The Business of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a well known platform for searching for jobs, and of the different social media platforms it is the best for job searches. However, LinkedIn is capable of more than just a job hunting platform and it can be used as another platform for public relations. Companies are capable of creating their own page which individuals can follow and allow them to start a conversation with the company they follow. LinkedIn is an employee driven social network so the more on board your employees are with having a great profile and actively participate on the site. As with any social media platform you are starting to work on, start out with a search of LinkedIn and see what other people are doing and take note of your likes and dislikes.

A major use of LinkedIn is for networking but do not spam to create connections otherwise LinkedIn may deactivate your account. LinkedIn does offer paid accounts, this will grant you with a nicer looking profile, better positioning when you apply for a job, access to see all of the people who viewed your profile in the last 90 days, the ability to view third degree profiles, and extra search filters among other things. For many people I don't think a paid account is extremely beneficial but if LinkedIn is your main platform than it may be worth it.

Looking active is a good way to to create trust and will keep you fresh in the mind among important prospects due to name recognition. Posting updates with informative content and participating in LinkedIn groups are two ways you can stay active on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn also has a blogging feature built in called LinkedIn Pulse. The pulse feature is part of LinkedIn's effort to increase it's usefulness to not only be useful for those searching for jobs but for those who are already employed. The Pulse feature allows you to post and see content relative to your industry which allows you to stay up to date on industry trends and shows you are trustworthy and intelligent in your field of industry. LinkedIn Pulse allows you to post on other social media platforms and will track all of the traffic together, if it gets enough momentum then it can go viral and create even more connections. LinkedIn is a professional social media platform and is continuing to develop to create better ways for people to connect and grow their network.