Linkedin for professional development

LinkedIn Professional Development

Presenter

Presentation Created By: Wes Jordan, Online Media Specialist wesj18@gmail.com

LinkedIn Workshops Wiki

http://socialmediajobsearch.wikispaces.com Webinar recordings Presentation slides Other useful resources

Areas of Focus

Professional Development Brief overview of creating a profile

(covered in the last session) Establishing connections with who you already know Making new connections with industry professionals Discovering Job opportunities Business promotion Lead generation Competitive intelligence Determining ROI

Why LinkedIn?

LinkedIn has 147 million professional users worldwide (63 million in the U.S.)

LinkedIn is for networking professionally, post and find jobs, and answer questions and build thought leadership

LinkedIn is a great way to identify influential individuals at specific organizations

LinkedIn is a great tool to leverage your existing contacts to connect with potential customers online

Is LinkedIn Right for Me?

Consultants Connect with prospective clients and to make them aware of their experience

and services. B2B Marketers

announce new product launches or service offerings. Sales people

Research on prospects before contacting them. Job hunters

Expand their circle of business contacts and to stay in front of prospective employers.

Entrepreneurs Build awareness of their new company and to keep their sales funnel full

 Small businesses Stay in front of customers and to reach out to new prospects

 Large businesses Position their company in the marketplace and to let customers know about

new product or service offerings

Complete Your Profile (Overview) Complete your profile

Your profile should be 100% complete Work experience, schools, and other relevant information

about yourself People searching for contacts will make a decision to connect

or not based on profile information A complete profile will increase your visibility with employers,

recruiters, and prospects Upload a profile photo

People are more likely to connect with a person who has a picture

Get recommended Ask friends, colleagues, partners, and clients Adds to credibility in your industry

Optimize Your Profile for Searches

Customize your public profile URL with your name http://www.linkedin.com/in/yourname

Optimize keywords in your summary section This section is indexed by Google Include keywords related to your industry You rank higher in search results for these

keyword searches

Making Connections: 1st vs. 2nd Degree Connections

1st degree connections People you're directly connected to You have accepted their invitation

to connect They have accepted your invitation You'll see a 1st degree icon next to their name in search

results and on their profile You can contact them by sending a message on LinkedIn 

2nd degree connections People who are connected to your 1st-degree connections You'll see a 2nd degree icon next to their name in search

results and on their profile You can contact them through an InMail (paid feature) or

an introduction (free)

Making Connections

Your 2nd degree network is key This is what allows you to connect with

valuable people Build your 1st degree network first

This is the foundation of meeting new contacts

Making Connections (1st degree)

Upload your contact list from outlook, Hotmail, gmail or yahoo Do this under the “Add connections” tab Allows you to select those you want to

connect with Consider writing a semi-personalized

connection request message Search for past colleagues or classmates

1.

2.

Finding Existing Connections

Making Connections (1st degree)

Find people by company Search under the “Companies” tab Look for employees working in your

industry that you already know or have met Look for people you’ve done business with

1.

2.

3.

Company Search for finding people you know and new industry professionals

Making Connections (2nd degree)

Start asking and answering questions on LinkedIn Answers Allows you to interact and connect with thought

leaders Allow you to establish yourself as a thought

leader in your industry Update your status often

Your update appears in emails to your connections

Appears on update feed of you connections Allows promotion of what you’re working on

Making Connections (2nd degree)

Browse the networks of your 1st degree contacts Do this by visiting their profile and looking

at their connections Ask your 1st degree connection if he or she

can make an introduction

Making Connections (2nd degree)

Join groups that relate to your market Interact with individuals of those groups to

increase your visibility Use the “groups” tab on top of your profile

to search for relevant groups Allows you to connect with people just

because you’re in the same group Does not apply to every connection

Making Connections (2nd degree)

Use “advanced people search” Save your people searches

Create an email alert & LinkedIn will send you a message every week with new prospects.

Use “company search” as detailed above

Searching for Jobs

Option 1: Groups The Jobs tab in groups gives members a

place to share jobs and jobs discussions Option 2: Company Research Option 3: Linkedin Job Search Tab This is covered in more detail by the

previous workshop. You can access this presentation at:http://socialmediajobsearch.wikispaces.com/Linkedin

Business Promotion

If your organization does not have a business page, create one first

Create a group A great opportunity to reach and engage

potential customers online If no one has created a group for your

industry or brand, go create one

Starting a LinkedIn Group

Name is important Consider which keywords your target members will search for. Make sure your group name is clear and includes these

keywords Create a group for your industry or brand, not your

company People are more likely to join a group when it's not simply for

fans of your company Create a custom webpage for the group on your

website Set up a page on our website specifically for the group

Example: www.HubSpot.com/InboundMarketers This type of page will provide more context, engagement and

visibility for your group

Promoting a LinkedIn Group

Invite coworkers, past colleagues, and customers to join and start discussions 

Promote the group On your website Blog Email newsletter Social media networks.

Invite key industry experts to join and engage If there are some key influencers in your industry, invite

them to join your community Integrate LinkedIn into all of your marketing efforts

Every time you go to a conference, notify your group Invite those you meet in real life to join the group

Managing a LinkedIn Group

 Add discussions, news and jobs  Use “Most Popular Discussions” to

highlight particular content or offers Send announcements

Announcements are emails sent by you through LinkedIn to your group members 

LinkedIn Group Analytics

Lead Generation Using LinkedIn

2 approaches when using LinkedIn for lead generation

1. Provide prospects information about your company directly on LinkedIn

2. Start the conversation on LinkedIn, then drive the prospect to a landing page on your website

Lead Generation Using LinkedIn

Use Your LinkedIn Group Demonstrate thought leadership in your market Promote the group and grow the community Contact members of your group

Use other group memberships to connect with and contact those members

Use LinkedIn's DirectAds Allows you to present relevant ads to LinkedIn

subscribers Targeted by profile demographic information Similar to Google AdWords

Competitive Intelligence

Follow a company You will be notified of updates & announcements

Watch their senior executives/management Have they been promoted or are they leaving for

another company?  Career Opportunities

Have they opened new positions to expand their business?

Could your indirect competitor becoming more of a direct competitor?

Are they opening more positions in a particular geography?

Hiring is a great leading indicator of potential long-term moves

New hires What experience are they bringing to the company?

Determining ROI

Measure your reach on LinkedIn (your contact database) Look at increases in new contacts Look at increase in your employees contacts

Monitor your groups Look at increases in membership Are people discussing topics and responding on their own?

Track your industry influence Are you giving/receiving recommendations? How many questions have you answered?

Were any of them voted “best answer”? Measure traffic to your website from LinkedIn

Determining ROI

How many leads have you interacted with on LinkedIn?

How many LinkedIn leads & interactions have led to closed deals?

Useful Apps

Cardmunch Free iphone app that turns business cards

into contacts Scan the card with your iphone camera No droid version (yet)

LinkedIn iPhone app Walk into any interview or client meeting with the ability

to look up the details and connect with over 50 million professionals worldwide, in real-time.

Exchange info with other users on the spot Slideshare

Post your PowerPoint presentations to share with everyone Integrates into your Linkedin profile page

Credits

Credits Hubspot.com Clearci.com Linkedin.com