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Guide to Using Photos in LinkedIn
All of the social networking sites these days allow you to create a profile quickly and easily and one of the most important steps to profile creation is setting a primary photo and backing it up with other photos that viewers might be interested in. The primary photo plays a huge role in any social networking website as it serves as the main attraction to the profile since it is easily recognizable amongst the content and is used throughout the service. It is the profile picture that gives a visual representation of the person.
LinkedIn supports uploading a profile picture as well as it is one of those social networking websites, but because it is a professional website, photos play a more important role and that role should be utilized to the fullest in order to make your profile attractive to other professionals that might be reading it. Here are some tricks in using photos in LinkedIn.
Get all of the Attention
A profile picture is supposed to represent all of the information that you supplied so therefore your picture should get all the attention by finding a picture of you and you alone. This means that you shouldn’t have any pictures that involve you and your friends, kids, loved ones, pets, and other individuals that may grab some of the attention. Remember, this isn’t a site primarily for dating, but rather attracting professionals.
Even if there are no other individuals in the shot, your picture can still be distracting if there are other objects in the background or in your surroundings. These objects may include computers, cars, electronics, and other things that can once again draw attention away from you.
Also to make that you get all of the attention, make sure that shot is focused on your face because long shots do not really give much of a meaning. Zooming in these pictures do not really do much either since the photo will end up very pixilated.
Use Photos with a Light Background
If you find a picture of yourself where the background is dark, it makes it a bit more difficult to see your face. Try to use white or light colored backgrounds if you are really interested in building your business credibility. If you don’t have any of these photos available, you may need to take a small trip to the studio and get your picture taken there.
Unedited is Best
Some people that are overly excited to set up their profile, but cannot find a good picture would end up finding a photo where the face looks good and then cropping it to hide the distractions. Unless you are a skilled graphics designer who knows about tracing, it is generally a bad idea to upload a cropped photo as it doesn’t look very professional compared to ones taken in the studio.
Of course there can be some exceptions to these rules depending on your profession like real estate where your background should be a house or if you want a company logo to gain some attention. The most important thing is that you make sure your photo stays professional and supports the details of your profile.
Possible Mistakes that can be made while using LinkedIn
LinkedIn is like other social networking sites where you have a lot of freedom with regards to expanding your network and being productive in the community. But LinkedIn focuses more on building careers and connecting professionals which is why a large majority of the members have professional backgrounds, are there to look for business partners, or possibly to advertise new online and offline ventures.
LinkedIn is the place to do all the business related things and there aren’t really many rules to abide. However, there are still some possible mistakes that can be made while using LinkedIn that will harm your chances in moving forward with the service. These mistakes should be avoided if want LinkedIn to work for you as advertised.
LinkedIn Profile Mistakes
Right when you join LinkedIn, you might get all excited and start building your network quickly. But think about when people see that you want to add them to your list and check your profile link just to know more about you. If there are any missing profile fields, some people may not find you professional enough to be in their list. Try to fill up your profile as much as you can so that more people can gain some professional information about you.
Even if you filled up all the fields, you should double check your profile and make sure there are no common errors like spelling found and also make sure that you use keywords properly so that you can appear in search results if people try to use LinkedIn to search for other people using common keywords. Think of common keywords that describe your profile to avoid this mistake.
There is also a feature where you can set a custom URL on your profile so that you can be easier to find. Most people forget about this feature and end up satisfied with the traditional address. It is best to take advantage of this feature quickly as custom URLs are constantly being taken one by one. Secure your URL so that you can freely give it to other members without any fear of it being taken by someone else.
LinkedIn Group Mistakes
Once your profile is finally ready to go, you can freely do more things like joining groups and adding people to expand your network. Joining groups is great for expanding your network, but don’t forget to participate in them too which is a common mistake that people make early. You won’t be able to make any kind of impact if you join a group without doing anything.
Also avoid trying to join a group just for the sake of advertising because it is one of the few things that LinkedIn discourages. It will harm the reputation of your profile as people will think that you are there for your own benefit. Instead, take time to check out the discussions and reply on the ones you feel you are expert in.
