Using the New LinkedIn Contacts Feature

Social media users have been using LinkedIn for business networking for many years. It is a place to meet new business contacts online and form beneficial relationships with other people in the industry. LinkedIn is getting ready to introduce the new LinkedIn Contacts feature on its social network. It promises to bring users better functionality that will help improve social engagement and manage online relationships with fellow users. When you are ready to start getting the most out of the new Contacts feature on LinkedIn, here is what you need to do: Import Contacts While you have always had the option to import your contacts from various sources, it is now even easier to do with multiple options. The Contacts feature will also help keep track of the source for each of your contacts. To get set up, click on your LinkedIn profile and choose "contacts." Next, click on settings. If you have already added your face book contacts at some point, you can easily update that list to include anyone you've friended recently on the social network by clicking on the refresh button. Facebook does not allow you to export user emails to LinkedIn, but there is a way around that. You can import your contacts on Facebook into your Yahoo Contacts. When you do that, you can then export your Yahoo contacts into LinkedIn. If they have their email listed, it will also be added to your contacts. Set Reminders to Make Connections How many times have you met someone new at a business event? How many times did you interact following the event? Chances are, not many. We tend to forget to follow up with new contacts shortly after we meet them and this is no different from meeting people through social networks. You can now use LinkedIn to set reminders for yourself so that you can follow-up with the people you connect with. When you make the effort to reach out to someone, it shows that you have a genuine interest in maintaining a connection and sharing information. Consolidate Duplicate Contact Info There are many people on LinkedIn who have multiple accounts set up. This can be for any number of reasons, like creating a new profile and not deleting the old one. LinkedIn will now find what appear to be duplicated profiles on the site so that you can consolidate them into one set of contact information. This helps to keep a cleaner and more organized contact list. Keep Your Connections Tagged LinkedIn typically adds the tags friend or colleague without you having to do it yourself. You should still take the time to add your own tags to each contact. This will allow you to make a more specific message for each of your contact groups and avoid some messages from being marked as spam. Keep Track of Relevant Details Any notes that you make with the notes feature on LinkedIn are kept private. Make sure you are adding any notes about contacts that can be useful in the future. This can be information that you want to share with them, details about their business, or products that you've discussed. LinkedIn is working hard to bring users tools that can be the most helpful with networking business professionals. The new Contacts feature will make it easier for you to keep track of and stay connected to the people you meet. What is your favorite LinkedIn tool? How do you get the most out of each feature? Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7749489

