3 LinkedIn Improvements

"Professional is not a label you give yourself - it's a description you hope others will apply to you." ~ David Maister

Of all the social media platforms, LinkedIn is known as the “professional” one. It’s like the friend who always wears a suit and tie and carries a briefcase, standing out among his casually dressed peers. But instead of being odd, this distinction makes LinkedIn the perfect place for you to promote your professional business or your professional self. This article examines three ways to promote your business on LinkedIn, but they can be used to promote yourself, too.

1.      Use an Audience Poll

Yup, LinkedIn has polls. These are useful because you can get accurate feedback from your customers in a way that encourages them to continue interacting with you. LinkedIn polls even send a message to participants when the poll results are in, which means that they are reminded of you and your business again without you having to make an extra post or a specific reply to one of their comments.

Creating a poll is quite easy and can last from 1 day to 2 weeks. Here’s how to do it:

1.  Click  Start a post.

2.  Click Create a poll.

3.  In the Create a poll window, type your question and fill in the options.

o There is a minimum of two options and a maximum of four options on a poll.

o Click +Add option to add another option.

4.  Select the Poll duration from the dropdown.

o The default duration is one week.

5.  Click Next.

6.  Click the  Edit icon to edit the post.

o Select who you want to share the poll with.

7.  You can add more to the post in the What do you want to talk about? field (optional).

8.  Click Post.

(Create LinkedIn Polls)

2.  Find Clients or Contractors

You can use LinkedIn Services Marketplace to find clients or contractors. You might not have heard about this one because this service is less than a year old, so let me give you the rundown.

Any user can browse the Services Marketplace to find people who offer the services they need. These services come in a wide range and include accounting and finance, software development, and writing. If you want to hire a freelancer or a consultant, this is the place to go. All you must do is use the marketplace to create a request for proposals (RFP), or you can contact someone directly.

If you’re looking for clients, click the Open To button on your personal profile and create a service page. Then use the Services Marketplace to bid on projects, manage clients, and request reviews from clients. (Sonnenberg)

This way you can find the people you need without having to sign into a different app or set up a new profile anywhere else! It’s also a great way to see if your competitors are looking to hire in certain areas, just in case you were wondering.

3.      Revise Your LinkedIn Summary

This summary needs to be updated often for both business and personal profiles. The purpose of this summary is to let people meet you and get a feel for who you are—all without ever seeing this person. It’s fun because you never know who will be scanning your profile or when, so make sure it’s at its best! (DMI)

If you’re in need of ideas for how to do this, check out this link to a wonderful article about making your LinkedIn summary better: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/5-key-elements-of-a-killer-linkedin-summary

Now, it’s time to get to work; use these 3 pieces of advice to make your LinkedIn profile more professional and successful today!

Sources

“Create LinkedIn Polls.” Create LinkedIn Polls | LinkedIn Help, https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a522948/create-linkedin-polls?lang=en.

DMI. “5 Key Elements of a Killer Linkedin Summary.” Digital Marketing Institute, Digital Marketing Institute, 18 Feb. 2018, https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/5-key-elements-of-a-killer-linkedin-summary.

Sonnenberg, Anna. “10 Linkedin Marketing Features to Promote Your Business : Social Media Examiner.” Social Media Examiner | Social Media Marketing, 2021, https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/10-linkedin-marketing-features-to-promote-your-business/.)

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