LinkedIn - Why You Need to Be On It!

Top Reasons to Be On LinkedIn

• Staying in Touch. If you are like me, you have probably been in contact and had relationships with hundreds or even thousands of professionals throughout your career. Think back 10 years or 15 years and you will likely think of many contacts that you have simply lost contact with. Imagine if you have been able to keep your name in front of these people all of this time. Imagine how many solid contacts you would have in your business network if you had not lost contact with 90+% of the people you work with over time. I commonly think of someone I used to work with and think how perfect they would be to handle a particular job that I may have, but I have no way to get up with them. I end up finding someone new and hiring them, when I could have easily passed the work on to my previous contact - it only I had not lost contact.
• Provide References. Think about times when you may need a reference. It could be when attempting to get a new client or even a new job. Imagine if you could just give out a Link that would provide them with a Professional Resume that had referrals and recommendations that were written by others included on it. This could be a powerful sales tool. It could also be the difference maker as to whether or not you get that job you just interviewed for.
• SEO for your Blog or Website. Since LinkedIn profiles tend to rank well in Google, having linked from your profile to your other websites or blogs can help their page rank as well. Make sure you have your options set to "Full View" so that Google can see your link when crawling LinkedIn.
• To Search for References of Potential Employees. I broke this out from to provide references because when searching for references, there are so many more options. The obvious thing is to go to someones LinkedIn profile and read their references. Keep in mind that the only references that show up here are the ones that they approved. A bad reference will never see the light of day on their profile. For example, you can check references by using the search function and looking for employees that worked at the same Company at the same time as a potential employee.
• To Learn What You are Getting Yourself In To. Imagine if you could really learn all the facts about a job before taking it. Wouldn't it be nice to know that the nice man that interviewed you is a total @ss once you take the job and begin working for him? Wouldn't it be nice to know that the job you are interviewing for that has so much potential and room for upward mobility is really a deadend job that presents nothing more than a paycheck and lost time?
  With the search functionality, you can search for references on your potential boss. You can also find people who had held the job before you by searching on the job title. Now you have access to the real people with the real answers. Also, asking former employees of a Company may get you good information about the drawbacks of working there. Current employees are much more unlikely to criticize their employer because they want to believe that they are working for an ethical and respectable company. In other words, they are sometimes blind to the facts. Of course, former employees may have an unjustified axe to grind because they themselves were the problem, so take everything with a grain of salt. It is best to get more than one reference anyway.
• Learn About Potential Employers or Clients. We have all been told in the past to research the Company before we go to interview for a job or try to sell them something. Both of these tasks are difficult if you go in to the meeting showing that you did not even take enough interest in the Company to do 10 minutes of Internet research. Now you can go a step farther. Before going on the next sales call, look the person you are meeting with up on LinkedIn. You can find a great deal of information from his or her profile. What school did he/she go to? What are his hobbies? What kind of connections can you make to help make a connection with the individual?
• Find somone needing your services TODAY! You can ask all sorts of questions within the LinkedIn Answers function. I have seen people requesting referrals looking for someone to help them. For instance, I have seen "Looking for a CPA in Charlotte." Well, as a CPA in Charlotte, it doesn't take a genius to say that I should respond to that question. These request for referrals come from all types of industries and professions, you just need to seek them out.
• Get quotes and opinions from professionals in a particular field for use in your article, blog post, or research paper. Go pose a question in the group, and easily get responses to your questions. This is much easier than emailing or calling.
• Getting publicity in articles, blog post, or research papers. This is the other end of the above. Instead of asking questions, answer them. Let others use you in their articles and blog post. Most of the time, you will get a free backlink in return!
• Establish yourself as an expert. By answering questions within LinkedIn Answers, you can establish yourself as an expert on the topics you are good at. As a LinkedIn Expert, you will receive more exposure and credibility when someone is looking for a professional in your field.
• Find Events. Use LinkedIn Events to find conferences, workshops and other types of events that would be useful to you, based on your professional profile. You can also see who else within your network is attending!
• Promote Your Event. LinkedIn Events can promote your event to potential attendees based on their profile information. It will also add the events to your professional profile so that others can see that you have presented at conferences or events.
• Keep an eye on your competitors. LinkedIn, especially the Job Boards, are a great way to monitor what your competitors are doing. Are they cutting back? Are they expanding? Are they creating new strategic positions?