how to use linkedin : linkedin companies & linkedin personal

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2011 v1.0 A Getting Started Guide by spiderhousepr.com - all rights reserved 46 University Street, Belfast. BT7 1HB I www.spiderhousepr.com I [email protected]

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A free guide on how to use Linkedin - available for download. Covers Linkedin Companies and Linkedin Personal profiles - groups, events, discussions and more. The guide is aimed at beginners or those who require a helping hand in getting started with a few helpful tips. Enjoy :)

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Page 1: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

2011 v1.0A Getting Started Guide by spiderhousepr.com - all rights reserved

46 University Street, Belfast. BT7 1HB I www.spiderhousepr.com I [email protected]

Page 2: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

LINKEDIN : COMPANIES & PROFILES

Gaining Connections ! 3

Linkedin Etiquette! 4

Networking & Communication! 4

Groups! 4

Q&A! 4

Events! 5

Search! 5

Personalise! 5

Going Premium! 5

PRIVACY! 5

Automating Your Updates ! 6

Recommendations/Testimonials ! 6

Useful Applications! 6

AN INTRODUCTION TO LINKEDIN COMPANIES! 7

How To Administer Your Linkedin Company ! 7

Using Linkedin Companies ! 8

Instructions for Employees to Connect! 8

Removing & Merging Incorrect Companies! 8

Resources ! 9

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Page 3: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

GAINING CONNECTIONSThe simplest way is to import your address book or using the search bar and searching by name. Once you have a few connections you will usually find some more via mutual connections.

Click on the profile of a connection and scroll down...to the right side you will see:

Click on “See all Connections” - there is a very good chance you will have connections in common. (note: some users hide this section in their privacy settings)

You can also seek connections through industry or location-specific groups.

When adding a connection you will generally need to add some form of verification that you actually know the person...

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Page 4: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

This is where “groups” can often come in handy for prospecting someone...(see below)

Also promote your profile on your blog or contact page (click here)

LINKEDIN ETIQUETTE

Itʼs really down to personal choice how you use Linkedin, but in general the etiquette is more business-like and respectful than other networks. If you choose to connect with people you do not know, we recommend you have a valid reason for doing so....and include a short message with the connection request

NETWORKING & COMMUNICATIONIf you wish to get “hands on” with Linkedin there are many industry and sector related groups to join, questions to answer and events to attend!

GROUPS

By joining groups you get to engage with people within your sector along with potential investors or employers.

If you create a group be sure to add keywords in the group name - this increases the changes of people finding you! Some groups even allow you to share your discussions on Twitter, giving you even more exposure.

One very powerful feature of “groups” is that it allows you to make direct contact with other group members. This is very important when prospecting as you will find it difficult to make direct contact by other means (unless they are in your contacts network or you pay for a premium account).

Q&A

Answering questions will project you as a leader in your field and asking them opens you up for engagement and conversation. It also increases activity on your stream and therefore exposure...plus it gives the option for people to follow you.

When answering questions try to personalize the answer to the personʼs business. This increases the likelyhood they will pay attention to you and maybe forge a business relationship. Ask for them to contact you personally if they have further questions.

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Page 5: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

EVENTS

Like other social networks, when users RSVP your event it shows in their news stream. Events are easy to create in Linkedin - find the link under “more” on the menu bar.

SEARCH

Utilize Linkedin advanced search feature and really drill down into the people you are trying to find - http://www.linkedin.com/search

PERSONALISE

Be personal as much as possible - people are more likely to remember personal contacts than being contacted in a “cold” manner. Do you have anything in common with them that could forge a stronger connection?

GOING PREMIUM

Many companies will benefit from Linkedin premium service, especially B2Bs. If you are seriously looking for someone currently outside your reach a modest monthly payment allows you to contact them direct along with a host of other features including; advanced search, the ability to unlock your profile (people outside of your connections will be able to contact you) and expanded profile views of everyone.

PRIVACY

We wont touch on this too much as it is a massive subject and one which is well documented within Linkedin help, however one thing you should be aware of that is not very obvious...

The “follow” feature - this essentially allows anyone to follow you without you knowing. It could be a competitor, an employer or someone you prefer not to see your updates.

There is not many ways around this unless you want to use Linkedin in a rather unsocial way...which pretty much defeats the purpose! So play nice and deem everything you say as being “public”!

