WEEK 1: Introduction to LinkedIn

[Michele Martin]

LinkedIn is primarily a professional network, designed to facilitate linkages between people who are wanting to connect for work-related purposes. It is more “buttoned-down” than Facebook with a more formal culture of relationships and connections. It is also the network of choice for most professionals.

Because LinkedIn is designed for professional networking, there’s a greater emphasis on building a reputation and connecting to employment and business opportunities. LinkedIn Questions and Answers is a way for people to ask questions and receive expert advice. Answers can be rated and people who do this well can improve their LinkedIn reputation. There are also employment listings and an ability to receive recommendations from your connections that then become part of your profile. You can also create and join groups.

To learn more about how LinkedIn works and how you can create a LinkedIn profile and start networking, check out the posts in this HowStuffWorks series on LinkedIn. Also see what other learning professionals are saying about LinkedIn. And consider these tips on using LinkedIn from Ray Sims and 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn from Guy Kawasaki. Also check out "I'm on LinkedIn, Now What?"

Also check out the LinkedIn Tips and Tricks Forum--We were losing some great ideas in this Introductory forum, so I'm moving those tips over to this forum where they're easier to find.

Tips on Writing Your LinkedIn Profile from Chris Brogan
**Make Your LinkedIn Profile Work for You
**Write Your LinkedIn Profile for Your Future

Tony Karrer has also created a quick screencast on how to use LinkedIn to find an expert. You can read another post on Searching for expertise (with another screencast) here.

ACTIVITIES

Spectator--Read the resources on LinkedIn posted here and any comments people make on this Forum thread.

Joiner/Collector--Read the resources and Forum comments. If you haven't done so already, join LinkedIn and start connecting. Invite people to join your network. Flesh out your profile by asking for recommendations or write a recommendation for someone in your network. (Be sure to check out Lodi's ideas on developing your profile). Join the LinkedIn Group we've started for this course, as well as the eLearning Guild's LinkedIn group. You may also want to comment or ask questions in this Forum. Or add your favorite LinkedIn Tips and Tricks to this forum.

You can also add your LinkedIn badge to this forum and/or to your Ning profile page by going to your profile page on LinkedIn and looking for the "Promote my Profile" link. Click on it and it will take you to a page where you can find the code to copy and paste. You can also add your badge to your blog, as Paul did. (For more detailed instructions on how to find/add your badge, check out Kate's post).

Creator-If you have any resources on LinkedIn or want to go looking for some to share, add them to this Forum. Go on LinkedIn and ask a question or try to find an expert, then share your experiences in a blog post or in the forum. Find a LinkedIn group to join and then participate in the conversation. Answer some questions that others have asked and see if you can get someone to rate your answer the best one (this will improve your reputation within the network). Consider creating a screencast or other job aide showing people how they can use LinkedIn.

PREVIOUS TOPIC--Introduction to Social Networking

NEXT TOPIC--Introduction to Facebook

[Meegan Lillis]

I just joined my first group on LinkedIn! Have there always been groups?

I am very careful with my connections on LinkedIn since I do use it professionally. So far I think I've only ignored one invitation or not accepted one. I have a friend who has run into cases where a colleague she worked with in the past wanted to join her network, but she did not feel good about having that link.

I have never searched for help with LinkedIn, and found Chris Brogan's tips to be very informative. Now I just need the time to work on my profile.

[Heather Bailie]

Hi Tony,
I guess I'm mostly interested to see if there are people in the same broad field as me. From my very brief experience so far it seems that it's very business focused. I work in a secondary school in Melbourne, Australia; I am a teacher-librarian, manager of the college library services, and I've just been appointed to a leading teacher position of College ICT Coach. I'd like to make contact with people who would be interested in similar things to me, so that we can share expertise.
I want to find out whether this sort of network is the place for me - ie do I have something to contribute, what's in it for me? I've been on facebook for a little while but I'm not really comfortable with it and don't find it very useful (except for one friend who may not answer her phone, respond to messages or emails but will always respond to messages on facebook!).

Tony Karrer said:

Heather - great questions. What were you searching for when you looked for someone on LinkedIn? The purpose for me is to find expertise that my colleagues don't have (or I don't know if they have).

Can you figure out a recent knowledge work task where talking with someone might have helped?

Heather Bailie said:

I haven't managed to find anyone I know on Linked in yet and I feel kind of funny asking people who aren't already on Linked In to join so we can network. Most of my colleagues would wonder why I didn't just speak to them face to face; others who I don't see regularly might feel put upon if I ask them to join...I'm struggling with how to get started and make this useful to me.
I've just read Michele's comment immediately before mine - Just what I need to get more involved...I'm off to join the group now!

[Kathryn]

Ok, I found the code and now I have no idea where to paste it into my profile in Ning. I am pasting it below but I am under the impression I can paste it somewhere so I do not have to paste it every time I post - correct?
Kathryn

[Tony Karrer]

I just posted on my blog a new screen cast - Searching for Expertise - it includes a bit on how I use Google and LinkedIn Answers as well as searching Groups in LinkedIn.

Some commentary is on my blog post. You can find the screen cast on my blog post or here:

http://www.screencast.com/t/TS8QDR9Q

Susan Neva said:

I am currently trying to find a SME experienced with Moodle (a CMS/LMS) and WizIQ (synchronous web class technology). I posted a query about this to several of the groups that I've joined on LinkedIn and have received about a dozen responses so far. I have yet to discover (through further research) which (if any) of the responses will be most helpful to me. This is definitely a knowledge work task where talking to someone will help. Just yesterday (after having joined this ning as my first ning ever) I found a ning on the topic of Moodle, and I posted my question there. But how long do I have to wait to receive a response to my query? I need information faster than that.

