Using Linkedin Properly – 1: Be Found

Linkedin is huge, but this isn’t why I like it. I like linkedin because it is useful. I’ve noticed, however, that people are not making use of it. Here is the first of three simple ways you can get so much more out of Linkedin, and your network will thank you for it.

1 – Be Found, because real people are looking.

Many architects advertise in Yellow Pages, and if a complete novice was looking for an architect, that’s probably where they would start. But is that where architects get their business? No. They get it (for example) on the golf course.

Golfer A turns to Golfer B: “I can’t seem to get a viable scheme through planning for that site.” Golfer B replies, “You should speak to Peter Wells, the architect. I’ll give you his phone number.”

You see, your advocates speak well of you when you’re not there. And when they do, its often about an individual rather than a company – the individual they know.

What does golfer A do next? Does he pick up the phone and call Peter? No, probably not straight away. Increasingly he’ll go to google and type in “Peter Wells” or possibly “Peter Wells Architect”.

Peter Wells the Architect works for my firm, Barefoot and Gilles. If you google him, he’s on the front page, at the top, on Linkedin. How did we do that, and what did it cost?

1. We made enough of his profile public so it produced something useful when googlers or other visitors clicked through. This included a photo, an informative strapline to his name, an equally informative summary section, and links to our website.
2. We included key words throughout, especially in the summary section – words and phrases which people might use when searching, such as ‘Architect’.
3. We customized the web links from the page so google could pick up the associations there, including ‘Barefoot & Gilles Architects’.
4. We customized his public profile link so it included his name.

Each of these tweaks creates more searchability and more reward when you click through.

Linkedin is huge, and public profiles on linkedin are indexed by Google. A few tweaks to Peter’s profile and in 48 hours it was right there on the front page. For Free.

Next time I’ll talk about connections.

This article is one part of a presentation I’m giving today at #be2campeast, Property and the Internet, at Essex County Cricket Ground. You can see the slides here: Getting Started using Linkedin Properly

Image: Patterns at Monterey Bay by ashi (used with permission)