These mistakes are common, but are easy to avoid in LinkedIn and the results are very positive once your profile stands out more and your network grows.
In the early days when Internet was still new, people could only connect from home or at work. Connections started to improve in speed and later on, the method of transmission became wireless. Because wireless gives you more freedom to go online, more people are starting to travel with their laptops and other mobile devices so they can access their favorite sites on the go. Web applications and social networking sites including LinkedIn can be accessed as well so you can be a lot more productive while travelling.
But when people are on the go, they tend to access the Internet for specific purposes. Some access LinkedIn to check for messages while others want to meet up with other LinkedIn contacts. Utilize these cool features to turn LinkedIn to your ultimate travel companion.
LinkedIn Mobile
LinkedIn Mobile was announced well over a year ago supporting a variety of handsets including Blackberry phones and iPhones. It is accessible by pointing the browser to http://m.linkedin.com where you can login using the same information you normally use online and then have quick access to important areas such as LinkedIn updates and alerts. Phones with big screens will obviously have the advantage here.
MyTravel Application
MyTravel is the application of choice for business travelers. This application allows you to check out all the people in your LinkedIn network that are near your current location as you travel. This is perfect for laptop users that may travel to remote areas and see anyone that is nearby. The application may also double as a social application as well since you can pretty much use it to hook-up with friends that are in your LinkedIn network or make formal meetings.
Mobile Number Tracing
If you are in a remote area with a laptop and Internet connection, but have no real means to contact a person if that person isn’t online, you can use LinkedIn from your laptop to search for that contact’s mobile phone or land line so you can communicate through that channel. Mobile tracing can easily be done through LinkedIn’s search features.
Friend Finding
LinkedIn may be a professional service, but you can still use it for your own convenience. If you happen to be in the mood in meeting new professionals for social purposes, you can use the search function to find people that are in your area.
Job Seeking
LinkedIn is a great tool to use if you recently moved to a new place. You can begin your job hunting quickly whether you are in your new place or a local coffee shop with Wi-Fi access. Just do a search for professionals in the area that are looking for people to hire and you can surprise them by telling them that are you just around the corner.
LinkedIn developers are continuing to roll-out new features that benefit travelers. Their current set of features should already be enough for people to keep in touch with other professionals no matter where they go. It is all a matter of making full use of all these features.
LinkedIn is a site that gives you all the tools to interact with other professionals around the world and gives you the chance to connect with old friends and colleagues with ease. But what you really do in LinkedIn is entirely up to you. You have full control of what you can put on your profile and which web applications you wish to add. You decide who you want to message and what people you want to interact with.
Still, everyone’s objective in LinkedIn is to show their professionalism to others and have as many connections as possible. In order to achieve that goal, it always helps to practice a few good habits to ensure that you are making the most out of what LinkedIn has to offer and witness positive results sooner.
Tie a Blog to LinkedIn
Create a WordPress blog that is geared towards professionalism or link your existing blog if you prefer to be more open. The main objective here is to keep the blog updated so your network will always have something new to read or learn about. Other people that may see your LinkedIn profile can also see your blog posts which can create better impressions since blogs are meant to make you stand out more.
Update your Blog and Profile when Major Achievements Occur
There will always be certain days in your professional life where you achieve a milestone that is worth posting in your LinkedIn profile or blog. Once these are posted, they remain on your profile for everyone to see so it is important to commit these updates immediately.
Stay Updated with the Latest LinkedIn News
Although LinkedIn does show you updates on your main page after logging into LinkedIn, LinkedIn also has its very own blog that can be viewable by both members and non-members. Use your favorite RSS reader to subscribe to the LinkedIn blog at http://blog.linkedin.com so you can see what is under the hood from the LinkedIn team and developers.
Keep an Eye on Your E-mails and any LinkedIn Alerts on your Page
If your profile is complete, there are bound to be people that will message you and ask you business-related questions about what you have on your profile. To maintain your professional integrity, you should be responsive and answer their queries as soon as you get those messages. Logging into your LinkedIn or checking your e-mail daily is a great habit to lessen the waiting period that prospects have to go through.
