Linkedin Answers – professionals get involved and get informed

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Linked has a nice and neat little title bar across the top of the page that looks a little like this:

Linkedin Answers professionals get involved and get informed

The highlighted part is the part i will be focusing on in this post.  Whatever you do, DO NOT ignore this section. It might sound unexciting but that simple word is incredibly powerful, most of the time what we seek are answers, and by using this section you can pose questions to get answers from professionals and reply to other questions as a professional.

Its so simple is genius.

What you have here is a wealth of freely given knowledge to questions and specifics you have related to your business and each and every question or answer is linked to a user profile allowing you to access the value of the response based on the information contained in their profiles and offering up the opportunity to make a valuable connection and addition to your network.

Answer Questions on Linkedin

Lets start with the Answer Questions section. Click the option and you will be presented with a page like this.

Linkedin Answers professionals get involved and get informed

First things first, check the right hand column titled “Browse” and select the relevant section you need. Its most likely going to be the sector your involved in.  When you select your sector or area, the page will refresh and the questions that appear will probably seem quite familiar.

From this point your on your own!

Its completely up to you what questions you respond to in this section or if you prefer you can simply review them and the responses already made.  I would encourage you to get involved though, thats where you will really benefit from interaction rather than solely via observation.

Ask Questions on Linkedin

Next we check out the Linkedin Ask Questions option. Linkedin Answers professionals get involved and get informed

To be honest, its not exactly brain surgery. Its basically a matter of filling in the blanks and making your questions as specific and accurate as possible so the repsonses are on target.  All your questions and answers get stored in the option “My Q&A” so you can review them at any time and after that its a matter of dedication on your part and how involved you want to be.  Believe me, its most certinaly worth it!

Adding Applications to your Linkedin profile

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On your linkedin profile there is an easily overlooked option called “Add application”. This feature allows you to install some partner plugins to expand even further upon your profile and offer up another avenue for viewers of your public profile.  When your logged into Linkedin, click on your edit profile option and just below your summary you shoulkd see this.

Adding Applications to your Linkedin profile

Add an Linkedin application

As you can see above the it also displays the WordPress application I have installed, linked to this blog so when I post it updates automatically on Linkedin.  (Its a little strange seeing the other Linkedin articles I wrote earlier this week displayed there as well…spooky!)

When you select “Add Application” you are offered a range of options to choose from to add to your profile. All of them are pretty self explanatory and when you select one its a matter of clicking a few buttons and adding in some necessary information (such as your blog RSS feed) and its done.

One point to note is that these applications are only viewable by your connections, they do not affect your public profile (at least not as far as I am aware or have managed to achieve) but rather they are only visible to your connections in your Linkedin network.

Adding Applications to your Linkedin profile

And thats adding an application! Simple really. Any questions or additional notes, dont be afraid to hit the comments below and drop me a note.

Review your Linkedin Profile and expand upon it

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If you have followed my previous posts and created your linkedin profile and the custom URL settings then its time to review, complete and expand upon the information you have published.

Expanding on your Linkedin profile

As I mentioned, the more transparent and complete your profile the better on a number of different levels. When connecting with people you will inevitably read their public profile.  If it isn’t up to scratch, would you connect to them and if yours isn’t up to scratch can you expect them to connect with you?  Your public profile is a reflection of you and your ability, so make sure its as comprehensive as possible.

Your Linkedin profile photo

Don’t underestimate the meaning of a profile photo on linked in. We all like to know who we are “meeting” and a good photo adds character to the profile.  It is not necessary to put a passport style photo (or even a mugshot), in fact, just don’t do it but you definitely should have a photo.

The photo is an at a glance representation of you and who you are, if anything just ensure its descent quality, clear and most importantly isn’t negative (that means dont be using a photo from facebook on a night out, after you’ve drank ten pints, while on a stag party, in a strip bar, people can tell these sorts of things, honestly, they can :P)

Personally, I have a semi casual profile photo on my profile (as you can see) but there is a reason for that. I use the very same image on every account and profile or site that I interact with on the web.  In fact ists the same photo that’s at the top of my blog.  I do this to maintain consistency across sites and also for a little extra strngth in branding purposes and I would encourage that you do the same.

Review your Linkedin Profile and expand upon it

The benefits are realised later when people can associate your photo across many mediums and systems with one individual, so make sure you have a photo your comfortable with and remember, if you change it you should see to changing all your other profiles to match (OK, not essential but I’m a stickler for maintaining consistency)!

Linkedin profile progress bar

You may notice that linkedin provides a small progress bar (usually located under your profile photo) while you are filling in your information. This handy little feature gradually fills up as you add more information and you aim to get it to 100% ideally.  under the progress bar and it will tell you what you need to do to increase the value of your profile.  This could be things such as adding in more detail on your summary or getting another recommendation from a connection.  Its also great for spotting the points you may have over looked previously.

Review your Linkedin Profile and expand upon it

How to present your Linkedin profile

How you represent yourself in your profile is paramount.  Suffice to say I could write for days and weeks on “how it should be done” but I don’t need to.  Chris Brogan has a great post titled “Make your Linkedin profile work for you” that covers the points you need to consider and address when looking at a profile from someone elses point of view. I recommend you read and digest what he says there and ultimately apply it.

Begin to build your Linkedin network

You can start building your network straight away. There is a variety of ways to begin, but I think the most obvious is to start with adding people already on linkedin who you know.  You can do this by importing a CSV file from outlook, or directly from Gmail, Yahoo, Windows Live or AOL (a good incentive to make sure these details are all properly maintained!). All the instructions are included on how to make this process simple and easy on the site.

Alternatively you can of course use the search if you know people directly on Linkedin. Just pop their name in the People search bar and add any other details you wish to make the search more refined and the results are instant.  Then its a matter of asking them to accept a connection with you by clicking the “add to network” option, visible when you mouse over their name, and choosing the relevant option to make the connection. It really is that simple.

The final point I will make for now is this.

Dont stop adding to your Linkedin profile

Once its done, its not done.  Your only getting started. It will, to some extent develop naturally in line with your situation, but it should be reviewed regularly and adapted to fit the requirements of the time or how you are presenting yourself. This will be more obvious once you start becoming familiar with other users profiles and also when your become involved in groups and discussions ( thats the amother point I will be covering by the way.)