LinkedIn is a very powerful networking community of professionals. It’s a lot easier to screw up on LinkedIn than on Facebook or Twitter where sharing your child’s potty habits seems to be the norm. LinkedIn though, is not like that. It’s a place to share professional updates and information about your industry, it is not a place to debate politics, or discuss your hangover. With that aside lets go over four mistakes to avoid using LinkedIn.com.
- Please Do Not Use a Fake Name
LinkedIn.com is a repository for your professional life. The worst thing you can do is try to be anonymous. I know there is a lot of concern about people getting private information about you off the Internet but this is not the time to worry about that. On LinkedIn.com being found is the name of the game. If you do not use your real name, the one you use at work and in business, you will not be found and if people find out later that your real name is different you’ll lose trust.
In addition, you will want to ask for endorsements and recommendations from former colleagues and you can’t do that if they don’t know who you are. You must be the most authentic you that you can muster on the LinkedIn.com network in order to make it fruitful. If you cannot do that, and be yourself, you may as well not join.
- Avoid Using a Crappy Picture or Posting No Picture
Your photo on LinkedIn.com is a graphic representation of your most professional self. It’s perfectly okay if you work at home in your PJ’s, but on LinkedIn, its important to try to capture a good close up image of your face (what you have on won’t matter). People want and need to see your eyes, nose and mouth. It’s how colleagues will recognize you, and how new people will feel trust for you.
You can snap a simple image with your webcam or Smartphone to use on LinkedIn.com but think about it harder than you do other social media networks like Facebook.com. On Facebook it’s common to use different types of photographs and be creative, the same with Twitter. But on LinkedIn the face matters. So take a close shot of the face, and try to blur out or make the background less noticeable.
Finally, don’t skip the photograph. If you don’t put a photograph on LinkedIn.com people will ignore you completely. You’re not even a person yet until you have a photo on LinkedIn.com. If you’re trying to find a job, or find new clients, or make sales of any sort, you need a good picture, but no picture is worse than a bad picture. You can always improve upon it later, so put up a picture.
- Do Not Create a Half-Hearted Profile
Some people join LinkedIn and are so overwhelmed by the profile that they skip parts or just never finish it. The profile is key to your ability to connect with others, obtain recommendations for work that you’ve done, and to provide the social proof that shows you as the hardworking professional that you are.
Fill out all aspects of the profile that you can and then take note of the parts you’ve not completed. Come up with ways to fill out the profile completely. From your photograph, to how you want people to contact you, it’s all important. The more complete your profile is, the more people will trust it. Remember, you can reorganize the profile to showcase and highlight the most important parts of your profile putting the less important parts toward the bottom.
- Non Participation Can Kill You
One you create your profile and you’ve jumped in connecting with current and former colleagues, it’s important to maintain and active account by participating. Participating in discussions, groups, and by commenting on, “liking” and sharing updates from others is a great way to build trust and promote reciprocity.
Set out a little time a few days a week to spend 10 or 15 minutes commenting, liking, and sharing. You’ll find it enjoyable, and you’ll get a lot out of the interactions. You can demonstrate your expertise by entering into discussions within groups, or by starting y