Try starting off with by engaging in some of the habits and then slowly work your way up. You will be surprised with how much more progress you are getting with LinkedIn when more people contact you.
Spread Out your LinkedIn Profile Link
There are tons of professionals out there that may not be members of LinkedIn or haven’t even heard of it. Get your LinkedIn link realized by using the widgets that are available in your LinkedIn homepage. You can scatter them in blogs, forums, websites, and other social networking sites for better exposure.
The Internet used to be nothing more than a fantastic place to look for information through the many hosted websites on the World Wide Web. Now it has become a huge center where people are connecting with one another regardless of location and sharing information as well. People enjoy staying in touch with others online and recently businesses have been taking advantage of the technology. Social networking sites continue to thrive with new members coming in each and every day.
These people have their own personal purposes for being on these social networking sites. Some of the younger folks enjoy social networking to meet new friends online while others just like to see what all of their close friends are up to.
Even professionals use these modern social networking sites to keep in touch with clients and prospects. But not all the professionals are successful in connecting with other professionals because most of the social networking sites cover a general audience. This is where LinkedIn came in and started to expand on its own social network where all the professionals link together. LinkedIn seems to the perfect world to be in when looking for a job, looking for old colleagues, or seeking professional help. But you might be wondering what you should do with all the other social networking sites. LinkedIn is not designed to replace these sites, but work with them. Here are the modern social networking sites that work very well with LinkedIn.
Facebook
Facebook is highly renowned for its huge network and wide variety of different applications that you can add to your profile. There are several LinkedIn applications that give some of LinkedIn’s core features directly to Facebook. These applications also keep your LinkedIn contacts much closer as you are connected to them both professionally and personally. There are new applications in development every day so you should occasionally check for any LinkedIn applications that come out.
Twitter
Twitter is rising in popularity everyday with more people engaging in the somewhat addictive microblogging service. Even LinkedIn has its very own Twitter link and is seriously considering adding features that tie the two services closer together. There is no official integration right now, but you can place these two services together using a WordPress blog as the bridge. Both Twitter and LinkedIn have WordPress support so once you successfully implement their widgets, bring some traffic to your blog through regular advertisement methods so people can recognize use as a professional and Twitterer.
These are the top two social networking sites that LinkedIn is closely tied to. LinkedIn also has applications of its own that integrate well with lesser known services including TripIt and Company Buzz. It is expected for LinkedIn to create more applications to accelerate the professional features of any popular service. Make sure that you subscribe to the LinkedIn blog and other blogs of your favorite social networking sites for any LinkedIn related news. LinkedIn is slowly catching up with the mainstream social networking sites and becoming globally recognized by professionals.
Once you are finished making a scene within LinkedIn, you can start gaining more exposure by doing activities outside LinkedIn. The quickest way to do this is to set up a blog. Blogs are great to use because they are almost effortless to set up and the LinkedIn widgets make it easy to link the blog to LinkedIn. It is recommended to use blog services that are compatible with LinkedIn so that blog entries can be fetched. You need to be fairly consistent with blogging and you should also advertise your blogs in other social networks for added exposure. You can even try including your LinkedIn link in your profile so other contacts can check you out.
Social networking is the biggest buzz right now around the Internet with many of the most popular websites and companies having their own dedicated profile buttons leading to their respective social networking profiles. Early sites like YouTube and MySpace took the center stage and now there are buttons for LinkedIn as well.
This is a big surprise because LinkedIn has a targeted crowd unlike the other social networking sites. If you visit the LinkedIn homepage, you will see that professionals are the main target. If you are already a member in LinkedIn now, you’d probably agree and consider yourself a professional as well.
But the fact that LinkedIn buttons are made visible to the public leads people to believe that they are showing off their LinkedIn profiles for everyone to see. As a professional, you can say that your own profile is for professionals to look at, but how would non-professionals react to your profile if you expose it to them. If you don’t see yourself as a professional right now and saw someone else’s LinkedIn profile, you too might be wondering if LinkedIn is the next social network to hop into. In general, the main question here is: Is LinkedIn for non-professionals too? Despite what how LinkedIn describes itself, LinkedIn is definitely a network where anyone can get involved. Although it is obviously not for kids, there are a few facts that back up this claim.
