R&R Partners: Moving Minds

Have you been using your LinkedIn profile to its fullest potential?  It’s always helpful to have pointers to help keep your profile fresh and relevant so I thought I would share what I recently learned.  LinkedIn is full of opportunities, having over 50 million members hoping to target their business network online and make new connections.  The average user is 41 years old with an average household income of $108,000.  If you want to make sure that you’re enaging with this audience and making a statement with your profile, check out the tips I learned  from Chip Lambert and the Arizona Technology Council.

1. Begin your LinkedIn relationships with people that you like, know and trust.  You don’t want to give just anyone access to your professional network that you’ve worked hard to establish.
2. In order to grab the attention of those who look at your profile, make sure that your headline (which shows up under your name) is interesting and not simply your job title.  You should lead with something that makes them want to keep reading about you!  Ask yourself what key qualities you have in your position and why do people want to connect with you?  For example, I changed my headline from “Public Relations Coordinator at R&R Partners” to include “Communications Professional and Social Media Advisor.”
3. Think about what you are trying to accomplish with your page and who you are trying to reach and target your messages to those audiences and goals.   Add keywords to your “specialties” and in your summary to improve your search engine optimization.  List the attributes you are most proud of in your position, show statistics of how you’ve helped your business, tell people what you are known for. 
4. Personalize your invitations, it makes a nicer impression than the generic “I would like to add you to my professional network” message. Why do you want to add them to your network? Why should they want you to be a part of theirs? It’s always best to add a special, more personal touch.
5. Be careful trying to add contacts who you don’t know – if five people who you have added click “I don’t know this person,” your account will be suspended.
6. Be sure to keep your profile updated and current with what you are doing.  Try to spend a few minutes each day or each week making sure that you’re responding to messages and keeping up with your contacts.  Your profile is more valuable to you and everyone else if it includes the most up-to-date information about you.

Happy Linking!