Social Business Success

It never ceases to amaze me how many professionals don’t know how to use LinkedIn.  The other evening I conducted a LinkedIn training at my local library.

The training was how to develop a LinkedIn profile.  The training lasted only 90 minutes.  I say only 90 minutes, because I like to take 2.0 – 2.5 to train on this subject.  It may seem like a lot, however there is quite a bit to learn about writing an engaging LinkedIn profile.

Photo is courtesy of LinkedIn.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the training.  The participants were from various backgrounds. There was also an individual that works in a college’s Career Employment Services office.  It’s gratifying to know that colleges are now talking with their students about how important it is for them to use LinkedIn as a tool to help them in land that new position.  In fact, LinkedIn has developed an entire module for students.

Why don’t more people use LinkedIn?  One reason is not everyone needs to use the program.  LinkedIn is marketed as a social media site for business professionals (interpret that any way you want).  I believe people think of LinkedIn as a business application more than a social media application.  Because of that mind set, I go out and educate people on what exactly LinkedIn is.

Steven Chappell  writes about LinkedIn in his Blog, He tends to spend only one or two hours a week total on LinkedIn. Yet, he finds that my time “on LinkedIn is far more gratifying — and educational — than my time on Facebook or Twitter. I find this to be true for multiple reasons.”

Steven lists the three reasons why LinkedIn is far more gratifying — and educational — than Facebook or Twitter.  1) The quality of content is stronger, 2) the people with whom I’m connected and 3) professional development.

Photo from salestrainingconnection.com

LinkedIn is a social media application for professionals and if used correctly it will help an individual land that next position, promotion, sale and increase the individual’s network.  LinkedIn is true networking and networking is a skill.  I view LinkedIn as a social media application for “professionals” in which I can develop relationships with people.  When using LinkedIn, I go by the philosophy of “what’s in it for the other person”.  How can I help you?  There’s an old saying and I believe it’s true, “what goes around comes around”.  Think about it.

As a professional LinkedIn trainer, LinkedIn is not an easy software program to learn, especially if a person wants to write their profile correctly.  LinkedIn has a lot of “nooks and crannies” that many people don’t ever see and many users are unable to take advantage of everything the program has to offer.  That is one reason why I enjoy teaching LinkedIn.  People want to learn how to use application correctly.

Let’s get back to the training class.  The highlight of the training was the discussion about how the participants could improve their situations and write a glowing profile.  In fact, the experience section was the number one most discussed part of the profile.  Discussion points were how many jobs should a person have on their LinkedIn profile and how many years back should a person list their previous jobs.  More challenging questions were “what about if I’m changing fields or making a career change and I don’t have job experience in my new field?”  This last point is a major discussion topic for people in a career change.  The answer lies in volunteering.