Linked In; Does it still matter?

Linked In, for me, is a toss up. I started losing interest for my personal use when they got rid of their Linked In skills feature. If you are into optimization, this was a tool that would tell you what skills were trending for a particular industry. This meant you could mine skills to optimize your profile for Linked In search. This might be one reason why this was taken away, but I bet it was less sinister. The UI was clunky to use and I don’t  think many people knew it ever existed.

To get back to our question, Does Linked In still matter? That isn’t as easy to answer as one would expect. LI became much more appealing once they opened up their content publishing eco-system. Andrew Jenkins explored the changing world of Linked In via the following three posts.

1. If Content is King, then LinkedIn May be the New Kingdom

“What really stood out this year was the theme of CONTENT. Granted, this was something discussed at the previous Finance Connect, but monitoring trending topics and LinkedIn’s new Content Measurement System are just two examples of the emphasis content received this year and will continue to receive from LinkedIn. Last year, LinkedIn’s Executive Editor Dan Roth (formerly of Fortune, Wired, Condé Nast Portfolio and Forbes) walked attendees through their Influencer Program, and even had a few of their nearly 500 influencers present to talk about their experiences as contributors to the LinkedIn platform. The fact that LinkedIn has an executive editor also makes it clear just how important they view quality content and curating in relation to their objectives.”

Continue reading “If Content is King, then LinkedIn May be the New Kingdom”

2. Are You Ignoring the Power of LinkedIn?

“Most of my presentations are in a professional setting, so it does not come as a surprise that LinkedIn is often the most used platform for my audience. What I find interesting are the results of the follow-up questions:

‘Of those of you on LinkedIn, how many of you actively use it to connect with other people?’

Although most of the audience has LinkedIn profiles, they rarely use it to connect with others; often it is only a handful who do”

Continue reading “Are You Ignoring the Power of LinkedIn?”

3. Your LinkedIn Profile: Proof You Didn’t Peak in High School

“The site has continued to evolve and can now be considered a content juggernaut with LinkedIn Today and their Influencer Program.

They make it easy to find, share and comment on content via personal profiles and company pages, and it is content that increasingly plays a role in our ability to be found, stand out and influence people to connect and collaborate with us.

I want to discuss several key areas of a LinkedIn profile and share thoughts on where and how you can make yours work better for you.”

Continue reading “Your LinkedIn Profile: Proof You Didn’t Peak in High School”

I am not a Linked In power user, but I am connected over there to 200 people. I think there is something more important about Linked In that we tend to take for granted. It is one of the best ways to track changes in your social network, in particular, when someone changes positions or leaves a company. We can capitalize on these moments to reach out to them and see how they are doing. Transitions are always rough, whether they be positive or negative. It isn’t to difficult to PM them over Linked In an check in.

Here are some of my favorite Apps that do wonders for keeping up with your Linked In network.

Charlie App – Intelligent scanning of your upcoming meetings which generates one page reviews of the group participants. A little scary when you see what they pick up, but shows you what social intelligence can do!

Relately – Sends you reminders when your relationships are going cold. Delivers digests to you when things are happening in your network.

Haichi –  Haichi scans your social networks looking for links in the chain between you and a person you want to connect with. Originally used for sales to find warm leads, but they have really extended what it can do for individuals as they network. An essential tool.

What tips do you have to offer for using Linked In?

photo credit: nan palmero via photopin cc

Susan Silver

Susan Silver is a community focused strategist who uses social data insights as the foundation of her work with ARCOMPANY. Her philosophy “Humanity in Data” is informed by a background in cognitive-behavioral psychology. She is making positive change in people’s lives, and the world, with thoughtful communication on behalf of her clients.