Utilize Effective Marketing Using LinkedIn

Any populated social network is a great source of targeted traffic. Users are divided up by specific demographics and interests with minimal effort by businesses. Some of these networks make it easier than others. LinkedIn is a great example of a social network that is almost intentionally built with marketing in mind. This is a social network geared towards professional individuals and businesses, which means that the user profiles are characterized according to particular categories of interest. How Successful Is LinkedIn Marketing? LinkedIn marketing is not incredibly common and it is often done with the wrong approach. This type of social networking is much different than Facebook and Twitter marketing. The main reason for this is that the website is designed primarily for businesses. Those other networks are made more so for the end users, but Facebook makes it easier to diversify companies and consumers. So, what value does LinkedIn really have for marketers? Simply put, LinkedIn is a network of authority figures. You have business owners, investors, and many other individuals in the same field as you. A large portion of these users are in a position of power with their business. This means that they can make executive decisions, such as implementing your time management software into their office if you can catch their interest. An impressive statistic is that the average salary for a LinkedIn user is over $100,000 and this is definitely much higher in comparison to other social networks. With close to 70 million users, LinkedIn remains as a social network filled with users that have both decision making and buying power - use that to your advantage! 5 Simple Steps to LinkedIn Marketing 1) Get involved with the social network. Simply make an account, fill out your profile, and take a few minutes to browse around and see all the features. It is a good idea to take the time and effort to create a professionally written page for your business and have a personal page with your resume that is linked to it. When creating the page, it is also a good idea to use some basic SEO (search engine optimization) methods as LinkedIn is a highly authoritative website and ranks very well in the big G. 2) Make your company page ready for visitors. Do this by allowing your page to be searched. This is important as your page will be findable through keywords in your page and this helps get targeted visitors. This may be the introduction of your business to an interested individual, so you want to attract them and get them interested in what you have to offer. Any form of testimonial helps as well, especially through LinkedIn recommendations from other users. 3) Get active on LinkedIn and stay interactive with other users. Setting up a page on LinkedIn will make you noticeable, but getting yourself noticed is usually just as important. You can do this by making regular status updates, networking with users, participating in various LinkedIn groups, and contacting users in your network. You can test out LinkedIn advertising campaigns (through LinkedIn DirectAds) and off-site advertising for your LinkedIn page. Paying for an exclusive LinkedIn membership will give you more features that can help with reaching out to prospects also. 4) Stay consistent and relevant with LinkedIn marketing. You should keep your LinkedIn page relevant at all times. Building the page up outside of the network (mentioning it on your website, during webinars, etc.) will attract attention. Even if these are not converting visitors, it will build up the authority and interest for your LinkedIn page and attract more natural and targeted visitors to it. 5) Interact, interact, and then interact some more. The power of the LinkedIn community is incredible and the brief stats mentioned earlier attests to that. There are many examples of networking methods that incorporate LinkedIn activity. The various LinkedIn groups are a great start. For instance, Start-ups Community for Entrepreneurs was made for entrepreneurs involved or interested in start-up businesses and many of these people may be great additions to your network. Also, interacting through LinkedIn Answers allows you to answer questions and provide relevant sources. This builds up your authority and can serve as a direct marketing tool as well. Make the investment of your time to listen in on the conversations and then start your own discussions. After some time you just might build up some followers which could eventually turn into customers. Happy Linking! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7651910

How to Write an Attention-Grabbing LinkedIn Profile

Most people are part of a social network or two because they see the benefit of connecting with others. Joining a professional network can put you in touch with the right kind of people. When accomplished properly, these connections can and will help you further your professional career. When you belong to a top business network like LinkedIn you have the gain the ability to find experts with answers to your questions and you do the same for others. There is no faster way to connect with the best in your field. It costs nothing to join a great social network for professionals, and the sign up process is simple. Before long, you will be part of a vast network that includes executives from all the Fortune 500 companies. However, there is much more to it than simply signing up. Just joining a popular social network is not going to establish a network. It takes a properly written "attention-grabbing" LinkedIn profile to start the process. You have several options: Do it on your own via trial and error. (Free, time consuming) Take a self-guided step-by-step video course. (Inexpensive, quick) Hire someone to do part or all of it. (Expensive, time required) Each of these options have pros and cons. Time and money are important to everyone. Most of us have very busy schedules and it may be almost impossible to take the time necessary to set up your LinkedIn profile completely on your own. Or, you have the time, but how will you know that you are doing it correctly so that your efforts will bear fruit? Thus, the flaw in Option 1. How about Option 3? Hire someone to take the responsibility to do it for you. Clearly, this is the most expensive option so if money is a concern, this is not the option for you. And when you hire someone else you must still be involved. There will be edits of multiple drafts and it remains essential that your profile reflect YOUR personality and brand. Option 2 may be the most logical choice when either or both time and money are a concern. "Take a self-guided step-by-step video course. (Inexpensive, quick)" As your goal is to write an attention-grabbing LinkedIn profile, you do not want to guess. By following the step-by-step instruction you will know exactly what to do, what fields to complete, what words to use. All the research has been done for you by social media experts. Your training should include step-by-step videos that are direct and to the point. In addition, you are free to watch these videos as many times as you want to. There is power in repetition as it allows information to sink deeply into the subconscious. Once this occurs, you have access to this vital information whenever you need it, and you can never lose or misplace it. This way, you learn at your own pace and get the most from your training. When you are finished, your profile should be on the first page of listings when people search for you by keyword and your company page will be optimized for the major search engines. The power within social networks continues to grow. Just signing up and having a profile on LinkedIn is not going to grow your network effectively. You must create your "personality" and "brand" on LinkedIn. You can do it completely on your own OR hire an expert to do it for you. A reasonable alternative is to get the best of both. Write your "attention-grabbing" LinkedIn profile yourself following the step-by-step guidance from a social media expert. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7809275

