Profile Tips

Choose an Appropriate Profile

Photo•Keep it professional, this isn’t Facebook or Twitter

•Companies have their own place on LinkedIn, so your logo isn’t your photo

•You have no other control over LinkedIn from an art & design perspective...

Brand Your Headline

•Appears in search results, next to your name in groups

•Most visible thing next to your name

Be Careful With Your Status

Updates•LinkedIn isn’t Twitter but it easily lets you import your Twitter feed.

•What you Tweet probably isn’t always appropriate for your professional contacts.

•Status should reflect “What are you working on” or “What knowledge can you share”

•Not imperative to update as frequently

Be Careful With Your Status

Updates•Status should reflect “What are

you working on” or “What knowledge can you share”

•Not imperative to update as frequently as Twitter.

•People, for the most part, don’t hang out on LinkedIn

How Do You Connect?

•Selectively!

•Use a multi-network client like HootSuite, TweetDeck or Seesmic

•Utilize the #in hashtag

Make Your History Deep

•LinkedIn isn’t a resume so it isn’t limited by resume rules on relevance

•The deeper work and education history you list, the more school and workplace social circles you connect with

Cultivate Recommendations•A complete profile is still a singular

activity, recommendations are powerful social ties.

•One without the other is far less effective.

•LinkedIn is a common platform for references, something we’ve never really had before. (Adam thinks this is profoundly cool)

Cultivate Recommendations•A complete profile is still a singular

activity, recommendations are powerful social ties.

•One without the other is far less effective.

•The true social power of LinkedIn is HERE.

Cultivate Recommendations

•LinkedIn is a common platform for references, something we’ve never really had that before. It’s an offline part of life improved upon! (Adam thinks this is profoundly cool)

SERIOUSLY

•Turn your real world encounters into fodder for recommendations. It’s an easy and effective form of payment for otherwise unpaid work.

•There’s less hierarchy involved than a traditional “letter of recommendation” you’d get from an employer. Ask colleagues.

Too Few or Too Many...

•Connections are tricky. You want to show that you’re connected so having too few connections may be a detriment.

•On the other hand, having hundreds and hundreds of connections looks a bit suspicious unless your job history lends credibility to it.

Too Few or Too Many...

•Rule of thumb? Reflect your real life, don’t game the system and fish for connections.

•Invites from people you don’t know IS socially awkward on LinkedIn. Don’t be that guy.

List Your Websites

•LinkedIn is a great hub to showcase the rest of your online presence, link up your blog, your company site, or your personal site.

•The public facing profile page is great for SEO.

Claim Your Personal URL

•Google ranks personal LinkedIn profiles highly for name searches

•Claim your profile using your real name (however it’s available), not an alias or something clever

Make Your Summary is Rich

With Words•Your personal summary is the best place for you to list the highlights of your work experience as well as your current projects.

•It’s potentially the most read part of your profile so use it to introduce those search words you want to be found under.

Make Your Summary is Rich

With Words•For example: Adam @ JMR

Job description’s where I was, profile summary’s where I’m going...

Make Your Job Descriptions Meaningful

•Even if your jobs didn’t have formal titles, give them one. Use every chance you have to summarize and clarify your history to viewers

Make Your Job Descriptions Meaningful

•Even if your jobs didn’t have formal titles, give them one. Use every chance you have to summarize and clarify your history to viewers

Keep The Apps Under Control

•LinkedIn is somewhat conservative by nature, don’t make it into MySpace. Adding apps or “plug ins” sparingly.

•Only add an app when it serves a higher purpose for self-branding.