Getting Started on LinkedIn – First Steps
Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at
11:53 am
Barry Simpson asked:
You have made the decision to join this fast moving, growing professional networking group and we are going to cover the basic steps you need to complete to get a profile up and running. At this early stage we are going to prime your profile for success, recognizing that we need to swiftly build on this to get true traction.
Preparation – Before you begin creating a LinkedIn profile you need to have:
A Professional Headline. This is the first thing that anyone will read after your name and it is important that it sends the right message. It is part of your brand. A digital picture, head and shoulders and not inappropriate for a business networking site. You can leave this item till later if you wish. Sample job descriptions of target positions. Find 2 or 3 job descriptions and list out the requirements. Now let’s get started. Beginning on the LinkedIn home page we have the choice of signing up or logging in, we are going to sign up.
Sign up – A few pieces of information get you in the door. As you complete the initial sign on you will be taken to the next page that asks for some basic information about your current employment status. The subsequent page offers you the opportunity of checking your existing email accounts to see if you know anyone on LinkedIn.
Email confirmation – The next step is check your email for the confirmation email from LinkedIn and the embedded link will take you back to the application where you will be asked to confirm your email and provide the password you initially created.
Connections – Using your employment information LinkedIn will now display other members in the system that you may know and provide you with the opportunity to connect with them. The next screen allows you to enter email addresses of others that you may wish to connect with.
Plan – The final screen in the sign up wizard offers you two planes, the basic is free.
The sign up process is finished and we will move on to creating the basic profile. Select the “Profile” option at the top of the page and then see your starting point. Here are a couple of points to be aware of as you create the profile, on the right hand side there is a box that shows you what you need to do to build a complete profile, why should you do that? LinkedIn states “Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.”
Adding Positions – Start by adding a past position, as you enter the company name LinkedIn will display similar company names currently listed in the system. If yours is not there you have the opportunity to add it to the database. Title is self explanatory but remember LinkedIn does not know that VP Sales and Vice President Sales are the same thing. Enter only the years when you worked there and then move on. We will come back to enter more detailed information later on. The first two past positions are worth 15% points each.
Adding Education – Adding a school is worth 15% and a limited amount of information may be added at this stage in order to get the base profile built.
Add a picture – If you have the digital picture available load it up, it adds 5% to your percent complete. You also have the choice as to who will see your photo either My Connections, My Network or Everyone.
Summary – Use this space to initially provide a short bio of yourself and the strengths you bring to the table. In both this and the following “Specialties” section use the job descriptions we talked about earlier to build the basics.
Specialties – Add a list of your specialties and skills; again use the job descriptions to identify the key requirements.
Websites – If you maintain your own websites and wish to display them then at a minimum make sure that the name displayed on your profile is the real name or description of the site.
Twitter – If you are a user of twitter then feel free to add your account to your profile, it allows you to, Display Twitter on your LinkedIn profile, Share Twitter messages with your LinkedIn contacts or groups and Share LinkedIn jobs, news, and more on Twitter.
You now have created your basic LinkedIn profile. Below are some next steps to consider as you want to build out your content.
Recommendations – You need three (3) to get a 100% complete profile. Applications – Consider how you could use applications to improve your visibility or deliver content to prospective clients or employers. Emails – Add other email addresses that you may use. Public Profile URL – Modify it to remove the numbers at the end and get as close to your real name as possible. This gets indexed by search engines and it can also be used on your business cards, email signature, etc. Contacts – At the foot of your home page LinkedIn lists the number of new members from organizations you have worked at to make it easy for you to connect. You can also import addresses from Web mail, Outlook, etc. Extra Tips
LinkedIn is not smart at detecting the difference between VP Sales and Vice President Sales. In the same way if you are looking for an organization that normally would be spelt ABC Inc. you may find that people have just registered themselves as working for ABC, this is particularly prevalent in well know organizations. People don’t always remember how last names are spelt so it is recommended that if you have a name that can easily be have misspellings then add the options to your summary section. This is also a great place to add maiden names. Look at your Public Profile and see how people see you. Add/Change/Delete as appropriate to make it look good, it is a sales document. Good Hunting
Barry
(All Trademarks and Copyright remain the property of their owners)
WordPress Bloggings – Learning All There is about WordPress – Members-Only Content for WordPress
You have made the decision to join this fast moving, growing professional networking group and we are going to cover the basic steps you need to complete to get a profile up and running. At this early stage we are going to prime your profile for success, recognizing that we need to swiftly build on this to get true traction.
