[PODCAST] You Need To Get Linked In!

LinkedIn is one of the major pillars of the social media world and has over 575 million users worldwide. Lately, it's been in the hot seat for its seeming transformation into a social network instead of a professional network. In this episode of The Digital Slice, I review the reasons you need to get LinkedIn.

After Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 there was some chatter about LinkedIn going away. But, that's just not happening. LinkedIn remains one of the strongest professional networking platforms on the planet. It seems like with more than 575 million members LinkedIn is here to stay. If you are looking to build your professional and network with the goal of generating more revenue LinkedIn is where you need to be.

An Adaptive Change In Interface

One argument which makes some people believe that Linkedin’s doomsday is looming is the change in how it looks. Specifically, how LinkedIn is trying to look like a social network with its newsfeed looking much like that of Facebook’s these days. Now, does that mean that LinkedIn is leaving behind its role as the world’s largest professional network? Definitely not. LinkedIn remains a professional network despite this apparent change in its interface. In actuality, it is not trying to be a social network, but it is doing everything it can for its users to have a productive experience on the platform.

A LinkedIn member is also almost always a Facebook user, therefore, making the LinkedIn newsfeed look like a familiar social network makes it easier to navigate. The best thing about it is that LinkedIn is still the professional network where business owners and job seekers engage. And so, through LinkedIn, you can establish trust and credibility for your potential clients or would-be employees or employers.

New Native Videos On LinkedIn

Another indicator that LinkedIn continues to thrive is its recent move to incorporate the power of videos on the platform. Now users can create and post native videos on LinkedIn to take advantage of the potential of video content. How can LinkedIn be dying when it's preparing itself for the future by adapting to the strongest technologies? LinkedIn recognizes the importance of video, especially in the professional and business aspect, and has created its own technology that will allow users to create and post videos on the platform.

This still does not make LinkedIn a social network like Facebook because even the videos are mostly professional. LinkedIn knows how to keep up with the times and change for the better, wherever and whenever a change is required. It may be trying to jump on the bandwagon, but it surely is blazing trails to maintain its business networking reputation and encourage more users to join in. LinkedIn definitely is still the platform that people go to for building networks, generating business, or finding a job.

A Quick Revisit

Remember, LinkedIn has been around a long time. In 2002, Reid Hoffman gathered his old colleagues at SocialNet, a dating service he founded in 1997, together with his Paypal colleagues, to form the team that would go on to create LinkedIn. Six months later, LinkedIn came to life in Reid’s very own living room and launched in the spring of 2003.

By fall, it attracted a huge investment from Sequoia Capital, who saw it was going to take off and be a big name in the professional networking niche. And the rest, as they say, is history. To this day, LinkedIn has lived up to the company’s mission and vision. Its mission is “to connect the world’s professionals; to make them more productive and successful.” And its vision: “to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.” LinkedIn is more than just a social network; it's a platform that is specifically dedicated to the world’s workforce: companies, business owners, professionals, job seekers, and headhunters, where they can meet and engage at a common venue to achieve individual and company goals.

Needless to say, you have to be part of LinkedIn if you want to take advantage of the various opportunities it offers. Go ahead and build your network, create and post high-quality content, and ultimately earn more income and generate more revenue.

Building A Strong LinkedIn Profile

Now that you realize how much of an advantage LinkedIn can be for you, it's time to get into the nitty-gritty of how to build a profile that will open more doors. Your profile is going to be the foundation of your strong presence on the world’s biggest professional networking site. Typically, your personal profile is connected to a company page that you are working for or a company that you have found. And then that company page is also connected to your LinkedIn profile. What it does is to give seekers a professional information of your connections relative to your job or company. In this way, those who are looking can find you either via the company page or your personal profile.

Remember, there are hundreds of millions of other people who are also active users of LinkedIn, so optimize your profile in order to have a strong presence and make it easier and faster for people to find you. You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Additionally, when people search for information about you, they are bound to use Google. When they do, expect your LinkedIn profile to appear at the top 3 to 5 search results. If they want to connect with you for professional purposes, your LinkedIn profile can help them decide whether or not to do business with you.

The Images

Whether it's a profile picture or background image, you must post a head shot. Use a recent, professional-looking headshot. Make sure your clothes are portray the image you want people to have of you. The overall goal of your look, including your facial expression, is to build trust and credibility. It's better to have a photo than leave one out because that will definitely affect your credibility.

As for your background image, make sure that it is the right size, so it doesn’t get distorted when uploaded. The official size for the background image is 1584×396 pixels. The photo itself should reflect you and be attention-grabbing but not too distracting.

The Rest Of Your Profile

The rest of your LinkedIn profile is very important. Fortunately, LinkedIn, unlike other social media platforms, has provided ample space for your name, headline, summary, and work experience. Your headline can be 120 characters, Summary 2,000 characters, and Work Experience can also be 2,000 characters. These extra characters provide you with an opportunity to tell the world who you are, what you have done in the past, and what you are currently into. You can attach presentations and videos that will highlight your very best or your thought leadership. But when it comes to words, you have to be able to choose them wisely. In this case, doing keyword research to find out which keywords are often used to search for people like you is the key to making it effective. Once you know what these keywords are, you can then use them generously throughout your profile including the heading, summary, and work experience and make it easier for people to find you.

Be sure to listen to this episode of The Digital Slice Podcast to get the scoop on LinkedIn! And, if you like it, leave a rating and a review!

Please note: The Friedman Group is an inbound marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado, and we work with professionals and business owners across the U.S. Our digital marketing services include: inbound marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and digital marketing strategy and implementation.