LinkedIn

Intro

LinkedIn is a unique social networking tool that connects people professionally and also connects people to companies and businesses

A socially savvy company has a vested interest in how its’ employees are presented on LinkedIn, as employees and employers will be closely tied together

Objective

This presentation will highlight tips for optimizing personal profiles to complement and link to company profiles

Synergy

A company that spends the time and energy on its LinkedIn company profile can benefit from employees having strong personal profiles

Company Profile

Employee profi les link to the company profi le and the company profi le links back to the employees

Link Profiles

To properly link a personal profile to a company:

- Select Profile- Edit Profile- Select Edit beside the position and company you

wish to link- Select Change Company- Retype the name as it is listed on the company

profile- A drop down list of company profiles will appear,

select the correct one

Link Profiles

If you want to customize how the company name appears on your profile when editing you can select Edit Display Name and modify how the company name reads on your profile

This is useful if you want to highlight the specific division or unit you work in under the parent company but still link to the parent company profile

Link Profiles

You will know if the profiles have been linked if the page icon shows up beside the company name on your personal profile

Linked

Not Linked

Basic Info

Names

Use the name you use in business

If you want to show a proper name and nickname you can use quotes around your nickname Suzanne “Suzie” Jones

Headline

This is pre-set to your title and company but you can customize your headline to be more descriptive and impactful

Instead of “Manager at Acme Inc” use this to highlight your strengths, passions, ambitions, goals or accomplishments

Look at your headline and entire profile with SEO goggles, keywords count!

Summary Professional Experience & Goals

This should be a few lines long and be an overview of where you are in your career. If you have a particular focus, interest or goal in your career you can mention it here.

This is a great place to highlight key attributes and qualities you bring to your field, unique perspectives and your passions.

Don’t forget to integrate industry keywords!

SummarySpecialties

Specialties

This is a list of skills you feel you specialize in; a great place to list programs and experiences you might not list elsewhere

List expertise in programs and applications, processes and methods, clients and verticals, products and services…

Web Links

You can list up to three labeled links to your profile that link to your company, blog, portfolio or any relevant website

To add labeled links: - Select Profile- Select Edit Profile- Select Edit beside Additional Information- Beside Websites select Other from the drop down box- In the next field type in the custom label you want to display for the link- In the next field enter the proper URL- Add up to 3 URLs to your profile- Select Save Changes

Web Links

If you work on a particular product, service or department and your company website has a page dedicated to that you can include a deep link and provide a custom label like ‘Customer Service at Acme Co (My Dept)’

If you want to include more links in your profile you can include URLs in your experience or summary sections

Visibility

You can customize what parts of your profile people can see before they are connected to you, the more visible you are the more likely you will be found in relevant searches

To manage your privacy and visibility settings:- Select the drop down button beside your name in the top right of your profile page- Select Settings- Select the Profile tab to display the privacy settings- Review and set the privacy settings for: activity broadcast, activity feed, viewed profile, connections and photo to as open and visible as you are comfortable

Visibility

You can further customize how your profile shows up in searches (including Google, Yahoo and Bing) by editing your Public Profile settings

To edit your Public Profile Settings:- Select Profile- Select Edit Profile- Go to Public Profile (is shows your personal URL) and select Edit- Along the right hand side bar you can select which portions of your profile you want to be visible outside of LinkedIn

Customize Your URL

Also in your Public Profile settings is the option to customize your personal URL

Select Customize your Public Profile URL and update it to something custom like your name, business, position or industry keywords

Photo

Your Profile Photo puts a face to the name and dramatically increases recognition and interaction

For LinkedIn the best practice is a clear and focused head shot, or at most, head and shoulders

Wear what you wear to work, showcase your professional image

Photos are 80px by 80px, keep that in mind when resizing and cropping – you don’t want the picture to be distorted when uploaded

Applications

Add Applications that enhance your profile, here are a few highlights:

BoxNet allows you to share files like marketing material, white papers or reports

SlideShare or Google Presentation allows you to integrate slide shows into your profile

Blog and Twitter plugins can help keep your profile active by feeding in content from other streams

Experience & Keywords

Not sure what to include in your experience, headline or summary? Look to your company website for keywords and industry phrases

When writing up your experience think less resume and more conversation, what is interesting about what you do? Unless you are trying to find a new job you should be writing as if you are trying to find a new client.

Write in the tone you do business in; it may be more formal or a little casual depending on your personality and role

Why?

Potential clients, vendors and partners can find your company in a manner of different ways and if they connect to your company via LinkedIn they can click through to any employees linking to the company.

It is worth it to encourage your team to put a little effort into their profiles, for their sake and the sake of the company.