Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Even if you’re absolutely sure you’ll never need another job again, know that for many professionals, LinkedIn is their go-to tool to see what the folks they are meeting are all about.

A strong LinkedIn profile could be the tipping point for landing that board position, or inspiring your current employer to notice the diversity of your background and how your professional point of view is playing in the marketplace.

There are LinkedIn successes – and then you have people like Lewis Howes, who started a seven-figure business by leveraging LinkedIn in multiple ways.

But it’s more likely that you (like many others) find yourself spending hours upon hours on LinkedIn – but you don’t get the results you want (and maybe none at all).

What’s wrong? Why aren’t you getting results?

Here are seven best practices for getting the most out of LinkedIn. They worked for me, and I think one or more of these tips will help you too.

Social selling is part activity, part reputation. If you're writing insightful comments on your prospects' blogs, responding to their tweets, and liking their shared content, you've got the activity bit down pat. But if your LinkedIn profile doesn't include your three jobs and features a cropped picture of you from prom, you can't really call yourself a social seller. 

If you'd like to start a social selling initiative in earnest, then begin by revamping your LinkedIn profile. Just as you're researching potential buyers on LinkedIn to learn more about them, they're looking at your profile to judge whether they want to do business with you. Don't ruin great messaging and positive interactions with an outdated, sparse, or inappropriate profile. 

So, what exactly should your LinkedIn profile look like? We've put together an infographic that breaks down the ideal social selling LinkedIn profile, section by section. Stride into 2015 with social selling style.

LinkedIn has opened the floodgates to a world of content with their new publishing platform and it’s an amazing way to expose your writing to a highly-professional network of readers.

Top influencers are already publishing on LinkedIn, so people are seeking out content on the platform to read. This cannot be said about your typical WordPress blog.

Despite its awesome content marketing potential, The LinkedIn Publishing Platform is still new and understanding what makes a post on the platform perform well is relatively unknown....

What’s the difference between your resume and your LinkedIn profile? For some people, the two are practically identical. Each lists work history, career accomplishments, notable projects, and perhaps a fun fact or two. Maybe your LinkedIn page has a picture on it, but otherwise, they’re the same.

But there’s a slight problem with this approach. Your LinkedIn profile isn’t an online resume.

My first pillar of social selling is moving “from resume to digital reputation,” and it requires looking at your social profiles from the eyes of the customer you’re trying to earn trust from. If you’re bragging about your quota crushing abilities or merely listing your work experience, that’s not interesting or appealing to potential clients....

The folks at LinkedIn are busy. They are rolling out refinements and new features at an unprecedented rate. Staying on top of these opportunities is the key to staying on top of your online personal branding. If you want your profile to stand out, start using my five favorite LinkedIn upgrades.

If you’ve spent any time learning about blog promotion, then you know that guest posting is one of the most popular ways to grow a following on your blog.

Publishing on LinkedIn is similar to guest posting and you can now start reaching LinkedIn’s 332 million members.

Here are a few reasons that you might want to experiment with publishing on LinkedIn....

If you only view LinkedIn as the site where you keep your digital resume and virtual business card collection, you won’t see how it really can help grow your business, expand your content’s audience, and build valuable connections.

LinkedIn is the definitive professional publishing platform and one of the largest business publishers in the world, according to Todd Wheatland, Head of Content Strategy at King Content.

In his presentation at Content Marketing World 2014, Wheatland noted that LinkedIn is often cited as the No. 1 source for new business. He pointed to content marketing phenoms Jay Baer, Joe Pulizzi, and Lee Odden, all of whom have named LinkedIn as their top source for new business as they built their multi-million-dollar companies in the last five years. It’s not just for entrepreneurs either. Wheatland’s previous employer, Kelly Services Inc., also cites LinkedIn as the top generator for new business.

Urbane clothing brand Van Heusen, one of the leading lifestyle brands for men and women, maintains a professional yet chic brand image targeting working professionals in the corporate chain.

To see a brand thoroughly understand its audience and run a digital campaign specifically on a channel that caters to that specific audience is like a breeze of fresh air. Urbane clothing brand Van Heusen, one of the leading lifestyle brands for men and women, maintains a professional yet chic brand image targeting working professionals in the corporate chain.

What better platform than LinkedIn to host a contest for professionals? After all, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social network boasting of over 300 million members, approximately 26 million of which are from India....