Are you a LinkedIn user or are you one of those thousands of people who may have signed up for a LinkedIn account but never filled out a complete profile and are really not sure why you are on this business networking social media site or what you can get out of it? You are not alone.
There are over 80 million people registered as users on LinkedIn but most don’t really know how to use LinkedIn to generate revenue for their business or to create expert status for themselves. The majority of people who use LinkedIn on a regular basis may not be aware that there have been some recent changes to the way LinkedIn works. This article is about those changes and hopefully will help you to decide whether to upgrade your account to a paid premium account or how to take advantage of the changes.
One of the reasons I like LinkedIn as a social network is that it is less cluttered than many of the other social networks and is the ideal place to network for business purposes without all of your personal information being made public. Facebook is a great social network and one that I use quite often but it is not the place I go to when I want to create a new relationship with a strategic alliance. It is usually the place I go when I want to see what my daughters who are both in college are doing. It is great for posting videos and articles and events but when you are looking to connect with people in a truly professional online environment, LinkedIn ranks high above the rest in my opinion.
Unlike other social networks, LinkedIn does not get the same amount of attention in the media that other social networks do. Because of that, the recent changes to LinkedIn are often ones that people who are on LinkedIn are not aware of.
One of the recent changes to LinkedIn is the Advanced People Search function which used to be free but is now part of the premium paid subscription to LinkedIn. It is an excellent tool for business owners to develop business partnerships and relationships. My approach with business owners is to help them identify all of the complementary businesses that their customers and clients can benefit from. For example, if you are in the business of supplemental insurance, then it makes sense to partner with payroll companies who are calling on the same client but not selling the same service. Remember that any professional that your ideal clients and customers are likely to come in contact with can become a meaningful "center of influence" within your own business. Conversely, you can become a valued center of influence in their business.
Once a business owner has identified who the professionals are that they want to connect with, I encourage them to use the Advanced People Search function of LinkedIn to find those individuals in the community and contact them.
Due to the recent changes to the Advanced People Search function on LinkedIn, you are no longer able to search through the Groups you are a member of unless you have a Premium Account. You can still only be a member of 50 groups at one time. For this reason, it is important to make your choice of groups wisely.
Another change to LinkedIn has to do with the way that the Group searches are filtered. I have always believed that joining, starting or participating in groups on LinkedIn is a great way to make connections and get your name known. In addition, the advantage of a group search is that you can usually send messages to people that you share a group with for free. This is a huge advantage if a potential connection is not within your first degree network and is not a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker). It is important to know that without a shared group you are restricted to sending an InMail - which costs $10.00 per message (unless you setup a premium account which costs between $24.95 and $499.95 per month). For most people, setting up at premium account at $24.95 per month will pay for itself.
Prior to the new changes, searching using the Group filter enabled you to work around the 100 search result limit imposed on the free account. All you needed to do was set your search criteria and then add a group filter which helped to create search results that included fewer than 100 individuals.
With the recent new changes at LinkedIn, you now have to sift through all of the search results that are available and hope to find someone who shares a group with you. Or, you can choose to upgrade and invest in a premium account. All in all, it is still worthwhile if you are looking to make a connection that can lead to a strong referral relationship.
Recently, LinkedIn announced a new feature which will help give you more control over how you present your profile. This is something that has been needed for some time and is now available. You can now reorder the sections of your profile. The advantage to this is that instead of using the template format that LinkedIn provides, you can arrange the parts of your profile such as your experience, recommendations and summary in the order that you want people to see them. This is important because it allows you to highlight the portions of your profile that separate you from others that do what you do and control how your profile is presented. You choose where to put your recommendations and if you put yourself in the position of the person reading your profile, you will know what you want that person to focus on. The ability to do this can set you miles apart from your competition.
The final question you may be asking yourself is what does a paid account with LinkedIn include and what are the advantages to upgrading your account?
- Send messages directly, without waiting for an introduction from one of your contacts (called "InMails"), which the site says get a 30 percent response rate;
- Access the Profile Organizer that allows you to track important profiles in a dedicated workspace, organize profiles into folders and add details to contacts such as notes and contact information;
- View more profiles when you perform an advanced search (free accounts limit you to 100 search results); and
- Access more specifics on who's viewed your profile.
For most entrepreneurs and small business owners, the free account or the $24.95 business account is all that is needed. The secret is taking the time to get your profile perfected, joining and participating in the right groups, answering questions and keeping your information current. Spend about fifteen minutes a day on LinkedIn, keep up with the changes that are happening on this business social media site and reach out to others as a resource and your network will grow. Treat LinkedIn as a serious networking tool and you will reap the rewards as you watch your relationships reward you with new referrals and new business.
Rhonda L Sher: The Sloganator Rhonda L Sher was born talking. She fell in love with words as a child and has never stopped communicating since. Her father once commented that she was vaccinated with a phonograph needle. Not only has Rhonda inherited her father's humor, but it's that quick wit that has become the signature that has helped propel her clients to stardom.Acclaimed Keynote and workshop leader, Rhonda has authored two books, "The 2 Minute Networker" and "The ABC's of LinkedIn," "Get LinkedIn or Get Left Out" as well as numerous action guides, articles, workbooks, jingles and corporate slogans.
In addition to writing, Rhonda uses her gift of gab as a featured keynote speaker, consultant and corporate trainer throughout North America. She has successfully taught hundreds of business men and women on the art of business networking and written hundreds of elevator pitches and slogans.Rhonda's greatest talent lies in her ability to create fabulously catchy slogans that are memorable, upbeat, easy to repeat and create instant brand identification. In addition to the books, audio and video, Rhonda creates slogans and taglines for her clients which are memorable, bring them business and make them, money. She works with you to create a corporate slogan for your business that sets you apart from your competition. Her creativity and energy will tap into your customer's mind and have your phone ringing off the hook with new business.
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