LinkedIn - Key Communication Tool

Do I NEED LinkedIn?

TLDR (Too Long Don't Read) - YES! 

LinkedIn should be part of your marketing and communication package to get your name, your company, your book, your nonprofit - get you - out there. 


How Is LinkedIn Useful?
It's one of a few highly respected ways to be seen as a legitimate business and person to work with. Your first piece is your website as an anchor. Your second step should be to build your LinkedIn personal profile, then possibly a company page—a focus for your book or work. LinkedIn is considered the "professional" social site. 

Build Your LinkedIn Profile
Your profile is your bio and can effectively be your resume, to the point where someone can get a pdf copy of your profile and have a general idea of your work history. This is your billboard.

• Add a profile image (generally your best head shot photo) and background image (large space behind your profile image).
• Come up with a catchy tagline or headline for the top to get people's attention immediately! This very small but important piece can take time to try to get right and evolves over time. The first 5-6 words are critical attention getters that follow you around every time you comment or message someone! 
• Create an About section which is similar to the start of your resume sharing who you serve, how you serve, and why.
• Add your Top Skills, Services you offer, and note your Experience (this is the resume part). For your Experience, recommendations suggest no more than the most recent 10-15 years noted. Ageism is a thing.
• "Extra" sections that may be useful to add:
  • Education (very useful) - no need to note graduation year!
  • Licenses/Certifications (may be especially useful in your market)
  • Projects you're proud of
  • Featured posts, newsletters, articles, or a newsletter - think of these as "pinned" to the top of your profile page
  • Volunteer experience

Is a Company Page Useful?
Yes! If you are a privately owned small business owner, this helps immensely with your visibility. It helps LinkedIn find you as a business entity. It enables you to use your business logo on your personal profile and note it as your current business!

If you manage a nonprofit organization, a company page is crucial. Fellow volunteers or employees will be able to link to it, repost and share good content, and even contribute to the page by tagging the organization in posts. 

Authors or podcasters may use this as a way to focus on the project with its own account to then cross-post between company and personal pages. 

All of that being said, your personal page is your highest priority! For solopreneurs or authors, a company page may be no more than a place to repost your personal profile's information as a secondary way to get noticed. You may never post anything "new" on the company page. 

As a nonprofit, your company page may be your key focus to get that brand noticed! 

Unfortunately for the LinkedIn current business model, company pages definitely rank lower in visibility than personal profiles, but they have their uses.

Develop your following and connections on your personal profile and find ways to connect to the company page to build that awareness. 

How to Build Presence on LinkedIn
The next and biggest step is interacting with others on LinkedIn. 

• Comment on posts by others, regularly and often.
• Respond to comments on your posts on both personal and company pages. 
• Join Groups on LinkedIn to offer ideas, suggestions, and thoughts to the group by responding to questions or sharing your useful news. This gives you presence as a thought leader! Most groups have some content restrictions to reduce the "spam" or "selling something" vibe that can become prevalent without an active group leader. 

All it takes is 15-30 min on most days to gain a little traction. Post, comment, or repost material from others at least 1x/week to show you're alive! That's a pretty broad range of how much to be on LinkedIn, so you have plenty of room to keep it flexible. 

Resources for LinkedIn
You're welcome to review a couple of prior blog posts here for additional information.

• LinkedIn Tips & Tricks adds a bit more detail and specifics for your reference.
• LinkedIn for Nonprofits goes into a bit more depth for that market. 
• LinkedIn itself has a robust library and resources available on the website. 
• YouTube has a number of videos on using LinkedIn. 
• There are a number of books and great teachers on LinkedIn. I'd be happy to share some of my favorite expert recommendations!

LinkedIn is Ready for You!
It's a phenomenal tool to find your ideal client and job. It's an ideal place to showcase yourself! It's also a different personality and interaction than you'll find on any other social platform. The professionalism is generally a notch above all other socials. 

LinkedIn is a fantastic way to ENGAGE your audience! If you'd like a hand on the platform or to simply chat about your ideas, Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn! 

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