I‘m on LinkedIn — Now What???: A Guide to Getting the Most OUT of LinkedIn by Jason Alba (of www.jibberjobber.com) is a great read for anyone who’s put his or her resume up on LinkedIn and wondered, so what happens next? For some of us, all that happens is that a bunch of invites shows up. Some are fun, like the one I got from a guy I used to work with two careers ago; others were borderline spam from self-described “open networkersâ€? who value volume over quality. So I was accepting some and ignoring others (I was too afraid to decline as it seemed so rude; so many just sat there). But, could that really be what LinkedIn is all about?
Absolutely not, as Alba points out. After reading his book, even moi–the creator of several business networks–had to give myself a dope slap. I’m always preaching about how networking is not something that happens to you, it’s something you need to make happen for yourself. For some reason when it came to LinkedIn, I was very passive and just acted as if it were a public rolodex. So, while I was researching my own book about online networking, and reading books like Alba’s, I realized it’s not enough to sign up, just as in real life, you need to actually show up!
I’m on LinkedIn – Now What? is a quick read–which is all any of us has time for–but here are some of my favorite points:
- LinkedIn is a powerful tool, not a silver bullet.
- Get a “vanity urlâ€?–this is free, but you have to go to the edit profile screen to do it. Basically, you can change the generic one LinkedIn assigns you to one with “yournameâ€? in it. (This was a new one for me. And if you make your profile public, it’s more likely the search engines will pick it up).
- Write recommendations. This is the best way to not only get others to write recommendations for you, but it means your info shows up on others’ profiles with a link back to yours.
- Make sure you have the right e-mail address associated with the right account (i.e., if you’re jobhunting, you might want emails to go to a non-company e-mail address, such as a Yahoo! or Hotmail one).
- Alba also explains the benefits and how to use some of LinkedIn’s other functions, such as services, groups and answers (the latter is my favorite–it’s like a mini-focus group and actually the way I’ve made my best connections on LinkedIn).
For more about ways to use LinkedIn, you can see tips from both Alba and yours truly on http://www.linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin/.
Top Shelf Bottom Line: LinkedIn might not be intuitive for people new to social networks, and I’m on LinkedIn – Now What? is a great reference for someone who wants to make the most out of his or her experience. The real benefit is that the book is focused only on LinkedIn. This keeps it streamlined and focused. I highly recommend it for: anyone who’s interested in testing the social networking waters in a professional platform, anyone who is on LinkedIn and feels his or her experience is lacking and for people looking to get more out of it.
**For more LinkedIn tips, visit Jason Alba’s “I’m on LinkedIn — Now What? blog.“**
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 9:27 pm and is filed under Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.2 Responses to “I’m on LinkedIn–Now What?”
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December 7th, 2007 at 4:25 am
Linkedin is pretty cool & very professional business networking site. You need a job or looking for employees or other various business purposes, the best place to look out for is Linkedin. Linkedin is becoming very popular amongst all the age group. For people who travel a lot there this service I came across through which you can access Linkedin on mobile without internet.
http://modazzle.com/cms/modazzleLp1.html?channel=CM&camp=LinkedIn
December 8th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Diane, thanks for this great review. I intentionally wanted to address the question for business and career-minded people, and stay away from being a user’s manual. I love how you say “you need to actually show up!” … such a simple key for success in today’s world!
Jason Alba
CEO – JibberJobber.com
Author – I’m on LinkedIn — Now What???