Quick question: how many paying gigs have you received from your LinkedIn profile? 

Over the years, I’ve attracted a few students to some of my programs and one or two private clients. Moving forward, that could change with the launch of LinkedIn ProFinder.

When I started seeing an article on Inc.com circulating among my colleagues on Facebook, I was intrigued. The article, LinkedIn Just Made a Savvy Business Move and Nobody Noticed revealed that LinkedIn had quietly launched a new service called “ProFinder.” It’s a freelance-for-hire marketplace. I’ve not seen much mention of the service on LinkedIn, nor have I received any announcement, but they’ve been beta testing it since October 2015. So I checked it out.

LinkedIn bills ProFinder as the easiest way to find the expertise you need. And you, as a service professional, freelancer, solo business owner, coach, or consultant, have an opportunity to apply and then receive Requests for Proposals when the criteria meet your skills and experience.

My focus in this article is on you: the person who offers services for hire.

Sign Up for LinkedIn ProFinder

The application process couldn’t be easier. Go to the application page and sign in with your LinkedIn account. You’ll be asked to choose the category of service you provide and then click Submit. At this time, applications are all reviewed by ProFinder concierges. You’ll be notified by email when your application is approved. My application was approved in less than 24 hours and that seems to have been the case for many professionals I know.

Once you’re approved, you’ll get a link to your ProFinder page. You’ll see a link for your projects (for which you’ve requested proposals), and Client Requests, which is the list of requests you’ve received for proposals. Of course, when you first sign up, you will not have received any requests. What you’ll see is a list of the previous projects that matched your profile. This is a gold mine of information.

Primp Your Profile

There are five parts of your LinkedIn Profile that show up on your ProFinder profile. And, there are three segments that will be critical to your success in getting client work from ProFinder:

1. An awesome profile summary that matches the expertise you declared when you signed up* 
2. Recommendations from past clients*
3. Articles published on the LinkedIn Publishing Platform*
4. Experience
5. Education

As stated in the FAQ:

All the information in your ProFinder profile is sourced from your LinkedIn profile. So any changes made to your LinkedIn profile will be reflected in your ProFinder profile.

This is a good opportunity to fine tune your profile, add accomplishments and projects and update any relevant information. [I’m working on this! Below you’ll see the summary portion of my profile, my headshot, and the background banner.] 

Pro Tip: After you’re approved for ProFinder, spend time reviewing the expired requests that were made (before you signed up) matching your service expertise. Study the language used to describe the type of projects and the details, specifically. Make a note of the keywords that match your skills and experience. Knowing the language your prospective leads are using to describe the type of service your provide can help you tweak your profile. 

Next, take a look at clients, customers, and students who you can reach out to and request a current recommendation for the services you provided. I realized it had been over a year since the last recommendation I received. Yet, I’ve worked with many people since then, so I’m contacting former clients to get recommendations.

Then, if you haven’t started publishing articles, or republishing your blog posts, on LinkedIn… start now!

LinkedIn Publishing

I’ve written about the benefits of publishing on LinkedIn and encourage you to take advantage of the platform for getting your content in front of more people. Now, with the emphasis on showcasing your expertise, publishing your articles is more important than ever.

Here’s what you’ll find in the LinkedIn ProFinder FAQ:

The quickest and easiest way to publish on LinkedIn is to repurpose your best, high value, evergreen blog posts. It’s unlikely that all of your LinkedIn connections have seen your content and I assure you, you will not get penalized by Google for having duplicate content.

Read: Repurposing Your Content – 13 Ways to Reach More People

If you need some guidance around how to repurpose your content, join the free 7-Day Visibility Challenge. You’ll learn five ways to republish and repurpose your blog posts on the top social platforms.

Get Started Now!

What’s the bottom line on LinkedIn ProFinder? 

It’s too soon to for me to give it up a thumbs up or down. Once I go through the proposal process, I’ll have a better sense of the value. However, in keeping with my nature and how I advise my clients, I do recommend signing up now if you are a professional service provider. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you increase the number of leads you get and close new business. 

Take some time to apply, primp your profile, get new, current recommendations and publish your articles on LinkedIn. And then, see what happens. [Please let me know if you get gigs and how well they match your expertise!]

Have you tried LinkedIn ProFinder yet? If so, what’s your experience been like? I love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

The post LinkedIn ProFinder Gives a Big Visibility Boost to Freelancers appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

LinkedIn has been growing stronger as a platform and is becoming a contender for getting more eyeballs on your content. With the opening up of LinkedIn Publishing to all members, and the popularity of LinkedIn Pulse, it’s easier right now to connect with more members of your ideal audience.

