Getting the Most Out of Your LinkedIn Profile

Are you a LinkedIn user?  If not, now is the time to officially join the world’s largest professional social network.  Last week LinkedIn revealed yet another new feature that will help you stand apart from your networking competition. Simply called, Endorsements, this new feature allows users to endorse the skills of the people in their LinkedIn network. Similar to the like button or Google’s +1 button, LinkedIn users can now endorse each other’s skills with just the click of a button. Endorsements though is just one of a number of features that every internet marketer should be checking out though on LinkedIn. As a powerful tool for networking and keeping up with your professional network, LinkedIn has a variety of tools that everyone should know about.

1. The recommendation – One of LinkedIn’s earliest feature. The recommendation feature allows other users to leave a recommendation on your profile, describing their experience with you and why they think other people should hire you. The equivalent of the reference online, a recommendation holds a lot of klout on LinkedIn and should be something that ask your co-workers to fill out as soon as you sign-up to this social network.
2. Groups – Similar to a message board, groups is another huge LinkedIn feature that marketers have learned to take advantage of. From Healthcare marketing to local interest groups there’s a LinkedIn group for everyone. Finding the groups that are similar to your niche and engaging the people on them, can have positive on both our business and your network. It’s highly recommended to join and participate in as many groups as possible.
3. Email – LinkedIn offers a limited email feature to it’s free and non-paying users. This feature allows you to email This email feature is a great feature to get in contact with users whom you have long since lost contact with or to even contact those who you have yet to reach out personally.
4. Find new users and search – The new users feature and search tool are great ways to find people to connect with. People have used LinkedIn to help prepare for meetings and one-on-one interactions. When often a Facebook or Twitter account won’t tell you enough about a user, visit their LinkedIn profile and find out their professional background.
5. LinkedIn Updates – By simply opting in to LinkedIn updates, you will get an email once a week that will allow you to know when people change jobs or add new skill sets. This serves as a great tool to keep up with people in your network, as well as a way to monitor for new leads and look for new hires.

Remember don’t forget about that other social network. Many people are quick to often jump to Facebook, Twitter, or even Google+, for your social media needs but if you are a professional who is looking to get his networking in order, you should probably give LinkedIn a try.

Tags: Social Media Marketing Tips