LinkedIn

Since I wrote this article for the Sunday Business Post supplement and it’s currently not available online I thought I might as well republish the unedited version. (The edited version might make more sense!)

Here it is…

Every time you open a newspaper of magazine these days there seems to be articles encouraging you to use various “social networking” websites to improve your business and your life. Personally I think a lot of it is hype, but I still think most of them can be useful tools.

One of the first “social networking” sites I joined was LinkedIn. LinkedIn has been around for several years, but I’ve noticed a lot more interest being shown in it in over the last year.
So what is it?
In many respects LinkedIn is “the” business networking site.
While Bebo may be aimed at a younger crowd, Linkedin is designed for working professionals.

So why should you use Linkedin?

That depends on you, but whether you are happily employed, running your own business or looking for that next challenge meeting new people with similar interests is always a good move.
Over the last couple of years I’ve used LinkedIn several times to arrange meetings with industry partners in advance of conferences. I’ve got back in touch with people I went to school with and even managed to track down people I worked with over 15 years ago. I’ve also been able to use Linkedin to build up a network of contacts that are happy to lend a hand when you ask them. (Just remember it is a two way street!) A lot of people I know on LinkedIn use it for getting recommendations, so being on there obviously increases your chances of being recommended!

Unlike Facebook, for example with its annoying vampires and ghouls, the site is focussed on building relationships between business contacts. It may not be as “exciting” and “interactive” as Facebook, but it maintains its focus.

A basic LinkedIn account doesn’t cost anything. If you choose to upgrade to one of the paid options you can get a lot more information about who has been viewing your profile and you also get access to more tools that allow you to contact other users directly. With the free option you can get basic information about who has been looking at your profile, while a paid membership gives you full details. If, like me, you aren’t using LinkedIn to actively find sales leads, then you probably don’t need the paid options.

So what kind of things can you put on there?

The key thing with LinkedIn is your profile. Everything else takes a back seat. If you want a lot of privacy then it probably isn’t the place for you! Sure, you don’t have to share sensitive information, but in order to use the site effectively you need to have a complete profile.

People do business with other people. While it is obvious that very big brands have their own attractions it’s also clear to me at least that I base a lot of decisions on the personality of my contact. I don’t need to like a sales person but if I do it certainly helps. And this personal aspect is central to the site.

You’re actively encouraged to maintain as complete a profile as possible and to keep your profile up to date. I’ve seen quite a few people use their LinkedIn profile as an alternative to a CV. Not only does it show all the usual skills and experience but it will also show what other people think of this person. So you get the CV and the references all in one place and putting a photo on your profile helps. You can easily link to your profile in your email signature or put one of the little buttons on your website or blog.

While member profiles on a lot of sites are distinctly lacking in clear information most LinkedIn profiles are comprehensive and clear. If someone asks to “connect” with me on LinkedIn I can easily find out who they are and decide if I want to interact with them. Your profile page is a lot more than just a business card. You can provide as much professional information as possible and also include information about your interests. The more detail you provide the more likely you are to be found by people either looking for you or looking for someone like you. You can also provide links to your external websites and RSS feed (eg. Your business or personal blog) while also sharing your personal interests.

So how can you use it?
If you are looking for a job you can browse current job openings. If you’re looking to make a sale then you need to be careful how you approach things. The gentle indirect approach is usually best. So you could, for example, join one of the many industry groups or invest some time in answering questions from other LinkedIn members on the site. In either case by building up a network of contacts and getting yourself “known” you increase your visibility and thus your chance of either getting hired or making that sale. If you are looking for a personal contact in a faceless corporation then you might be able to leverage your existing relationships. Think of it as being akin to the six  degrees of separation. If I don’t know someone directly chances are someone in my extended network might. A contact today might be a sales lead tomorrow. In my own experience it has helped when choosing providers for a whole range of services, such as mobile phones and even coffee!

You can also use the groups feature within LinkedIn to find people who share common interests and the group discussion boards are a great way to swap ideas and opinions on relevant topics. You can see which groups a person is in via the little badges that get displayed on their profile. The key thing each and every time is that you aren’t distracted with irrelevant rubbish, which can be major problem with a lot of other social networking sites.
There are a few applications you can choose to use which will do things like pull in blog posts from your contacts or friends’ Amazon reading lists, but they are totally unobtrusive.

Giving and receiving recommendations is one of the more powerful tools. I am always happy to recommend people and services that I’ve had a good personal experience with. Doing this via LinkedIn makes it public and also helps other people to gauge how “valued” you and your contacts are. If I make a recommnedation for a product or a service then I have to feel confident that it will deliver, because if it doesn’t it will reflect badly on me. So, I won’t leave a recommendation on someone’s profile unless I’ve had direct experience of them or their services. Most people on LinkedIn won’t either.

Personally I find the service to be very useful and depending on how you use it you may find it incredibly helpful too. Since it won’t cost you anything other than a bit of time to setup a profile there’s nothing to lose.