Tony Karrer said:

Heather - great questions. What were you searching for when you looked for someone on LinkedIn? The purpose for me is to find expertise that my colleagues don't have (or I don't know if they have).

Can you figure out a recent knowledge work task where talking with someone might have helped?

Heather Bailie said:

I haven't managed to find anyone I know on Linked in yet and I feel kind of funny asking people who aren't already on Linked In to join so we can network. Most of my colleagues would wonder why I didn't just speak to them face to face; others who I don't see regularly might feel put upon if I ask them to join...I'm struggling with how to get started and make this useful to me.
I've just read Michele's comment immediately before mine - Just what I need to get more involved...I'm off to join the group now!

[Tony Karrer]

Hi Heather - I hate to say it - but I'm really bad at the kind of thing you are trying to do. Finding someone in a broad field and initiating a conversation is tough for me. However, if I have an interesting question or need, then initiating a conversation is easy. Actually, it can be mundane, but it's a spark of a conversation. So, if I were you, then I'd figure out what kinds of things are interesting questions specific to your job that you want to bounce off of another person working in the same field.

That's how I roll - I'm sure other people have different styles. Actually, I know someone who will pick out something like windsurfing on a profile and spark a conversation based on that. It's just not me.

Heather Bailie said:

Hi Tony,
I guess I'm mostly interested to see if there are people in the same broad field as me. From my very brief experience so far it seems that it's very business focused. I work in a secondary school in Melbourne, Australia; I am a teacher-librarian, manager of the college library services, and I've just been appointed to a leading teacher position of College ICT Coach. I'd like to make contact with people who would be interested in similar things to me, so that we can share expertise.
I want to find out whether this sort of network is the place for me - ie do I have something to contribute, what's in it for me? I've been on facebook for a little while but I'm not really comfortable with it and don't find it very useful (except for one friend who may not answer her phone, respond to messages or emails but will always respond to messages on facebook!).

Tony Karrer said:

Heather - great questions. What were you searching for when you looked for someone on LinkedIn? The purpose for me is to find expertise that my colleagues don't have (or I don't know if they have).

Can you figure out a recent knowledge work task where talking with someone might have helped?

Heather Bailie said:

I haven't managed to find anyone I know on Linked in yet and I feel kind of funny asking people who aren't already on Linked In to join so we can network. Most of my colleagues would wonder why I didn't just speak to them face to face; others who I don't see regularly might feel put upon if I ask them to join...I'm struggling with how to get started and make this useful to me.
I've just read Michele's comment immediately before mine - Just what I need to get more involved...I'm off to join the group now!

[Gina Minks]

Hi - Here is my badge:

[Michele Martin]

Hi Kathryn--you can post your LinkedIn button on your profile page simply by pasting the HTML in the box on your page at the top where it says you can post anything. It won't show up every time you post in forum, but it will be on your profile page.

Kathryn said:

Ok, I found the code and now I have no idea where to paste it into my profile in Ning. I am pasting it below but I am under the impression I can paste it somewhere so I do not have to paste it every time I post - correct?
Kathryn

[Susan Neva]

Thank you for your second screencast, Tony.
I had actually skipped the Google search step the first time around.

Next, I will go back and run the Google search. Thanks to the Moodle-specific Ning
responder whose answer got right to the heart of my question, I have the
knowledge to participate in a WizIQ-specific forum.

In both my online and offline lives, I tend to be a spectator for a while first,
before diving in. I like to be informed about what I am likely to encounter.
I don't know if this is a Gen X thing, or just a personal quirk.
So skipping the Google search step this time felt a little risky to me, but
knowing from experience how much time can sometimes go right down the drain
when investigating the various results that Google returns, I decided to experiment
with the results I could get from using LinkedIn as a first method of searching.
Funny how research sometimes loops right back around to where you started, and how
the results always help to further shape your next questions.

[EricWilbanks]

Thought you all might be interested in the most fascinating use of LinkedIn I've come across. A few days ago, my 13-yr old son was checking his email and came across an invitation from his 14-yr old cousin to join her "professional network on LinkedIn." After I stopped laughing, I explained to my son that LinkedIn was for professionals...grown-ups who work (either for themselves or someone else) and who want to connect with others who do the same. I encouraged him to reply to his cousin and explain to her what LinkedIn is really all about.

Of course, I suppose if they were simply being professionally savvy in trying to make future job connections, it could prove useful. :-)

[Michele Martin]

Hey Eric--never too early to start networking. I came across this kid who is making his own "how to" screencasts at what looks like to be 10 year's old, so maybe setting up your professional network becomes increasingly important. :-)

EricWilbanks said:

Thought you all might be interested in the most fascinating use of LinkedIn I've come across. A few days ago, my 13-yr old son was checking his email and came across an invitation from his 14-yr old cousin to join her "professional network on LinkedIn." After I stopped laughing, I explained to my son that LinkedIn was for professionals...grown-ups who work (either for themselves or someone else) and who want to connect with others who do the same. I encouraged him to reply to his cousin and explain to her what LinkedIn is really all about.

Of course, I suppose if they were simply being professionally savvy in trying to make future job connections, it could prove useful. :-)

[Michele Martin]

Here's a presentation from Guy Kawasaki on the 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn. Also, LinkedIn has just launched some new applications you can add to enrich your profile. Chris Brogan talks more here about how you can use the new applications.

[Nikhil Kumar]

Problem with filling out the honors and achievements section on linkedin profile. I have been trying to upload the list of publications/ speaking engagements onto my linked in profile and am simply running out of space. Any suggestions?
Nikhil