LinkedIn + Blogging = Greater Credibility and Career Advancement Opportunities

Interview, Job Search, Resume and LinkedIn

Blogging + LinkedInMany people think social networks are only useful for finding a new job. But in reality, my personal experience has shown that social networks, especially LinkedIn, can actually help your career advancement inside your current company.

I work at a leading aircraft manufacturing company with more than 60,000 employees, which normally makes it very difficult to stand out from the crowd. But thanks to social networks, I have managed to demonstrate expertise in my domain and get endorsements and recommendations from my esteemed colleagues. This means wider recognition and more and better job opportunities.

Things really got started when I decided to start a marketing and persuasion blog, which I named after my own name for obvious personal branding reasons. This blog really helped me get the “expert” label inside my company.

Now when I walk around the office, many of my coworkers—some of whom I’ve never met before—tell me what they thought about my latest blog posts. They often come to me for advice, be it job interviewing techniques or sales tips. I know that more than half my superiors read my blog regularly, and I found that job opportunities within the company suddenly rose.

How did so many of my colleagues find my blog? Because I integrated it with my LinkedIn profile to really maximize the potential of both platforms.

To achieve better recognition in your company, here’s a step-by-step list of what you should be doing:

 

Step One: Grow Your LinkedIn Network

  • Connect with everyone you meet, even if you’ve only met them once in your professional environment. It doesn’t matter if they work in another department or they’re the almighty CEO of the company; send a courteous invitation email shortly after meeting them, such as, “Hi Tom, it was nice meeting you today. Hope I can help with your project! -Vinh”

  • Mention somewhere in your profile that you’re a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker) to encourage people to get in touch with you. This means that you’re open to connecting with people you haven’t officially met, and it will help you reach the “500+ connections” status which confirms you as an active networker. For a guide on how to become a LION, see here.

  • Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn! (You can find a link to my profile at the end of this post.)

 

Step Two: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

  • Thoroughly list your job history, education, and don’t forget to mention any awards you’ve received.

  • Manage your recommendations. You should issue a recommendation first and ask for a recommendation later. Reciprocity is the name of the game. Create carefully crafted recommendations, and you will get the same in return.

Following those instructions should help you get more profile views when people search for experts in your domain. In order to boost your credibility further and really demonstrate your expertise, the next step is to bring your personal blog into the picture.

 

Step Three: Create a Blog and Integrate It with Your LinkedIn Profile

  • Curate and share great content. When your connections post an article, make sure to give insightful comments. They will be seen by these connections and could prompt them to come visit your profile.

  • Set up a blog in WordPress and choose a niche that’s related to your expertise. Don’t blog about what you’re doing at work if it can create confidentiality issues—you don’t want your competitors to be your most loyal readers! Since your blog is not directly work-related, you can really develop your personal voice. For example, I like my blog to be persuasive and fun, which helps me come across as a human being and not another corporate clone.

  • Connect your blog to LinkedIn. By doing this, people in your network will receive your blog updates straight in their feeds and inboxes—and you’ll get the best placement in their feeds because of your network proximity. When these connections then visit your blog, they’ll see a full display of your expertise without the constraints of the Linkedin profile layout. To connect your WordPress blog to various social networks, I recommend the use of the jetpack plugin. The “publicize” functionality enables you to share all of your posts directly with your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn networks. It’s vital to make sure you reach your network through the platforms they use.

 

Step Four: [Up to You!]

Are you ready to start implementing these steps now to become a superstar inside your company? Then what are you waiting for? Go get started!

Vinh Ly is an expert in the field of business jets marketing. He is also the founder of www.vinh.ly, a blog where he teaches marketing and persuasion with comics and paper toys. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Image: photobucket

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