Challenge: Make Linkedin Your New Years Resolution

Krista Neher

Jan 06 2011

It’s that time of year again… the time when we make and proceed to break our New Year’s resolutions, when we reset our goals and when weight loss ads are peering out of every corner 😉

I always take some time in January to evaluate the previous year, the good and the bad, and set goals for next year.

Many of the people that I’ve run into over the last few weeks have business related goals like do more better networking, finally figure out social media or better manage their business relationships.

If you want to achieve any of these things then it is time to get LinkedIn working for you.

Make LinkedIn Your New Years Resolution

LinkedIn is one of those social networks that everyone is on but nobody uses. If you fall into this boat than NOW is the time to change it! Don’t procrastinate.

All you need is some initial set up time to get your account up to snuff and then dedicate about 15 minutes, 2 – 3 times per week.

You can manage that – right?

Making LinkedIn your resolution is easy and can be very rewarding – both personally and professionally.

Step 1: Set up Your Profile. Properly.

Spend some time to make sure that your profile accurately reflects who you are and what your goals are. Create a compelling headline and summary. Update all of your job information.

Update your headline to match what you really are looking for
Review your summary and make sure that it highlights the correct skills and experience
Take a look at LinkedIn applications and consider adding some apps to your profile, like the Amazon reading list or connect your other social media profiles
Expand on your job descriptions, make sure they are complete
Add new jobs
Consider refreshing your photo
Update your websites
Refresh your interests to make sure that they match your current goals
Clean out your inbox
Respond to any outstanding invitations

Step 2: Get More Connected!

The key to LinkedIn is maintaining connections. Don’t wait until you need them – always be building your network. In today’s world people change jobs so frequently that LinkedIn is the new business Rolodex (only you don’t have to keep it up to date – they do).

I am always surprised at the number of people that I know (in the real world) that I am not connected with yet.

Here are some ways to stay connected!

Add any new people you may have met this year.
Import your email contacts
Go through your business cards and add connections
Post your LinkedIn profile on Facebook and invite Facebook friends to join you on LinkedIn
Review the LinkedIn “People you may know”
Invite your Twitter connections to connect with you on LinkedIn
Check out people in groups with you that you may not be connected to yet
Invite your friends and family to connect
Search for people at your current place of employment that you might not be connected to yet
Write a blog post requesting connections

Step 3: Staying Active

The key to sustained success on LinkedIn is staying active. Set aside some time every week to go on LinkedIn and make new connections, participate in groups and update your status. This is where you can really get value from LinkedIn – through virtual networking.

Here are some of the things that you can do on LinkedIn to stay active:

Update your status
Clear out your messages
Add new connections (people you met that week)
Join a group
Ask a question in Q&A
Answer a question in Q&A
Participate in a group discussion
Start a discussion in a group
Post news in a group
Add connections from LinkedIn recommended “people you may know”
Respond to invitations
Read what your friends are posting
Like or Comment on status updates of people in your network
Recommend someone
Request a recommendation from a friend
Look at people in your networks who just joined

So how will YOU get more out of LinkedIn this year?

As you can see, there are LOTS of things that you can do to start getting results from LinkedIn. What will you do to get more out of LinkedIn this year?