Niccolinas 'Nic's Blog

If you have yet to use LinkedIn, or never even heard if it. You are certainly missing out on a great networking tool that can help promote your skills as well as your business.

In this post I'm going to share with you; What is LinkedIn, How to use it and all the Do's and Dont's.

What is it?
LinkedIn is a database of over 50 million professionals. Twitter, while we love the instant communication, lacks in the area of space to offer more information about yourself. Facebook is demo-graphically all over the place and its hard to find people. LinkedIn is better formatted and designed, and you can add way more information about yourself as well as search for those in your industry without getting a list of mixed results you don't need.

Why Join LinkedIn?

Here are my top three reasons for joining, and why you should too.

1) Reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, and building up your network. The more members that connect with you, the more others will find you.

2) Share your experience and advice. There are thousands of groups you can choose from, or if you like, create your own. There is also a feature where members can ask questions as well as answer them. This allows for you to participate on the site and allow others to learn and connect with you.

3) You can set-up your profile for better search engine optimization which I don't have to tell you is key to being found by more members searching for individuals within your line of expertise. When adding your links such as your business profile, there are several choices to name those links (My Website, My Blog,etc.) Instead, click on other so that you may add your own keyword enhanced title for that link so rather than use the given choices, you can use a customized anchor like "Auto Parts Store" for your business link.

There are some Do's and Dont's that you'll need to keep in mind as a member of LinkedIn.

Do's

1. Tell all your friends and family about the site to get instant connections and start buidling a larger network.
2. Use your updates regularly (even 3 times a week is better than once every month or so)
3. Be thoughtful on your posts, and keep in mind that this is a professional setting.
4. Keep your profile updated
5. Use some of the add-ons that are built into the site such as linking your blog posts and Twitter account

Don'ts

1. Do not send hard sales copy to your connections, or anyone else. This is a professional site and you should respect every one's space. Repeated attempts to try and push your products or services on others will only get you banned.

2. Do not spam members in any way. If you want to try and connect with someone you do not know, see first if they have any mutual friends or on another site. Then ask them to join you on LinkedIn

3. Do not share personal information on posts; Such as "I'll be out of town for...". You never know who's reading.

LinkedIN terms to familiarize yourself with:

1. Network: Everyone you are connected to, be it friends; family; colleagues; as well as the groups you have joined is a part of your Network.
2. Connection: Think of your followers on Twitter. These individuals that you are connected to are considered connections. All of your connections can view your profile information, and vice verse.
3. Recommendations: Those you have worked with or for can provide you with recommendations about your performance and their experience within your LinkedIN profile. The more recommendations you get the more others will want to work with you.
4. Invite/Invitation: This allows you to send emails to people you'd like to invite to join you on the site and connect.
5. Groups: Groups are created by those for a common purpose. There are thousands to choose from and in every category. It's best to join ones that fit your networking goals.

So now you know all about LinkedIn.

--------------------------------

About  the Author:
Nic Soto, founder of Public Relations Depot, is an innovative small business marketer using public relations and online seo marketing to help her clients stand out from a sea of competition. Learn more at Public Relations Depot caters to new and small businesses who are seeking more budget friendly alternatives to increasing their visibility, harnessing free publicity and improving search engine rankings. Ask how she can help you market more effectively online.Follow me on twitter or see my profile at E.Factor to learn more