LinkedIn – What Is It and Why Use It?

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 Fingers on keyboard creating a LinkedIn page -

Creating a LinkedIn Presence

This post about LinkedIn is one of the most boring posts I’ll ever create. Why? It is because I’m simply providing the Table of Contents to the manual you will receive from me when you take my class about How To Create an Effective LinkedIn Presence. But, first…

What Is LinkedIn and Why Should You Use It?

  • Personal or business. Anyone with an email address can create a LinkedIn Page within minutes. It’s free and easy. You do not need a Premium upgrade to succeed.
  • LinkedIn has 200 million members. It’s the leading social networking site for professionals, so business-to-business companies should create a Company Page. Although Facebook may be more commonly used (at the time of this writing) for Business-to-Consumer interactions, that is changing.
  • Unlike other social media tools, LinkedIn is to be used BY PROFESSIONALS – FOR PROFESSIONAL REASONS. All content should be free of political or religious slants, unless that is your business. All content should be free of racism (and other “isms”), profanity, lewd language or images, etc.
  • LinkedIn is an essential tool for job-seekers. Recruiters are using it to determine whether to read your resume. It also is becoming a vehicle of choice for business professionals. If you do not have a well-executed LinkedIn Page, many people (especially Recruiters) will discredit or discount you and choose someone else with whom to work.
  • LinkedIn is the primary social media platform used by professionals and business people to connect with others. Users have a personal, profile, which enables them to document their professional information, skills, knowledge, and experience.
  • Additionally, many of the people on LinkedIn also want to promote their business, so LinkedIn has the facility to produce Company pages. Company pages also have the facility to promote pages and posts and to analyze the reach of the page.
  • I can teach you all the basics and give you a manual, so you don’t have to remember everything I said in class.

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