Friday, March 18, 2011

LinkedIn daily maintenance routine

So, you've created your profile on LinkedIn, and you've built your network, and you have optimized your profile. Is that it? Can you ignore LinkedIn from now on? If you do, you'll get the results you deserve ;)

No one has much time to spend on routine maintenance activities. But if you will invest just 15 minutes two or three times each week then you'll gradually discover a pay-off. How to spend the time?

  1. Deal with anything in your LinkedIn Inbox: that could be connection requests or direct messages from your connections about a variety of subjects ... If you're a senior executive then it's probably best to keep your network small, confined to people you have a close business relationship with; for all others, consider accepting all incoming connection requests as a matter of course - you can always remove the connection later if it's not working out for you.
  2. Several times each week try to reach out to add a couple of more connections to your network, perhaps discovering them through people connected to those you already have a connection with, or by researching companies that you are interested in and making a direct approach to an individual there.
  3. Several times each week try to make brief contact with a couple of people already in your network, just to 'touch base' and keep the contact going. Many times you won't get a response, but the activity will help to keep your name in front of those in your network.
  4. Briefly review your Status message and Profile information: any time you make changes here the update will be broadcast as part of your news feed to those in your network. Again, it's about keeping your name in front of those you know.
  5. Finally, consider diving in to the Questions and Answers section (currently via the 'More' menu option). It's worth taking time to see if there are any open questions that you can answer, particularly from people in your network. Activity here helps to build your reputation and 'status.'
  6. Review the new LinkedIn News to see if there are interesting items from your network that you should be aware of: and, of course, you can make your own contribution to the News feed, enhancing your visibility as you do so.
With a little investment of time on a regular basis LinkedIn can be an invaluable career and information resource.
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at 09:22
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