If you haven’t discovered the power of LinkedIn for business, you will not want to stop reading this post. Some people that have been using LinkedIn might feel as though it is bothersome and distracting because they really aren’t seeing a certain type of results, or they are simply confused with how to use LinkedIn in the first place. The truth is – LinkedIn is more business related than Facebook or Twitter, but do not discount this difference because if you do, you will surely miss the train.
First of all, the Alexa ranking for LinkedIn is 13th globally and 11th in the US, which makes this site an extremely authoritative web presence. But we will get back to that in a minute or two. The other item you really should be interested in is the people that are on LinkedIn. Out of all the Fortune 500 companies that are currently available, all 500 are on LinkedIn. So, why is that? It’s simple. If you want any type of recognition whatsoever, you will need to be a part of LinkedIn and learn how to turn this bothersome social networking tool into a mega gold mine.
Let’s get back to the authoritative web presence for a moment. If you have a profile on LinkedIn and it has been filled out completely – 100%. When you type in your name, or the name of your business on Google, your LinkedIn profile will more than likely come up on page one. Now, If you participate in the community, and you leave recommendations for others with your signature, business name, and web address, you will have high authority links pointing back to your web presence from each and every one of those posts you leave.
I don’t know about you, but this my friend is real link juice. Now, we can get into this area alone and spend all night hashing out a strategy that will really make a lot of sense when it comes to using LinkedIn, but let’s quickly add another. Business development is extremely important right? So, if you spend a little time visiting other businesses and leaving recommendations, you will be able to ask for recommendations in return. When people come to visit your LinkedIn profile and see 6, 12, or 20 recommendations from other professionals, what do you think this will do for your business, you, and your overall reputation?
If you have a LinkedIn profile and it has become stagnant, you will surely want to rethink your strategy, because the power of LinkedIn for business is probably far above even your greatest expectation.
My LI profile was stagnant for a while,thanks for the information,will make it better right to target the right niche crowd.
Thank you for sharing this. I have a robust profile but have not had any strong business friendships formed or business generated via Linked In. I use Hootsuite and send posts to it, Twitter, Facebook, etc. I’m in some groups and once promoted a special class with a discounted price, but even that received no responses. I read about a former NFL play (if I remember right) going from his career ending to building a new, lucrative career through LinkedIn, but I just don’t see how. I did a Google search for “finish your project consulting” and learned my LinkedIn profile does not come up at all. When I searched with “finish your project” “eric johnson”, it did come up on the first page. My profile’s url did end with /rightnowlife and I just changed it so the full version is http://www.linkedin.com/in/finishyourproject Any suggestions for more steps for me to take on Linked In? Do you think that’s the best way to write the url or should I include consulting on the end? Thank you.
The HUGE advantage of Linked In is that the Profiles on there are real human beings and therefore unencumbered by inane anonymities making at best dumb, at worse negative or at even worse offensive comments. Because they are identifiable human beings, this makes it a more grown up site (and viable advertising medium). Oh, that ALL social media was like this.
Do you have to pay to have full access to the above?
nope,nothing of that sort.The above access is free.
Thanks Hugh,
Greatly appreciate your comment.
John V
The power & benefit for the average person; Fortune 500 Employee through to Job Seeker (OK, I exclude people for whom ‘Link Juice’ makes their heart beat faster, though I think they are misinformed) has 20% to do with the stuff you mentioned – your presence and ‘personal brand’ (how people see you) and 80% to do with what is available for you to DO PROACTIVELY. What & how?
My philosophy (and I implore you) stop worrying about all the things outside your control on LinkedIn and Social Media like ‘tweaking your profile 100%!’ & ‘being found’, and do the hard yards (which just means take a bit of time & effort) and do three things consistently:
1. Regularly ask yourself and be able to articulate what you want out of business Networking. Never lose sight of the fact you are in fact just Networking toward a real & defined goal. Base all your business networking related activity on this.
2. Research, research, research: Industries, Companies, roles in Companies, People in those roles, People connected to People. I estimate 80-90% of people don’t do this at all, let alone effectively (excluding the most proactive of business development professionals, and any recruiter worth his salt of course).
3. Proactively reach out to people in a non-threatening, not ‘all about me’ way, don’t sell anything, just ‘Network’ to start with. Like you’re meeting, casually but professionally in person for the first time.
Multiply the above exponentially with ‘Massive Action’ – don’t do it 10-20 times, do it 100-200 times, do it constantly. Coupled with being very clear & concise how people can help you, over time & at the right time, you will grow exactly the type of network of people, real people with real relationships focused on how you can help each other, that you want to (see point 1.)
If your goal, because your an executive is largely about people in your Sales team doing the above (“not me”), then IMHO I believe it’s your job to understand this process, teach & lead by example where possible.
LinkedIn, Social Media for business I suspect, is that simple, that misunderstood.
My suggestion, my feedback, is that you are focusing on other people taking action when you would be better focusing on what you can do – sure, study Personal Branding (@danschawbel a good place to start), sure make sure your real, core strengths and experience & whatever you want to achieve is in your profile, then put that sh_t aside and get on with connecting with real people, about real things – what are you waiting for?
Oh, being found? Again, I’d focus on getting good at Search yourself instead – a far, far greater skill. Plus the LinkedIn Search feature is gamed/throttled – it doesn’t work logically because they have made it that way. See this site for why & for learning about search inside LinkedIn, Outside LinkedIn, and back in again:
Where Do You Rank In LinkedIn’s Search Results?
http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/2010/09/where-do-you-rank-in-linkedins-search-results/
LinkedIn Profile Search Engine Optimization / SEO
http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/2010/11/linkedin-profile-search-engine-optimization-seo/
I’m sure the above are a good read for those wanting to figure out how to ‘do something and then wait, and eventually people will flock to ME’, however I still maintain an hour searching and reaching out to others, aiming for in person or other meetings, will be dozens (hundreds!) of times more effective than an hour ‘tweaking your profile’.