LinkedIn has over 60 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world.
A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second.
Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.
Source: LinkedIn
LinkedIn is your new best friend. If you haven’t met, you must be one of the few who haven’t realized the incredible marketing and networking potential that this unpretentious site has to offer.
LinkedIn allows users to create profiles to summarize their professional experience and accomplishments. But don’t be fooled, LinkedIn is no Facebook. You won’t find any silly games or party photos here, just pure unadulterated networking. If you’ve never used LinkedIn before and don’t have an account, here’s a good place to start for more information.
Once you’ve set up your LinkedIn profile, it’s time to leverage your online presence to achieve your goal of increasing your professional network or finding a job or client. Follow these tips to get started:
1. Connect with everyone who knows you and is likely to be willing to recommend you.
Through those contacts, you’ll have access to an incredibly diverse network of professionals and/or potential clients. Keep in mind that to use LinkedIn well, you need at least 20 connections. People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.
2. Use LinkedIn to do research.
If you’re looking for a job in a design firm, type the names of the 10 firms you most would like to work for and see which of your contacts know people there or know people who know people there. Then contact them asking for referrals.
3. Join groups that are Interior Design-related.
IIDA has a LinkedIn group where our Members and the design community post discussions, articles and jobs every day. This is the quickest way to align yourself with like-minded professionals on an international scope. And the more often you respond to discussions, the more familiar your name will become and the more credibility you’ll have as a professional resource. If you do a search for LinkedIn groups using the keywords “interior design” you’ll find 421 results.
And if you’re in a good place professionally…
4. Use your resources to help others.
I recently met an Interior Designer at an industry event who told me that one of her clients asked her for a recommendation of a designer with a different focus than she has. When she thought about it, she realized that the only person she knew in that field was a man she was connected with on LinkedIn and had corresponded with a few times. Eventually she got in touch with him and connected him with her client. Mind you, this all took place without her ever having met the man.
Only time will tell whether this is truly a success story. While I don’t recommend blindly referring your clients to all of your online friends, a few well-placed referrals will put you in a position of general good-will among your contacts, which isn’t a bad place to be.
For more LinkedIn job search-related advice, check out this blog.
Does anyone else have any LinkedIn success stories or cautionary tales? Any suggestions for maximizing your LinkedIn experience?
As a relative newcomer to networking on LinkedIn this information was informative and to the point.
Thank you,
Wendy Goldfinger
Dear Carmen, You asked for LinkedIn success stories or cautionary tales. I am old school and just learning to use social media but I do have a success story. We at Zoe Design do murals & decorative finishes. I used Linkedin to find local designers who were not already on our mailing list & through their web sites or Google compiled their email addresses. I then sent a personal note telling them that we had been in business over 25 years and completed projects around the globe with a photo attached. I asked if they would be interested in receiving occasional snail mailers or emails to please respond. I sent out 35 emails and received 2 email replies and 1 call with a specific job inquiry. An excellent result for a day’s work. I think the important thing is to have a targeted and personal approach. Thank you for this important thread. Sincerely, Doug
Sounds like a great approach Doug! I think you’re exactly right about the targeted and personal approach being the best strategy. And social media makes this targeted information so much more available to us these days. Like you said, if you’re willing to put in a day of information-gathering, you can pretty much count on getting results.
Great article. It’s amazing that while some people are all over the strategies listed, many are still just catching up. This article gives you the steps that you need to follow to “connect” in a succinct and easy-to-understand manner. Thank you.
Thanks for your kind comment Joan! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog.
Linked in is a valuable resource today. An excellent form of increasing your network of professionals in the trades. A forum to post questions if your in need or want feed back from those in your field. Excellent way of helping others it is ok to give away knowledge you are not giving away the store.
In my case I own Of Hand & Soul a decorative painting and design company, my target audience is the Interior Design community. First few years in business I tried the cold calling sending mailers and no bites.
These days with the social media environment My pool of Designers has grown.It has been an excellent ice breaker and way of sharing information with customers, designers etc.
Linkedin ,Twitter and Facebook Biz page are my mediums of choice.
Thanks
George Alonso
Of HAnd & Soul NY
Hi George,
I’m glad you’ve found a way to use social media to your advantage. I agree it really can be a great ice breaker and unobtrusive way to reach out to an audience.
-C
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