10 Good Reasons Why You Need a LinkedIn Profile

Although there are more than 200 million users on LinkedIn, many job seekers still don't have an active LinkedIn profile and many more don't have a profile at all. The fact of the matter is, if you are not using some form of online professional networking, you are not as ready as you think you for this competitive job market, and you might just want to rethink your position on this topic. According to Assist Social Media Blog, "LinkedIn is a place that produces results. Big businesses connect with and reach out to members every day. All kinds of corporations can be found there". Frankly, my friend, whether you are a seasoned professional, a college grad or an active job seeker, you need a presence on this particular platform. Don't confuse LinkedIn with other social media platforms. They each have their special features and uses, but LinkedIn is specifically reserved for professional social networking. So, if you need some convincing about why you should activate your profile here are 10 good ones for you: 1) Your connections on LinkedIn are and should be professionals you know and have a relationship with. When you connect with them, this opens up a vast extended network of other professionals that they are connect to. This is the perfect way to meet and get introduced to decision makers within companies that you are interested in working for. Now you can meet the people you need to know! 2) Major companies are on LinkedIn, and they often post job openings there too. When you find a job posting on LinkedIn you can quickly scan your network to see who works for the company, or who knows someone who works for the company. This way you can learn about the company, its culture, its employees, and perhaps even learn helpful information about the hiring manager or recruiter. 3) Major employers search for candidates on LinkedIn. However, your profile needs to be properly optimized using the right keywords in your skills, your professional profile, and experience. Keywords are very important so become familiar with the lingo of your industry or field and make sure those words can be found throughout your profile. 4) Recruiters and employers will search LinkedIn for your profile if and when they become interested in you as a candidate. Don't disappoint them! Keep your profile up to date just as you would your resume and complete it by ensuring all the sections are properly filled out. 5) You can get involved in discussion groups on LinkedIn. This is an opportunity for you to showcase your knowledge in your field and develop subject matter expertise. LinkedIn's hundreds of groups exist as a way for professionals to engage with each other. Don't remain silent if you want to be noticed. Join the conversation! 6) LinkedIn is the professional networking hub of the 21st Century. This is where professionals across the globe meet to share knowledge and learn about happenings in the world's organizations, great and small. Get with the program! 7) LinkedIn helps you stay connected with current and former colleagues and co-workers. Remember that manager you absolutely admired and wish you could work for again? LinkedIn is quite likely the place where you can find and connect with that manager. You never know what doors this connection could open for you! 8) You can ask for recommendations from former and current peers, supervisors, managers, college professors etc., and make those recommendations viewable so that anyone who checks you out can see what others have to say about you! (Oh, by the way, don't ask someone who does not know you professionally to provide a professional reference! That's not a good idea!) 9) LinkedIn gives you access to a global network of professionals who can answer specific questions for you. If you need to get an opinion about something, or learn how someone else has handled a particular challenge, or even what tools or systems other companies are using to solve problems, you can post all those questions in a group discussion on LinkedIn. When others in your group see your question 9 out of 10 times someone or a few people will post their answers and you'll have tons of great ideas to sift through! 10) Last but not least, LinkedIn allows you to develop and refine your personal brand. Get tuned in to your professional self, and position yourself to attract companies that share your values. Learn about causes and determine what you are passionate about and get connected to others who share those passions. You can become the connected professional you were born to be, have complete control over how you are perceived, and take your career to the next level by using LinkedIn efficiently and effectively! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7737718