There are No Strict Requirements to Join LinkedIn
There is no need to be intimidated in joining LinkedIn if you are not a member or inviting a non-professional person in your network. Registration doesn’t cost a thing unless you decide to take on the upgrade plans which aren’t recommended until you are more familiar with LinkedIn. You don’t have to submit any special documents or credentials either. Filling up your profile with useful documents to share will help in networking with others, but there is no major rule that is enforced.
High School and College Graduates may find LinkedIn Useful for a Head Start
A high school and college diploma are two things that must be present in any profile if you are hoping to get a good job. This happens to be one of the fields that you can enter in your LinkedIn profile. Even if you haven’t started with your first job as a professional, you can still slowly fill up your profile and connect with others early. LinkedIn doubles as a people finder and you might even hook up with others that graduated in the same school as you.
LinkedIn is like a Modern Job Directory
Professionals are not only searching for other professionals, but they are also searching for ordinary people who are willing to become professionals. Therefore if they see that your profile doesn’t have much credentials, but has a lot of information highlighting how ambitious of a person you are in relation to your interests, other LinkedIn professionals may come to you. LinkedIn could be the site to thank when you finally become a professional.
LinkedIn will continue to say that it is a site for professionals. But understand that anyone can and make full use of the services that they offer for their own benefits as long as it doesn’t violate their Terms of Agreement.
Awhile ago, the history of the LinkedIn was the center of discussion. Now it is time to look forward and see what we can expect in the future. There can be some points of time where things are really slow in LinkedIn and may go as far as discouraging you from using the service. No need to be discouraged too soon because LinkedIn is constantly at work in bringing in more features that should convince more people to join and existing members to stay. Before we get into the heart of things, let’s take a look at LinkedIn’s current state.
LinkedIn has recently broke the 35,000,000 users registered barrier and the number continues to grow and remember that just about all these people are professionals with many of them having high earnings yearly. The number of industries that these users represent is also growing. LinkedIn doesn’t have any problems with growth and it is obvious that more professionals will give LinkedIn a shot because of its unique service.
Now it is time to see what to expect from LinkedIn in the future. Knowing the future is important for your career so you can plan and adapt to the changes immediately and keep your career in an upward direction.
More Mainstream Exposure
Give it a couple of years and you won’t need to tell all your friends and former colleagues about LinkedIn anymore. LinkedIn has gained so much exposure that people that are looking for job directories should bump into LinkedIn before trying other job directory websites. That shouldn’t stop you from using the invite system right now because it is a wonderful tool in growing your network. Several 3rd party applications like Digsby – an instant messenger client that was mentioned earlier also include Digsby support which is a sign of LinkedIn’s ongoing progress.
Additional Job Directory and Social Networking Improvements
Other social networking websites and job directories are constantly making improvements to keep up with the current trend and competition. Most of these websites aim to give users the best experience and LinkedIn won’t allow itself to be left behind. LinkedIn already did the major move by unveiling its API and a few useful applications. More applications should follow in the not-so-distant future making it a lot easier for existing members to be productive.
More Job Opportunities
Many countries around the world are doing everything they can in creating new jobs for people to get themselves into. Since LinkedIn’s popularity is rapidly increasing especially in the US, more people will lean on LinkedIn in finding their dream job. This will encourage employers to exert more effort in hiring people online using LinkedIn channels.
The future of LinkedIn is looking pretty bright from here. There is no way to tell what exactly will happen to LinkedIn in the future until some blog entries are posted highlighting developments. Considering their success from the launch, LinkedIn will most likely amplify their success and add more improvements that will benefit the users.
