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Linking to Job-Worthy Contacts
In this article, Linda provides readers with a basic overview of LinkedIn, and how you can use it as a stationery and low-maintenance tool that will help your career.
By this time, you may have set up a Facebook and Friendfeed account and perhaps even started a group at one or the other – or both. Now you're ready to set up a LinkedIn account, where you can send prospective clients to view your resume and your professional side. In this article, Linda provides readers with a basic overview of LinkedIn, and how you can use it as a stationery and low-maintenance tool that will help your career.
Conclusion
Why is your profile so important at LinkedIn? Because people will search for other people by keywords. No matter if they're searching for a writer or an artist or a programmer, they will use those words and more to determine how to find the person they need, or the people they want to commune with.
So, remember to include as many keywords as possible in your profile, and be careful about your word choice. If you're a fan of zombie movies, and you include the word, "zombies," in your profile, I can guarantee that some zombie freaks or freaks that call themselves zombies will find you eventually. That's just how keywords roll.
With that said, you may find some blasts from the past from your high school or college years. Don't turn them down if they want to connect. I've discovered that many of my old connections don't want to have much to do with me once they discover how I've changed in the decades since we've last seen each other. Usually those connections are harmless and they can add to your overall total of connections, which is not a bad thing.
But – this is a reminder that you're just filling out the essentials this week. I'm warning you in advance, as seekers for links within LinkedIn may find you within your first couple days within this social media tool. Allow them in, and hold off looking for other people until I fill you in on some fairly cool options next week. This is about the most effort you'll put into the site over the years, except for updating and visiting your site at least once per week to make sure you've answered all your incoming messages and to complete other minor tasks.
The main reason I don't want you to begin reaching out to contacts yet is that you aren't finished with your profile – and the profile is the be-all and end-all for your LinkedIn page. In the meantime, the following links can help you hurry down that path – and I would not hesitate to follow the advice in the articles below:
·5 LinkedIn tips on effective personal branding: Offered by the LinkedIn blog, this advice is sound and simple.
·LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover: Why do a makeover when you can get it right the first time? Follow Guy Kawasaki's advice to learn more.
·10 practical tips to boost your LinkedIn profile: This is a short and sweet article, with plenty of additional advice in the comments.
Linda Goin
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.
Accolades for her work include fifteen first-place Colorado Press Association awards, numerous fine art and graphic design awards, and interviews about content development with The Wall St. Journal, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today, and L.A. Times.