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Tips for Building your Networking Muscle

Using LinkedIn is a Little like Going to the Gym - 7 Tips for Building your Networking Muscle

We've all heard about it, we know it's good for us, but how many of us really use it? It might surprise you to know that only 4% of PRIA's membership has actually joined the official PRIA group on LinkedIn. So, are you on LinkedIn but haven't yet joined the LinkedIn PRIA group or are you just not on LinkedIn at all?

LinkedIn, the business-oriented social networking site founded in December 2002, launched in May 2003 is mainly used for professional networking. As of February 2009, it had more than 35 million registered users, spanning 170 industries.

LinkedIn relies heavily on user profiles, but what makes for a strong profile? Are you still a little unsure about how to best to flex the power of LinkedIn for your own networking needs? Here are some tips to building some LinkedIn muscle and creating a powerful profile:

1. Be there - spend the time to actually create a profile, make it public sharing its details in full view.
   
   
2. Ensure your profile is complete - add a recent photo, list all your relevant details, including past jobs, associations, contact information, accomplishments. Provide the details that will make it easy for people to find and learn about you. As you build your profile you can actually gauge your completion status through the handy status bar.
   
   
3. Link your profile to your other websites - show a link to your current employer, if you write a blog, ensure you've listed the link for that too – and, where possible, make these links reciprocal by including your LinkedIn icon/button within your standard contact details.
   
   
4. Provide meaningful status updates regularly - if you have just received a promotion, your company has launched a new product, secured a new client, or you recently received a new certification or joined a new group, association, share this news with your network.
   
   
5. Write referrals for the great people you've worked with. And don't forget to ask for some in return (a bit of shameless self promotion here is okay). Public referrals carry extra weight, especially when you can easily look into the background of those providing them.
   
   
6. Join the various industry groups and participate in those you actually join - add some value, share resources, make comments, share your connections, don't be a hoarder or a passive observer sitting quietly on the sidelines - that's just not in the spirit of social networking.
   
   
7. Proactively expand your network by using the Search People Feature to find key contacts and by regularly scanning the People you may know and the Just joined LinkedIn sections. Then reach out to the people from your past, even if it's been a while.

Once you've created a profile you're happy with, the next step is to investigate the LinkedIn applications to determine which will be useful to you in meeting your networking needs. Hopefully these tips will help to strengthen your profile and maximise your personal LinkedIn experience. Using LinkedIn is a little like going to the gym - the earlier you start, the better. And, the more often you visit, the more you'll get out of it!

Good luck and we'll see you online. Now, about joining that PRIA LinkedIn group… (psst…see #6)

Linda Johannesson, Strategist, Highway101, www.highway101.com.au

If you would like to contribute a set of tips contact our Information Officer.

^{May 2009}

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