20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively
June 15th, 2007 (6:00am) Leo Babauta 125 CommentsTweet This (29)
If the number of requests to join LinkedIn, the business networking network, that clog your email inbox is any indication, then you know it is becoming a legitimate business tool, and one that most professionals need to effectively leverage to boost their professional prospects. LinkedIn, in fact is a web worker’s best professional friend.
And although it’s just one of many such networks, LinkedIn, is in short a network for business opportunities. On LinkedIn, people don’t chat about music or what they did on Saturday night, but instead focus on opportunities and how the network can help you. And that’s a winning formula. Here are just some of the most common and productive uses of LinkedIn. :
1) Increase freelance work. If you’re a freelancer, or you want to be, getting work can sometimes be a challenge. Or perhaps you get a lot of work, but you want to focus more on quality work that gets you the highest pay per hour. Set up a profile that shows what you can do, your experience, what you have to offer. Link up with others you know, and you’ve got a free way to market your services. It could take awhile before the jobs start rolling in, but it can’t hurt to start now.
2) Find your dream job. You’ve already got a job, but it’s far from perfect. What you really want to do is create the perfect widget. Well, you’ll never get a job doing that if you just sit on your keister. Put yourself out there on LinkedIn, search for companies that are looking for perfect widget makers, and contact them. The search for the dream job starts with a single click.
3) Boost your business. Got a small business but want to generate more customers? Perhaps you’re not connecting with the right people. LinkedIn can increase your chances of hitting that big deal that puts your business exactly where you want to be. Again, this can take some time, but it doesn’t hurt to give it a try.
4) Improve your Google results. When someone Googles you, do you really want the first thing they see to be your posts on the fly fishing forum? As your LinkedIn profile will have a fairly high Google PageRank, it should rank fairly high in your search results. And you can fill it with stuff you want people to see.
5) Check references for potential hires. Trying to hire the perfect widget maker? Well, you’re not likely to find out about an applicant’s sordid past mistakes by calling the references on their application. Do a search for others who worked at the same company at the same time, and get a better background check in minutes.
6) Get advice. Use LinkedIn’s Answers feature to ask a question and get some great answers. As always, you’ll have to sort through the self-promotional fluff, but there are some true experts on LinkedIn, and it’s worth a shot to ask your question.
7) Easy resume. Don’t feel like creating an old-fashioned resume and photocopying, faxing or emailing it to 20 different companies? Create a LinkedIn profile that serves as a resume, and then send people the URL. Be sure to get a vanity URL for this, as you can set the URL of your LinkedIn profile (I think perfectwidgetmaker is available).
8) Do research. Need to find out about business trends for an article, need to find an expert or need to contact people for further information? LinkedIn is a decent place to start, especially if you’re running dry on Google. Start with the advanced search feature.
9) Jazz up your profile. Don’t just go with a plain Jane, boring profile — be sure to put the right information on it to give it the most impact. See Guy Kawasaki’s article on profile makeovers for more.
10) Get connections. When you start out with LinkedIn, you probably have between 0 and 1 connections. That’s not very productive. Get others you know in your network by allowing LinkedIn to access your Gmail contacts. See the Slacker Manager’s article for more.
11) Prep for an interview. If you’re going to a job interview, it’s best to know the background of the person you’ll be talking to. Check out their LinkedIn profile to find out more about their work experience, interests, education and more. This will give you an edge.
12) Batch process messages. LinkedIn, like any other social network, can become just another stream of information and messages that you need to wade through. That’s not productive, and you have enough of these streams to deal with already. Simplify that by setting it to only give you weekly messages all in one batch, or to only notify you of new messages whenever you decide to log in.
13) Increase your cred. If you’re trying to market yourself as an expert, for example, or develop credibility in your field, it looks good to have a strong presence in a network such as LinkedIn, with lots of connections. If you answer questions with the knowledge of an expert in the Answers section, even better.
14) Brand yourself. This is related to No. 13, but whatever your aim in business, be it as a freelancer, as a potential employee, as a writer, as a business … it’s only smart to develop your own personal brand. What do people think of when they hear your name? A strong presence on LinkedIn only reinforces the branding you’re doing elsewhere. And while you’re at it, be sure to link to your website from your profile.
15) Find people. Looking for old friends, for old business associates that you want to re-establish a relationship with, for former employers or employees, for someone you met at a cocktail party but can’t find their card? Do a LinkedIn search.
16) Help others. The best way to network is to help others succeed. They’ll never forget you, and you will be paid back tenfold some day. Use LinkedIn to help others — promote them, link to them, connect with them, recommend them, answer their questions.
