Sunday, January 07, 2007

Ten ways I use LinkedIn

Guy Kawasaki's blog post on "Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn" inspired me to share the ten ways how I use LinkedIn. (In its early years, I was at a time one of the most connected women in LinkedIn.com.)

Although I must admit that adding new found contacts nowadays meant following them on Twitter and connecting through Facebook. But on a more professional level, I believe LinkedIn is still as valuable.




View Janette Toral's profile on LinkedIn

  1. Keep in touch with people met and get to know them more.
    When speaking in events, I usually end up not seeing the people met that soon. This is most true for international speaking engagements. I invite them to LinkedIn.com and at least maintain that connection.
  2. Promote the DigitalFilipino.com Club through LinkedIn for Groups.
    When LinkedIn for Groups was first launched, I immediately had the DigitalFilipino.com Club registered and this allowed all club members to have the club logo, at their option, posted in their LinkedIn.com profile. At this time, we only link to individual club members' LinkedIn.com public profile in our members directory. This allows the club members to get to know their individual club members much better.
  3. Got contacts and clients to recommend me.
    Although I don't actively seek for it anymore, great to have past clients or those who have benefited from DigitalFilipino free services kind enough to give a recommendation.

    There was a website before that ranked SEO professionals listed in LinkedIn. I recall topping the list based on number of recommendations. What's funny though is that one day, rank #2 person sent me a message saying he will almost have more recommendations than me and will beat me soon. Although he sent that when the list was no longer there.
  4. Facilitate introductions for contacts.
    Have introduced several contacts to each other especially those who go out of the country trips. Although I admit that not many users are as active visiting their LinkedIn profile. So best to follow it up through other means too.
  5. Find contacts.
    Use LinkedIn to look for people I need to talk to for a variety of reasons. Through connections, also found past contacts who I haven't been in touch with for a long time and connect with them.
  6. Shamelessly self-promote.
    Post enough info about oneself in order to build contacts and possibly generate business. Of course, one has to add value as well. This is where I integrated my Twitter, Slideshare, and latest club blog post sharing relevant updates as much as possible.
  7. Build a company profile. (October 18, 2010 update)
    LinkedIn now allows you to write a company profile and this can help in promoting your company further.
  8. Join groups of interest. (October 18, 2010 update)
    There are many groups in Linked where people interact on a variety of topics. This can be used to build connections by asking and sharing what you know.
  9. Plug events. (October 18, 2010 update)
    LinkedIn has an event tool where you can plug your latest event and invite friends to join. Although I suggest using it early and be proactive in inviting.
  10. Filter quality of contacts. (October 18, 2010 update)
    In most social networking sites, I spend more time proactively seeking contacts, especially after events. Though most of us get invitation from people we never met, I still advise you to be wary of accepting such especially if your friends list is viewable among friends. If your circle of friends in social networks matter to you, protect it by having quality of contacts and don't just share it to others.
If you have other ways on how to use LinkedIn, hope you can share it here.

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