After a few months of constantly using LinkedIn, you can probably consider yourself a natural in LinkedIn. Your profile should be pretty complete by now and you should have several trusting connections that serve as your basic building blocks in launching your professional career online. Never stop there and don’t hesitate to move forward because LinkedIn is a lot bigger than you think. There are more experienced LinkedIn users that make use of all the features and the long term efforts really pay off in their career. Here are some ways to add some power to your business game.
Uplift your Profile Even More
There will always be room for improvement in your profile. Although you can say that your profile is complete and looks professional enough to please people, using strong adjective words in certain parts won’t hurt and may even deliver bigger impacts to professionals that have also made a good profile. If you cannot find the right words, try to learn from other power users and see how they do it. Sometimes you might end up starting your profile from scratch. Your profile should never be static though because outdated profiles do not impress very well. Any changes or highlights that have taken place should be posted right away so others can track your progress.
Be Open with Your Information
You never know what others will ask you if they see some information lacking despite your claims that your profile is complete. Don’t wait for them to ask for these things, but try to bring the important information to them. Initiate invitations to people you are willing to connect to and make use of the LinkedIn badge so you can put it in your other social networking sites and blogs that you use. One of the goals in LinkedIn is making sure your full profile is seen by as many people as possible.
Join Several LinkedIn Groups
Some people view LinkedIn groups as a place where the common folks can get together make new connections. It can also be a place where new discussions and topics can be shared amongst each other to gain more experience and learn new things. Also, you are not by any means restricted to just a single group. Diversify yourself and join multiple groups to gain more exposure. With your updated profile, the chances of people contacting you are high.
Ask and Answer Questions
LinkedIn’s very own LinkedIn Answers is an excellent place to help other professionals get their questions answered. Helping people can be rewarding and may earn you some new partners that you can learn from. Spending even just a few minutes every day can really put your profile on the spotlight. Just be sure to answer questions that you are absolutely sure of. Understand your greatest strengths and use it to help others that are weak in the topic.
Once you have done all these things and stay consistent, more people should be contacting you which is always a good thing. When you are in that position, you can go even further by checking out the upgrade plans that LinkedIn offers so you can become more of a power user that helps power businesses all with the help of a special service.
When you join a social networking site or online dating website, what is the first thing that you do right after you activate your account? Of course you’ll find the latest picture of yourself and upload it serving as your primary picture and find other nice pictures to back it up in case people are interested. Then you would proceed in filling up all of the fields available like your age, birthplace, birthday, interests, favorites, hobbies, and other things that would give others a better idea on the kind of person you are. Social networking sites and online dating websites have a common feature that allows others to match people with others based on the interests and other profile fields in order to connect with new people.
Not all people like to do it this way as the more private individuals would rather leave things blank or put bogus information. That is entirely up to them and there is no rule on how to use these types of services.
But when it comes to online job directories, filling up your profile with accurate information is an absolute must if you want to hire people for your business or be hired in another. The more information that you have, the more likely visitors will be impressed and decide to message you for productive reasons.
With LinkedIn, it is even more important since LinkedIn has the features of both social networking sites and online job directories. In addition, the network is full of millions of professionals around the world so your profile must be perfect and complete to give that huge impression.
Filling up your profile is as easy as reaching the 100% mark in filling up all the fields. But it doesn’t end there because the actual content of what’s written counts more than the completeness of everything. LinkedIn allows a 120 character description for your professional headline which will be displayed under your name in your profile. Don’t waste it by putting a simple and boring description of you. Perk it up by adding some action and depth to it to leave a quick impression inviting the viewer to read more including the description which also counts.
Your profile description should be told in a story format where the summary covers all aspects and highlights the best in you. Blend in both the professional and personal aspects of you in a nutshell. Avoid repeating stuff that is found in your resume as it will count as redundant information which is not professional.
There is also an update box where you can post small notes that all people connected to you can see. Make good use of this box and show that you are very active in LinkedIn and invite people to follow what you are going through. Active people are more likely to land new connections and tighten the relationship with existing connections.
Once you feel confident about your profile, you can continue building your network as it will reflect your profile as well. Don’t forget to update it regularly when changes are necessary. Having a fully built LinkedIn profile is very rewarding and should definitely put you on the center stage of professionals.
