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Top 10 reasons you should be using LinkedIn
Posted on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 under blogging, social marketing, social networking by Dustin Brewer.There are a lot of social networking sites out there that can help you network with other people on the internet. Some of them are there to share stories, images or video. LinkedIn is there to help you share yourself with other professionals. You can get endless amounts of work on LinkedIn if you simply sign up and add people that you already know to your network. Understanding the importance of LinkedIn and how LinkedIn can help you become a more networked and well-known industry professional is impossibly helpful for everyone.
LinkedIn can help you become better networked
#1 It can bring you more money and job opportunities
LinkedIn can bring you job opportunities, freelance and fulltime that can help you to move of within your industry. It doesn’t even require you to do much extra work, you may want to add others in your industry but aside from that there is very little work that needs to be done to ensure that your name is in the industry pool. You may want to participate in LinkedIn answers to get your name out there a little better. There are also posted jobs on LinkedIn that you can put your name in the hat for aside from just being networked with others.
#2 It can help you keep in touch with industry leaders
You don’t have to just add the people you know on LinkedIn, you can have others introduce you to someone that you may want to know. Someone that can help you with your career or possibliy someone that would be willing to go into a business venture with you. I have been contacted by multiple people about blogging ventures recently through LinkedIn.
#3 Stay in touch with other professionals
You may have the best job out there or be an industry leader yourself, but LinkedIn is an easy and professional way to stay in touch with other professionals you have worked with or for. It is also an excellent way to stay in touch with other professionals in your industry that you may have met at a convention. It is better than sharing your MySpace or Facebook account and other professionals getting to see how unprofessional you really are.
#4 Get recommended by other professionals
You can easily get recommended by other professionals that you have worked with by just asking. These recommendations add a lot of power to your ability to get hired or your caliber of professionalism within your industry. The more people that recommend you the better your profile will look to others in your industry and connections list.
#5 Get answers to your questions from other professionals
You can easily ask a question on LinkedIn to find help from other industry professionals. Their answers area is very helpful and there are always quick responses to your questions. It can even be a way for you to further network— beyond the normal benefits of getting a quick and reliable answer to your questions.
#6 LinkedIn is your online resume
There are more and more people leaning towards a paperless method of doing business. Global warming is a real issue. I would personally almost prefer to see someones LinkedIn profile before they are hired then a regular resume. There is a lot more information available on a LinkedIn profile than would be available on a resume. You have your work history, school history, bio, web sites and how much work you have put into networking with other professionals. Which says a lot about who you are and how serious you are about the industry you are in.
#7 LinkedIn is like having a website
For those that don’t have a website or a means to have people locate them on Google. LinkedIn fills that void. I know that I see my personal LinkedIn profile come up in Google near the top of the results. This can help other professionals find you if they have lost your phone number or email address. It can even help other companies locate you if they are interested in hiring you for contract or full time work.
#8 Helps you keep track of you
I know that anytime I have to go and make a new resume I always have to reference my old resume to make sure I don’t miss any important points that I want to include. It is nice to have an online version of your resume to reference and ensure that you are including all the pertinent information that you will need to use.
#9 You can put your picture on it
Last year they added the ability to put your picture on your profile. You can now be recognized easier if someone has forgotten your name but remembers what you look like. It is also helpful for people to remember what you look like if it has been awhile since they met you. Especially if you are about to meet them in a public place that may require somewhat quick recognition.
#10 It isn’t MySpace
It isn’t going to send you spam from people wanting to be your friend. There isn’t a way to spam LinkedIn users and there isn’t any way to add additional code that can be manipulated to trick you into giving out your LinkedIn account information. You don’t have to worry about other not-so-savvy professionals adding glitter and 18 videos to their profile either.
What reasons do you use LinkedIn?
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23 Responses to “Top 10 reasons you should be using LinkedIn”
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About Dustin Brewer
Dustin Brewer is a freelance web designer based out of Oklahoma City, OK passionate about web standards, and beautiful web design. Dustin Brewer has been in the web design industry for over 8 years through freelance and professional experience. If you are interested in hiring Dustin Brewer please visit the web design services page to find out more information. You can also checkout the web design portfolio.