Preparation – Before you begin creating a LinkedIn profile you need to have:
A Professional Headline. This is the first thing that anyone will read after your name and it is important that it sends the right message. It is part of your brand. A digital picture, head and shoulders and not inappropriate for a business networking site. You can leave this item till later if you wish. Sample job descriptions of target positions. Find 2 or 3 job descriptions and list out the requirements. Now let’s get started. Beginning on the LinkedIn home page we have the choice of signing up or logging in, we are going to sign up.
Sign up – A few pieces of information get you in the door. As you complete the initial sign on you will be taken to the next page that asks for some basic information about your current employment status. The subsequent page offers you the opportunity of checking your existing email accounts to see if you know anyone on LinkedIn.
Email confirmation – The next step is check your email for the confirmation email from LinkedIn and the embedded link will take you back to the application where you will be asked to confirm your email and provide the password you initially created.
Connections – Using your employment information LinkedIn will now display other members in the system that you may know and provide you with the opportunity to connect with them. The next screen allows you to enter email addresses of others that you may wish to connect with.
Plan – The final screen in the sign up wizard offers you two planes, the basic is free.
The sign up process is finished and we will move on to creating the basic profile. Select the “Profile” option at the top of the page and then see your starting point. Here are a couple of points to be aware of as you create the profile, on the right hand side there is a box that shows you what you need to do to build a complete profile, why should you do that? LinkedIn states “Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.”
Adding Positions – Start by adding a past position, as you enter the company name LinkedIn will display similar company names currently listed in the system. If yours is not there you have the opportunity to add it to the database. Title is self explanatory but remember LinkedIn does not know that VP Sales and Vice President Sales are the same thing. Enter only the years when you worked there and then move on. We will come back to enter more detailed information later on. The first two past positions are worth 15% points each.
Adding Education – Adding a school is worth 15% and a limited amount of information may be added at this stage in order to get the base profile built.
Add a picture – If you have the digital picture available load it up, it adds 5% to your percent complete. You also have the choice as to who will see your photo either My Connections, My Network or Everyone.
Summary – Use this space to initially provide a short bio of yourself and the strengths you bring to the table. In both this and the following “Specialties” section use the job descriptions we talked about earlier to build the basics.
Specialties – Add a list of your specialties and skills; again use the job descriptions to identify the key requirements.
Websites – If you maintain your own websites and wish to display them then at a minimum make sure that the name displayed on your profile is the real name or description of the site.
Twitter – If you are a user of twitter then feel free to add your account to your profile, it allows you to, Display Twitter on your LinkedIn profile, Share Twitter messages with your LinkedIn contacts or groups and Share LinkedIn jobs, news, and more on Twitter.
You now have created your basic LinkedIn profile. Below are some next steps to consider as you want to build out your content.
Recommendations – You need three (3) to get a 100% complete profile. Applications – Consider how you could use applications to improve your visibility or deliver content to prospective clients or employers. Emails – Add other email addresses that you may use. Public Profile URL – Modify it to remove the numbers at the end and get as close to your real name as possible. This gets indexed by search engines and it can also be used on your business cards, email signature, etc. Contacts – At the foot of your home page LinkedIn lists the number of new members from organizations you have worked at to make it easy for you to connect. You can also import addresses from Web mail, Outlook, etc. Extra Tips
LinkedIn is not smart at detecting the difference between VP Sales and Vice President Sales. In the same way if you are looking for an organization that normally would be spelt ABC Inc. you may find that people have just registered themselves as working for ABC, this is particularly prevalent in well know organizations. People don’t always remember how last names are spelt so it is recommended that if you have a name that can easily be have misspellings then add the options to your summary section. This is also a great place to add maiden names. Look at your Public Profile and see how people see you. Add/Change/Delete as appropriate to make it look good, it is a sales document. Good Hunting
Barry
(All Trademarks and Copyright remain the property of their owners)
WordPress Bloggings – Learning All There is about WordPress – Members-Only Content for WordPress
Tagged with: Barry Simpson • Business Networking • Confirmation • Email Accounts • Email Addresses • Embedded • Employment Information • Employment Status • First Steps • Head And Shoulders • Initial Sign • Linkedin • Professional Networking Group • Profile • Sample Job Descriptions • Target Positions • Two Planes • Wizard
Filed under: Linkedin
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