by Carolyn Campbell

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Each social media platform has its benefits. LinkedIn is a great place for consultants, career seekers and those who work within that professional community. I especially like that LinkedIn can be quite professional while also being personable.

If you use social media or other electronic means of connecting, regardless of the format (website, blog, vlog, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), it is important to ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want to achieve?
• What is the best medium to do so?
• Is this a good way to connect with my community?
• What effort am I willing to put into it?

If you are going to use any social media platform, allow yourself to be fully ‘seen’. Ask for recommendations from people who’ve experienced your work. When I go to hire someone, I always check out what people have to say about them. And, if their recommendations reflect a cross-section of people, I gain greater appreciation for their work.

If you are asking for recommendations from clients, remember…it needs to be okay for them to say yes, no or something else. Some people may not feel comfortable giving you a recommendation even if they think the world of your work. (For example, I have clients who can’t write me a recommendation because they don’t want their boss or clients to know they’re in a transition.) You’ll want to craft your use of this medium to reflect this.

One of the features I like most about LinkedIn is that you don’t have to constantly add notes and updates to keep your page looking “fresh”. Like many folks, I don’t have a lot of time to send out tweets or daily updates. And, as with other social media, LinkedIn does have a ‘wall’ on which to post comments and updates.

Everyone has a different approach to social media and mine is this: I link with people and organizations I respect that serve a similar mission. I can vouch for everyone in my network and am proud to share the page with them. What I notice is that all too often people have tons of ‘connections’ with few recommendations. I have seen many folks with a wealth of connections have no success, while others with relatively few have great success.

What’s the difference? No matter how technical our society becomes, nothing—absolutely nothing—compares to good, old-fashioned relationship building.

If you decide to use LinkedIn, I suggest taking time to review the LinkedIn tutorials that are easily found on Google. Here are a few tips from me as well:

1. Remember: this is a professional forum. Consider how you want to be perceived and create your profile with pride in yourself, your work and your vision.
2. Create a Word document with all your information (bios, work summaries, etc.). If you use other social media sites, it makes the process so much easier.
3. Request recommendations from people you respect and who can articulately express the value and impact of your work. (I personally like to have a cross-section of recommendations so that people can see the diversity of my clients.)
4. Identify 10 organizations you want to work for. See if any of your contacts know people there or know people who know people there. Where appropriate, ask them for “introductions”.
5. Search for people in your region that work in the industry you are pursuing. This may give you an idea of who is hiring people like you.
6. Search for people you went to school with whom you respected. You might be amazed at the common links you still have.
7. And remember…please remember—create respectful relationships!

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Carolyn Campbell has more than 30 years’ experience working with non-profit and for-profit businesses. In creative and connecting ways, Carolyn melds her expertise in community outreach, education and business development to help clients expand their reach and increase their impact…using their unique approach to life. Her areas of specialty include leadership, visioning, outreach and community building.