17) Get to know a company. If you want to know about a company, you could Google them or go to their website. But using LinkedIn, you can find out much more about it. For example, do an advanced search on the company and uncheck “current companies only” to see what kind of talent has left the company, and how fast. And connect with them to see what they have to say about their former employer.
18) Throw out a net when you don’t need it. Sure, a network like this is good when you’re job hunting. But what about if you’re not looking for a job? That’s the perfect time to put yourself out there and make connections. Because when you don’t need it, people are more likely to get to know you, because you’re not pushing yourself on them. You’re just forming relationships — and that will pay off when you do need it. And who knows? Maybe the perfect offer will come in when you’re not even looking for it.
19) Get publicity. It can be hard to contact media or top bloggers. But many of them have a LinkedIn profile, and you can contact them through the profile. I highly advise you not to spam them — but a press release or a polite email letting them know about a new launch, for example, might be appreciate or at least noticed. It shouldn’t be your whole marketing strategy, but it could help.
20) Market research. Planning to launch a new product? Do a little research into what companies are offering similar things, about what kind of potential customers are out there, and what they’re like, and what their needs are, and what kind of demand there is for your type of product. It can take some creative searching, but the information is there, waiting to be mined. Talk to employees or former employees of similar businesses, or of potential customers, and you can get the answers you’re looking for.
Did we miss something? Why don’t you tell us your tip-or-a-trick to get the most out of LinkedIn.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
To expand on #16, it can be as simple as helping others to understand and learn to use LinkedIn. That in and of itself becomes a good networking tool. Also, recommending and writing references for one another is a great part of actvely helping your network.
As with any networking, you can use LinkedIn requests for introduction for nonselfish/less selfish things like an informational interview, or to do a little informal ‘research’ on what your clients/customers need in order to do their jobs better.
I use the answers section 3 ways: to write answers, to informally ‘research’ how presentation training (what i do) is used, and I get an RSS feed of new questions in “my category” as sometimes the questioner is looking to hire a contractor.
Very useful article. I never would have guessed that my profile on there could be used for so much. Thanks!
Fantastic list. I hadn’t thought about using LinkedIn as a sales tool for freelancers. It seems obvious and wonder why more aren’t doing it.
SimplifyThis.com
As a variant of #17, just did a blog post about using it to find information about somebody you’ve never met before prior to a meeting.
I work for a big company and meet new people all the time, so there are frequent opportunities for networking. Those first few minutes of a meeting where you get to make an initial impression, if you’ve looked up someone on LinkedIn first, you can come up with a much more interesting and memorable question than “So, where are you from?” That can break the ice better and be the spark to building a relationship.
—Pete
HP.com Chief Architect
Personal Blog: http://nerdguru.net
Excellent list. When I was working as a tech journalist, I used it to find people that had used a particular product for uses #8 and #20 to talk on the record or off. #20 is helpful not only for product research, but finding new or replacing old talent with particular product or process expertise, such as Six Sigma. #15 too, I was at a reunion last night and LinkedIn is the first place I go now to track down former co-workers.
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Thanks for the great point in this post. Linkedin is getting more and more popular.
Linked In is totally useless for me. All these people want to connect with me and I don’t really care about them. I care about a few but the vast majority I don’t even know. And why should I share my valuable network with someone I don’t know?
The worst Linked In members are the ones who ask for endorsements when in fact you don’t even know them. What gall. I have recommend (on Linked In) people whom I’ve worked with who are really terrific. But I’ve done that on my own initiative. They never asked me to endorse them.
Linked In’s endorsement culture is something peculiar to the States. In a lot of other places, you endorse cereal and soap, not people. In addition, other people find that when you put someone on the spot by asking for an endorsement, it’s rude. Why? Because they’d rather not give it (perhaps they don’t know you well or don’t like you), but they are too embarrassed to say no. Now you’ve put them on the spot where they have to turn you down. This is very rude. You make them lose face.
PJ,
Solution to your issues – don’t connect to people you don’t know and trust… I’d rather have you connect to the 40 people you’ve worked with and would team up on a project in a moment’s notice.
I understand, but respectfully disagree with open networkers who think “he who has the most connections wins”, but the answer is simple – don’t connect. I deal with this in the appendix of “The LinkedIn Personal Trainer” – http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
The actual number of requests from people I don’t know is small. If you have connected to people you don’t know and don’t see how they add any value to your network – simply remove the connections.
I agree with Steve Tylock. Sometimes more non relevant connections in your network circle can only annoy, become a bothersome, and create more noises for you than the necessaries.
Is it truly worthwhile paying for the LinkedIn subscription? Any opinions about that out there?
