy Shore – ActionCOACH.com
TwinWest Chamber of Commerce – Grow! Minnesota Taskforce
Antwan Radt January 16th, 2009
Seems to mee a growing ammount of people just acts as consumers in stead of showing active behaviour to increase network or post comments.
Idea: Non-activity could be ‘punished’ by introducing temporary non-membership????????
Antwan Radt
De7Mythen / http://www.de7mythen.nl / 06 10203636
The Netherlands
Tom Staskiewicz January 24th, 2009
Patrick,
I have a calling within my church to help people find jobs. The hints and techniques that you share are helpful whether these individuals are on LinkedIn or most any network. I always encourage LinkedIn membership, but I’m out to help in any way that I can.
I have watched some of the LinkedIn extroverts that want to connect with everyone and that’s great. The reality is that it is not “Who you know” or even necessarily “How many you know” as we have been told over and over it’s “Who knows you” and there is no better way to accomplish that than through a good LinkedIn profile and great recommendations.
If you are writing a recommendation don’t just throw accolades at the individual, point out what they did for or added to your organization.
Follow the PAR – Problem – Action – Result formula and you will truly help the person that your are recommending.
Patrick Crane January 29th, 2009
More great comments everybody, thank you. We at LinkedIn specifically request that people follow this advice when considering who to connect to:
http://blog.linkedin.com/2008/11/09/a-guide-to-building-the-right-connections/
Following this advice will really help you in the long term. I haven’t heard of any solid evidence that shows real return from connecting to everybody you can. I am connected to a couple of super connectors, and I get requests for intro’s through them, from people they themselves don’t know, and can’t vouch for. I never respond.
nithya venkateswaran February 3rd, 2009
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the great tips for finding job. In the current economic conditions , graduates like me are surely having tough time to find a suitable opening and get placed. Linkedin is surely the only hope for us. I have a suggestion to make. It would be really great if Linkedin had another tab with recruiters names, company, email id and other details. This way it will help us connect better and find an appropriate job.
Nithya Venkateswaran.
MIS graduate, Sam M Walton School of Business.