The Next Step: LinkedIn

A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues gave me a list of five or six business contacts and suggested that I "Google" them to find out more about each.  When I did, I discovered that each of them was listed on a networking site called LinkedIn.  For some, there was relatively little information, but for others, the LinkedIn profile was quite extensive.

Fast forward to the social media conference where I experienced my techno-epiphany.  Many of the speakers told us that LinkedIn was the one indispensable element of any savvy professional's on-line presence.  LinkedIn is not about social connections, they emphasized. It's about business connections.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should confess that in my former life, before my gob-smacking conversion on the road to Las Vegas, I rejected all requests to connect with friends on LinkedIn with a polite "thanks, but no thanks."  I considered these networking sites a threat to my cherished privacy.  Only later did it become apparent to me that protecting my privacy might be counterproductive for my business.  Duh.

So late last week, in between client projects, I began building my LinkedIn profile and network. I cleaned up my e-mail address book, then imported it into LinkedIn so I could see which of my contacts already belonged to the network.  The site can generate this list automatically, which makes it very each to reach out to other LinkedIn members already in your contact book.   You can also send invitations to people who aren't LinkedIn members; if they accept your invitation, they will be asked to join.  

You have the option of displaying your connections or concealing them from public view.  Most people show them publicly, because that's how members expand their networks.  When you discover that you and someone you'd like to know have a friend in common, it's easy to reach out and make the contact.  Other people are looking for the same opportunities; it's all about connections.  And you always have the option of declining an invitation if you choose to do so.

Once you're a member, you can build a profile that includes your contact information, links to your websites and blogs, current position, past positions, educational background, skills and areas of expertise, recommendations from colleagues, professional memberships--in short, you can build an on-line resume of surprising depth.  You can also join various groups with career interests similar to your own; this greatly expands your potential network and gives you an opportunity to interact with peers all over the world.

The site even allows you to create a PDF file of your LinkedIn profile, formatted just as a resume would be, for easy downloading by prospective clients.  You also can upload documents that showcase your work--I uploaded two published magazine articles I wrote for one client, a newsletter I wrote for another, and a URL link for a website I developed for a third.

The best thing about these LinkedIn profiles--and a good reason to beef yours up and keep it current--is that they pop up very quickly on most of the major search engines, including Google and Yahoo.  This means that, when people Google you, they're likely to see your LinkedIn profile at or near the top of the search results.

So as of today, I'm LinkedIn in a big way, and potential clients can learn just about anything they want to know about my professional capabilities by checking out my profile there.  Here's the link if you're curious:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/marshakelly 

That's it for today.  See you at LinkedIn!  And, by the way, Happy Easter to all.