What is LinkedIn and what to do with it?

Linkedin is a professional social network. Here you can share your professional portfolio, network with other professionals, and make yourself visible online (and not just when you're looking for a new assignment or job). Linkedin is a social media channel that should not be missing in your marketing mix. Below you can read what you can do with Linkedin and how to use it.

What is Linkedin?

Linkedin is a professional networking site and calls itself the largest professional network in the world. They want to bring professionals from all over the world together so that they are more successful and productive. As the world's largest professional networking site, Linkedin connects industry professionals and helps people find jobs, freelance work, clients, or potential partners.

It's an online resume and business card where potential clients and joint venture partners can find and contact you. But it's more than that! It is also a powerful channel to profile yourself as expert

If customers see you as an expert in your field, you will immediately see that reflected in your bank account. Everyone wants to do business with you. Customers know they get their money's worth when they knock on your door...

, an inevitable part of your digital strategy and an almost inexhaustible source of high-quality professional information.

So if you only create a Linkedin account and do nothing with it, you are missing a lot of opportunities!

Why use Linkedin?

With Linkedin, you can not only connect with people you know but also get in touch with the people who know your Linkedin connections. Start with a well-built portfolio to use the platform effectively and be seen and heard regularly by sharing valuable content and most importantly responding to others.

What is the advantage of Linkedin? What can you do with it?

• Easily keep your network informed of your activities in one go.
• Quickly find colleagues and fellow students from the past.
• Your network's contact details are always up-to-date because everyone keeps their contact details (e.g. new phone number).
• Connections can give you a recommendation.
• Expand your professional network by introducing your first-degree connections to second-degree connections (contacts of your connections that may be of interest to you).
• Join groups around a certain topic to exchange information and further expand your network.
• Find vacancies.
• At the same time, recruiters and headhunters use to find candidates for vacancies.
• Create a company profile for your own company.
• Follow companies to stay informed of current vacancies or news.
• Ask questions to a global platform and you can draw on an unprecedentedly large network.

How to use Linkedin?

Linkedin mainly focuses on real business networking. For example, via Linkedin, you can maintain contact with business contacts, ask for advice from industry peers or find a new job. Pages on Linkedin look businesslike and maybe a little boring. You will not come across any games or holiday photos. It is not a site for relaxation and entertainment, but an extension of your business life. How can you use LinkedIn?

#1 Create a Linkedin profile

First of all, you need a Linkedin profile. You can also use one of the paid options such as a Premium subscription, Sales Navigator or Learning. But a free Linkedin account is sufficient for most professionals. Include a professional photo because people are reluctant to contact someone without a photo.

Write an appropriate headline and summary. These are the first things others see. Include the highlights of your work and life experience in your profile. Also, fill in your education and add some skills and then get active!

• Read all the tips for a good Social Media Sites profile here.

#2 Be active and respond

If you have your Linkedin profile in order, then become active. Pay attention to your network by responding to messages or questions your connections post. Or congratulate them on their birthday or a new position or assignment (you will receive notifications about this from Linkedin).

You have to maintain a network ;)

Also, visit the site (preferably every day) and pay attention to the people in your industry who matter. What do they post? What do they comment on? Join them. Also, subscribe to groups that are interesting and relevant to you. As you become more active, your connections will also grow.

#3 Expand your network

It is good to actively expand your network. So if you meet interesting people at a conference or networking event, you can invite them on Linkedin (of course you always do this with a personal invitation).

It works just like the 'Six Degrees of Separation concept. You begin to connect with those you know and those who know you. Through them, you can build a larger network to find a job, freelance work, clients, or potential partners.

Suppose you are looking for a new job, an assignment, or advice on a certain subject. You can let all your contacts know this at once. Since Linkedin is a network of professionals, there is a good chance that one of your connections can mean something to you or maybe know someone who can help you with this. So the more connections you have, the more people you reach.

More than 650 million professionals use Linkedin to grow their careers or business. Unlike other social networks where you can become "friends" with anyone, Linkedin is about building strategic relationships. The number of connections is, therefore, less important than the quality. Linkedin will stop displaying your actual number of connections above 500 because it's about quality, not quantity.

#4 Show your expertise

Pages on Linkedin look businesslike and maybe a little boring. You will not come across any games or holiday photos. It is not a site for relaxation and entertainment, but an extension of your business life. Nevertheless, it is a powerful channel that makes us visible on the Internet because we are regularly listened to. You can do this by responding to messages from others, but also by adding content yourself.

Linkedin is increasingly becoming a content platform!

You can use the site to profile yourself online and build your expert status. Share articles that you find interesting and especially provide them with your point of view or opinion. And it's even better to publish your content. Of course, you make sure that you have researched the facts well and that it is relevant. Don't leave comments on your content unanswered. So also respond if others respond to this

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#5 Join groups

Join different groups that match your interests and participate in discussions.

These can be groups where your potential clients or customers are active, or where you can exchange knowledge with industry peers. If you are a member of the same group as another Linkedin user, it is a great way to invite others to your network.

Each group discussion contains its vacancies. Furthermore, it is a place to share your expertise and show what knowledge you have in-house. But also to build relationships and trust, which is necessary to attract new customers or cooperation partners.

#6 Create a company page as an entrepreneur

It is in any case good to make a Linkedin company page, no matter how big or small your company is (so also as a sole proprietor). This makes your company easier to find on Linkedin. Others can find more information about your company, products, services or vacancies.

But if you do not intend to post updates on your page and do nothing with it? Then why should you create a Linkedin business page?

Even if you do nothing with this, it is still good to create a Linkedin company page and claim it. Why? Your company is discoverable so people can find your company information on Linkedin. And you can link this to your profile so that a logo appears at your company (if people click on this, they will go to your company page).