I’ve been experimenting with repurposing some of my evergreen blog content. I’m reposting the articles and discovered I’m getting more traffic to my blog and more people following me on LinkedIn (I know quality trumps quantity, but more followers means more opportunities to connect with potential new prospects). I’ve learned a few thing along the way and share some tips with you here…

9 Tips for more getting more visibility with LinkedIn Publishing 

1) Repurpose evergreen content. This is a choice I’ve made vs. creating new, original content just for LinkedIn. Some will argue with me on this point, however, as a busy business person, I need to be efficient with my time. When I choose a blog post to publish on LinkedIn, I generally update it, if necessary, and tweak the title.  

READ: Repurposing Your Content – 13 Ways to Reach More People

2) Add images and videos to your articles. Your article will stand out if you add images and other rich media like videos and slide shows. If you’re repurposing older blog content, this is a good opportunity to create bold, new images for the article. Or, illustrate your points with a YouTube video or a TedTalk.

3) ALWAYS include a banner image for your article. If you want your article to stand out in the LinkedIn home stream, then create a banner. Yes, it takes a few extra minutes, and the point is to attract new readers, do take the time and do it. The ideal dimensions are 698 x 400 pixels. Use Canva or PicMonkey to create a stunning image. For more on standing out in the news stream, read this article by Peg Fitzpatrick.

4) Include a Call to Action. Approach your article as you would a post on your blog. What’s the next action step you want the reader to take? Make a compelling case for them to sign up for your free report, video series, webinar, newsletter, etc. This is key for moving your social contacts to your email list.

5) Include your author bio at the end of the article. Remember “article marketing?” It lives on LinkedIn now, so, as you would with any guest post or article you submit to a directory, include a bio with links to your site (this seems to be missing on almost every article I see on LinkedIn).

6) Link to related articles on your blog. Like you would create internal links on your blog posts, make sure you add links in your article back to your blog (drives traffic!).

7) As soon as you publish your article, tweet it to your followers with a mention to @LinkedInPulse. If you’re lucky, your article may catch the eye of a channel editor who features it on an appropriate channel. It’s worked for me on 3 out of 4 articles which results in even more visibility, more readers, more comments, more Likes, and more shares.

TIP: make sure your twitter account is connected to your LinkedIn profile so your twitter handle is included in the tweets people share.

8) Cross post the URL for the article to your other social networks. Posting on Facebook and Google+, for example, can help you build your LinkedIn connections.

9) Share your article as a status update to any groups that allow you post your articles. If you’re sharing to groups, make sure you check their terms for participation. Many groups are discussion only and do not permit links to your content or site. My group, Adventures in Visibility for Authors and Entrepreneurs, encourages you to share your content. Join here.

Check out my articles if you would like to see how I implement all nine steps.

Your Challenge, Should You Choose to Accept It

• Review your blog posts and find 3 to 5 that are evergreen.
• Edit and update if necessary.
• Then, post one per week, following my tips above.
• Make a note of how many LinkedIn connections and followers you have before you post the first article.
• Make a note of how many you have after you post the third or fifth article.
• Make a note of how may views, likes and comments you’re getting.
• Let me know if you see positive results from this exercise: increase in numbers, more traffic to your blog, new sign ups on your list. 

Related Posts on Using LinkedIn

• LinkedIn Visibility Strategies for Entrepreneurs | Adventures in Visibility with Viveka von Rosen 
• How to Integrate LinkedIn With Your Content Marketing 
• LinkedIn Tips – Use Groups to Connect with Potential Clients

This post was updated on December 20, 2016.

The post 9 LinkedIn Publishing Tips That Can Help Build Your Audience appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Viveka von Rosen is one of the top LinkedIn Experts and my go-to gal for all things LinkedIn. She’s passionate about using and showing others how to optimally use LinkedIn. Viveka’s positive, fun-loving style makes it easy to learn and implement her LinkedIn strategies.  In this adventure we explore visibility tactics you, as an entrepreneur can implement to get better results as well as get some behind-the-scenes insights on how LinkedIn is evolving.

In this Adventure Viveka and I discuss:

• Tips for using LinkedIn to build your online presence
• 4 steps for staying top of mind with prospects 
• How to get the most out of LinkedIn Publisher and Pulse
• What’s new on LinkedIn
• Excellent tips for maximizing your profile starting at 11:01

Check out the event page for comments, questions and photos.

Download the Audio 

For your convenience, the mp3 is posted below, from the live Hangout with Ande.

 [smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/denise-wakeman/viveka-von-rosen-linkedin-visibility-strategies-for-entrepreneurs” color=”5181cd” title=”LinkedIn Visibility Strategies for Entrepreneurs” artist=”Viveka von Rosen” ]

About the Guest

Viveka von Rosen is author of LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day and is known internationally as the “LinkedIn Expert”.  She hosts the biggest LinkedIn chat on Twitter.  Her seminars, webinars, workshops and programs have taught and trained well over 100,000 people.  She has personally worked with executives at several Fortune 500 Companies and is regularly asked to speak at and write for thought-leading Social companies like the Social Media Examiner. 

