Tap Your LinkedIn Network to Fill Your Project Needs

Whether it’s a marketing guru to help you with your website, a copywriter extraordinaire to manage your blog, a career coach to help you nail your next interview, or a tax genius to help you navigate your return, the LinkedIn network can help you find someone who can help. 

We’ve rolled out some new tools to help you find the right service providers that can help you get the job done. 

Search For Help

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to search for service providers and freelancers and not only see folks who could help you, but also if someone in your network could give you feedback on their work or even extend an intro? 

Now, when you search in the LinkedIn search bar, you can filter your results by service providers. For example, if you are looking for someone to help you with your marketing strategy, simply search for “marketing,” and filter by service provider. From there you’ll see a list of providers that have shared that they are “open for business” and fit your search criteria.

By looking at their profile you’ll see details about the services they provide, their experience, and any mutual connections you have.  And, if someone has noted that they are “open for business” you’ll be able to message them regardless if you are connected or not. 

Ask Your Network For Recommendations

The same way you might ask a friend for a restaurant recommendation, or a colleague for who you need to pull into a big company project, we find that you’ve already been asking your professional networks for recommendations when it comes to searching and hiring service providers. Similar to how referrals can get you in the door for a job opportunity, our research says that 51 percent of business leaders that hired a freelancer found them through a recommendation; and 36 percent of them found the provider through social media. 

To help, we’ve simplified the process so you can get recommendations even faster. We’re rolling out a way for you to quickly ask both your network and the larger LinkedIn community for referrals on who can help you get the job done. Similar to how you would create a post on LinkedIn, we’ve added a button to take you through a few simple steps for asking your network for a service provider recommendation. You can find this button on iOS and Android devices globally. Here is how it works:

Step 1: On your mobile device, click the share box to create a post, and then click on “Find an Expert” 

Step 2: Fill out information about the type of provider you are looking for. It’s important to include project details and expectations, so that you get the most relevant recommendations. This section will automatically fill out a draft post for you to share.

Step 3: Be sure to review your post and ensure everything looks good before publishing. You’ll notice we’ve gone ahead and added in some relevant hashtags to help your post get discovered. 

Step 4: Share your post! You can choose who can see your post - whether you only want recommendations from your network, or if you want to share more publicly. Once you hit share, the audience you selected will now be able to see your post and either comment directly on the post tagging folks who might be able to help, or message you to share their recommendations privately. 

Once you’ve completed the steps above, you’re all set and your post will be live.

We’re here to help you find the right people to help you get the job done. Let the LinkedIn network do the work for you!