Regarding #5, you may violate the law by calling people other than the references listed in an application. There are specific questions a potential employer is permitted to ask and a similar set of limitation on what a past employer may share. Consult with your HR director before doing this.
Very good article! I’ve been a LinkedIn member for quite a while, but I haven’t used it productively. Now, I’m going to use some of the information that you’ve provided here to grow my business. Thanks a million!
Echoing Henry’s sentiments, the post is definitely going to cause me to better integrate my LinkedIn presence with other aspects of marketing.
Bill
well you are right. u can do a lot wt ur linkedin profile and i realized ppl googled me :) HA!:) and it’s rather easy to add 30-50 connections if u are pretty active on the questions page
Many thanks for sharing these…
Zia
http://www.ziarezvi.com
There are so many things I like about LinkedIn. I believe for many, it’s a great way to test the social media/social networking waters. It turns your resume into a living document and really helps show how your career is evolving and over time where your efforts/skills fit in the world of business. Thank you for the great 20 things to do…LinkedIn on!
Thanks for the tips! This was a very helpful article.
Hey, that network is pretty cool. I’ve never hear of it before. Thanks for blogging about it.
Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems kinda useless without a paid subscription, you can’t really see anything about people.
I didn’t even know about Linked In till I read this. Will have to check it out.
Is that it?
Anyone reading this blog who is interested in business networking AND marketing their business should check out Fast Pitch!. In less than 9 months Fast Pitch! has become the 3rd largest business network in the U.S. The features they have added to their platform is unmatched. Check out all of the things you can do on Fast Pitch! here:
http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/allpremiums.cfm
Honestly, this almost reads like a paid review for linked in.
nice article, cheers for this.
Wow, what a great use of LinkedIn usage. I’ve been doing few on the list but this seems very complete. Thanks!
Actually, I did a group blogging project last month called Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn. There are over 30 detailed ideas, techniques and success stories about how to use LinkedIn to accomplish specific business and personal tasks.
I’ll be adding this list to that list – good job!
This is great. Thanks! Just today a former colleague and I were discussing why some people – like his business developers – don’t use LinkedIn. This post should go a long way to helping us convince them.
Too many people drinking the LinkedIn Kool-Aid.
Everyone should take a look a this:
http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/compare.cfm
These guys get it (social / business networking).
I love Linkedin. I use it every day. Currently, I’m creating some new groups and finding new ones to join. I’ve met a lot of great business contacts and as my network grows I’m finding more useful. I’m an open networker and happen to own a staffing company but my network and community on LI has extended far beyond my current staffing business. I also do some real estate investing and my LI network helped me locate a good real estate broker in the area I was looking. It also helped me find a reputable SEO company. I’m sure there are a ton of everyday uses that one could reach out to their network and get some help.
Jeff Weidner
Yes I’m an open networker
<a href=”http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/44169/3ED8F804D9C7″target=”_blank” CPD Group on Linkedin
jeffweidnerlinkedin@gmail.com
Great Article!!!
I have an online course (which is totally free) on 7 ways to generate revenue on LinkedIn which is related to what you have here. Different point of view.
http://www.zaletabakman.ca/2007/12/19/seven-ways-to-use-your-linkedin-network/
My site is all about practical applications of Success through Balance. I strongly beleive in the power of Napoleon Hill’s Master Mind. In modern terms, LinkedIn is a reflection of that.
I have been reveiwing LinkedIn based sites and have included yours in the review.
Please take a look at the review and add your comments.
Zale
http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/ZaleTabakman <- A connection to me adds 1,600,000 people to your network.
Leo Babauta always give good SEO tips.
Thanks Leo,
Best regards,
Mr.Daniel Chege
Poppa Productions Web Designs.
Excellent reasons!
This is a FANTASTIC piece of writing.
Social networks are a fantastic but they won’t make things happen on their own.
I’m reminded of the anecdote about computers only being as intelligent as the user inputting information.
Guts and real world sensibilities are every bit as important in the online universe.
I think that you have hit the nail on the head with what you say. One of the things I have noticed though is that there are a lot of people out there who don’t even do the simple things that make it easier to connect on Linkedin.
I recently posted on this topic on my blog.
http://pauldrasmussen.blogspot.com/2008/12/linkedin-improving-you-business-network.html
How not to use Linkedin !!
checkout @ http://www.duktu.com/blog/?p=16
By some extent i found difficult to networking, maybe I should learn more of tips and tricks.Please advice
This is a great list of ways to use LinkedIn. Definitely the most complete list I’ve come across so far.
Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
Jason
Help Others … great advice :-)
Your point about doing research for upcoming interviews by checking the profiles of those you are to meet is good advice too.
many thanks for this.