Forbes listed her as a top social media influencer for 3 years and she has been cited and featured in Money Magazine, Simple Living, Ragan, CNN, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Mashable, The Miami Herald, The Pittsburg Gazette, Social Media Today and The Social Media Examiner.

Connect with Viveka:

Web/blog: http://www.linkedintobusiness.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/linkedinexpert
LinkedIn Training: www.b2blinkedintraining.com
LinkedInExperts Google+ Community << Join Viveka’s active Community!

Join Me for Future Adventures in Visibility

•  Watch previous Adventures
• Subscribe on YouTube 
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  (if you enjoyed this interview,please rate and review it on iTunes!)

To get reminders about when Adventures are scheduled and when replays are posted, you can get on the list and follow me on Google+. Be sure to let me know you want to be added to my Adventures in Visibility Notification Circle so you get the invitation directly through Google+.

Do you have a question about how to create a more visible presence on the Web? Click here to record your question  and I’ll include it along with my answer in an upcoming show! 

The post LinkedIn Visibility Strategies for Entrepreneurs | Adventures in Visibility with Viveka von Rosen appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Think about the best social platforms for promoting your content. What came to mind? Facebook? Twitter? Pinterest? Maybe StumbleUpon, for those hipsters among you. All of those are good answers. But the list is missing one very important component you may not have thought about in the past: LinkedIn.

Promoted (and used) as a professional networking tool, it is usually seen as a means of direct communication with others within your industry. You have a conference to go to, and a quick search will bring up others who have been posting about going. So you can set up meetings before you ever hit the trade floor, or find people you met at events so you can nurture those connections.

While that might be one of the primary reasons for having a LinkedIn profile, it isn’t the only one. A commonly ignored use for the platform is content marketing, and the social network can be easily integrated into any content marketing strategy you may have in place.

Here are some tips to get you started.

Make Sure People Know You’re An Expert

Quality is important for any platform, and for any piece of content you release. But nowhere is it more important than on LinkedIn. Because you are not preaching to the layman, you are exposing yourself to the harsh criticisms of leaders in your industry.

You don’t want to come off as a small fish in a tank of sharks. You want to show that you have the knowledge, the experience and the guts to put yourself out there and share what you have to offer. That takes careful image cultivation, content of professional quality, and a certain confidence that shows others that you mean business. A great example of a professional Linkedin profile is Maria Elena Duron:

When you write content, keep this in mind and try to inject it into your work. You are speaking to your peers, and in some cases your superiors. It isn’t the same tactic you will take with a regular blog, or even with other social accounts.

You aren’t marketing your content, you are marketing yourself with your content.

Use Groups… But The Right Way

Linkedin groups are a great place to find readers, and to engage with a closed and often comfortable community of like minded individuals. Unfortunately, a couple of bad eggs will generally ruin it for everyone. That is where spammers have come in and thrown a damper on the party, causing rather strict rules on what constitutes as spam to be put in place.

But that is also a good thing. It keeps a certain level of control over what is shared and how often. It also presents you with some guidelines about how to behave to best appeal to those in the community.

When you share a piece of content in a group, ask yourself if it really belongs there. Is it perfectly fitting with the topic of the group? Did someone say something related that shows they could benefit from the content? If so, go ahead and post it.

Make sure you say something insightful and engaging that shows you are speaking to them, not at them. Ask questions in your post to spark a conversation, and then respond to any replies. Don’t just paste the link and ditch the discussion. You have to stick around and be a part of it.

Zero In On The Most Popular Topics

One of my favorite tools is BuzzSumo. If you put in topics, you can see how they rank on different platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+, based on shares. So you can see what categories and subject keywords are really ranking on your different profiles.

Having that information will let you plan out content that will be best shared with a LinkedIn audience.   So you can actually tailor-make a content strategy that perfectly integrates with your social strategy.

It will also keep your audiences separate, which is helpful.

Appeal To A More Targeted (And Quality) Audience

Back when LinkedIn first started, it was very elitist. It was a social network that aimed to attract CEO’s and upper management, not everyone in the professional field. Nowadays it is open to anyone, but the hierarchy is still pretty clearly biased towards the higher ups.

That actually works in your favor. You are going for an audience that has the most influence on your industry. Not only are they there, but many of them are posting their own content, and engaging with the community on a one-on-one level.

You can promote your own content to these people, and potentially form important connections that could have a real impact on you and your brand or individual career.