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Page 6: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

AUTOMATING YOUR UPDATESKeeping your profile up to date is important - it keeps you current and visible in the news stream of your connections. If you are Twitter user one of the easiest ways of doing this is to link your Twitter profile to your Linkedin profile and give it permission to automatically update your status.

This is a great method of keeping contacts up to date on what is going on, however we strongly recommend you also participate in non-automated conversation!

RECOMMENDATIONS/TESTIMONIALSOnce you have built up your connections why not ask some previous clients or employers for recommendations? A few recommendations helps improve your profile to potential clients and employers. How many recommendations you get will depend a lot on your background (or the nature of your business!).

USEFUL APPLICATIONSSimilar to many other platforms, Linkedin utilises applications to enhance user experience. You can browse apps and access them via the “More” drop-down menu on the menubar (click here: http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=application_directory&trk=hb_side_apps).

A few recommendations:

Slidehare presentations - display presentations within your profileReading List By Amazon - great to convey your personality or business interestsTweets - display your tweets & have the ability to retweet others from within LinkedinEvents - helps you promote & share events

Phone Applications

I use an iphone and the official Linkedin App is great - it even supports “bumping” which means you can “bump” phones together at a (real world) networking event for an instant Linkedin connection! How fab? (requires wireless)

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Page 7: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

AN INTRODUCTION TO LINKEDIN COMPANIES

THIS SECTION IS AIMED AT BUSINESS OWNERS WHO WANT/HAVE A COMPANY PROFILE ON LINKEDIN

Linkedin company pages are still in “early days” development however they have proved popular and are growing quickly with recently upgraded features.

If you are a publicly listed company, the chances are Linkedin will have already found you and added some of your details to their database.

HOW TO ADMINISTER YOUR LINKEDIN COMPANYLogin to Linkedin as normal and find your company. You should be in “overview” mode. To the right of the page you will see buttons to edit your company:

Here you can decide who has permission to modify your company details:

From the “edit” area you can perform simple admin tasks such as changing your description to more involved actions like adding products/services and tailoring your company view depending on who is looking at it.

Be sure to add your Twitter ID and Blog RSS Feed & select “show news about my company”/

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Page 8: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

Another handy tool is “Careers” where you can advertise job vacancies.

Some tools will be more useful than others, depending on your company...

NB you will need to have an official company email address to edit your company

USING LINKEDIN COMPANIESAlthough your Linkedin company will automatically update, it needs a helping hand. Ask current and past employees to make the connection to your company....

*** We recommend having only one company on Linkedin - do not have a separate company for each location.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES TO CONNECT

1. Edit your profile : http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit2. Click on “Add A Current Position”3. Search for the company and add their position

*** If the employee is already connected to an incorrect company they can click the “edit” link beside the company name. From this page they can “change” company and find the correct one by clicking on “change company”:

REMOVING & MERGING INCORRECT COMPANIES

You may find you, Linkedin or an employee have setup a company for you which you do not want (eg in a different geographical location or with a different spelling). This is not uncommon, however only Linkedin can rectify things by merging the companies.

You will need to contact Linkedin via the helpdesk. https://help.linkedin.com/app/ask Ensure you have the urls of the companies you want merged and make it clear what

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Page 9: How To Use Linkedin : Linkedin Companies & Linkedin PersonaL

company you want to remain as the primary company. You must have an official company email address.

Although not very efficient, our experience so far is that Linkedin are very helpful in doing the merge.

RESOURCESWe hope you found this short introduction useful and encourage you to make the most of Linkedin companies for your business!

This is only the tip of the iceberg...for more assistance please visit the official Linkedin help : https://help.linkedin.com/

***social networks change and update regularly - if you find any out-of-date information in this document we would appreciate it if you let us know - thanks! ***

spiderhousepr are a UK based digital marketing company

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/spiderhouseprTWITTER: www.twitter.com/spiderhousepr

LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/company/spiderhouseprBLOG: www.spiderhousepr.com/blog

we would love you to connect with us on the above networks

you can also connect with me directly:http://www.linkedin.com/in/carleymorrow

Many Thanks & Good Luck With Your Digital Adventure!!!

! www.spiderhousepr.com I [email protected]! © spiderhousepr 2011 All rights reserved. 9