I have a Linkedin account, but I have not spent much time using it. I might have 10 contacts currently. But all the reasons you give might encourage me to spend a bit more time using it for networking.
Linkedin is truly the most professional social media environment and any respectable business man, entrepreneur or simple blogger should have one.By the way you can add me to your network here :d
Couldn’t I have learned all of these things by going to their website?
Oh, that’s right you wouldn’t have gotten paid by doing that.
@Pixel, tibi: I’m glad you liked the article.
@Burt: I don’t do paid reviews of services or companies on this site. I did this because LinkedIn is a service you should be using for the reasons I have listed out on this article.
Dustin, I was just on Linkedin, added Tibi, and would add you as well.
A question for you. Are the paid Linkedin Memberships worth the cost?
Here is My Profile if you’d like to add me as well.
Thanks for the add Pixel, I graciously accepted. Sent a invite to you too Dustin, you should be receiving it soon
.
I added both of you. I haven’t opted for the paid membership yet so I can’t say whether it is worth the cost personally. But I have considered getting one, I haven’t quite run into a situation yet that I needed one of the paid features though.
Top 10 reasons you should be using LinkedIn…
There are a lot of social networking sites out there that can help you network with other people on the internet. Some of them are there to share stories, images or video. LinkedIn is there to help you share yourself with other professionals. You can g…
[...] Comments [...]
Just a note that you do get spam on LinkedIn. A lot of recruiters will try to add you and InMail you.
#11 on this list should be you can keep in contact with old co-workers and see what they are up to.
Regardless, I very much like LinkedIn
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[...] Top 10 reasons you should be using LinkedIn | web design news and style Understanding the importance of LinkedIn and how LinkedIn can help you become a more networked and well-known industry professional is impossibly helpful for everyone. (tags: business career) [...]
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Kathleen…
One notable blogging tool that does not support trackback yet is Blogger.It has since been implemented in most other blogging tools….
[...] es hacer conexiones de tipo profesional entre personas y personas y empresas, en el blog de Dustin Brewer encotré un post muy interesante llamado: Top 10 reasons you should be using LinkedIn las cuales [...]
Having a LinkedIn account is surely a must for every professionals today. I often offered for better job opportunities just because people are reading recommendations written on LinkedIn.
It also offers your resume to be searched thru search engines like google. We’re promoting ourselves!
[...] Here’s a simple post by Dustin Brewer that explains the Top Ten Reasons You Should Be Using Linkedin. [...]
There is no proof that global warming is a “real issue”, and for you to state that is rediculous. It’s funny how the whole global warming histeria came about by a guy who had about 20 x the carbon output than the average american. But wait…all you have to do is purchase in his carbon credit company, and everything is forgiven! Al Gore’s documentary was disproven in so many ways. He even stole footage from a movie to help in his lies.
I’m not saying global warming is necessarily non existant..i’m saying there is no proof to support your rediculous claims. Yeah, i know there are thousands of scientists supporting this idea, but there are just as many who don’t. I believe in facts, patterns, and charts. The earth has natural cycles. Gore only showed you a portion of the timeline. If you look at what we know in a wider gamut, then you will see that there are larger cycles. There is also a lot to do with the sun. Ever think of that. Ever wonder why there are global record cold temperatures this year? Or why the polar caps are actually getting larger in many areas? It’s all a scam so they can make money off of their carbon credits, and even possibly install a “global tax” to fight global warming. You people who believe in this nonsense are brainwashed like you are about Obama (the savior who, despite the popular opinion to stop illegal immigration and stop the bailing out of wallstreet, does his own thing to pay off his highest campaign funders. Like McCain, Obama is a sellout…you will see this more in time. He has already proven it, but people are too blind to see i guess
Thank u for ur information. i will start with linkedin.
[...] I will share the most important points of an article by Dustin Brewer, called Top 10 reasons you should be using LinkedIn which shows some of the benefits of joining the [...]