Use “Long Posts”

Linkedin is a great content publishing platform. I’ve had much more success with posting long-form posts there than I had with Medium or Quora. The reason why Linkedin is so effective for long-form updates is because you are able to utilize the power of your connections you’ve been building through the years there.

One of the most frequent question when it comes to long-form social media updates is “Can I use my blog content to post there?“

I’ve seen very smart people do that: I wouldn’t do that myself though because I always try to publish my article only once online. I don’t like duplicate content in any form.

Linkedin is a great place for publishing re-packaged version of your main site content (with a short description). I also like the idea of publishing huge lists on your own site while using Linkedin for a shorter one-tip-at-a-time articles. Gary Dek of StartABlog123.com is a great example of doing that well!

Linkedin long-form posts allows basic rich formatting (bold, subheadings, links and images) which I highly recommend make the most of.

Use Calls To Action… They Are More Effective Here

What happens when you put a CTA on a blog post? You may get a handful of comments, some social media shares. If you are especially high traffic you could even go viral.

What happens when you put a CTA on a piece of LinkedIn posted content? You get a lot more engagement, for one thing. You attract industry leaders and participants. You get reshared quite a lot, which then moves you through your professional community and gains you visibility with people who could be potential collaborators or leads later on.

Never forget your CTAs here.

Conclusion

LinkedIn might not be the most obvious platform for content marketing. But if you are trying to reach a certain audience, it is definitely one of the best.

Have you integrated LinkedIn in your content marketing strategy? What strategies and tactics are you successfully using?

The post How to Integrate LinkedIn With Your Content Marketing appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Well, I think people who say that, simply don’t use LinkedIn to it’s fullest potential. LinkedIn is the ideal platform for service based entrepreneurs, as long as they know a few rules and make the LinkedIn experience a social one.

9 ways to make your networking on LinkedIn more social

1. Your summary shouldn’t read like a CV: it starts with your summary. I still see many LinkedIn summaries which read like a resume. “Sarah Santacroce is a small business marketing mentor. She helps entrepreneurs… “ Forget that. Own your LinkedIn profile ! Treat it like your “About” page on your website. Use the first person: “I am a small business marketing mentor”.

2. Add some personal info at the bottom of your summary: If you feel comfortable with it, add a few lines of personal information. It makes you more personal & approachable. Here’s what I have on mine:

3. Add a video: you can even add a little welcome video which will play automatically, welcoming visitors to your profile & telling them in a few sentences what you do. Unfortunately there is no option to play it only on demand – it automatically starts playing when people visit your profile. I learned this from the one and only Lewis Howes. Read his article on how to do this.

4. Always personalize your invitations: LinkedIn is kind enough to offer default messages when you invite someone to connect. Thank you, but no thank you. Never, ever use those standard messages. They mean “I don’t care, I don’t even take 30 seconds to personalize this invitation”. So next time, take the time, explain how you’ve met & why you’d like to connect. Not only is there a higher chance that your invitation is accepted, but you will also be remembered more easily.

5. Take initiative: when people send you default invitations, decide whether this person is of value to your network. If yes, then accept their invitation but take initiative & reach out to them. Say something like “Hi Peter, I gladly accept your invitation to connect. Out of curiosity, where did you come across my profile? I look forward to being in touch. Best wishes – Sarah” This way, you establish a first contact & are not only a number in the other person’s network, but a real connection. If you’re not sure which requests to accept, read about My LinkedIn Connection Strategy. 

6. Comment on people’s status updates: when you see a status update you find interesting, comment on it. Use people’s first names, thank them for sharing or share their update with your network. It’s a Win-Win: their post gets more visibility because your comment shows up in your network – and your profile gets more visibility because it shows up next to their comment on their network.

7. Reach out to people who viewed your profile: on your home page you have a little box that tells you who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile. Reach out to them, tell them that you have seen that they had a look at your profile & that you had a look at theirs & then invite them to connect. Most of the time people were just too shy to invite you but happily accept your invitation. 

8. Add the Amazon Reading list application: if you read a lot, why not share with your network which books you enjoyed most. The Amazon Reading list application is ideal for that. Of course if you have published your own books, don’t forget to add those!

9. Be a connector on LinkedIn. If you know two people who should know each other, introduce them. You can simply send out a message, via LinkedIn, to both of them. “Jane, meet Joe. Joe, meet Jane” and then explain why you are connecting the two. This will always pay back in the long run, but for now you are simply doing a good thing that maybe will help two people…

Now it’s your turn. Which other ways do you use to make the LinkedIn experience more social? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

About the Author

Sarah Santacroce helps small business owners and coaches to find their place in today’s online world, increase their visibility & brand awareness. To find out more about her go to http://www.simplicityadmins.ch/about.

The post 9 Ways To Make LinkedIn More Social appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.