Another excellent but very occasionally used social networking tool, LinkedIn has been unable to replicate the success of many of its contemporaries. So there is no uniformity of purpose to which it is put.
Some use it for finding friends who share their common interest, while some professionals use it as a podium to recruit people. Small and medium business ventures use it for searching others who are in the same practice. But again, used properly it has fantabulous prospects of promoting your venture.
Very much like Facebook, the only point of difference that LinkedIn displays is that it is more serious in its approach towards your life. Just as in Facebook you would be involved in a lot of frivolous chilling out like beating a celebrity hollow log; in LinkedIn you take a more serious look at life. It serves as a strong runway for your life’s ambitions to take off from. Three of its most cardinal benefits are:
BRAND CREATION
The phrase is an extremely loaded one that speaks volumes about you and also acts as a memento for your acquaintances to remember you by. So what is it? It is that latent quality in you that never changes. Say, your gait, or the way you dress or the unmistakable swishing of your hair when you talk; the way you stay quiet when you become very thoughtful——– in short your brand is a mélange of all your idiosyncrasies that sets you apart, and makes you who you are.
So when you provide your photograph in the LinkedIn column, ensure that it expresses your goals in life. It can be a formal photo if you desire to project yourself as a hot-shot pro; it can even be a clip of a picture that you think best goes with the cause you are promoting (think about the rooster on the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes overleaf.)
The column that expects you to draft a summary about yourself can be a veritable goldmine if written carefully; and the same goldmine can collapse and choke your reputation if you try to misuse it. There are two cardinal rules when dealing with this section. Don’t fake who you are and be concise, to the point. If you are promoting acne creams, no one wants to know whether you love pets or not.
LIKE MINDS TO LIKE MINDS EVER TEND, AN UNIVERSAL LAW
LinkedIn is an amazing platform to discover loads of people who may share an interest of yours that you thought was strange. You can find groups of almost anything at LinkedIn; they can as varied as bird watchers, knitting and crocheting addicts, food critics, travel maniacs, book worm, PTA groups, almost anything under the sun.
Socializing with a group that you are in the same intellectual parallel with has immense benefits when it comes to promoting your product with all the new people. All that you do, is to go to the upper left corner of your home page and click on the section ‘group’ and then you can happily browse through the list of ‘fraternities’ who share very strange interests and decide what suits you most.
Initially simply reply to their enquiries about your whereabouts or hobbies or whatever question they pose for you; you can also simply complement an aspect you found interesting in them. Slowly as confidence builds up, you can get down interacting more freely.
PUBLICITY
Remember the underlying objective of joining LinkedIn is to promote yourself or the services that you have to offer and find takers for the same. So don’t leave any stones unturned in your efforts to make your profile look interesting and engaging.
Employ the requisite links that LinkedIn provides you with to promote these ends. Upload a U-Tube video that you have shot of yourself, where you elaborate on the goals of your life, or explain what kind of a job you are looking for and what qualities do you have to suit such a job profile. LinkedIn is all about you, so you better ensure that whatever picture you have drawn of yourself over there is extremely riveting.
You could also use the application that allows you to make slide presentations that act as a flowchart to educate your visitor about who you are, what your aims are and what are your short time goals. This forms for extremely interesting viewing when contrasted with mundane scripting of paragraphs on your home page. You can also use graphics and pictures to add to the charm factor. Bullet points are also effective in keeping the attention of your reader alive.
Klang Web Designers can help you create your corporate LinkedIn profile.
