LinkedIn Questions
Please ask me your questions about using LinkedIn for small business marketing or job search in the comments section below. I will reply to the best of much knowledge or refer you to another source if I can. I will only answer appropriate questions and I guarantee you I will trash all others, including spam.
I moderate all questions before posting. I will omit your last name if desired. Put a note in the comment box to do so. Your email address is requested for verification purposes only and is never published. You do not need to enter a Web site if you do not have one. However, if you have one, this is a way to get a backlink to it (which is a GOOD thing!)
I will also, of course, entertain questions about the WordPress Web publishing program.
September 8th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Michael, Good morning.
Are you familiar with a new feature on LinkedIn that will allow you to incorporate volunteer experience on your profile? If so, can you please lend some guidance? Thanks
September 8th, 2011 at 9:31 am
Mark –
Good question, thanks for asking. This is a new addition to the Sections portion on LinkedIn, another way to embellish your personal profile. At the bottom of your profile highlight (the first large box with your picture… going down to the share- pdf – and print commands) you see the “Add Sections” link on the right. Open up the menu and under the “Sections” portion you will find “Volunteer Experience & Causes”. Click to open the link and follow instructions.
You also might want to check my Add Sections To LinkedIn page. I will add a picture there to demonstrate (cannot do on replies).
Michael
September 16th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Hi Michael, I have done many things to my LinkedIn profile over the past three months on the advice of you and several other people. What other things could I add too it or what things should I take away that would make it more “attractive?” Do I have enough or the right key words? Should my resume be on there or just the handbill? Thanks so much for your help.
November 9th, 2011 at 12:35 am
Judy –
First I think you have done a great in adding some additional sections and applications to your profile like Courses, Amazon Reading List and Box.net to embellish your profile. You have contact information including email and telephone number so it makes it easy for someone to get in touch. … But… there are some more steps I think you should take.
#1. Add the “Skills” section in the “More” pull down. See my Adding Skills Section
#2. You have additional room to expand your Summary section and should do so.
#3. I ran your profile through the word cloud generator and feel you can do a better job of incorporating keywords into your profile. Start by searching LinkedIn or other job posting sites. Locate 5 to 10 job descriptions for positions you would accept if offered (i.e. targets). Copy the text into the word cloud generator, eliminating the extraneous, and check the results. The largest words are the ones most talked about. Select the top 5-10 and set up an spreadsheet or write on index cards or post it notes. Compare the results from all of the job descriptions selected and pick the top most emphasized words. These are the keywords you should be emphasizing in your profile, not the ones I show displayed..
December 1st, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Hi Michael;
I tried the Word Cloud Generator website you provided in your session. I went to the Wordle site and entered my LinkedIn profile and the site crashed several times. I tried just entering the summary paragraph with the same result. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? Did I miss something? I found this to be quite an interesting tool and I would like to try it. Thanks.
David Burns
December 1st, 2011 at 3:02 pm
David -
I know it requires Java to function. I have not had the crashing problem and suggest you might try it on another browser… FireFox, Chrome, IE9
Also, I reference another Word cloud generator ABCYa on my Word Cloud page on this site. There are many of them available. I think I have a list of 8 or 10 more if the second one causes you problems.
February 24th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
How long does the Linked in software keep your profile updates “turn on/off your activity broadcasts” from showing? I made numerous updates and edited for about an hour, and turned it “off”. The next day I turned it back “on”. Will the updates that I made still be broadcast?
February 25th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Good question David and I tested it today. LinkedIn does not publish the activity updates while turned off. When turned back on LinkedIn starts publishing again but does not go back and publish any updates done while turned off.
Michael
February 27th, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Is there a way in linked In that you can have two (2) different zip codes in your profile, so that your profile would still show up in some one else’s search criteria, if you are equally available in either geography.
So that the 2 zip codes would not have any impact in the search result?
example: 60045 Illinois and 48336 Michigan.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
David – Your profile highlight box allows but one geographical area. You could consider adding another in your “Summary” (probably best for search) section as well as the “Contact” Box.
March 27th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Is there a way to post word clouds on Linked in???
March 27th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
You can only post one picture on LinkedIn for your profile. And that, by user agreement, should be a “head shot” or likeness. So I do not suggest putting the word cloud there.
But there are two work arounds I can immediately think of:
1. Link to the word cloud somewhere on the Web in a share or discussion. A miniature will probably appear as a visual display to the left. However, the share or discussion disappears over time since it is really a blog post, which publishes in reverse chronological order. Over time as more and more appear, the share or discussion gets buried deeper and deeper. (Note: Unless you manage a group, but that is another subject entirely…)
2. Upload to your profile and make a permanent part of your profile through an application. You can use the artistic application, Google docs, or Box.net to upload a file containing in the word cloud. You can bring emphasis to it by mentioning in your “Summary” section.
I hope this helps,
Michael