One of my classes that I teach is solely on the use of LinkedIn and how to apply this to your business. It’s one thing to fill out all the sections on your profile and bring it to “100% completness” and it’s quite another to half heartedly fill out the sections that are “easy” and don’t require much thought. The effort you put into either of these options are what will be left in the mind of those viewing your profile.
But, I’m jumping ahead …. the first question I’m inevitably asked: Why do I need to be on LinkedIn? My answer: Are you or your potential clients using the internet for anything? If no one within your sphere of influence in online … don’t go there… but if you are active in business, business development, sales, recruiting….etc., and you and your clients are online — you better be there.
Here’s the thing …. websites, blogs and new media all create one thing; they create your online reputation. What a different world we currently live in when we meet someone new and after the meeting we mentally think… “I need to look up that person / business… check them out.” Now … I KNOW you may not admit you do this … but I also know many of you DO do this! There is nothing wrong with it, it’s called finding someone’s online reputation. You can do this by “googling’ someone or going to a reputable business site like LinkedIn.com.
LinkedIn creates a peer-centric way to validate you, your accomplishments and expertise. This is done by having past and current co-workers and clients leave recommendations or endorsements about you. You can also answer questions that are out there which have been asked by your peers and you have the opportunity to be selected as an “expert” in particular catagories by those same peers. You can place a “question” out there to help you with a current business problem and many people within your network are more then willing to help out.
As a real estate agent, how does this help you?
Well… as a person who may be thinking of listing my home I may be interested in finding an agent that has marketing in their background; your linkedin profile would showcase your past positions in marketing. I may be looking for an agent that is an Alumni of my college ….. there you are on LinkedIn and connected to me by way of an Alumni Association. I may want an agent who has a lot of connections to those in a particular corporation that may be located near my home I’m thinking of lisitng. There are so many reasons for a real estate agent to be online and LinkedIn. The number one priority…… being visible online and having an online reputation!
If you are not on LinkedIn.com ….. get on it! http://LinkedIn.com !
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This post reminded me that I need to start using Linkedin to it’s full potential. I have a lot of “contacts” and I need to be utilizing them. I’ve also always gotten a really large response whenever I’ve posted a question on Linkedin which I think signifies how powerful the network can be.
Thanks for the post!
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