You know that I’m a strong advocate of freelance writers using LinkedIn. I’m back beating the drum again — if you’re not making the most of LinkedIn, you’re missing out on some quality writing assignments.
That’s why I’m sharing great graphic from the sharp folks at mindflash. It gives you the nine key steps you need to take to make the most of LinkedIn, and it does boot-camp style.
So make sure you do everything you’re told…
and then get down to the bottom and tell us what you’ve done — or share some LinkedIn war stories with us.
My Profile
Have a look at my freelance writer LinkedIn profile. You’ll see I’ve done fairly well with these nine steps. So…
Your Take
Freelance writers — and everyone else — how complete is your LinkedIn profile? Have you done these 9 key steps? And most importantly, have you scored any good projects from LinkedIn?
Great tips here, John. I’ve done pretty well with the personal profile (it’s complete and I post there regularly, though don’t get much interaction). However, I don’t make as much of groups as I should and should definitely do more with the company profile which is a bit sparse.
Sharon, I’ve also yet to spend much time inside of the groups. That’s part of my long-term plan for LinkedIn, but beefing up my profile has been more important.
I’ve been an advocate from the beginning (well, my beginning) 🙂 about LinkedIn. I wrote a two-part article for Peter Bowerman’s e-newsletter and figured out at the time nearly 60 percent of my clients came from LinkedIn in one form or another (e.g., reconnecting from past life, referral, etc.)
Wow — 60 percent of your clients from LinkedIn? I’m very impressed, and that’s about the best testimonial I’ve yet heard for the power of LinkedIn.
For a long time, John, it was the only social media platform I really worked. It may be more of a testimonial of the benefit of a focused effort – whatever your strategy.
I think LinkedIn is the most important social media platform for freelance writers. I’m surprised when I notice a writer who’s very active on Twitter, yet has done next to nothing on LinkedIn.
Great article John, I’m just starting to really utilize the groups on LinkedIn but I know I need to cut down on my current offer.
I’ve had moderate success with Linkedin. My best efforts come from using inmail. Thanks for the tips John.
Wade, I’m glad LinkedIn is working for you. I’ve heard of others who say that InMail gets good results.
This is the first time I’ve read anything about what “Linked In” is. I’ve stumbled across it in searching for other things and always ignored it. I hope you’ll make mention of it again as it’s going to take a few more hearings before it sinks in for me. 🙂
Steeny, if you are at all involved in business, and that includes working as a freelancer, you should be on LinkedIn.com. There are 150 million-plus members on LinkedIn, and it’s where many of us get high-paying assignments.
Great post, and love the graphics. I’m not on LinkedIn yet but have bookmarked this one for when I get round to it. Finally starting to realize that it’s an important business tool and not just another social media site (I’ve accepted something about myself and that is that I can only ‘do’ a limited amount of social media sites before my brain explodes)
Karen, LinkedIn is quite different from Facebook or Twitter or any other social media site. Think of it more as a place where you can post a very long resume along with a bunch of recommendations, all searchable by businesses looking to hire people like you.
Yes, LinkedIn does have social aspects, including sharing and commenting and thousands of very active forums, but you don’t have to use those.
Sorry if you already answered this, John. Do you use the premium service or the free one? And if so, what differences are there? Thanks!
I did the LinkedIn for Journalists training in March, so I should get the premium account very soon.
I know many very knowledgeable people say you can do just fine with a basic account, but I’ll be investigating the premium account in detail.
This is probably the best LinkedIn Infographic I’ve ever seen. Love this.
I’ve been using LinkedIn since 2009 and have had amazing results… Thanks!
Ryan H.
I’m glad you have such good success with LinkedIn Ryan.
And it is a great graphic. Kudos to mindflash for creating it.