LinkedIn is a social network that brings together professionals and companies in the same channel. Through this platform you can interact with expert users in different areas and follow the profiles of companies that are of interest to you and your brand.
Although it is common to consider LinkedIn as a network to upload your resume, apply for a job or find the professionals that your company lacks, the platform allows you to achieve other types of objectives: from networking to finding clients and suppliers, even.
In this guide we are going to tell you what LinkedIn is and what it is for. Likewise, you will learn how to create both a professional profile and a company page and, as a bonus, we will share 5 useful tips so that you can take advantage of the benefits of this social network.
LinkedIn: what is it
LinkedIn is a professional network that has in more than 200 countries. In Argentina, the number of users exceeds 8 million.
The main differential of this platform in relation to others is that it allows you to advertise, apply and find a job.
This network was born in 2002 and was bought in 2016 by Microsoft. In the words of its creators, LinkedIn’s vision is “to create economic opportunities for every professional in the international labor market.”
In this sense, its mission is to “connect professionals from all over the world to help them be more productive and achieve all their work goals”.
What does the word LinkedIn mean?
Networking is closely linked to the creation of the name of this professional space, since, by joining it, it allows you to link or connect; terms that in English are known as linked.
In this sense, linked in refers to being connected or linked with professional contacts that you know and trust.
What is LinkedIn used for?
As it is a corporate social network, people frequently use it to search for job opportunities and recruiters take advantage of it to connect with potential collaborators.
Entrepreneurs, for their part, use LinkedIn as a means to create connections and spread their brand, in order to communicate with their target audience.
Likewise, the platform allows them to connect with other companies and suppliers to do (business to business), either to offer products or services.
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How do people connect?
On LinkedIn, each person’s network is built on the basis of the contacts they establish and their links with co-workers, fellow students, clients, etc.
You can expand your network by sending contact invitations to other LinkedIn members or accepting invitations from others.
To define the degree of interaction within the platform, LinkedIn created a classification for the different types of contacts:
first degree contacts
People with whom you have direct contact, because you accepted their invitations or because they accepted yours. You will see a 1st grade icon next to their name and you have the ability to send them a message from LinkedIn.
Second Degree Contacts
It’s the people who are connected to your first-degree connections. You will see a 2nd grade icon next to their name and you can send them an invite by clicking the “Connect” button on their profile.
third degree contacts
They are those who are connected with your second degree contacts. It has a 3rd grade icon next to its name.
followers
People who choose to follow your public updates on the LinkedIn feed.
Peers from your LinkedIn groups
These are users who belong to the same group as you on the network. The “Highlights” section of your profile shows the groups you belong to and you can contact your colleagues by sending them a message or directly through the group.
LinkedIn member (outside your network)
These are profiles external to your network. In these cases, you can send them an InMail to introduce yourself, if this option is available.
What is LinkedIn for Business?
Company Page or LinkedIn for companies refers to the profile that businesses have to create to be part of this social network. For this reason, if you have a virtual or physical store, we recommend that you register a Company Page.
While it is true that you can use a personal profile to spread the word about your business, having a page dedicated to your company’s activities gives your company credibility and increases customer confidence.
Is LinkedIn free?
Creating a LinkedIn profile is free. However, the network offers advanced options to people who pay for one of its 4 premium plans.
- Premium Career
- Premium Business
- Sales Navigator Core
- Recruiter Lite
We share a , including the updated prices that you have to pay monthly.
How LinkedIn Works
Next, we are going to show you how each of the resources that LinkedIn has, works, so that you can take advantage of the functionalities of this social network.
Profile
The LinkedIn profile, like other social networks, is made up of users’ personal information, such as name, city where they live, age and photo. The differential of this platform is that your resume is the protagonist of the profile.
In this section, you have to detail what your previous jobs were, as well as the courses you took, your skills and competencies, among other professional aspects.
Another key element at this point is the recommendations that your colleagues and leaders (current and former) write about you, as they increase the relevance of your professional profile.
Regarding the profile of a business, it is essential to show what actions the company is promoting: from product launches to promotions or general news. This is an excellent opportunity to attract potential clients.
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feed
The news feed is the home page of LinkedIn. It shows updates from your contacts, including articles they share, surveys, and all kinds of job-related posts.
As in other social platforms, in the LinkedIn feed it is possible to interact with the publications: from commenting, reacting and tagging people or companies, to sharing the content so that your contacts can also see it.
contacts
As we mentioned earlier, connections are the users you link to on LinkedIn. In this network it is possible to find well-known people that you have not seen for a long time, outstanding specialists in certain fields and recognized companies.
Exploring the potential connections you can make on LinkedIn is a great opportunity to build excellent networking, that is, a robust network of professional contacts.
Press
Pulse is a resource that allows users to write their own articles and share them on their profile.
It is a kind of blog within the platform, which is usually used to increase interactions and strengthen the reputation of the writer, as it positions him as a reference on specific topics.
Employers and recruiters alike pay close attention to Pulse as it helps them find people who really have the technical knowledge to fill strategic and leadership roles.
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groups
It consists of a group of users who share content and discuss topics of interest to its members.
LinkedIn groups help enrich your network of contacts and help you get closer to brands and potential customers.
In addition, it is an optimal space to start doing social selling, an excellent one that consists of listening carefully to people and selling them, through social networks, the solution that your brand offers.
LinkedIn Jobs
It is a search engine that shows job offers according to the position or type of job you are looking for.
This resource also allows you to apply location and experience level filters, and you can sort the results by relevance or publication date.
Likewise, you have the option of activating job alerts, which will arrive in your e-mail or as a notification within the platform with a daily or weekly frequency, according to the configuration you make.
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aptitude test
It is a functionality that evaluates your knowledge, according to the skills that you added in your profile.
They are tests made up of 15 multiple-choice questions, which you have to answer in a certain time. These tests are not mandatory but add value to your profile in case you want to apply for a job.
LinkedInLearning
It is a paid educational tool that you will access from your LinkedIn Premium profile. It has courses on business, digital marketing, writing, finance, programming and many more.
LinkedIn Learning classes are delivered through video tutorials, so you can take the courses at your own pace.
Why should you have a LinkedIn profile?
If you still have doubts about the usefulness of LinkedIn for your professional and business goals, check if any of these 5 reasons match what you are looking for.
1. Find new employment opportunities
LinkedIn is not only a useful platform for those who are looking for new employment opportunities in a specific company, but also for those who want to explore the (freelance).
Also, the tool makes it easy to apply, since you don’t have to leave LinkedIn to initiate contact with recruiters.
2. Show your work
If your goal is to become a benchmark in your area, this platform gives you the perfect showcase to show the results of everything you did in the workplace.
From your profile, you can link to your , to a portfolio with the details of your work and to your brand’s social networks.
3. Do personal branding
From the dissemination of your work, from LinkedIn you will be able to promote your personal brand and get closer to the professionals and companies that you admire, in order to establish the commercial links that your business needs.
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4. Strengthen your network
Before virtuality gained the prominence it has today, the network of professionals was built among colleagues in the office and in training spaces. In order to expand this circle, it was necessary to attend national and international conventions, symposia or congresses.
Through LinkedIn these barriers have been diluted and it is possible to contact professionals, suppliers and companies that are in almost any city in the world. Thus, you can make collaborations and alliances that benefit both parties.
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