LinkedIn is my primary social network and, having just celebrated its 15th birthday, has finally gotten the design of member Profiles right.
Over time I haven’t been happy with several of LinkedIn’s changes, especially when a few years ago they decided to hide your contact information. They eventually undid that gaff by moving it in small type to the right of your Profile. But the new Profile design gets my thumbs up
I hope it’s not immodest of me to use an image of my own Profile at the top of this post, but it helps to illustrate the changes. What’s neat is that you get the most important information you need at first glance: Your Professional Headline, the name of your company, education, link to your contact information and link to your connections. Then you see the beginning of your Summary statement
Is Your Information Listed?
It’s surprising how many members don’t list their contact information. By default, LinkedIn only shows your LinkedIn address. But that’s not enough. It’s great to make new connections on LinkedIn, but you want to develop and nurture them offline.
You may not know that LinkedIn allows you to have links to three different web addresses in your Profile. You may want to link to more than one of your websites, or to pages within your site, as I have.
It’s easy to input your contact information. Here are the easy steps.
To add a website:
- Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Click View profile.
- Click See contact info to the right of your Professional Headline
- In the Contact info pop-up window, click the Edit icon.
- In the Edit contact info pop-up window, enter your information in the fields provided.
- Click Save.
Are You Up to Date?
When was the last time you reviewed your LinkedIn Profile? Is your information up to date? Do you have a professional-looking photo of yourself in place? Have you filled out your most important Profile information, such as Experience, Your Articles and Activity, Recommendations, and Accomplishments?
If your Profile is only partially complete it fails to demonstrate your professionalism to your peers.
Recommendations are very important. Ask clients and former managers to recommend you. If you’re too shy to ask, then write a recommendation for a colleague and you’ll find they will likely reciprocate. People do read those Recommendations when they’re looking to hire internally or retain a consultant.
LinkedIn is the most important social network for those working in the business, government and non-profit worlds. You owe it to yourself to have a sterling Profile that reflects your skills, experience and brand.
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