Know Why LinkedIn Rocks!

Explore why LinkedIn rocks for professionals. If you are an ‘old skool’ type of professional and you can’t stand social media or the thought of incessantly being clued to your mobile phone to ‘like’, share, retweet or post on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, LinkedIn is one networking social media platform that you should not ignore. For professionals, LinkedIn rocks in a spectacular way.

By Catherine Adenle

As a professional, irrespective of your personal opinion about social media in general, it is now an integral part of branding yourself and demonstrating your skills. Above all, in this ever changing world of businesses acquiring, restructuring and refocusing, sourcing applicants and the general job hunting process by candidates and companies now take place largely on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn rocks and its platform has become the most popular professional network in the world. Generally, more and more organizations now rely on the Internet, especially LinkedIn to research any candidates they plan to hire.

While there other platforms that can equally help you to build your professional network, the ‘daddy’ of them all and the one to consider is LinkedIn. The platform alone can help you to build a relevant network of professionals, allow you to showcase and promote your capabilities. As well, it gives you the opportunity to create and exchange information, tips, resources and ideas to shape your personal brand as a professional.

If successfully leveraged, LinkedIn can help you to create a strong personal brand and widen your global reach of job markets, trades, and organizations. This is yet another reason why LinkedIn rocks!

Quality content: On LinkedIn, you can easily connect with like-minded individuals from the same professional background, as an individual or via a group. You also have access to several thought leaders, Influencers and their businesses. That way, it’s easy to explore available quality content, resources, organizational information and job opportunities.

Research tool: LinkedIn is handy as a research tool. Several highly placed organizations with specialized digital marketing teams use LinkedIn to grow their brands via apt content. You can utilize their content along with inputs from your network to research any potential employer, theirs services, products and their business before an interview.

See 8 Companies Totally Rocking Their LinkedIn Company Pages

Job offers and investigations: LinkedIn has a lot of advantages over traditional job doorways. Thanks in part to the users; the organizations present there, its social media strengths and the content from majority of its top influencers. Top organizations use LinkedIn to contact potential employee directly for an initial investigation.

Within seconds on LinkedIn, as a job seeker, you can get insights into who the main contacts in an area of interest are at any company you wish to work for as a potential employer.

Opportunity to build credibility: LinkedIn allows you to treat your profile like your Curriculum Vitae. It gives you the opportunity to highlight your strengths and build credibility. Usually, it details the companies you have worked with, the capabilities you have to offer and the people in your professional network. There are also features like recommendations and endorsements to add more credibility to your profile.

URL customisation: LinkedIn rocks because it allows you to customize your URL. Your own personal LinkedIn URL is the address of your LinkedIn page on the Internet. Once you customize your URL, it will drive your URL address towards the top of a Google search in your name.

Create and share your content: On LinkedIn, you can access thousands of content. You can also create and share your own content with your network. This will help to establish you as a subject matter expert. The more you showcase your original work on your profile, the greater the benefits, including number of views and search engine rankings.

Build your network, join groups or start your own group: On LinkedIn, you can expand your professional network, join relevant groups for your industry and get involved with different dialogues. There, you can connect easily with like-minded users and expand your knowledge. It allows you the chance to introduce yourself to new people without breaching LinkedIn’s etiquette that stops you reaching out to some new connections. In a group setting, people will connect easily with you and join in in your conversations. You can use the groups’ micro platforms to share your content and gather feedback. You can also start your own group based on your interest. It’s a sure way of getting your network to talk while you also promote your brand.

See 24 LinkedIn Do’s and Don’ts Every Professional Should Know

For companies, LinkedIn generates social media’s highest lead conversion rate: In a study of more than 5,000 businesses that HubSpot did, they found that traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%. That is 277% higher than Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%). This is a major reason why LinkedIn rocks for businesses too.

As a professional, where most companies congregate and share information to get leads is where you should have a presence online.

These are my personal reasons why LinkedIn rocks:

1. I don’t need your paper business card anymore. I can easily connect you straightaway on LinkedIn via my mobile device.
2. I connect, network, learn from like-minded professionals and share what I know on LinkedIn.
3. I love to read quality content from thought leaders and preferred organizations.
4. I can research any business, their services, products and employees in minutes.
5. I can comment on your content, admire your achievements, and follow your content.
6. I can join relevant groups and learn from the dialogues taking place on there. For me, there’s real power in groups!
7. I get offered jobs on LinkedIn.
8. I can treat my profile like my CV on LinkedIn.
9. I love that it stems spam and unnecessary advertising.
10. LinkedIn Premium is an incredibly valuable tool for me for three reasons: the Advanced Search, Who’s Viewed Your Profile and the InMail.
11. I love that there is no ‘wall’, ‘no game invitations’, and no ‘tagging’. That way, I have total control over my messages.
12. It allows me to customize my URL, add my websites and add my SlideShare presentations.

So, if you’re an experienced professional who have climbed the career ladder, honed your skills, being quietly confident isn’t enough in today’s workplace, presence online counts for more than ever before, and sharing and showcasing your expertise is crucial for professional success. If you want to be noticed for your experience and expertise and also progress in your career by raising your professional profile, then, use LinkedIn to advance your career. It’s time to hang out with a focused professional crowd. LinkedIn rocks and it is for you.

Infographic: 10 Tips for the Perfect LinkedIn Profile

See LinkedHumans to read more on 10 Things for the Perfect LinkedIn Profile

Are you on LinkedIn or not? If you are on LinkedIn, tell us why you think it rocks or why you don’t like it. If you are not on LinkedIn, tell us why not. Let’s hear from you.