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The LinkedIn platform is always evolving, adding features that will help you build your personal brand and connect with your target audience. This two-part article was designed to make you aware of some of these powerful features.
The first of two articles focused on items that will help you tap your creativity to build and expand your personal brand. In this article, we’ll unlock other important features that will help you reach farther with your network and increase your efficiency as you use LinkedIn.
5. Download a list of your connections. One of the most valuable things about LinkedIn is the ability for you to keep all your contacts in one place and to be able to connect with them over time. Having your people in your email contacts is valuable—you own your roster, but the challenge is that people leave companies, and if your link to them is only through their company email (which it often is), you’ve lost touch with them. Regardless of how many times your contacts change jobs, it’s likely that their LinkedIn profile will be a constant throughout as they jump from ship to ship. That means, even when that email gets a bounce, you still have a way of interacting with them. Of course, companies come and go, and LinkedIn features change all the time, so regularly (at least once a quarter) download a list of your contacts and store them for safe keeping.
6. Research others on the DL. Looking to recruit high-quality staff, check out a competitor or get some intel on a prospective client? Or you’re just shy and don’t want people knowing that you’re checking them out? Well, Private Mode can be your best friend. In your privacy settings, you can choose “anonymous LinkedIn member” in your profile viewing options—which allows you to be totally discreet in your research. Just beware that this kind of anonymity comes at price. When you are using Private Mode, you won’t be able to see the subset of people who visit your profile. That’s fair, right?
7. Help people pronounce your name correctly. If you’re like me, and your name sometimes causes people to verbally stumble, make it easy for those who are getting to know you by sharing an audio clip of you saying your name the way you like to hear it. It demonstrates your brand attribute of empathy, taking some of the pressure off a new contact who would otherwise have to guess.
8. Access your assets. Let’s face it, LinkedIn has come a long way since the days when it was just your virtual resume and the home of e-networking. It’s now the place where you go to manage your career, grow your personal brand and engage with your audience. The evolution has been vast and swift. That means it’s hard to stay on top of all the LinkedIn things you have going on. When you’re on the home page, near the top of the lefthand column that has your profile image at the top, is a helpful option called “My items.” This is where you can get easy access to things like the LinkedIn Learning courses you’re taking, the projects you have initiated and the posts you have saved. It’s a time-saving feature that you’ll appreciate the more you use it. Expect LinkedIn to add other important items to the list so you have easy, frustration free access.
LinkedIn is brimming with ways to boost your brand and streamline your strategies for success. These eight features (in this article and the previous) are some of my favorites and I know they’ll make your life easier too.
William Arruda is a keynote speaker, author, co-founder of CareerBlast.TV and creator of the LinkedIn Profile Type Indicator (LPTI) which measures your LinkedIn profile likability and credibility.
