Thursday, February 25, 2021

7 New Features On LinkedIn For Job Seekers And Consultants Looking For Work

Caroline Ceniza-Levine

From time to time, LinkedIn hosts updates on new product features for media and other professionals related to their space. For example, at a 2019 event, a senior software engineer shared tips on increasing profile views. This year, LinkedIn Director of Product, Monica Lewis, and Director of Communications, Suzi Owens, hosted a webinar to outline several new features specific to job search.

1 - #OpenToWork

This searchable hashtag also can appear as a frame around your profile photo. When you edit your profile, in the top section, you can select “Open To” and either “Finding A New Job” or “Hiring” (or don’t make a selection). According to LinkedIn, over 5 million profiles feature the #OpenToWork photo frame, and these profiles average 40% more Inmails from recruiters and 20% more messages from the LinkedIn community.

The #OpenToWork feature is probably not the sole driver behind the uptick in activity, and since LinkedIn shared an average result, it doesn’t mean that every profile showed improved performance. However, this option is free and easy to implement. If you haven’t reconnected with everyone in your network to inform them of your search, this is a comprehensive way to catch people you haven’t reached out to yet, as well as people you have forgotten about. If you are a consultant or in a temporary job but ideally looking for in-house, full-time, the #OpenToWork tag can signal to prospective employers and recruiters that you are actively looking, even if your profile shows you’re currently employed.


2 — Free courses

There are over 600 courses on LinkedIn Learning that are available for free. The trick is that you need to start at Opportunity.LinkedIn.com and not on the regular LinkedIn site (otherwise the courses have a fee or are free only for Premium members). The free courses are centered around in-demand jobs, including software development, sales, project management, IT admin, digital marketing, customer support, IT support, data analysis, financial analysis and graphic design. There are additional courses on soft skills, including resilience, communication skills, etc.

See all 7 new features and the complete Forbes article

 

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

5 Types Of Content To Share On LinkedIn

Adrian Dayton

Making LinkedIn work may seem like a daunting task to some, but in actuality, it’s simple, easy to use, and will increase your professional success tenfold.

I commonly get asked what type of content should people share on LinkedIn. Would you ask Michelangelo how he painted the Sistine Chapel? Hamilton how he wrote the Federalist Papers? Beethoven how he wrote the Moonlight Sonata? Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn’t - but fortunately, choosing what to share on LinkedIn is much simpler. Here are five types of content I recommend you incorporate into your sharing strategy.

1. Content for Discussion

Engaging content, by far, is one of the best ways to get people interacting with you on LinkedIn. Find an article that you find interesting, bonus points if it’s in your area of expertise, share it, and add your own comment on why you find it interesting. Why is this piece of content important? What do you think is the most important part people should pay attention to? Give them a reason to care about the information you just posted.

And then, this next piece is probably the most important, finish with an open-ended question. Encourage people to comment. To engage. Sometimes it also helps to have a peer to team up with, you always comment on her content and she does the same for you.

3. Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is content that is relevant yesterday, today and a year from now. Think: tax deductions tips for small businesses (evergreen content for a tax CPA) or employee handbook tips (employment lawyers.) This is the Cobra Kai of content. Why? Because Cobra Kai never dies.

Evergreen content is content that is always in season. Always useful. Most e-books will fill this role, one I created years ago, 1O Ways to Make Your Employees Better Social Media Marketers, still serves as an effective marketing piece because the concepts continue to be useful and relevant.

Good evergreen content can be posted anytime, anyplace, and over and over and over again.


See all 5 types of contents and the complete Forbes article

 

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

10 Tips to Boost Your LinkedIn Presence in 2021

LinkedIn can be a great channel to build your personal brand, and even establish yourself as an influential thought leader within your niche. But in order to maximize the benefits of the platform, you need to understand how it works, what generates best response, and how you can utilize its various tools to optimal effect.

To help with this, in this post, we'll go over 10 things that you can do to become more influential on LinkedIn, including how much you should be posting, when to post, what to post, as well as how to take advantage of some of LinkedIn's cool features such as LinkedIn Live, discovering hashtags by popularity and post analytics.

Follow these tips and you'll be well on your way to building a stronger LinkedIn presence in 2021.

1. Post regularly but not too much

Maintaining a consistent posting process is important on LinkedIn - but posting too much can hurt your presence.

Through my research at Onalytica we've found that influencers who post more than 50 times a month on LinkedIn see an average of 26 engagements per post, while those who post between 30-50 times a month see an average of 56 engagements, and those who post less than 30 times see even more engagement, on average. 

Based on this, we recommend posting at least 2-3 times a week - but no more than 30 times a month for optimal engagement. 

When you post is also significant - try to post in the mornings, perhaps on your way in to work. Then you can revisit those posts later in the day/evening, to reply to any comments you’ve had and boost your engagement.

4. Don’t just share your own content

The 4-1-1 Rule was coined by Tippingpoint Labs and Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute. While it was originally created with Twitter in mind, it can also be applied to LinkedIn.

The rule states that:

“For every one self-serving post, you should repost one relevant post and most importantly share four pieces of relevant content written by others.”

By following this rule, you're not just sharing your own content, but you're also providing helpful insights relevant to your audience written by others. This can be industry thought leader content, news, and trends.

At the same time, it’s also important to add your opinion. Many people just like or share posts that they've read, or sometimes without even reading them. You can set yourself apart by adding your own opinions, questions, or other commentary within the comments.

Tell people what you think about the points being made in the article, and don’t be afraid to respectfully disagree with something and suggest a different point of view. This can start a debate, and you’ll find that the post gets a lot more engagement.

5. Don’t be salesy

Although you're obviously looking to market yourself and your business, it's best to avoid being too pushy on this within your LinkedIn posts.

For example, try not to post directly about your product, as it can feel like an advert and turn people away. It‘s better to engage in thought leadership-style conversations, and if people like what you're saying, they'll go and check out your website and product offering.

At this stage it is more about building relationships and making new contacts.

See all 10 tips and the complete SocialMediaToday post